Hunters Hunted in the East Wood Part One - RPLOG
Participants
Date
15/8/2013
Log
The dark-furred coyote with the mauled ear and the one blue eye waited patiently in the open area between the edge of the highway and the common entrance to the edge of the East Wood. She was small-breasted and lean, dressed for hiking and outdoor exertion. However, the coyote also wore a set of RSX-issued improved combat armor, and both a combat knife and a portable flamethrower, of all things, are strapped to her belt. On her back is a rucksack which is obviously full, but she exhibits no sign of discomfort. As the first of the other agents approach, the coyote woman turns her head toward them with interest, allowing the others to make their entrances without interrupting them for the moment.
Walking up the highway is....another coyote it seems. Angus tosses a pebble off the highway as he walks up to the RSX Agent, giving her a slight smile in greeting. "Hello there, heard you need help or something?" Angus asked, his hands moving to his pockets as he looks her over. Seems that like all Coyotes he was built lean, but his muscles were rather bulkier then a normal coyote if the massive two-headed hammer hanging off his back meant anything. He was wearing a black Canvas Pea-coat and a pair of jeans, two revolvers holstered at his hip as a Satchel hangs off his right side. With a shrug he crosses his arms and waits to see who else would be joining them on their little adventure.
Alkain looks around from above and chuckles as he spots the two who have arrived, he lands nearby and checks his gear with a nod before he looks to the 'yotes "Hey Angus, hello miss." he nods to Delve at that last. He's dressed in jeans and has an armored vest on, also has a chainsword strapped to his back and a gun at his side
Smokie poses.
Smokie WAS posing, actually. As in, posing in front of her mirror, minutes before Angus dragged her away for the mission. She was following behind him, she too being a coyote, though shorter and thinner. Thinner, except for her belly, which held an unmistakabe curve to it. Nevertheless, she was advancing, wearing her long skirt and her off-white dirty blouse, with her blue wool jacket over it, looking like something out of the Civil War.
Arimia slithers up to the steadily growing group standing around. She looks at those gathered as she fishes in a pocket with one hand, pulling out a lighter and metal cigarette case. She takes a hand rolled cigarette from the case and brings it to her mouth. Once it is lit she transfers it to the mouth of one of the serpents that makes up her 'hair'. She looks between the three coyotes and, unsure of which is which, she simply addresses all three of them. "So you want help tracking a new creature you saw? How about you tell us a little about it."
Finally, the last person had arrived not too long after the others. A somewhat tall and broad lion with silver fur and strangely enough, wearing a clean set of semi-formal attire. Though, everyone was stranger and perhaps stranger in their own way, especially when taking just a tiny glance at the team for the current mission. Within his hands lays a common looking pump-action shotgun, ready to deliver the power of the twelve gauge if needed. And then there was that coyote he had killed months back. Angus. Time to finish the job... With a greeting! "Hello ladies and gentleman," Dio says, approaching and joining the group. "And indeed, please give us all the information possible on the target. And also, would you prefer this thing dead or alive?"
Delve nods with calm but genuine politeness as each agent in turn arrives and introduces themselves. "Good t'meetcha," the coyote in the RSX gear with the nanite collector states at last, tilting her head slightly to indicate that the greeting includes all present. "We all here?" A quick glance around verifies that no one else is coming. So Delve resettles the nanite collector in one hand so she can reach into her back pocket and withdraw a battered old cigarette package, from which she extracts what looks like a home-rolled cigarette and a lighter. When she lights the object, though, the sweet smell reveals that it isn't tobacco in there. Although, naturally, old-school drugs don't do much these days, apparently old habits die hard for some. Or maybe she just plain likes the taste and doesn't care about anything else - the look on her face certainly suggests that she's enjoying the drag in spite of its failure to intoxicate her.
After exhaling a gout of smoke (politely turning her head so as not to breathe it onto anyone else present), the RSX agent states, "All right. Here's the straight poop an' nothin' but, folks. Somewhere in this forest," and she jabs a finger at the East Wood. "is one weird sonofabitch. I only saw it once, yesterday, but I have a good idea we might be able to find it if we try. I gotta know what the hell this thing is, if there's more... and as much else as I can learn." Glancing at Dio as she chews the end of her joint, Delve adds, "Ideally, my boss'd rather I come back with a living specimen. But the important thing is, I come back with a specimen, period. If we gotta take it down, so be it. But at minimum I need a bit of undamaged tissue for analysis." The odd-eyed coyote glances around the group with her good eye (the blue eye seems unwilling to move right now, instead drooping with the pupil resting in the far corner of the socket.) "I ain't gonna lie - this ain't a kiddie field trip. Infection's a possibility. Combat's a likelihood. I can't tell you much about what we're up 'gainst. If'n some of ya ain't good with that, I understand. Any questions? I'll answer as best I can from what I learned yesterday."
