Firefighting in the Alley - RPLOG

Participants

• Firecracker
• Greyson
• Iao
• Rulsk

Date

7/5/2025

Log

(Firecracker) Another plume of smoke can be seen coming from a urban area in the northwest of the city, signaling the start of another fire! But, by the time you actually get there, the Fairhaven Firefighting team is already at work to put out the flames, and from the looks of it, they have everything under control. Again, a group of bystanders have crowded around the area to watch as the fire is doused and people seem to be dispersing from the scene.

(Greyson) Wandering towards the recently scorched building, the wolf-beast mutters, staring on as the crowd trails off, "Son of a bitch... second time this week huh? Hope we're not gonna see one of these every day now." He flicks an ear, squinting over the scene as he tried to piece some things together. Signs of foul-play were already present at New Dawn, and fires, despite the usual Californian weather, weren't as common, especially not during the cool overcast of today's mid-spring afternoon.

Sweeping the ground with his eyes, Greyson picks out a set of shards, looking over the pattern of their fractures, a nose far more human than mutant in practice yielding little on its own, the lupine glancing up towards the crowd in search of aid.

(Iao) Hot on his tail was Iao... or not quite hot as the fires seem to be mostly taken care of and get legs are quite short. She cared not for the blaze anyhow, for today she had her eyes on the prize. Greyson, that lupine she had been following for god knows how long, was her muse today. Just to be safe, she crept along through the crowds, silent as a mouse with naught a trace of her in sight for she remains hiding under the distortion of her vanishing nanomagic. Daring as ever, she starts to approach the wolf as they examine the shards on the ground getting very uncomfortably close to him. Close enough she could almost breathe on him... not that she breathes.

(Rulsk) A large, black furred wolf pads through the streets, hurrying as quickly as possible towards the fires. He is smaller than normal, to more nimbly fit between the buildings without causing any issues. He feels relieved when he arrives and sees that the fires are out, visibly relaxing. The wolf decides to investigate, since he is not needed for firefighting duties. Nose to the ground, he evaluates his surroundings with his bloodhound senses. Two seem familiar, that of a wolf beast and of noxious, sickly-sweet poison. Heading towards the scents, he pads over next to Greyson and observes the broken glass the other wolf has found, not noticing Iao's presence. He nods in greeting and rumbles softly as he leans down to take a sniff at the shards, "What've you found?"

Upon smelling the distinct scent of gasoline, a mirror for the prior fire, his hackles raise, his fur stands on end, and an audible snarl fills the air. It's unmistakable, this was deliberate, just like the New Dawn fires. This is the same person who hurt his kids, he's sure of it.

(Firecracker) With their agent status, or in Iao's case, inability to be detected, the three of them would have no trouble investigating the scene as they pleased. Being pointed over towards where they determined the fire was started by the remaining firefighters still at the location. Greyson and Rulsk correctly deduce that the fire was deliberate, likely started by a Molotov thrown at the building.

As Greyson looks around to find someone who may have seen something, he spots something curious. With his photographic memory, he is POSITIVE he saw those three in the hoodies who are ducking into an alleyway across the street before. In fact, they were in the crowd he was working with just a couple days ago.

Rulsk has the scent of gasoline, and with his mission in mind, he can follow that trail into where the crowd was standing still for a few minutes, then it goes off across the street towards one of the alleyways, the very same alleyway those hooded individuals are slipping into.

(Greyson) With a /deep/ squint, the wolf lets out a quiet grumble, lifting the glass towards Rulsk's nose, "Molotov from the looks of it- same shit they used on the fields a few days ago..." He murmurs, eyes flitting around before that brief motion between the buildings causes him to steadily rise, setting the shard back down as he taps Rulsk on the shoulder, canting his head towards the narrow passage between the nearby buildings, and of course, the hooded figures slipping between them.

Muttering beneath his breath, Greyson whispers "Saw your work at the admin building yesterday... not exactly made for 'muscle' like you are either. Think you can take those three, or at least give em a scare? Long as you buy some time I can call in a few people that owe me for a few pieces... probably dying to test them if they've gotta." He hums, flicking through his pager, slowly creeping along towards the alley.

