Tea Time with Luna - Part 1 - RPLOG
Participants
Date
17/12/2017
Log
As everyone reaches the start of the highway, there is a human male in overalls standing next to his partially-nanite-eaten blue truck, wearing a Promethian illuminated helmet. "Hi again. For those of you I haven't met yet I'm Smithson, and I'm going to be driving you out to Tahoe..." He sighs, but then pops his knuckles and smiles. "Zephyr got a distress call encrypted by a woman named Luna from the Children of Tahoe. It says she needs help with her mother, but Zephyr has no information on any of them, so this also counts as a recon mission and may be a trap set by them. They've done that before. Any questions?"
Otto had arrived not long ago, his ass planted on a rock, his hands roaming over one of his toys, a rifle of intricate design and structure rested upon his knees, every detail checked, every module adjusted, every component kept in pristine condition, at least to the best of his abilities. He perks his ears as Smithson speaks up, a disgruntled huff parting his lips "I swear, that bullshit big Z got us into last time is the reason I resigned from their ranks. If this turns out to be another ambush or similar bullshit, I'm gonna be more than a little upset." he growls deeply, but moves in and gives Smithson a pat on the shoulder, "Good to see ya anyway, Smith. Glad the old girl's still rolling." his hand lightly strikes the hood of the old pickup truck. "Glad we're being forewarned, at least. Anyway, did she specify what she wants done? Because "she wants help" could mean anything between fetching her mum some groceries and impaling her through the heart."
It was time for business, and, appropriately, Phosphorus came armed and armored. She popped into her nanite power suit, threw some plate carriers over that, added some webbing where it'd be convenient, packed a small canteen of tea, and brought enough bullets and knives to rival small nations. She shows up as quietly as one can in heavy armor, leaning against a nearby boulder as the Z agent speaks. She fiddles with her helmet a bit to turn the voice amp on. "Prepare for engagement, yeah. Got it."
Coming in at a light jog, the black haired human pants a bit with his gear rattling softly at his marching pace. Once more, the human returns to the Tahoe job geared out in his previous riot themed gear with polearm and bow strapped to him... Though strangely, his armor doesn't seem quite as bulky as it once did, seeming more suitably form fitting for him this time around. Also someone seems to have slapped a peace sticker on the chest over his heart that looks like it has been scratched at a bit. Sighing loudly as he finally gets next to the truck, Anbessa coughs softly as he regains his breath. For one that doesn't seem to need to breathe, he looks like he really needs to take a second or two. "Fweh... Heya Otto. Didn't arrive with a big dramatic entrance this time?" Anbessa asks with a smile after he gets most of his air back in his lungs, looking to Smith with a nod too. "And hiya Smith." Though he does see a face he doesn't quite recognize from his previous run out to Tahoe, though whoever they are, they seem to be armored up in some serious power armor! "Huh... Nice to meetcha, I'm Anbessa." Anbessa says with a smile over towards Phos. Certainly a new face to him, so always nice to greet new people. The armored human readjusts some of the straps of his armor as he watches the way he came from to see how many others are coming with... Also taking moments to glance up too. Don't wanna get startled again.
Arris tugs at the collar of a cardigan worn. The thought of the Tahoe-people made hir nervous as sie began to dread them, and the mention of a trap made hir even more uneasy. But, from what sie heard, someone needed help with a parent, and sie wasn't the type to ignore someone in their time of need. Perhaps this would be the first step on a path to forging a better relationship with the Tahoers. Or, at least, that was what sie told hirself, trying to keep hir mind off the possibility of a trap.
Though, once the gator gets to the meeting site, the sight of at least a few familliar faces does ease hir nervous mind somewhat. Otto and Anbessa, primarily: though sie has accompanied Mokou, Smithson, and Phosphorus on missions in the past, sie didn't know them as intimately as Otto and Anbessa. Occasionally, a chocolate bar would be pulled from a pocket to be nibbled on, the gator looking on quietly as everyone conversed - so far, it seemed any questions sie had were already asked.
