Tea Time with Luna - Part 2 - RPLOG
Participants
Date
7/1/2018
Log
It's the dead of night, in the middle of winter, and everyone has just woken up from contacting the Moon Rabbit to find a few Children of Tahoe in their armor and holding solar weapons surrounding them.
A man without a helmet on looks to be in charge, most likely Carson, the leader of the Children of Tahoe. "Thank you Unit Luna for..." He is then rudely interrupted when Luna jumps up, knocks the gun from his hand, pulls out what looks like the weapon's power supply, and throws it across the room. "RUN!" She screams, as even the soldiers start to dash out of the cabin away from the ominous beeping coming from the removed battery.
"Ohhh dear." This is the only phrase running through Arris' mind as sie slowly stood up and raised hir hands above hir head. As sie begins to prepare an excuse, to try to talk hir way out of the conflict, hir train of thought is interrupted by Luna running up to Carson and disarming him. That... was certainly one way of taking action.
When the bunny screams out to run, sie immediately complies, bolting out of the cabin. Upon hitting the cold exteriors, sie immediately splits off from the fleeing Children of Tahoe. The fog and cold were harsh, but, sie would put up with it. Better get away from the cottage first, decide what to do later.
Beeping isn't normally how grenades sound, but it's a clear enough warning to the panda, anyways. Her eyes drift towards the lamp, then towards the others. She's a confident enough tracker, she supposes... can find them later. She wasn't sure whether her power suit would adequately shield her from the fog, either. Phosphorus takes off at a run, darting towards the lamp with a hand outstretched and the other grasping at her pistol. Best not venture forth without a little bit of protection. She doesn't know if anyone can hear her, but..., she shouts, "Rendezvous one kilometer... uh, north!"
Anbessa blinks awake as the group's impromptu nap is abruptly ended by the arrival of the Tahoe. Thoughts returning and being recollected momentarily as... Wait, what's that beeping, seeing Luna toss something and yelling run, the human blinks in surprise... And quickly scrambles to his feet. "Shit shit shit shit shit shit-" Anbessa repeatedly yelps as he makes a b-line for the front door, though as he exits he skids to a momentary stop to look back at the nearby doorway for his weaponry. If they are there, he makes a grab for the bow and polearm before he continues running. If they are gone he just grits his teeth and keeps moving, preoccupied with the ominous beeping to take time to look for it. Either way he quickly tries to make a B-line for Luna to follow after her. Better the fog than probably painful death or maiming from whatever is about to happen to that cabin!
What does one even do in a situation like this? Scream and panic? What good would that do? Surrender and let themselves be captured, their mission a failure, their lives placed at the mercy of whatever Tahoe group leader had them by the balls? Certainly not... By now it had gotten to the point where such sudden twists were common for Otto... he should have seen this coming...
Yet he didn't. He didn't and was just as caught off guard as anyone else... his face contorting into a snarl, fangs glinting beneath those lips as he surveys the room, a hand placed on his pistol to split a brain before they had the chance to incinerate him... or his mate. Gods... that feeling... that dread the overwhelming desire to just... no. Snap out of it!
Just in time, too... for when Luna does what she does, the jackal immediately recognizes the bomb about to go off, and how it'd torched a friend of his in the past... No time for nonsense... the canine grabs his mate by the arm on his way out and tucks through the door, rolling out and thankfully shielding her with his own body, the wee lass just light and small enough to be braced against his chest with ease. The canine coughs, his senses dulled by the thick mist, yet still he has but a split second more to draw his pistol and look for a target...
Awoken from a dream like stupor to the shaking and rifling of that familiar rabbit. No... Wait, wrong rabbit. This one... Luna... Was from the others. The Tahoe. The little fennec lifted herself as others... Armored, violent, ready to engage, others held them up. Those must have been the rest of them. Mokou had only a moment to consider what sort of backstabbing nasty little garbage this was... Till Luna stepped forward. Engaged, Disarmed, Dismantled, and Shouted. Seconds.
The moments between eye-blinks were what she was going to have to deal with here. Her left hand fell, scooping up little Felix in one smooth motion as she began backpedaling. A tick, echoing in her ear. That battery... Let's not be here any longer than need be. Two steps forward, her foot sliding under something metalic. Not the source of the beeping, thank those ears! A quick kick up, reaching for the weapon... Before a familiar hand gripped her arm to the side, the metalic piece dropping back to the ground. Tick. Her eyes looked back to him as she was all but gripped against him, legs reaching to touch the ground as she was lifted... before they hurtled out into the cold.