Angus nods, an ear twitching idly as he reaches into his satchel. "How much undamaged tissue are you really going to need? Because honestly." Smiling he pulls a grenade from his satchel, a small yellow smilie face sticker looking rather odd attached to it, and toss it a few inches in the air before he catches it. "I could just throw this at it and we can pick up the pieces?" The Coyote was no stranger to combat, but that doesn't mean he wasn't a little wary when it came to open combat with an unknown mutation.
Alkain nods to Smokie in greeting and hmms a bit at Arimia with a small wave, "Hello there." he looks to Dio and nods to the lion, "Hey Dio." he looks to Delve and then around the area as she asks if they are all there, "Eh, looks like that's all of us then." he winces at the cigeratte and frowns a bit before he shakes his head. He blinks at that and ponders, 'Hmm, new mutation... Could be interesting." he frowns in thought but shakes his head, "I'll be fine." he chuckles at the grenade and shakes his head.
Smokie stands just beside her husband, hands on her hips as she holds her bayonet's short handle. A giggle, as she shifts her weight. She's staring some at the other coyote, ears perked, extremely interested in them. It's Smokie's purpose in life to be interested in other Coyotes. Perhaps... A Cult candidate? We'll see.
"The Cult of Coyote is at your service." she states, proudly, putting one hand to hold the bottom hem of her short blue shell jacket. "I'd like to see this new infection... And I wouldn't mind getting a new form to spice up my bedroom life with."
Arimia reaches up to pluck the cigarette, now half gone, from her snake's mouth, then takes a drag of her own from it. She glances at the grenade then says, "I'll cut a part off first. Then we don't have to worry about trying to make sure that grenade leaves enough of a sample intact." Her eyes look aside toward the forest then, scanning the trees before she looks back at the coyote in RSX armor. Whatever she was about to say however is derailed as smokie's comment about the form finally registers with the metal lamia. Something which prompts a sigh, and one of Arimia's hands rubbing her forehead.
Dio listens into the briefing and nods. "I see... Would prefer it alive, would you? We'll see what we can do then. But of course, survival is tops." The lion looks towards Angus' pineapples, not THOSE pineapples, and smiles, chuckling ever so slightly. "Good to see you, sir," he responds, waving at Alkain. "Perhaps a brief physical description of the mutant, it's possible capabilities if you know them, and the location and we should be good to go. How to handle this mysterious mutant shall probably be figures out on the field. A good formation and sharp eyes shall be necessary."
Delve seems intrigued by the mention of the Cult of Coyote, but passes over it with nothing more than a polite nod of acceptance for the moment. Although the new form for the bedroom crack does earn a chuckle from the RSX woman. In reply to Dio, she frowns thoughtfully. Then an idea seems to come, and she gestures at Arimia. "No offense, ma'am, but I'mma use you as an example. If my sight wasn't makin' shit up," the coyote cautions, "it was one of them tauric folk, like her. 'Cept, this critter's taur part was also bipedal. Weirdest sonofabitching thing I ever saw, an' honestly, I ain't convinced what that I didn't see a dino man ridin' a feral dino, or somethin'. As fer what it can do? All I know for sure is, it's damn fast. An' I'm all but certain it's a predator, whatever it is. You'll see why in a minute," she adds a bit ominously, before taking another drag from her own joint and stubbing it out to put it away for now.
Delve adds quickly, "Oh! Forgive me - I'm use'ta bein' a solo operative of late. M'name's Delve an', as y'all likely figured out, I'm with RSX.""
The Grenade goes up in the air, and when Angus catches it this time it goes back into the satchel. "Fast, predatory, and some kind of tauric form. Sounds like an intresting thing." Turning he smiles at the others, and sticks his tongue out at Dio. "How about this time you keep your shotgun away from me, deal?" He teases the Lion, before turning to Arimia. "Alright then, if you do manage to nick a piece off tell me and I'll make sure it's nothing but a pile of broken pieces." At the mention of the Cult of Coyote, and the joke about the bedroom he leans on Smokie and chuckles. "What, you need something new to spice up the bedroom?" Jokes aside he nuzzles against Smokie, and then stands back up to his full height as he draws both his revolvers and nods to Delve. "The name is Angus, and it's nice to meet you."
