Aug 18 107 PA - Without a trace

From Chronicles

A mile and a half north of the swamp the group starts to reconvene to further their investigation. Here the find a small hunting blind that looks to have been used over night. Though no one is here now.

Erica slings her rifle across her back and moves over to the hunting blind. She squats down as she looks over the scene for signs of tracks and which way the people staying in the blind might have left. She steps carefully so as not to ruin any signs.

Jackson follows Erica, fully aware of her choice of footsteps and the reasons why. You don't need to be a telepath to see that.. "Hold on a sec, don't touch the blind yet. I want to get a good look at it first." He says, more telling than asking, but his tone is soft. Approaching it, he visually examins the blind first, looking for any sign of previous occupants.

Daeni welcomes the more solid ground, both for her own footsteps and to possibly better retain the marks of others'. As Erica searches in one direction, Daeni circles around the opposite. With any good fortune and skill, they can regain the trail to whom- or whatever is the cause of the slaughter.

Libre draws his Zapper and kneels while looking out into the surrounding woods for any signs of the former occupants of the hunting blind. The borrowed armor he now wears makes the kneeling a little less comfortable but much safer than his usual outfit.

The short man known as Gabriel draws an unusual knife from a scabbard between the odd pistol and his leg. It's long and thin, like a dagger or possibly even a stilleto, but its edges are sharp, and its diamond shape clearly gives it strength. The blade isn't pulled in anything like a threatening manner, or even an immediate defense. Instead, more of something to be used to poke around without getting hands dirty or smudging anything. For now, he seems to be focused primarily into looking at anything that might be left inside the blind, and also, where the blind was pointing, so possibly what was being hunted. "Is this kind of thing normal out here?" he asks, in that efficient tone.

Thane stays back away from the blind, given his lack of skill in the needed areas. He however, remains vigilant, facing away from the group, looking out towards their surroundings. The L-20 pulse rifle is in his hands, as he looks left and then right again, leading with the barell of the weapon, as he maintains a silent vigil for the safety of the group. Through the nearly transparent faceplate of the Carapace armor, his eyes scan left to right, alert for enemies.

In the distance, the approach of someone or something is given away by the sound of what seems to be hoof-beats. It isn't until the figure mounted on horseback slows the mount as a group of people comes into view. The figure is armed and armoured but doesn't seem to have any hostile intentions. Those that have seen Sage in armor or her horse might recognize who the new figure is.

Erica finishes looking at the tracks and shakes her head slightly. "Looks like the people that use this blind are not the same people we were looking for. I am afraid this blind isn't useful." She spots Sage on horseback and raises up a hand to give Sage a wave of greeting. "Hi there Sage."

Jackson steps closer to the blind anyway, aware of eyes on them, but doing nothing to give away that he knows. He gently touches the blind, then sniffs his fingers attempting to gain any odd odors from it. Facing away from the one watching, he closes his eyes and pushes his thoughts out, scoping out the intruder under the guise of examining the blind.

"Not find sign here." Daeni notes for the others as she searches the grounds about the blind. She comes to a halt and looks to those focused on the structure, itself. "Any thing inside?" Libre lifts his eyes to Sage as Erica greets her and gives a little nod in greeting . With his left hand he plucks at the grass one leaf at a time. Shifting his eyes towards Erica he asks, "Any ideas where to look next?"

Gabriel doesn't seem to do anything more than continue to poke around the hunting blind with the blade, with the exception of his other hand reaching back and loosening the sling holding the rifles across his back. His helmet doesn't visibly raise, but his utters loudly enough so that anyone reasonably nearby can hear, but not carried on the wind, "There's a second target beyond the first. Very large, holding back." Apparently, the efficiency of speech requires him to leave it at that.

The dwarf continues his vigilant observation of the area, his head moving slowly. He spies a dark shadow in the deep woods, something that doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the forest. He squints, wishing his dwarven eyesight would allow him to see in the dark farther. He keeps his weapon at mid ready, watching the figure and the area around the figure. His gaze moves past the figure, noting his position. He nods, "I see'em" he says to Gabriel quietly.

Sage's gaze moves to the familiar voice first as she raises a hand to wave in response. Greeting others with a faint nod. Realizing the group seems to be tracking, she keeps her horse clear of the immediate area for the time being. She may miss low-spoken words as a result, but the body language some display seem to be clear enough. She lets her forearm claws extend on her left wrist, but waits before taking any additional action. With the tense mood, she holds off questions for the time being as she adjusts her horse to remain nimble in case danger erupts.

Erica tries not to let the news of targets startle her. She continues to walk around the blind pretending to look for tracks, but instead trying to spot the targets that both Thane and Gabriel have seen. Her hand keeps on the butt of her energy rifle as she tenses slightly ready to fight if need be. She licks her lips quickly, nervously underneath her helmet.

Jackson frowns in concentration as his efforts net him only a breif glimpse of shadows and gloom. Standing he turns away from the blind and catches Erica's attention. "We're being watched, immediatly to my five O'clock.. don't make it obvious." He tells her, moving past her to rejoin the others. He's assuming she's seen an old world clock before.. not just the digital ones.

Daeni was unable to locate tracks, nor spot any hidden observers due to her search for prints. She can, however, hear quite well, and news of others prompts her eyes to shift abruptly. Her head moves more slowly as she attempts some measure of discretion in her scan of the woodline that has caught others' notice.

Libre looks toward Gabriel and then toward direction he appears to be looking. He adjusts his grip on the pistol but does not otherwise move while trying to find what some of the others have already seen. Upon Jackson's admonition not to make it obvious he looks down to the grass he had been plucking at a moment before.