A tuck, a roll, and out the door they went, a faint grunt falling from her lips as she wrest herself from her Otto's grip for but a moment. Upon the ground, feet in the snow and... letting Felix upon the ground. Snow, their delight... until Mokou shouted back to them. "Home! Find Smithson, the one who took us here! Find us!" Feet trailed through snow, the fennec and her mate standing their ground for a moment... Little Felix... looking up to them before... Fleeing into the fog.
Luna grabs a black box from a table before dashing out behind everyone, yelling "Don't go north, just head for your truck!" as she points down the road heading west. It's cold, but nothing can beat the searing heat as the cabin behind them explodes in a blinding flash of light and shrapnel, the whole cabin erupting as the volatile chemicals inside ignite instantaneously.
Arris winces as the explosion occurs behind hir, taking shelter behind a large tree as the heat hits hir. Sie would reach behind hir to unsling the rifle from hir back... only to find that sie left it inside the cabin. "God dammit." Instead, sie quickly deploys hir shield drone. "Phosphorus, toss me your sniper rifle!"
If it were to be tossed to hir, sie would catch it and ready it up as the drone covers hir rear, firing at the soldiers sie saw through the smoke. "Hostiles at five and seven!"
Phosphorus sticks her pistol back in her holster, hearing and heeding Arris' call, taking out her rifle with some effort and passing it over to Arris. It's very heavy; but it needs to be, to help tame the kick that it has. The house explosion showers her with a fair bit of debris, but her armor withstands without a nick. That's what high-quality kevlar does for you. She draws her pistol once more, taking a few shots at figures she sees whenever there's a break in the smoke.
Anbessa winces as the heat of the explosion brushes his back, the human scrambling behind a tree as pieces of wood and metals fly about. Glancing about as he straps his Guisarme onto his back again and draws an arrow from his quiver, the human lets out a breath, watching the air escape him. No time to panic, no time to make mistakes. Concentrate... Think... Persevere. Thoughts clear, and movement becomes a bit more fluid. "Okay, you heard her everyone. To the truck, any Tahoe that think to get in the way get shot down!" Anbessa's shout rises, a wide smile starting to cross his face as he draws the string of his bow in preperation. "No one left behind, we're ALL goin' home!" His voice is energetic and confident, silver colored eyes beaming a bit. Certainly seems like a different person... Or maybe it is the adrenaline in him? Hard to say.
Fire, chaos, panic, this was the stuff Otto loved to see on his expeditions out into the depths of the unknown. He'd managed to make a swift roll to avoid the worst of the explosion, but his mate... "You alright?!" the canine calls out, pistol in one hand, his burning blade in the other. There, just there... he saw them, just as Arris had called out, a shadow, a silhouette, perhaps t'was all Otto saw, but it was all he needed.
He aims true, and squeezes the trigger, his maw now pulled into a snarl, even as the human's words come flooding in. The jackal's pistol produces an unearthly blast and a ghastly hiss, the bullet striking one of the soldiers in the chest, their corpse falling to the ground immediately thereafter. "I'm not leaving until I send the lot of these bastards to hell!" he answers defiantly, then fades into the background, a faint disturbance the only thing hinting at his presence. Blade in hand... silent step, a watchful eye, the jackal crept. Time to put that stealth training to good use.
A blistering explosions of heat and debris blasted across the landscape, snow melting with every flame-chared spliter that was shot out from them. Peppering the landscape, Mokou had a mere moment to leap forward, shielding the little Felix off in the snow. She snarled, one of those shards spinning out and embedding itself in her arm. A much smaller yelp came from said small fox, bolting off further on their trail, guiding her, guiding them. The rattle of gunfire and and the shock of the explosion rung in her ears, but there was more important things to deal with... Much more important things.
The echo of Luna's voice barely resounded to her, but she got the message. On her way, on out. A glance back though drew her hustle in a bit, moving towards a swift jog. The others... They were giving fight. A snarl at her lips and a shake of her head, a gesture tossed Felix's way, a simple command to be alert. To call out enemies they could see, but no more. The fox... well, he gave a short bark as they continued on. Mokou though... She sighed as her mate faded into the mist. A fight they seemed to want, a fight they would get. Ears perked and alert swivled to place their foes... Even as she headed towards Luna. Someone had to be near their... well... escort it seemed.