Alkain snickers at Smokie's joke and shakes his head. He looks to Ari and shrugs at that, "Sounds gruesome, but effective." he nods to Dio as he looks to Delve at the explaination, "I see..." he ponders a bit and nods, "I am Alkain, nice to meet you." he looks to Angus and chuckles at that with a nod, "Indeed."
Smokie bumps her husband's ribs with her elbow, laughing a little, and almost feral yipping laugh. "But in all honesty, that sounds like quite a field day. Maybe I should have brought a gun."
Arimia tilts her head slightly as she's used as an example, but follows with a shrug. "I am not sure I understand the description of the thing you are offering. I suppose I will see it with my own eyes, though." She turns her gaze back to the forest and says, "I will make sure to announce when I get a decent sized sample." She finishes off her cigarette and crushes it in one of her hands before saying, "I am Arimia."
"A dino man wearing a- Huh..." Dio looks quite bewildered by the explanation, as if he were listening to some old folk brag about their mysterious and amazing fishing expedition. "That's certainly an interesting tale. With something that unique, it'll be hard to miss.." Seeing as everyone was introducing themselves, the lion dips down into a bow. "The name's Dio. Short and simple. Short names make it much easier to call out if someone's about to pounce my back, no?" With a chuckle, he retracts from his bow and smooths out his suit. "No promises," he returns to Angus with a friendly smile. "But I believe that's everything I need to know. We should go now before it gets darker."
The coyote woman does not seem at all shocked that her description was inadequate. She simply grins and says, "You damn well better get to see it for yourself. My boss'll rug me if I come back totally emptyhanded," she complains, although a glitter in her good eye and a faint jocular tone in her voice reveal her humorous intent. Delve nods sharply at with Dio's last statement. Slinging her nanite collector over her shoulder, the RSX agent agrees, "Right. Let's head into the forest. How many of you can scent track?" She adds hopefully as she begins to lead the group into the wood.
"I can try and track its scent, but my ears are a lot better then my nose." Angus comments back, flashing Dio a smile as he makes no promises. "Well, this time don't expect me to just stand there when you shoot me." Jabs taken care of he turns back to the task, ears scanning the forest as he waits to see who wants to take lead.
Alkain looks at Smokie and chuckles at that, "Yeah, maybe..." he hmms? at Arimia and nods at that, "Yeah, but it paints a picture at least." he nods in agreement with Dio and shakes his head at the friendly jibes. He hmms? at Delve and ponders, "I can track, but not by scent." he looks at Angus and nods at that
Smokie crosses her arms, pacing around the group with her ears perked, sniffing. "All I smell is the usual stuff, but I don't have long-term experience with this place..."
Arimia shakes her head slightly and starts to slither toward the forest. "Take us to where you saw it. We will be able to track it from there. It'll be an old trail, but unless you have something fresher to work with it's all we've got."
"I'm not much of a scent tracker," Dio comments, tapping at his leonine nose. "Unless you have a gazelle that needs pouncing." As he follows the coyote into the forest, the lion looks over his shotgun, making sure the weapon is ready to fire if the time comes. "That'll just make it a good challenge," he returns to Angus, keeping his eyes and ears open for any strange occurrences.
The dark-furred coyote, her pelt looking all but black in the shadows of the trees now that the group has crossed into the wood, nods appreciatively at the responses. "I can do it, but the more tracking ability in the group, the lower the odds that thing'll escape us." She seems pleased, overall, by the turnout. As the group moves further into the wood, following Delve's general lead, the canopy above grows denser, deepening the gloom. In reply to Arimia, Delve says, "Actually, I'm hoping we don't have to go all the way out to yesterday's kill. If we're lucky, we -- ah. Yeah," she trails off. Her voice communicates an uncomfortable mingling of pleasure in finding what she wanted, and regret about the nature of the find.
Delve points to a clearing just ahead. Lying off to one side in the clearing, clumsily concealed by a fallen log and other debris but still painfully evident to a sapient viewer, are the mangled remains of a Wolven Predator. From this distance, it's hard to tell much beyond the mutant type of the deceased - and that the feral is, indeed, deceased, not merely badly hurt and regenerating. Even from here, all of you can tell (from scent, or sight, as befits the individual) that the wolven predator is truly dead.
Delve immediately moves into the clearing, looking down at the dead feral. "This is why I consider it a predator. I ain't never saw nothing like this out here before yesterday, when I saw that thing the first time. Nothin' else out here would do... this."
Angus follows close behind, his nose picking up the dead creature before his eyes even set sight on it. "Well....this is interesting." He looks down at the corpse, and how devastated it is. And he holsters one of his revolvers and turns to Smokie. "Okay, your going to be needing this." He comments with a smile, digging into his satchel to give her two speedloaders as well. "I don't want you getting to close to that thing." He comments, a little bit of worry starting to thread itself into his words as he unclips the strap for his hammer and gets ready to wield the heavy thing.
