Das Boat - Part 1 - RPLOG
Participants
Date
28/12/2014
Log
The put-put of an old hot bulb engine can be heard coming closer towards the short pier where the agents had gathered. A thin veil of mist rises from the water giving the whole expendition a slightly omnious feel to it. The reports were conflicting at best. They say it's a big old ship, a tanker perhaps. But surely such a thing would have run aground already. Not to mention it wouldn't have working lights. And if it did, that means someone has to be on board keeping the systems in working order. Strange indeed. Still, it was worth investigating. RSX didn't quite believe the reports which is why you all find yourself here, waiting for your ride to arrive to take you to the ship that had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere.
Edel shuffles along the pier, arms linked at the sleeves, the regal black and gold silk robe swaying around her ankles as her ears perk. "So, ah, this should be a fun little trip! I do so love going out of the bubble."
Some people can't resist the sea, others, absolutely can't stand the water. Fortunately for Redd, he fell into the first category. He arrives on all fours, occasionally stopping a moment to stare out into the fog. "Out of the bubble? I just got back! But, anything to be at sea, I haven't been on a ship in far too long."
Thelergramor yawns as he waits for the boat, sitting on the pier all talakai-like with his canine+serpenty body. All horned wolf and such... Clothed, because clothes are fun, armed and armored among other things... He peers through his binoculars at the approaching ship, sniper rifle in his lap. Stops, then looks back at Edel and Redd. "Hey, Edel. Good to see you. You too, Redd."
A flickering witch-light fortells Rihko's arrival before she is actually visible, bobbing and weaving through the mist. The hulking fox-beast slips through the mist and silently comes to a stop behind Edel, sniffing at the air. She wrinkles her nose and settles a stare on Redd, but her only further motion is the slow swishing of her tails back and forth.
Cookies arrives clad in some warm, form-fitting clothes- soft and fuzzy, and lined with a few rows of cargo pockets. Her tail sticks out the back and sways rhythmically as she steps out onto the pier, ears twitching in the direction of the puttin' engine. "I'm always right on time, aren't I?" she purrrs out, beaming a grin and offering Edel a quick nod in greeting. "Heya, shinbiter. Nice to see you again," she says without a hint of sarcasm.
Rokarion reaches the pier, the cute looking kemonomimi poodle is clad in their black combat uniform with a relatively big backpack with a rifle attached to its side, the bulky and dour attire quite the contrast to the crimson collar and the matching crimson lipstick and manicured nails the poodle got on their form. Hovering around Rokarion are their four drones, idly scanning their surroundings. With a yawn, Rokarion makes a final check to all their equipment before standing lazily, waiting for the transport to arrive.
Soon the strangely soothing engine noise comes close enough for the boat to come into view. It's not a big boat, by any means, but it looks sturdy enough to take you to your destination. The captain himself is almost comically cliche. An otter stands at the helm, dressed in a heavy, stitched polo-shirt, water-resistant pants, rubber boots and a captains hat. An old seafoam pipe juts out from the corner of his mouth. "Well, I reckon' you'd be the crew, as it were. C'mon, hop in, we're already waistin' daylight." he calls out before the boat has even reached the docks.
Edel smiles at Rihko, but she doesn't bother to speak to her, knowing she wouldn't get much a reply. All the same, it is an acknowledgement of presence! She flips a switch on the scabbard of her sword and sighs softly before stepping towards the end of the pier, ready to board. "Hey there," she says to Cookies, offering a tip of her leaf-hat. "Good to see you, too. Been a while."
"Where've you been getting diesel? Anyhow, how long's the ride?" The coyote stands on two legs as he prepares to board the ship. "I always loved going out to sea."
Thelergramor nods, standing up and wasting no time in hopping into said boat. "Right, I've got all night, but let's get on with it." Turns back to Rihko. "Hey, Rihko. You're... big today." Nods, smirking, then offers a small wave to Cookies and Rokarion. "Hey, Cookies, Rokarion, how's it going?" Smiles, hoping the cat won't complain should he need to shoot anyone... Offers her a hand to help board the boat, laying his rifle over a shoulder.
Rihko makes a small, rumbling, noncommittal grunt. The oversized kitsune carefully slips to the center of the boat, to keep her weight centered, although she does loom over the otter and sniff at him for a moment on the way. Then she crouches, tails curling around herself as she bides her time.
Cookies grins and points at Edel's hat. "Heeey, I have one of those." She continues up the pier to the end, standing right next to Edel and stroking her chin for a moment. "So what are we doing exactly, again, to be sure? Am I allowed to take things?" Not that THAT'S ever mattered.