Wandering on over towards the edge of that broken-down highway, Mokou felt her hands fall to her hips with a small smile upon her face. A good day to explore the world. Or at least, go to a likely voitial region full of people whom had nearly killed them time and time again. Potato, Hand Grenade. Those sharp ears of hers twitched forward, catching each word Smithson spoke, rolling them about before she gave a brief smile. "Hardly any questions that could likely be answered. Where we are going, what is happening, why they are calling us back despite giving explicit statements about never ever ever coming back to them..." The little lass gave a small shrug, hand falling to the stone-grey sheath at her side. "Hopefully, will not end with a death threat this time... Nor a firing squad." Her eyes turned for a moment towards that ever so familiar jackal, a scrap of a smile playing across her lips. "... Hopefully."
Mokou though, she simply shook her head, stepping slowly towards that old, beat up truck, running a hand along the rear fendor. A hand reached across, tugging at her attire for a moment, a simple halter top wrapped about her and shorts girded about her as well. Reaching up and over the back of the truck, she gave a quiet heave, pulling herself up into the back. Took a moment longer than usual, an old broken suitcase, tied up with rope to create an impromptu backpack impeeding her for a moment. A peculiar piece, but it served her needs well enough. Not as worrysome as that long sheaf of stone-grey rested by her side, a handle protruding ever so slightly. That was a finicky piece if anythign. A gentle yip sounded though. Her ears perked, and she leaned over, hoisting up her companion for the day. Felix, the little fox curled about her, twisting and turning more akin to a cat than the vulpine it was. Ever underfoot, never there when you stepped though. A metalic coating covered the tiny vulpine's back though, something of a metalic box with a cross upon it. On the rare case tis of use after all... healing. A smirk and the lass shook her head scratching the tiny fox's ears as she gazed out. A familiar group. Strong, steady, reliable. "Phosphorus... Anbessa... Arris... Otto... Seems we've got a good set here. So only question I've got left is... When do we head out?"
Smithson keeps smiling when Otto mentions his truck. "Both the Promethians and Zephyr help me get the parts to keep it running, because no one wants to be without cheap ground transport, especially a truck with towing capability. As for Luna's message, it said her mother needed help, but sounded like she didn't have the time to say why, just that she needed everyone there after sundown otherwise her mother wouldn't be there..." He rolls his sholders to stretch, then ushers everyone into the truck. "Well, time to get going. I doubt Tahoe will wait for us."
The truck takes a few hours to make it to Tahoe, and Smithson slows down in a few spots to make sure he doesn't run into any ambushes. There are no problems getting to Tahoe, and about 20 minutes before sundown the group arrives at a wall of fog that signifies the edge of the Tahoe bubble.
The jackal spends his time in the truck seated at the back seat this time, his legs tucked in and his arms fidding with a piece of his armor. It was an interesting little thing, cylindrical in shape and covered in various sigils and runic symbols, each one inscribed into a turnable ring upon the cylinder's surface. The thing itself was seemingly comprised of brass or bronze, perhaps some sort of composite metal, and resembled a puzzle more than anything else. Well, that was one way to kill the time?
Leaning up against the person beside him, the jackal humms a quiet tune, one soft and melodious, reminiscent of the music of the 80s, like a jazz ballad... Aside from that, he remains quiet, his ears perked up on full alert. He yawns widely, and once his muzzle closes shut, there they were, at the edge of the fog. "Well, that's a familiar sight if I ever saw one." the jackal sighs as he climbs out the truck window and plants his feet firmly on the snow-covered ground, laser rifle now in his hands.
His nose twitches subtly in response to the odors wafting through the air, though it is his eyes that pierce the misty veil, detecting... something? It was BARELY able to be seen, but it sort of... kind of... Approaching the wall of fog, the jackal peers intently into the mist and blinks a few times. He takes a few steps back and readies himself, "Something's coming." the canine warns, a glance shot at his team before snapping back at the faint light he'd seen.
Phosphorus peers at the car a bit, nudging the seat slightly when she clambers in. She takes her pack off and sets it at her feet, pulling out a small box. Opening it up, she plucks a whetstone and some oils out, pulling a knife out of her vest. It seems she intends to start sharpening it, to pass the time. Can never be too prepared.
