<div></div><br> <br>As the rescue party arrives, they are directed towards the edge of a thick forest near the edge of the Clairmont bubble. They have been told to look for a golden dragon there, and the man in question is easy enough to spot - a solar dragon, in shape at least, is leaning under one of the trees and watching for the ariving agents. He&#39;s dressed in rugged jeans and a flanel shirt, and he looks each of you over as you gather.<br> <br>Edel shuffles along towards the designated target, hands folded behind her. She was dressed fairly sharply today! A black business suit with a skirt, and a relaxed white dress shirt with the top button undone. Snappy and casual! &quot;So! Who are we looking for, exactly?&quot; She asks, ears twitching as she sniffs at the air.<br> <br>Rokarion arrives to the scene. They are wearing their usual black uniform with a helmet. Surpisingly, they are not wearing their backpack or any of their usualy weapons. Instead only a pistol holster is found on their left hip, and the hidden Zephyr bodysuit underneath their clothing. Obvious are the four sphereical drones hovering around their inventor. All sharing the same central sphereical design but with obvious outer structural differences. The drones float near their master while their yellow optical sensors scan the surrondings. When the human reaches the group, they say in their usual nonchalant, yet polite tone, &quot;Greetings, is this the rescue group? I do hope we have information at the ready. I hate going in blind.&quot;<br> <br>Angus was geared up for the rescue, thinking it was a perfect time for him to try out the 20mm rifle a friend had made for him! He adjusts the dang things strap once more, stilling trying to get use to the weight of it as he walks up. &quot;Oh hey Edel!&quot; He greets with a grin as he gives her a gently hug before looking at the Dragon.<br> <br>A Doberman in a police uniform arrives, another Doberman in uniform following, though smaller. Most will recognize the larger Doberman as Smith, member of the K-9 unit. He looks about, scanning the surroundings for any threats, as the smaller Doberman watches the other members of the rescue team as they show up, and the Dragon. Smith zeroes in on Angus, raising an eyebrow at the rifle. &quot;Got enough firepower there, Mr. Angus?&quot;<br> <br>A giant female Steel Hercules appeared, and moved toward the meeting point, thinking that it would be a nice situation to try her new size. Making sure that she doesn&#39;t knock off too much trees, and that she doesn&#39;t make too much tremors in the process, while... not squishing anyone else in the process. As she stands by the meeting point, she lowers herself to thee the rescue team.<br> <br>The dragon gives the agents a serious look, and nods his head. &quot;Mika, a husky that recently joined our community, was out scouting these woods. She reported finding a &#39;survivor&#39;s compound&#39;, she said, but that it looked vacant and abandoned. We told her to wait for back up, but she said she&#39;d be careful and check it out anyway.&quot; He pauses, looking over the group again. &quot;We haven&#39;t heard from her since. I got close enough to visually confirm the buildings, but as you might imagine these scales aren&#39;t the best camo, so I came back here to wait for you guys.&quot; He quickly relays the directions to the compound - about four miles into the thickest part of the old forest, seculded by hills and with heavy canopy cover - and provides the basic details of what he saw. &quot;There is a two story farmhouse, a large barn, and what looked like a steel-sided garage. I didn&#39;t see anything moving in the area, but there&#39;ve been a few roaming feral packs through the woods. Be careful, yea?&quot;<br> <br>Edel frowns a little. &quot;Well. I&#39;m always looking out for my fellow huskies! Say no more, I shall go help make sure she makes it back safely!&quot; She flashes a little smile and returns Angus&#39; hug, nodding. &quot;Good to see you, Angus! Doing well, I hope?&quot; She says as she starts off in the designated direction.<br> <br>Rokarion nods towards the dragon, and gives a polite wave to the new comers even the larger ones. The human then shifts around, and begins following Edel. The drones follow after their master. With the shield drone floating directly next to them in case of a sudden attack, while the rest hover a meter or two above the human&#39;s head. Rokarion then says to no one in particular, &quot;I am assuming that we will have no major troubles around here?&quot; <br> <br>There is a tap on Smith&#39;s shoulder, revealing an identical coyote to the first smiling, with the same rifle! &quot;I assure you, you can never have enough firepower.&quot; the twin states. Angus smiles a bit at Edel, giving her a soft squeeezeee as he listens to the Dragon. &quot;I have been yes!