Rokarion looks at the group before letting out another yawn and moving towards the boat, taking a seat while the drones went into idle mode around the poodle. Rokarion then simply added, "What are we to expect?" in their usual cold and polite tone.
It doesn't take long until you find yourself surrounded by nothing but fog and water. The drone of the engine makes it all seem somehow less sinister then it might have been, though. "Oh, this baby runs on pretty much any ol' mineral oil. Good thing about these old engines.. few moving parts and none too fussy about what quality of fuel it uses. Shouldn't take us more then an hour or two to reach the ship, if the intel is correct. Now, I'm just bein' paid to cart you folk there and back so don't be expectin' anything. If things look to be going tits up over there I guess you can always jump in the water. I'll be anchored a bit away from the ship. Just in case.." the captain says as he steers the boat towards the destination.
The trip is honestly pretty uneventful. A bit cold, if anything but seeing how must have their own fur coats it's not much of a bother. The feeling of the loss of connection to the bubble servers is.. a subtle one but it definetly puts most on edge. "Now, I reckon you don't know much more then I do. There's a ship, there's lights, there might be stuff to salvage. That's why we're here really. If there are actually people living there.. well, let's hope they ask first and shoot last. Or something. Maybe they're friendly, who knows. So I guess.. grab whatever looks to be working, make some inventory and head back to land and report, yeah?" the otter says.
Edel keeps her hands tucked away in their sleeves, looking quite... Excited as they cross out of the bubble. Leaving the bubble meant things would be quite a bit more fun and riveting, hopefully. The cold didn't bother her one bit. She was thick of build, covered in fur, and dressed in layers. "Ahh... Don't you just love that sea air? I prefer forests, but this is nice, too." Her tail curls around and half-drapes over Rihko, as if giving a few pats.
"You wouldn't have the old coast guard certification stuff for the boat, would ya? I want to know how much we can carry in one trip?" The coyote sits near the captain, asking about the boat, the area, and life at sea after the end of the world.
"Yeah, should be easy enough." Confidence. Immediately all the ladies love him due to after school specials. Or something... Thelergramor checks his weapons, all loaded, which is a good thing... His smirk remains, happy talakai. "Hey, if anyone dies, I can revive you. Fox abilities. At least... I think it'll work out here. Y'know, supernatural powers and all... Should probably test it at some point."
The talakai rubs one of his horns... still not used to having those.
The Rihko makes a quiet almost-purr at Edel's pat, her rumble matching that of the diesel for a few moments. She sniffs at the sea air again, although her attention - and nose - are drawn towards Cookies; she studies her for a moment, then turns her head and sniffs towards Redd again, before slowly licking at her teeth. Then she yawns lazily, and her attention returns to the water in front of the boat.
Cookies winces slightly the moment they leave the outermost limit of the bubble, taking a sharp breath inwards and giving herself a moment to relax her muscles. She peers at Edel and chuckles a bit. "Would this be a bad time to mention I can't swim?" She rolls her shoulders and grunts in annoyance. "Nngh. There's one thing I hate about going out of bubble. I'm one of those people who are an itsy-bitsy ways made of nanites. Makes me tough as nails in-bubble, long as I keep drinking builders. Out of bubble, makes my muscles g'damn sore." She takes a long look at Thelergramor and frowns uncertainly. "If I die, you shove my corpse back in the bubble and let it disperse. Ain't gonna let nobody cheat me out of rest."
Rokarion takes deep breaths, in and out, as they look around them, well attempt to do so at least what's with all the fog. Rokarion was not really that much affected by the cold, but they did quite enjoy the smell of the sea, it has been sometime since they last went to a beach, they might have to do just that one day. But for now, they are ready to deal with whatever might come at them. Rokarion does afford the coyote a glance before nonchalantly saying, "I will not be accepting any feeble attempts at saving me there. You owe me a favour until I choose willfully to redeem it."
Seems the skiff has enough room to allow quite a bit of salvage on board, as well as the agents too of course, especially when the waters are as calm as they are. Infact, there's barely any wind and the dark waters are almost still before it's parted by the boat stern.
Suddenly, a massive, rust-red structure rises up out of the water. You almost run straight into it, so unexpected is it's appearance in the fog. And it seems the reports are true after all. The ship is really, really big! Maybe an old fishing vessel? It's by no means a supertanker or the likes but it's atleast a good 180 feet long. The captain who prefers being called nothing but.. well, captain swears under his breath as he struggles for a moment with the throttle. But it's clear the otter knows his boat and soon you find yourself snug against the portside bow of the ship. The captain motions towards a length of rope and a grappling hook. "Well.. help yerselves, I guess?" he mutters. They say the lights were supposed to be on but it's hard to tell from down here. Still, there is still an hour of daylight left or so.