(Iao) It's like this was the chance she was waiting for, how delightful! A chance to feign backup? Iao takes a /generous/ few steps back and mimes the action of clearing her throat once she is behind a dumpster directly behind the pair. Interfacing with Greyson's comms unit and announcing her presence through it. "That won't be necessary dear, subtle is ahh... not the word I'd use to describe what's going on here. Backups been around and we're not deaf. On your left."

As is typical of her though, Iao is infact not on their left and instead is right behind the pair in a rather /trashy/ hiding spot. She would don a kitsune mask over her face and begin to uncloak, rising from her hiding spot to come up behind the two wolves.

(Rulsk) Rulsk needs no promting. When Greyson taps his shoulder, he turns to look where he is directing him. The moment he notices the three hoodie clad individuals, he snarls in incoherent rage and charges forwards, convinced that these three are the ones who hurt his family and out for blood. He abandons his usual, careful grace in the name of speed, and the heavy impacts of his paws striking the pavement shake the ground as he rushes to attack.

(Firecracker) Farther down in the alley, the three hooded individuals get the distinct feeling of imminent danger as Rulsk barrels towards them. They quickly stop talking about whatever they were saying to each other, turn towards the three agents, and take out their weapons in preparation for fight. With their hoods removed now, they are revealed to be a Blue Gryphon, carrying a molotov, a Raccoon with a flamethrower, and a Husky with a burning knife.

(Rulsk) Rulsk rushes the trio, his face promising them pain, lips peeled back in a snarl and fangs the size of roadway bollards bared threateningly. His snarl leaves two of them visibly shaken, but the Blue Gryphon seems unphased. The husky swallows his fear, raises his knife, and moves to try to stab this charging behemoth. Rulsk roars at him and just lets the knife lodge into his power armor, entirely ignoring the feeble blow.

(Greyson) Looks at his comms unit in surprise, barely having begun to press the button, though he shakes his head, not willing to look a gift horse in the mask, though something about that '''comms agent''' sounded awfully familiar from a few nights before. "Right- we're between 6th and Chestnut, next to that fire if you need directions, gonna need to get receipts so I know who to send the equipment to for this afterwards!"

Eyes darting towards the alley, Greyson scuttles to the side, taking cover behind the building itself as he pokes his head barely into view, calling out, "See if you can slam one of the bastards into the wall, not many ways outta there, boss! If you can get em cornered, we've got fire support on the way! Bastard with the knife's the only one not shaking like a leaf!"

Gritting his teeth, he digs into his sole belonging, a satchel dangling from his shoulder, the man's fingers catching around an aluminum cylinder marked with an 'S'

(Iao) Contrary to what Greyson may have believed, help was not 'on the way' but rather it was already here. Sprinting into action, Iao runs as fast as her little legs can take her into the alleyway with her eyes set on a new prize... carnage she's allowed to do! Passing by Greyson she rather dryly states, "Direction inquiry unnecessary, targeted acquired. On your left." Upon entering the alleyway Iao takes up a rather goofy stance, her eyes trained upon the flamethrower wielding raccoon as they attempt to hose the dire wolf with a conflagration. Though her face remains hidden beneath her mask an almost virulent glee overtakes her face, what a lovely little lightning rod that flamethrower is, it'd be a shame if something were to.... *BANG* as she lowers her thumb down as if to shoot a shot, massive bolt of electricity arcs from get fingertips straight into the flamethrower igniting it's fuel in big fiery blast that no doubt brings the raccoon down for the count.

Alas, Iao is not given time to rest as the molotov armed gryphon comes flying into action hurling down fiery havoc at her from above! Taking evasive maneuvers, Iao hastily moves into action, unfurling one hand from her pistol like formation that she may handspring backwards. The flames of the molyen fireball unleashed nearly scraping the tops of her ears as she moves away by the skin of her teeth. "Target down." she gasps out as she lands on her feet, barely able to contain the undertones of sadistic glee in her otherwise dry tone of voice.