The Shots from Arris, Phosphorus and Otto hit their marks, Otto and Arris seeming to take two down. Luna yells again "Keep moving! Blazers can..." She didn't get to finish her sentance, as three flashes light up the darkness through the fog. Narrow beams of searing death converge on Phosphorus before she can properly react, burning holes through her. The pain is immense, two shots completely severing her left leg at the thigh while a third disables her right sholder.
Arris fires at the Tahoers, hiding behind hir cover of an overturned tree trunk as sie aims for the heads of the armored hostiles, firing a shot at Carson's exposed head before sie sees that glow of the solar rifles charging. Soon after, Phosporus is riddled with solar rifle lasers, and the gator crouches by her side and begins applying liquid bandages to her wounds. "Stay with me, Phos. Provide cover fire with your good arm." As the liquid bandages are applied, hir head turns to watch hir back every now and then.
Pain. Searing pain. Phosphorus has taken a bullet before. But this... it's different. Familiar, yet not. The creeping sense of shock fills her as momentum carries her to the ground, narrowly avoiding dropping the lamp, but her pistol falls to the ground with a puff. She's alive. Awake. Leg disabled, but...
Fuck, that hurts. It hurts bad. She uses her left arm to roll over, taking a moment to pause and look at her hands. It's steady. Adrenaline, not shock. Good. She undoes a pouch on her vest, breaking a small vaccuum pack with a small injector pen in it. Narcotics. She sticks it in her leg, pressing the button on top, inhaling deeply as the drugs numb the pain. 'An operative stays calm under pressure,' she reminds herself, 'Panic is the enemy. I must not panic. I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.'
'God, I'm a nerd, sometimes.'
She picks up her glock with her left hand, taking a breath, calming her pace. She takes a shot. Then another. Then another. The panda narrows her eyes, lips turning up in a fierce snarl, laying down shot after shot of hollow-point ammunition. The sounds of battle dim within her head as she focuses on firing, roughly fumbling and shoving a mag into her pistol, and cocking it on her boot.
Anbessa's words fade quick as shots are returned and solar fire is riddled into Phos. Mouth falling momentarily open, he returns attention forward with gritted teeth. "GrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" A gutteral growl escapes him that rises into a violent battlecry! Watching Otto rushing into the fog, Anbessa nocks an arrow and fires at another target where he saw the lights fly from. If they run now, they'll lose people and get shot in the back. This is to the death, and they won't go down without making them regret it! His shots are quickly drawn and released quickly as well, thoughts clear and his left eye baring a faint green glow as he gets behind a tree for some sort've cover. This is going to be a messy fight...
Sometimes Mokou wished that her senses hadn't been attuned as they had now. Those ears sharp enough to hear the boiling of flesh and the sizzling of blood, the nose sharp enough to pick up to pick up on the burn, to place the shots... There were moments that made one have to take care. To not break under the pressure...
For once, it was not her under the firing line.
She lept forward though, not into the fight, but near it. The snarl upon lips, the spittle flying, the bile of antiseptic, and the hiss of gunfire was her target. Phosphorus. Leaping forward, her hands bypassed Arris whom helped her for the time being. An escape was still in the works, and that lantern was the way... And only one person among them knew how it worked. She held upon the device, moving back for a brief moment. The wounds in her mind begged her to look back, to look at the horror show in progress... But it would be a risk for another time. They were breathing. They were shooting. Nanites would keep them alive, Arris would keep them well.
Besides... The lass had someone to protect. A hand fell upon her hilt, the other holding out the lantern as she ran to them. Eyes focused ahead as she gave a short bark, Felix running up beside her. Otto would take care of himself... and if he didn't... Anbessa would help. Arris would help. Phosphorus would go down before the gun left her hand. Still, running again... No. She shook her head. Not running away. Running to help.
To Luna.
Just like that, in the blink of an eye, a flash of light, a shot well placed, several beams cutting flesh, rending and burning through armor, the scent of burned tissue and overwhelming agony from dismemberment... poor panda... Otto wanted to help, but he was no doctor... he would never be one either. Nay. Their crippled comrsde was in capable hands as is, Arris tending to her greivous wounds as best she can, as for the Tahoe... they are going down.
Look at those fools, waving their weapons around, paranoid... terrified of what they could not see. A silent step, and a bloodthirsty grin, a baited breath, blade long and thin, the jackal uses whatever cover he had available, some brush, a tree perhaps? Just one step closer... and he was within reach, one last step... and that's all Otto needed.