Edel grins a little as the boat approaches. "Excellent. Sounds fine! I am looking forward to this," she says before stepping towards the rope, intent on trying to hook it around in a proper way to allow climbing. She's... Not the best at climbing, but she -can- cheat if need be. "If you fall over, Cookies, I will try to help. Don't worry!"
The coyote catches the end of the rope, pulling it out of the tanuki's reach, and into his own hands. "I'll try to hook it, we coyotes happen to the best at games of luck!" He swings the grapple, and it catchs on the railing. "I'd let the lightest of us go up first, so they can better secure the grapple, I don't think it'll hold terribly much weight on a railing."
Thelergramor smiles at Cookies. "If you fall in, I'll pull you out. I can swim. Won't just let you drown. But, sure, I won't revive you." He then looks up at the ship. And the fog. "Well, that's fun. So, rope climbing." Slinging his rifle over his back, the talakai glances around at the people around him. "Ok, so, one of you have this I guess."
He shifts about on his feet, yawns. "Anyone have a smoke?" Horrible time for it, probably. Glances around... weighs about 140lbs. "I mean, Edel and Rokarion are the smallest so, send one of them first."
Rihko grins at Redd, showing off far too many sharp, sharp teeth, while her ears pin back. Her claws scratch at the tug-boat's deck, leaving marks, but she doesn't move from her spot - letting others go first.
On her way to the rope, Cookies asks the captain in passing, "Out of curiosity, is she seaworthy? I'd like to know if there's a chance some vagabond living aboard it might end up boating us off inadvertently or otherwise." She peers at Redd and then looks at the rope, sighing softly and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "What I wouldn't give for wings. Or a really, really long and wide board. I should just carry something like that around with me. Ten foot pole or summat." For her part she stays on the skiff- the mention of a potentially risky climb for the first across has the catgirl hesitant.
Rokarion takes note of the large ship, and waits until Redd has gotten the rope up before standing up and following Cookies by climbing after her, the drones on the other hand simply elevated higher with their master.
Rokarion seems to have little trouble scurrying up the rope and soon finds themselves up on the deck. Quietly, the rest of the agents begin making their way up. Sofar it's doubtful that anyone who might be living on the boat would have heard them climb up. Well, that is until Thelergramor manages to get his foot caught in a coil of rope as he swings himself up over the railing, stumbling into Rihko who loses her footing on an oil-patch on the deck, sending both sprawling across the metal deck with a loud clang. Everyone freezes for a moment, ready for anything to.. well, happen. Nothing does, however. Soon the agents find themselves standing on the deck of the vessel. It's eerily quiet but there ARE lights shining in the fog. It looks like the emergency lights at the very least are still running.
As she stands upon the deck of the boat, Edel lets her hand rest on the hilt of her sword. She doesn't draw, yet, though. "So... Which way shall we go,hmm? Head for the bridge, maybe the holds?"
Thelergramor has fallen. Blames the ship. "Damn ship. You alright, Rihko? Yeah, you're fine." Gets up, pulls out his shotgun, lays it over his shoulder and offers the Rihko a hand up. Glances around as nothing happens... "Either it's abandoned or they're afraid. So... split up? Shitty idea, but we'll be fine, I'm sure."
The fox-beast snaps at Thel when he stumbles into her, and Rihko lets out a low, quiet growl before she gives her shaggy fur a quick shake. She seems just as comfortable moving on all fours, so she eyes Thel's extended hand for a moment before she moves further from the edge of the boat and sniffs at the air.
Cookies, after the brief silence, offers Thelergramor a big old golf-clap. She says nothing, just looks incredibly amused and claps. She looks at the lights and huffs a bit. "At least we have that going for us," she mutters bemusedly, then turns to Edel. "Bridge, maybe. Seems like a good place to maybe find some things!" She regards Thelergramor once more. "If it's a shitty idea, then why..." She shakes her head and sighs. "If you really want to, I sure won't stop you."
Rokarion shakes their head at the debacle done by Thelergramor and Rihko, before focusing once more on the rest of the ship. Rokarion was half-tempted to send a drone to scout the area, but those things are expensive to make and they are out of the bubble so no taking risks there! The kemopoodle lets out anther yawn and waits for the group to prepare to march.
The bridge isn't hard to find, being the highest point on the ship. The intrepid agents soon find a door leading into the ship. Stairwells seem to lead both up towards what one can assume is the bridge and down into the bowels of the ship.
More then a few animalistic ears among the troop start twitching as they enter the ship. There's decidedly some sort of.. noise coming from the bridge. Like static from a radio, maybe? It's very faint.
"Works for me," Edel says, starting off towards the bridge. Seeing as the 'group' had made their choice, she starts up the stairs, tail swaying behind her. "Let's see what we've got..."