"Hey, Smithson -- if you're having trouble getting parts, have you ever considered getting an experienced earth nanomage over to reshape some metal for you? Sure they couldn't find any electrical components, but most of a car is metal, anyways...'
Anbessa mainly spent his time on the truck adjusting his bow string on his Onyx colored recurve bow, peek at this small note he keeps pulling out of his pocket, and watching his breaths turn into smoke in front of him. Brr, getting chilly now. He is lucky he wears bulky clothing beneath his armor, though he has to hope his allies can figure out something to keep toasty... In the meantime, all he can really do is rub people's backs who start to shiver, and offer a drink from his flask. Not exactly a strong drink, but really gets the energy flowing in those who try it out.
When they arrive, the human grunts as he hops off the truck and into the crunchy snow below, boots making quite the noticable prints. "So... That's the fog? Pretty damn thick, last time it was hardly a problem." Anbessa points out from his memory, humming momentarily before his attention is drawn back as Otto speaks. The human blinks, then reaches around to grasp the shaft of his Guisarme. "Can't see anythin' through that fog, m'self..." He mutters softly before refocusing on the fog with eyebrows furrowed.
As the truck drove to Tahoe, Arris would begin to shiver. Hir original scaled form wasn't well-suited for the colder tempuratures here, and sie thus shifts to a furred form - a tigress now sits in the back of the pickup truck. Unfortunately, hir thick pelt does little to actually protect from the cold - perhaps the change was cosmetic. Oh well.
When Anbessa's drink is offered to hir, Arris would give him a nod and a thank you, politely taking it and taking a light swig from it before passing it back to the human.
Arris sighs when sie sees the fog. "They couldn't have made it easy, huh?" Waiting for everyone to leave first, sie gets off the back of the pickup truck, swinging over the side. The tigress attempts to see through the fog, but with no such luck. Sie would then cup hir hands to hir muzzle and shout into the mist. Otto's mention of something approaching sets hir to be ready, the tigress holding hir rifle up at the wall of fog.
Mokou quietly cracked a smile as she heard Smithson go on about their truck, leaning her head agains the back of the truck wall, idly brushing and grooming Felix's headscruff. Twould be a long enough ride after all, no need to worry herself over the issue of conversation for now. Instead, she nestled up against the back corner of the vehicle, quietly shifting every so often as she sighed. That touch of warmth that played to her instincts, easing against her mind and crawling with its insideous fingers to those near... twas as a bother as always. She shook her head though, taking what little comfort could be gained from their pet from them. Twouldn't be long... Twouldn't be long...
As the hours rolled by, the little fennec found herself shifting and swaying behind in that truck, every few minuites seeking a new position, something that would feel less irritating, less bothersome. The wind pulled at her, sweeping past and pulling at her though, more than enough to try and sooth her.... yet twas a quiet tune that her ears caught every half-moment, snagging snippits and pieces of the song, something jazzy... Something snappy.
Finally though, the truck rolled up to a stop, the fennec lass and her vulpine companian all but leaping out from the back! The ground was cold and stiff beneath her feet, but it wasn't... metal. Wasn't sturdy and quietly bouncing for hours and hours... She shook her head, flicking those ears in time to that beat, stuck within her head. Hearing... Could she... No. Very little reached her from beyond that veil of fog, rolling down and upon them. Only Otto's quiet statement caught her ear, sending her turning, gazing into that misty white expanse. Beyond, nothing. The Nothingness Prevailed. Empty and blank... yet her hand fell to that metalic canister behind her waist, instinct and impulse guiding her. "I'll take your word for it..." Her little vulpine friend... Well, Felix seemed less worried with what may be behind the bank of fog, and more curious about this strange white fluff upon the ground. A scrath here, a sniff their... and then he dove in, rolling and lolling about. Snow! Beautiful precious snow! A quiet snip of Mokou's teeth though, and he stiffened up, sitting upright! Fun later... Attentiveness now.