It's difficult to forget, that distinct sound of flesh yielding under a sharpened blade, the gentle squelch, sensation akin to thrusting a spoon into a bowl of pudding, it resists at first, but then it yields, juicy innards parting as blood gushes and the trachea splits open, the victim left with but a fraction of a second to realize what'd happened, before they're left writhing in agony, suffocating on their own gushing blood. A pistol in his free hand, blade and fur painted crimson, Otto fires and lodges a stygian round in the leg of the soldier that'd shot Phosphorus. The man swings his rifle and aims at the jackal...
The medical attention Arris is giving to Phosphorus properly treated her wounds, but with half her leg missing Phosphorous isn't going to get anywhere without help. Phosphorus's pistol hits a soldier square in the chest, but the hollow point bullets do nothing to get through their armor. Arris's shot does hit Carson right in the face, causing quite the mess, as Anbessa's arrow manages to get in a crack in the armor to take down another, followed by Otto stabbing one from the shadows and shooting Anbessa's target in the leg. That last solder did manange to get off his shot before Otto could finish the soldier off, but his shot strikes a tree to Otto's left.
Luna doubles back to them, still yelling: "You can't fight! We have to run! Reinforcements are probably already on their way!" She then tries to help Arris get Phosphorous up to leave.
As sie rises back to hir feet, Arris calls out. "Alright, you heard Luna, let's book it! I can hear them coming!" Sie looks to Otto. "Otto, you think you can bring Carson with us? I think he's due for an explanation back home. Don't bring him if you can't carry him." Rifle still at the ready, sie looks down to Phosphorus. "Can you get up and run?" If needed, sie would help Phosporus up and take her arm over hir shoulders. "Luna, take the lantern. We'll follow on your lead."
Hollow points. Of course. Phosphorus empties the last of her magazine out into the general direction of the enemies, swapping ammunition types to standard FMJ. She spies the jackal, and the soldier pointing a gun at him. Adjusting her aim up, she aims for the head. A breath, a squeeze of the trigger, and a round is fired. .40 S&W should be enough to penetrate a helmet.
Phosphrous takes a deep breath, looking back down to her combat harness. Her WP Smokes. Cover their advance. And fuck some people up. She pulls one off her vest, tugging the pin out with her teeth, and lobs the grenade to the reinforcements. Then a second. And a third. It's her trademark grenade, after all.
Phos looks to Arris, the same fierce expression on her face, as the panda is spoken to. A breath. Calm. They're a friendly. "Arris... I'm missing a leg! Fuck, of course I can't run. Our retreat... it should be covered."
Anbessa couldn't really see how much damage he caused through the fog, but the human's attention is drawn back as Luna calls out, and Arris confirms her warning. Gulping, Anbessa nods and returns his bow to his back to rush over towards Phos and Arris. He does glance over towards where he saw Otto rush off to, but he quickly returns attention back forward as they move. Hope Arris got it handled for now, his hand staying near his bow just in case he needs to give some covering fire.
Mokou's ears twitched as she handed off the lantern to Luna, simply nodding. The sounds of boots... many boots reached her ears. A slight yip from Felix drew her gaze, his attention tossed up north. Her own though... Was south. Yet if she just strained... a few more... Goodness gracious. They had moments to loose. Blowing up a cabin does that apparently. A glance was shot back towards the others... grumbling something under her breath as she gestured ahead for Felix. Darting back towards them, an arm slung about Phosphorus, adding her own strength to them to help move her along. Blasted Panda... getting shot and missing a leg.
A shake of her head. Not Phophorus's falt she got shot. Coulda been anyone... Now what was she forgetting... "Oiy, Otto! Come on back! Ya stabed them enough!" That much, she could shout back. Him being invisible... That much was his fault. Hobbling with them onward, a nod was shot towards Luna and Felix. "Come on, can head that way!" An idle thought... something for 'er to do to be less irritated. "Phosphorus, in my pack. Theirs a few gass grenades. Throw'em as you will. Should mix with the fog and yer own... be damned hard to see and mess with their heads."
As the group makes it's way back to the edge of the Tahoe bubble, the smoke from the white phosphorus grenades causes the fog to become even thicker, blocking the view around them. The treck is slow with Phosphorus missing half of her leg, but none of the aproaching soldiers show up in their path... Until a Tahoe shot flares, hitting a tree about 4 feet to the right of Mokou.
