Into the Fray - Pt1 - RPLOG
Participants
Date
Sunday April 21, 2019=Log=
T'was a cloudy noon in the forsaken city of Woodfield, a city plagued by grotesque mutants, haunted by the nearby crypts, now forsaken by those that once kept it relatively safe. With the stabilizing presence of RSX weakened in the area, feral mongrels and beasts have seized this opportunity and advanced further into the otherwise tranquil centre of the hellish cityscape. Intervention comes as a sharpened blade and a loaded gun, those willing to risk life and limb for a modest payout arriving, told to meet at exact coordinates in the shadows of an old alleyway, far from their intended mark.
There, they'd be greeted by a familiar face, a big-eared vulpine crouched down and leaning against the wall, his muzzle tugged into an eternal smirk of mischief and mystery alike, gaze cutting into what appeared to be a large parchment while a pencil locked between his fingers danced across its surface. He'd pass a silent nod the way of each and every hired gun that steps within view, gesturing for them to gather around as he dots away the final details of his project, just a few more spots to finish it up, and he'd address them with what they'd have to do. "You didn't attract anything, I hope?" his first question rings out, nose twitching, sampling the air around them~
Arris shakes her head at the question. "Don't think I did, no." She glances over her shoulder, double-checking her trail; only spotting the other agents she quietly moved ahead of. "So, Mag, what's the briefing for the mission? Anything we need to keep a look out for?" From her back, she lifts the shoulder strap of her sniper rifle and rests its stock against her foot, holding it by the barrel and pointing it upwards.
Arriving in his combat gear the infernal hound strides through the city to their rendezvous with the fennec. Grand, breach-action, scattergun and assorted grenades at the ready and gasmask hanging around his neck Ebreus smiles, hardly feeling threatened by the denizens of the forsaken city. "Doubt anything has followed me." he replies, "'Course I'd expect the ferals here to still know what an agent is and that they generally don't win that matchup." He stretches lightly before looking to the rest of the gathering party and then back to the fennec, "Anything new in the city?"
What a meeting place. An shady alley. Not very heroic. Like a bunch of scoundrels schemening. Despite that fact the elf was here, a little worried for her well being. Mayhaps this wasn't all at an organized call to arms but a trap by evil doers to lure the heroes and adventurers and rid the world of them. None the less the elf stepped into a forming circle of bodies. Eyes lingering over the weaponry. None matched her arsenal of a bow and a knife, she however expected the others to pull their weight, somehow. A smile and a shrug was all she could offer. If someone did follow her. She didncockpit know.
With a strange 'zzzt' noise, which can be easily identified as a sound of a cloaking device turning off, a serpentine figure appears. The strange snake lady seems to be already prepared for action, wearing a black tactical vest and a filter mask, the same as those issued to RSX Operatives. She also carries a short sword in a scabbard on her back and a PPD-VA as her sidearm. Her black outfit contrasts with her pale skin and the pink jello of her tail. The lamia smirks and says, "Ha, even you couldn't notice me." As soon as she says this, she blushes, probably realizing that she may seem as a little bit overconfident.
"With all these scents, it's a miracle..." he'd sigh softly and glance around the group. "Alright. It's a nasty one today." A soft *tap* is heard as his pencil strikes a small encircled red X on the map he'd drawn. "Night Stalkers." he'd answer Ebreus specifically. "A bitch to hunt during the night, fast and clever, vicious vermin, territorial, aggressively-so. A nest of the damnable things popped up just here." he'd tap twice more where the tip of his pencil had struck. "An old office building, still in good shape, but housing an underground facility. An employee garage of all things. If I'm right, then those things have a nest set up in its bowels. Now here's the kicker." he'd exhale sharply through his nose and slide the map forward such that the others could take a better look.
"These red spots right here are where the locals gather most frequently during the day. Nanite Humies, Gladiators, Androids, standard fare for the area." he'd explain "Humanoids, not very fast or very bright, some might still have holdout weapons from before they lost it, but the lot will try close-quarters. While I was scouting the area, I noticed something else." he'd run his finger over the east-most street visible on the rough map "This area is usually feral-free. They don't go there, and I can't tell why just yet. My best guess is that it's pretty exposed and those things are most comfortable keeping between the ruins, but..." he'd shrug deeply.