&quot; He answers, before turning back to the dragon. &quot;Hmmm, seems like this will be intresting.&quot; He states as he pulls a cigarette from his pocket and lights it, staring up at the giant curiously as they lean down. &quot;.....Am I....missing something, or are we near some giant beanstocks?&quot; He teases as he puffs. Before moving to follow Edel.<br> <br>Smith blinks, and nods to the twin. &quot;Right.&quot; He glances at Epsilon, before following after Angus. He glances at Rokarion, and says, &quot;Always expect trouble. Like a friend once told me, Murphy&#39;s Law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.&quot; The smaller Doberman walks up to Angus, and in a gruff, growly voice asks, &quot;Could I get a cigarette too, sir?&quot;<br> <br>Aknowledging the group, she says, &quot;Don&#39;t worry, we will save your companion and bring it back to safety.&quot;. After a quick check on her equipement and body, she then carefully waves to the group, and says to Angus, &quot;Sorry, i kind of grew bigger.&quot;.<br> <br>It is a long hike through woods that grow increasingly darker, thanks to the thickening canopy. Epsilon has to outright snap a few of the smaller trees over to get through, and even from her height advantage some of the trees are taller still - fifty or more feet up for the tallest and largest. Aside from the ruckus of the kaiju forcing their way through the forest, things are quiet - whatever native life is about knows better than to come gawk at such a loud disturbance. It seems that Jormungand was thoughtful enough to cut marks into some of the trees on the way, so the group doesn&#39;t have to worry about getting lost, and eventually they find their way to the hill just before the compound - cresting the hill will put them in sight from the buildings below. If there are any final planning or preparations to make, now is the time.<br> <br>Edel hums and reaches up to start disrobing. Her main outfit, anyway! She&#39;s still dressed, thankfully, in the armoured, dark-grey bodysuit that she was wearing under it all. It&#39;s certainly more fit for sneaking about and combat. &quot;Right then,&quot; she murmurs as she fashioned up a black cloak to wear over herself. &quot;So... Anyone in favour of a stealthy approach before we go stomping around?&quot; She asks, running her gloved fingers through her hair. &quot;I&#39;d be happy to! I&#39;m good at skulking.&quot;<br> <br>Rokarion kep on walking sotfly in a confident gait, attempting to ignore the sounds coming from the kaiju and focus on more threatning noises. When they arrive, Rokarion looks down on the compound then back at their drones, and finally level their gaze at Edel, &quot;I think that a stealthy approach might be wise.....but I don&#39;t think they are blind enough to have missed the sounds. However, that aside we can attempt to move slowly down, my drones don&#39;t produce a lot of sounds so they won&#39;t give us out. Hopefully.&quot;<br> <br>Angus reaches into his pocket again and pulls out the pack to offer to Smith. &quot;Here, you can keep these.....I kind of make them myself.&quot; He answers as he follows after Edel. As it starts getting darker his eyes dart over the shadows, his twin doing the same as they both draw the revolver at their side and thumb back the hammer. &quot;.....Anyone got a trail of breadcrumbs?&quot; He asks before the get to the top of the hill. Up there he becomes less paranoid of the shadows, holstering his gun once more as he looks to his twin. &quot;...Rock paper scissors to see who sets up and camps?&quot; He asks his twin.<br> <br>The smaller Doberman takes the cigarettes with a gravelly thanks, and pulls one out, lighting it and taking a pull from it. He looks at Angus and holds out a hand. &quot;Name&#39;s Kicker. Least, that&#39;s what they call me nowadays.&quot; Smith glances at Kicker before scanning the the compound from his vantage point. He looks at Edel. &quot;I&#39;m not stealthy, but that&#39;s a good route to go first. And you need back up. One Husky&#39;s already gone missing, we don&#39;t need a second one disappearing too.&quot; He pulls out his nightstick, hefting it lightly as he says to Kicker, &quot;Put that out. Someone might see you.&quot; The smaller Doberman glances at Smith reproachfully, takes another long pull, and drops the cigarette, putting it out with a grind of his heel. &quot;Whatever, Smith.&quot;<br> <br>Epsilon was merely making her way through the forest, surprised that some of the trees were bigger than her. Then, hearing Edel, she lowers herself once more, and says, &quot;If you&#39;re going for the stealth way, just make sure that you call for help if you need, we&#39;ll be here quickly. Also... i&#39;d join you up... but... well, you see what i wouldn&#39;t.&quot;. Then she says to the group, &quot;I should probably get a bit of distance with you all. I&#39;m so big that they would see me from far anyway.