Alkain looks to Arimia and hmms a bit, "Would be helpful..." he snickers at Dio and shakes his head before they come to the clearing, he winces at the wolfen and sighs, "Geez..." as he gets to work inspecting the body, "Looks like it was trying to hide food... This was recent too..." he gives a sniff and frowns a bit, "Hmm, strange scent too... I don't know what it could be though." he looks to Smokie and nods to Angus, "Good idea..."
Smokie frowns, looking at it as she can. She sniffs at it. Strange... But she can't really seperate any one scent. She strokes her fur with one paw, taking the weighty revolver in the other. She checks the loads, then winks at her lover. "Thank you, hun, but you better not die this time."
Arimia tilts her head as she moves over to look at the corpse. She traces her fingers through the air over some oddly parallel slash marks on it before shaking her head slightly and saying absently, "It's reptilian. Or avian. Not mammal." She carefully shifts the body aside and sniffs, trying to figure out which way the scent leads, if she can. "Hide the food, or store it for later. Though, admittedly, if it were trying to store it it would likely take it back to it's den."
Along with the others who went to visit the body, Dio crouches down, giving it a firm examination. While he wasn't on the forensics team, he managed to pickup a few things through his days in law enforcement. "Seems most of the injuries we see here were done after the kill. Fascinating. Most ferals tend to beat up their victims and leave or hump them." Satisfied with his inspection and listening to the rest of the crew, the lion stands up and walks away from the grizzly scene. "Reptilian or avian, huh?Hopefully one of you has gotten a good scent on the creature now."
Delve shakes her head, looking down at the corpse, but she kneels, unslings her nanite collector and backpack, and removes a sample kit from the pack. Carefully taking samples from the body, including photographs of the strange wounds and the neck-stump, the dark-furred coyote comments, "If you all want, I can show you yesterday's kill site as well, but it's much the same except the victim was a Snow Leopardtaur." After a moment, she ponders, "Wonder if it's just coincidence or if it's preferentially hunting taurs?"
She listens carefully to the others' analysis as she works. In response to Dio, she points to a particularly large missing chunk of flesh in the abdominal area. "My best guess is that this is literal predation. I didn't actually witness it eating from yesterday's kill, but this all," she gestures at the body and its ineffective hiding place, "smacks of carnivore behavior more than the usual feral compulsions. That's part of why we want to catch it alive. We need to know if this is personal pathology, or if this... cannibalism... is endemic to the infection. If so, it would be a very disturbing development. You all know that most infection impulses are sexual - that can be bad enough, when it leads to rape and nonfatal violence, but this..." Delve gestures at the mangled remains. She notices Smokie sniffing around, but does not comment, not wanting to interrupt the other coyote's concentration.
Angus smiles at Smokie. "Anytime hun. And I'm not going to die, I promise" He comments, listening intently to everyone as they survey the kill. "Well, I say we plug it full of holes. Cripple it and knock it unconcious if we want it live. That's if we can take it alive." Chuckling a bit he lifts his hammer to lean against his shoulder and looks around, his ears flicking as he watches Smokie try and pick up its scent.
Alkain looks over at Smokie and Angus with a shake of his head, "Better not die again period..." he mumbles to himself he hmms and nods to Arimia at that, "I see..." he blinks at Dio and frowns, "After huh? And yeah, that is true." he looks to Delve and shakes his head, "Don't think that'll be nessecery." he ponders that and shakes his head, "Dunno, it's possible." he nods to Delve and ponders, "Yeah, if it's the infection..." he shakes his head and frowns
Smokie sniffs around, she smells something. Something new. Newer than all the other smells... And she follows it to the edge of the clearing, just stopping herself from running into the woods, She lets out a loud canid yip, and turns back to the others. "I have something. I'm sure it's it. C'mon."
Arimia frowns and looks toward the corpse again, staring at the parallel wounds on it. Her eyes turn to Smokie at the yipping then starts toward the coyote, one of her hands moving to draw her jian from under her coat. "Then let us hurry. The corpse is a few hours old already. And it is likely more suited to traveling in a forest environment than we are, so we will have a bit of ground to cover."
"I've seen some strains that try to finish off their victim," Dio says, looking back down at the body. "Though, those seem to appear in more dangerous areas. This is quite the violent beast." Hearing that the other coyote lady picked up a scent, he turns around and follows behind her, shotgun at the ready for an ambush.