"The task is pretty simple. Either bazooka your way into the compound marked here, find their nest, destroy it as you see fit, fire, gas, grenades, whatever... I'm not paid to care for beasties. Mind though that the Stalkers are likely asleep during this time of day. Shocking, I know... they're nocturnal. Cause too much noise and you'll wake em' up. Do that, and they may well flee and become a problem later on. Now, TECHNICALLY we're told to just get then to fuck off, but that doesn't mean they won't come back. Again though, I am not being paid to care about that." the fox shakes his head. "I've got my own things to do, so you lot decide how you want to approach this."
Zophah comes running in, out of breath. The vixen wearing her usual labcoat and bikini she doesn't look like she's ready for any kind of fight at all, the only visible weapon she has being a compound bow and quiver strapped to her back. As she straitens her side bag she says "Sorry I'm late, only just woke up from a long night's sleep." She takes a good look at the map already layed out, stil breathing heavily.
Ebreus hums, "Well a job done right is a job that doesn't need someone else to fix your mess next week..." he says. As Uvi decloaks he grins and looks over to her, "You're not invisible in the infra-red spectrum." he says and points to his crimson-glowing eyes. Looking over the map as his ears swivel around to the sound of the approaching vixen he hums as he thinks through the rout, "Well if we eschew cover we can follow the road south a block and it'd be a mostly clear shot to the building." he says after Zophah explains her tardiness. Spinning around he smiles, "Welcome to the party... been a while hasn't it?"
The gator approaches the map, rubbing her chin lightly as she thinks up some possible tactics. "Hrmnn... I'd say we should stick to the north street and approach the nest from behind the building across the road." One of her scaled fingers rests on the blue-roofed house. "If I can get inside one of those buildings, either the one north or northeast of the nest, I could reasonably keep watch of the entire thing while everyone breaches in."
She almost doesn't notice Zophah swooping in. The gator gives her a glance over the shoulder and gives the vixen a warm smile. "Aw, don't worry, Zoop. Just glad I've got another chance to see ya again." Arris pulls her close and plants a small kiss on her cheek, her arm resting around Zophah's waist affectionately.
Olathiel notes that most here seem to be familiar with one another. Surely she could have taken the mission into her own hands and lead this glorious party on the adventure to exterminate the pests, but... This group already must have developed their strategies and ways of accomplishing the goals. The map, the explanation and the mission were rather straightforward. Not having much to ask the elf stepped back, letting the rest figure out the course of action. She will simply follow along. It would be a lie to say that the elf wasn't happy to see another archer. Maybe they could have a friendly competition during the mission.
The lamia tilts her head and squints at Zophah, but then turns her gaze to Ebreus, nods, and says, "Nice eyes. Also, nice plan.". Shrugging her shoulders, she continues, "Anyway, whatever we decide upon, I can send out a drone to scout."
Zophah traces a finger across the map, indicating a more direct route south across a walkway instead of following the streets. "This will work, right? And are we running the nest out, defeating them, capturing them, or possibly negotiating?" She questions, before turning to return the hug and kiss to Arris. "Hi honey, didn't see you there at first."
"How about you?" Magnus raises a brow at the elf, a silent and strange thing she was. "Nothing to add?" With that, he'd turn towards Zophah. "Hey Zops! How's it hanging?" the fennec winks, before rolling the map up and handing it to Olathiel, modified with their suggestions so far. "Whatever you decide, good luck. Keep in mind that I've only marked some sparse observations on my part here. The ferals frequent these areas, that doesn't mean some of them don't roam. Also remember that the closer you get, the more likely you'll attract attention. Especially with all these smells wafting around."
"I doubt you'll be doing any negotiations with feral beasties, Zops. You're welcome to try, but I get the feeling you might as well be telling a rabid dog to sit." With that, the fox hops up onto the dumpster behind him and casts them all a salute. "I'll be around, but I have my own things to do in the area. There isn't really anything else to tell about this task so... onward!" the fennec nods, then wall-crawls his way up the side of the structure, before disappearing over its rim to gods-know where.