&quot;. Then she get a bit of distance, staying at least into the group&#39;s shouting hearing.<br> <br>The hill is one of a small number of them ringing a clearing in the woods. The &quot;clearing&quot; itself is only about an acre or two in size, and some of the old growth trees have been left in place to sustain the canopy cover, while the buildings below have dark grey roofs that easily blend with the shadows. The farmhouse and the barn are there, both painted in dark green with brown trim, while the garage/shed appears to have a matte finish below the layers of dirt and grim that have piled up over the years. It is easy to see how this place was overlooked. Those with sharper vision can also spot the barbed wire fencing that seems to have been strung along the trees that circle the clearing, forming a fence about eight feet tall; the gate, if there is one, is not immediately visible from your vantage point. The surrounding forest is eerily quiet now, and the earthy smells of the woods are subtley smuged slightly with the coppery tang of blood.<br> <br>Edel closes her eyes. &quot;I will try stealth, yes. Try not to make too much noise or draw too much attention,&quot; she murmurs as she spreads her wings. She doesn&#39;t really -fly-, no. That&#39;d draw too much attention! Instead, the small wolf uses them to give her an assisted leap over the barbed wire fence. &quot;Watch my back, yeah?&quot; She says as she tugs up the hood on her cloak, leaving her shrouded in blacks and dark greys as she begins down the hill towards the barn.<br> <br>Rokarion nods, and squints downwards, before looking back at the departing wolf. &quot;I guess I will be going down too.&quot; With that Rokarion starts to climb down the hill followed by their drones. As they move down, the humans adds, &quot;By the way I think I have spotted something moving around down there so be ready for trouble.&quot; With that, Rokarion continues on their way downwards, trying to remain as stealthy as possible.<br> <br>After an epic battle of...tie, after tie, after tie. Both Angus shrugs, and smile. &quot;Welp, that wasted enough time.&quot; Angus says as he turns and watches Edel head down the hill. Then his ears flick, and his eyes narrow a bit as he sees a glimpse of movment and he picks up a scent. &quot;My name is Angus.&quot; He answers Smith&#39;s friend as his twin drops int a prone position without a word, setting up the bipod to his rifle as he&#39;s handed a secondary clip. &quot;....I smell blood and gunpowder, I don&#39;t think we are alone.&quot; He states as he draws his revolver, grasping it in both hands as he gets ready to move down the hill as the other takes aim at the building.<br> <br>Smith sighs. &quot;Looks like I&#39;ll be following the stealth group.&quot; He shrinks, his bones cracking and reshaping, as gossamer wings grow out of his back, the Doberman shifting into a fairy. He sighs, a tired/irritated look on his face. &quot;I hate this form.&quot; He buzzes after Edel and Rokarion, as Kicker jerks his head up, looking around. &quot;Hm. Explains why I felt I saw being watched.&quot; He pulls out his nightstick, the doberman looking around warily, looking for the observer.<br> <br>Epsilon lowers herself, careful to not make too much sounds, beside the woods and the wired fence, waiting for the good moment to act, as the rest of the group act and reac. She readies her halberd in the process to act if needed.<br> <br>The compound remains quiet, for all intents and purposes long deserted. Now that the group is closer they can see that the big door on the barn is boarded over, while the windows on the house seem to be both barred on the outside and boarded on the inside. Paint is cracked and peeling in many places, and nothing - aside from those exploring the compound - is moving. The only sign that there may have been something strange going on here is the lingering smells of discharged firearms - very faded, despite the stillness of the air - and the trace of blood, that seems to be stronger near the barn.<br> <br>Edel glances over at Rokarion and nods towards the housing. &quot;Want to check those out?&quot; She asks, voice just barely above a whisper. &quot;I&#39;m going to check this out,&quot; she murmurs before kicking up again with a little flap of her wings, to carry herself up to the hayloft to investigate that little entrance!<br> <br>Rokarion nods towards Edel, and whispers back, &quot;Very well I will aim for the house.&quot; With that Rokarion clings to two of their drones, and lifts themselves up a bit, before using a third one as a plaftform, and flying over the barbed wall. They then drop back onto the ground, and move towards the house slowly, the drones still floating around them and looking for any sudden movements. Rokarion then reaches the place, and opens the door towards the house, while unholestering their pistol, in case of hostile creatures.