(Rulsk) Rulsk lunges at the Husky jaws first and tears into him with his fangs, dragging him off his feet and savaging him. The Husky reacts predictably to being practically enveloped in the jaws of a wolf and starts to flail wildly, stabbing with his burning blade, though perhaps just as predictably it's to no avail. The knife draws superficial wounds at best that close instantly as the wolf's healing factor rapidly mends the cuts. By the time the Husky manages to pull away, he's heavily bleeding from deep gouges in his body and his clothes are torn and ragged.

(Greyson) Fiddling with the object in his bag while trying to keep an eye on the fight and fire might not have been the best idea, the pin in the grenade slipping, his grip on the spoon faltering as a hiss emanates from the wolf's bag, a gruff, "Ah shit..." Emanating from the group's backline, a cacaphony of coughs echoing off the alley's walls as he attempts to make his way further out in the street to keep an eye on the gryphon, kicking the canister as far from him as possible as thick, greyish smoke continues to pour out from within.

(Iao) Iao wastes no time springing into action, seeing the gryphon flying above her the snow leopard leaps onto a nearby dumpster and then onto the fire escape. As she starts to ascend she reaches to her side and pulls out the most curious looking black handle, quite oversized given her small size. Upon drawing it, the beast reveals it to be a blade of the most brilliant ultraviolet which she wields with utmost ferocity! Clutching her nodachi with both paws Iao prepares to leap off of the stairs to perform a flying overhead strike!

She was just slightly too low, her blade merely grazing the gryphons wing. Preparing for an unceremonious landing, Iao sheathes her blade with button press preparing to duck and roll as she lands. Unbeknownst to her the gryphon had dropped his next fiery payload, scorching the earth beneathe them as Iao rolls away from the flamed hell.

(Rulsk) As the Husky scrambles back from Rulsk, the wolf swipes at him to try to prevent him from escaping. Vicious claws rend through the Husky's hoodie, tearing away the last of the fabric on his midsection and revealing an armored jacket that had been previously hidden from sight. There's a squeal of strained metal as the wolf's claws scrape the jacket, but the husky escapes without damage. Taking advantage of a sudden opportunity, the Husky lashes out at the paw as it's drawn back and cuts across it, momentarily drawing blood. However, much to his horror, Rulsk spares the injury barely a glance as the torn flesh mends itself instantly, and just growls at the Husky, "Useless... Utterly useless."

(Greyson) Greyson rolls his shoulders, taking as deep a breath as he can get in the self-made mist before he presses into the smoke, taking care to avoid the ever-dwindling crackle of smoldering alcohol along the floor. Despite the fog, the alley's layout seems burned into the mutt's mind, Greyson tracing his steps until he reaches the body of the Raccoon, trying to keep out of the way of the melee as he digs his arms beneath the assailant's, making preparations to drag him, both towards his safety and his own interrogation, hopefully.

(Firecracker) The Raccoon that Greyson finds in the smoke is in rather rough shape. Blood pools around him on the ground and both arms and most of his chest is badly burned, hoodie practically blown into nothingness on his front even as the nanites work to keep him alive. Lucky for him, that's what nanites are best at.

(Iao) Iao Rising to her feet from her earlier dodge, Iao closes her eyes with a faint *click* sound as she performs a nanite scan of the area. This fog will not stop her and so she takes aim, finger pistol pointing upwards towards the dot above her through the smoke and then... *click* nothing. "Aw shit... damn things jammed." is all she sputters out before she mimes cocking the gun with an accompanying sound effect made courtesy of her mouth. "Retargeting." she sputters out as she takes aim once more at the gryphon above her, desperately looking for the lighter they are using for their molotovs. Upon seeing the faint glow of fire being hurled down below, Iao takes more evasive action even going so far as to show off. One backspring then another, and another until boom she is free from the smoke and the fire crashing all around. Lowering herself down into a kneeling position she takes aim once more.