The sound of a bullet hitting wood is clear as daylight to Arris. "They've caught up! Let's go!" Quickening hir pace, sie takes a glance behind everyone to see a group begin to move out of the fog. "Let's move! Phos, throw down some more grenades!" Once that's done, sie begins to hurriedly move Phosphorus along.
One last grenade. She didn't have a bottomless pool to draw on, and four was already double the standard soldier's load for smokescreens. It was her signature, though, after all. With one last snarl, Phosphorus bites the pin and tugs it out, throwing the grenade towards the oncoming group, watching the spoon pop off, and fly away in the air, exploding with the characteristic white trails... "All out!"
Pistol time again. Fuck, she wish she could use her rifle. Or even her sniper. Or if someone had a SMG... Alas. With the smoke grenade down, she goes into a state of overwatch; that is, she'll put a series of shots wherever she sees the first enemy.
Anbessa ducks his head instinctually a bit as they move along, glancing about as the fog thickens and that familiar ominous feeling fills his chest. Only a bit more, only a bit more...! "Hope our driver won't mind waiting a short bit for Otto..." The human glancing over to Arris as she speaks up, and looking back to where Otto was at the human gulps a bit. He has hopes Otto will make it... But he can only hope that Otto doesn't get shot while he is catching up! Retrieving his bow once more, the human draws another arrow and draws it back in preperation.
Deeper and further out, Mokou hastened off with the lot of them. Arm gripping Phosphorous to carry, with her spare swinging idly by her, the lass simply shook her head. "No guns here..." A small shiver, those paws of hers biting through the fridgid snow, eyes ever locked onto her guide fox, Felix. Flicking back towards the others, a touch of a smile shines, "Come on... Think of the stories! No Scars, but the stories..." Either think of the stories or fear for the fallen. Neither good, but as the lass peeked back, a quiet curse fell from her lips, watching the oncomming foes. A silent hope that she didn't hit Otto, and she stepped off from the three of them for a moment. A shuffling for that in her pack... a simple metal canister with a pop top.. almost like a tuna can. Pulling it half, and simply... baseball hurtling it back, she simply ran. Greyish mist... muted in the fog, that dizzying canister began to head out... Whether a harm or no... Twas what she could provide. "Come on...!"
Shots from the Children of Tahoe fire though the smoke, but most miss entirely. As the group reaches the edge of the bubble, one lucky shot hits the lanturn Luna was carrying, causing the Fog's effects to start. But with the group already at the edge, there was no problem leaving. Ahead, Smithson is starting up the truck, yelling "If even one shot hits the truck, we're doomed! hurry it up!"
Climbing onto the truck, Arris quickly helps Phosphorus as hir shield drone stands guard (hovers guard?) between the truck and the fog. Once sie sees the last person clamber on, sie looks forward to Smithson. "FLOOR IT!"
"Arris! Can you... stick the rifle on the truck right here? Just... kick the bipod down and stick it in front of me. Thanks." Phosphorus asks, once they're in the truck. She scoots herself into position with what limbs she has, taking the rifle up and peering through the scope, providing covering fire until everyone's up. She takes shots at any enemies... aiming for center mass, no risks. One shot, one kill, as cliche as the phrase has become. Pain was starting to nibble at the edges of everything, but she could withstand. Even with an arm and a leg gone, she would still try to prove herself an effective operative.
Anbessa climbs into the truck just as quickly as the others, scooting over to make room for the rest as he draws his bowstring back and takes aim at the fog. Any of those familiar burning lights gets an arrow sent it's way! "Otto! Pick up the pace!" Anbessa shouts towards the fog, hoping he will make it in time. It has been a long time since he has felt so happy to be riding on the back of an old pick up truck!
Swiftly running back towards the truck now by leaps and bounds, Mokou ran as though hell were at her heels. Not true, of course. Hell was in her basement. If anything, she was running towards it. Curling up for a moment, she scooped up her precious little Felix, curling them fast against her chest before sliding to a stop by the truck, and simply leaping within. "Go, Go, GO! Otto Will be Fine! Trust me! It... He will live."
Luna and Otto make it to the truck just as Smithson guns the engine. Sounds of the Tahoe weapons fire behind them, a few close calls but no more problems. Not at their peak, but at least everyone is alive, and Luna managed to bring a broken Tahoe supressor and a hard drive with Tahoe's details. And thank goodness the trip home in the dark of the morning was uneventful.