Still at Zophah's side, Arris watches on as Magnus skuttles up the wall and out of sight. Once he does, she looks to her. "I think that could probably be a good idea. We'd probably minimize any incursions with other ferals on the way there, since it looks like we wouldn't be seeing any of their 'popular meetup spots' until we get to the nest." She reloads her rifle, inserting a fresh magazine into it. "Everyone ready, then?"
Ebreus hums, "Sniper overwatch would be great." he says, "We could walk down the road a bit to this building" he taps the blue building across from the objective on the map, "and if we have any rope I could fly it up... or at least fly Arris up, and then use the rope to make a bridge to the roof of the apartment. It'd be visible if anything's lookin' up but it should dodge all confrontation with ground dwelling forces." he says. He then looks up at the clouded sky then back down to the party, "In any case we've debated long enough unless we want to try that then let's go with cuttin' between buildings."
The last thing elf expected is to be asked an oppinion. All she could think of is offering a rout no one has yet suggested, the longest and farthest one. A nice tour around the city could be exciting. Fresh-ish air, extended walk, time wasted. Though, now that the map was in her hands, she simply follow Zopha's path with her elegant finger. Seems like everyone have agreed on this last suggestion. The map was then folded and tucked into the belt. She could hardly imagine them needing it again, the distance wasn't so great and getting lost between 3 buildings would probably be a better outcome anyway if the group was incompetent enough to do that. Curiously she followed the antics of the fennec as it dampstered itself and than scaled the wall. Trashpanda-spider-alien-fennec it was... "We shall headeth out this very moment, unless thee nobel and kind hero truly doth wisheth to taketh to the sky!" Announced the elf gesturing to Arris and going in to heat. Perfect timing.
:lifts her hand and asks, "Oh, did anybody take a jetpack and a bunch of explosives? We could fly up and just dump all grenades at their nest at once, then KABOOOM~! U-uh.. No? Fine.." With a resigned grimace on her face, she produces a small gizmo from her pocket, which, after a quick unfolding, turns into a drone. The girl sets it on the ground, presses a button on her comms device and after a second the machine flies up.
Zophah turns to the elf, curious about her manner of speaking but decides not to pester her. But she decides that the group waited here long enough, and says "We should get going." Zophah uses her nanites to grow a pair of phoenix wings from her back, then Vanishing nanomagic to turn invisible as she takes off. "Just ping my comm if you have anything to say, ok?"
The advance through the streets proves relatively peaceful, the direct route yielding a danger of alerting the local ferals. Large and statuesque humanoids clad in armor or nothing at all, armed with primitive weapons or a stolen pistol from past victims, they remain un-bothered and largely undisturbed. That is until a small error draws their attention. Half-way along the path they'd chosen, past a group of three soldiers, their minds lost to the nanite plague, a noise catches their ears, and all three would start advancing towards its point of origin. There, the group are left with a decision to make, or a battle to wage.
Arris stays a fair distance behind, letting the rest of the team carry forward as she stays behind and covers their backs. When she spots the soldiers moving to inspect the noise, she pulls up her rifle and starts screwing on a silencer as her eyes track their movements; the gator has positioned herself on the west side of the white-roofed building. Her sights stay focused, but her finger doesn't touch the trigger just yet. That would be for when a fight actually starts.
Ebreus leads the group forward toward their destination as Arris stays trailing behind for sniper support. Carefully and quietly advancing his attention is immediately caught by the noise behind him. A quick scan of the area he spies the soldiers approaching, "Anyone have the ability to take them down quietly? I've got some electrical ability... could take one. Other than that I'm all shock 'n awe/
Ebreus leads the group forward toward their destination as Arris stays trailing behind for sniper support. Carefully and quietly advancing his attention is immediately caught by the noise behind him. A quick scan of the area he spies the soldiers approaching, "Anyone have the ability to take them down quietly? I've got some electrical ability... might be able to take one. Other than that I'm all shock 'n awe." he continues to quietly move as he prepares to throw electrical arcs at one of the approaching soldiers, leaving the weapons that'd broadcast their presence for a four block radius alone for now.