The coyote looks towards the bridge, and starts heading towards it."I think bridge is best place to start." If nothing else, should be able to find out what's on the ship. Maybe inventories...
Thelergramor yawns and stretches. "Huh. Static or something from the bridge, I think. Go there then..." Turns towards Cookies. "It's good to have all the options out there, even the shitty ones. Helps." He nods, glances around, looks for traps as he follows Edel and Redd.
Rihko moves a short distance off to the side, then lets her path cut back across to the other side, slightly behind the group. As she moves she keeps sniffing around on the deck, her big fox-ears twitching at the sounds and the conversation. Her tails flick, and she lets out a quiet huff.
Cookies starts the climb up with Edel, listening intently to that noise. "So I'm not the only one who hears that." She looks about between the others and abruptly declares, "Dibs on the shiny stuff." She nods firmly. "There's gonna be shiny stuff. And hopefully nobody who owns it to shoot me or something for trying to take it."
Rokarion remains silent and follows behind Edel as she moves towards the bridge, the poodle, quite literary, raising one of their draping ears as they hear the sound of radio static? Quite the interesting find. The drones around the poodle turn into a more active mode, their optical sensors going from blue to yellow, Rokarion expecting trouble now. "Be careful ladies and gentlemen, we have yet to see anyone here, and there is a good chance that they are hiding in ambush."
The gang finds the bridge quite empty. The first thing that you notice is the strong smell of burnt plastic. Where it's coming from isn't appearant at first. The source of the static though is easy enough to find once you enter the room. A small ham-radio seems to be the culprit. It's a strange find on a boat like this as you're pretty sure there ought to be a proper radio room somewhere close by. There's precious little in the ways of working equipment up here though. The radar screens are all blank. A few log books are strewn around, an old dried up coffee mug still rests on one of them that lays open. There's also a distinct smell coming from the.. aha! The radio room, the only other door leading out from the bridge other then the way you came in. A fire extinguisher is lying near the door leading into it.
Edel sniffs at the air, wrinkling her nose at the unpleasant scent. "I expect one," she says, nodding at Rokarion. "And eagerly await it." She approaches the radio room, ears perked and muscles tensing. Keeping one hand near her sword, she reaches out with the other to try to open the door.
The coyote looks through the papers, trying to find any scent attached to them, beyond the burnt plastic smell."Somethings been here recently, especially with running lights."
Thelergramor scratches his furry head, glances around. "WEll, that was anticlimactic. A radio. Dunno why that's here. Radio room should be right there, yeah?" Points to the other door and the fire extinguisher. "The, uh, extinguisher... It's all lying down and shit. Probably nothing, might've been used... But, meh. Might be worth pointing out." He stares at the opening door... Expects it to go badly.
Rihko quietly growls as she finds the ham radio. She gives it a bump with her nose, then snuffles around at the various papers and things in the room; she ends up settling a massive paw over the discarded coffee cup, holding it in place while she licks once at the dried coffee. Her head rises up as she catches Edel going to the door out of the corner of her eye, and she turns her head to watch the woman.
Cookies stays relatively near to the door they walked into for a moment, squinting hard and sniffing at the air. "Something is burning. Or burned." She looks at Edel and sharply spits out, "Test the handle first!" Frowning deeply, she takes a long look around at the bridge to see if there's anything of value besides the radio, though she does make a point of wandering over to pick the radio up and give it a good looking-over. "Mine," she announces.
Rokarion wrinkles their nose at the smell, lowering their ear again, and enter the bridge properly. Rokarion taps a few times on a device mounted on their right forearm and go to quickly scanning the log books. Meanwhile two of the drones focus their attention at the opening door, ready to fire if needed.
Well, it doesn't take a genious to figure out where the smell of burnt plastic is coming from. The entire radio room seems to have been the source of quite a fierce fire. Probably electrical in nature, if you had to guess. There is precious little to salvage in the soot-stained radio room. And if there ever was something that survived the fire, the fire extinguisher most likely made short work of it.
The coffee smells old and stale. It's been sitting there for quite some time. Weeks, at minimum. As for the books that Redd and Rihko sniff around at, they seem to be crew and cargo manifests. It takes a few minutes for Cookies and Redd to go over their findings, enough for the other agents to make plans for what to do next, atleast.
It's.. it's all Harry Potter / Drako slash-fic. ALL OF IT.
Edel frowns and takes a step back. "How... Disappointing." She gives a little shrug at the contents of the room and turns to starts back for the exit. "Did you find anything interesting in the logs?" She asks, poking her head out into the dark nearing-night air to inhale the fresher, less burnt smell of the sea.