The noisy elf could only blame one thing in her failure to perform the simple action of sneakery. She was not in her natural habitat. Not only was this not a forest, but a jungle! Moreover, this was on ordinary jungle but concrete one. Or, well, it could have been that one day. Then again, she was also in heat, and sneaking around while vigorously trying to squeeze your thighs together was on simple task. Now though, the trio of men armed and not were drawing near their position. This better be settled in a silent manner, not to disturb the nest of beasts which they were headed to. And so, the bow was drawn along with an arrow. It was her mistake and she should be taken accountable for this mishap. Participating in resolving the problem would only be natural. Lucky enough for the group they were near the building, a perfect cover against which the elf rested her shoulder. "Take heed," Whispered the elf. "The street folk is upon us. Those foes has't taken notet of my quaint show~." The arrow is drawn "The one on the right."
The odd snake lady lets out a sigh as she unbuckles the holster and takes out the PPD-VA, apparently her stealth weapon of choice. While she skillfully loads it full of high-grade acid capsules, she mumbles to herself, "Here we go again..". Finally, she aims it in the general direction of the group of ferals, and quickly unloads the torrent of pressurized acid. Even if she doesn't hit every shot, the nasty acid itself is bound to deter ferals from approaching. Hopefully.
One of the men howls in terror as the caustic substance coats his skin, gets in his eyes and starts eating away at his flesh. He stumbles and falls, struggling to get away to safety while his brethren, now fully aware that they were under attack charge in, fists raised and stomping loudly, furiously towards Uvi!
Zophah lands on a roof to steady her aim, pulling back her bow to shoot one if they get clingy to the elf the ferals are tracking. The moment Uvi unloads acid in the feral's direction, She launches an arrow at the one charging Uvi, aiming for the simple center of mass.
The arrow lands true, or rather impacts the side of the charging genetically superior human being. Impaled, bleeding, it grabs the arrow and starts to pull, yanking it free from itself and tossing it aside. Crippled and hurt, it resumes its charge, slower than its uninjured brother, but undeterred... yet...
Shots were being traded. That was Arris' cue. Her sights focus on the uncrippled one, crosshairs lingering for just a moment before her sniper rifle calls its cry. A shot rings through the air, aimed to cripple a leg on the remaining feral. Once she shoots, she pulls her rifle back, taking cover behind the building to chamber a fresh round.
Alas, even with the barrage of backup fire, one of the brutes manages to reach Uvi. Delivering a devastating blow to her chest, the massive human's fist impacts her body and knocks her off to the side, a singular strike, not enough to shatter bone, but definitely painful by all means.
With the flick of his wrists a lightning effect not unlike that of Force Lightning emanating from Ebreus' hands to fry the closest of the genetically-superior-humans. Ramping up the energy as he rises to his standing hight, the wall behind him hopefully obscuring the battle from the view of further ferals.
Furless and bare, bereft of armor or resistance, the hulking atrocity that'd struck Uvi spasms and collapses, brought low by the electrical onslaught. Now only one remains, injured but undaunted in its pursuit of those whom had caused such suffering for the group.
Olathiel had no other choice but to go for the next villainous foe! The next arrow as placed upon the string of the curved instrument of death and lost in the direction of the last standing target. Not much to go about in this particular scenario!
Uvi yelps from pain, but after a brief moment of trying to catch her breath, she manages to regain her posture. She checks her sides just to make sure that none of her ribs are broken, then signals to other agents, "I'm fine! It didn't even hurt!". She puts on a fake smile and reaches for the blade on her back, ready to lunge at the last opponent.
Zophah quickly readies another arrow, coating it in paralytic venom before firing it at the remaining feral. She then flies over (still invisible) to Uvi and prepares other measures to protect them.
The final brute, skewered like a piece of bare-chested flesh on a spit, impaled by two arrows at once, collapses and remains still, motionless, defeated and more importantly, silent. With the three assaulting them gone and done for, the advance to the final destignation now becomes an open path, but what would the group find on their arrival?