If anyone were close enough to see through the transparent eye-slits of the Crusader armor - the suit whose owner feels like a fairy as he wears it - they would see that the eyes shift over to Jackson's observation, then back to the other figure. The Parkerized blade slips neatly and casually back into its sheath, and the rifle with the well-cared-for oiled wooden stock is gently swung around into a casual carry, the sling looped around his right arm so that it cannot be accidentally dropped. Again, in a quiet voice, "I feel outnumbered and surrounded, even though there are more of us then there are of them."

Thane continues his sweep, noting the position and height of the target of interest before moving on. It wouldn't do them any good to focus on this target and get ambushed from behind. He nods once at Jackson's positioning, looking to his five o'clock hard, attempting to penetrate the shadows there with his superior night vision. The weapon is still at mid-ready as Thane exhales slowly, attempting to stifle the spiders of nervousness that have begun to make their way up his back as he looks for the second target. "It's possible." the dwarf says quietly, "I think they could probably observe us unseen if they wanted to. We likely might be outnumbered." Another deep breath, and a slight twinge of regret for not bringing heavier firepower...

With what she's seeing, Sage urges her horse to back a little further away from the group. She figures its only a matter of time before the unseen danger is sprung. She begins to adjust her position on the horse to be able to guide it with her knees should the need arrise. She hadn't meant to bring the horse into potential danger, but isn't sure she would be able to hid it safely away.

The two figures remain stock still to those who have spotted them. Giving no indication they know they have been spotted or not. What does change though is rustling coming from the bush to the north. Sounds like someone is dragging something this way.

Erica turns her head towards the rustling in the bushes and she pulls out her rifle and holds it up to her shoulder as she takes a couple steps closer to the bushes to see what is making the noise. Hopefully it is just an animal, but she isn't sure hence the rifle.

Jackson smiles to himself hearing Gabriels and Thane's observations. But enough is enough. Turning toward the figures watching them, at an angle so he faces both of them and the dragging sounds as best he can, he calls out, not screaming but simply a loud announcement. "You can come out now, we know where you are, and can see you well enough. Come out so we can have a civil chat." Not his most subtle moment, but then.. he's really not a subtle person most times.

Her discretion makes her search less efficient, and Daeni's face tightens in annoyance. She cannot spot those loitering, but she can readily hear the noise. She moves towards the noise, as well, although her blades and bow remain where they are upon her person. If the noise proves not a threat, it remains an excuse to enter cover. When Jackson speaks, her annoyance alters to a bemused smirk and her attention now splits between the known noise and the possibility of more from those called out

Libre looks to each of his companions as they ready themselves before having his attention caught by the rustling noise. He readies his pistol to fire should something nasty emerge from the foliage. Libre glances again toward Jackson's focus that he has yet to see himself.

Gabriel's helmet moves only slightly enough to indicate that the whispered word, "Idiot" is directed to the correct person. Apparently, he believes that an totally unknown quantity is more of a threat than something that he can see, even if he might not know much else about whatever that "something" is. The muzzle of the long rifle is slowly swung around in the direction of the rustling, and his feet are securely planted on sturdy ground near a large tree. Every movement is slow, quiet, and exceedingly efficient.

Thane mutters a curse in Dwarven as his sound amplification unit on the armor amplifies the sound from the north. He brings the frontier laser rifle up, the stock going securely into the pocket of his shoulder, his right hand around the pistol grip, his left bringing up the forend of the weapon. His finger lies indexed above the trigger well, and it's obvious that he's getting ready for a fight. He mutters coursely, "I'm thinkin' we're about to have company. Here's to hoping its a lost traveler, and not something horrible and hell-spawned that wants to suck the marrow from our bones." He sweeps back around, confirming the location of the previous two targets to make sure they've not moved, leaving the thing, or things, to the North for a few seconds longer.

As things seem to be building to a head, Sage tries to convey soothing impressions to her horse as she lets her ability to suppress fear flow into herself. She doesn't want to startle and cause the horse to feed off of that. Her gaze shifts between the different possible threat directions, but she mainly looks for room for the horse to maneuvre, even if some of the spaces might be tight.

With Jackson's challenge both figures suddnly drop from sight. There is not comotion or rustling to indicate the fled through the trees. They are simply gone.. And back to the north it appears the Trapper using this blind has returned. He's a short stocky human that looks to have been living off the land for some time. What in the hell are ya folks doing at ma blind?" He asks, finding the intrustion a bit unusual and rude.

Erica relaxes as a man emerges from the bushes. She drops the barrel of her rifle down as she lets out a sigh of relief. She truns back to Sage and offers Sage a shrug of her shoulders. She looks away from the trapper and walks over towards Sage's horse.

Jackson narrows his eyes at the sudden vanishing of the pair watching them with nary a twig moved to betray thier fleeing. Which meant they were simpy images.. or projections perhaps. Hmmm. Ignoring the man, other than a mild. "Trying to find what killed the cattle and the beetles, tracks led us here.." He moves off, all his mundane senses trained on where he saw the figure, using his recent memory of the top down image he got when using his powers to guide him to the spot.

Daeni gives the emerging man a suspicious, but very brief scan. She then continues on into the woodline with a snort and some haste. While she does not know the state of the others whom some saw, they have not replied nor come forward. This makes them far more suspicious than the known man, therefor she begins to circle around. Daeni attempts to do so quietly, despite her armor and the fact that she has only an estimation of where the lurkers may be.

Libre now has a target and takes aim at it. "Come on out, we just need to talk for a minute!" He shouts when the figures vanish from sight. Libre bolts toward their previous location and attempts to determine where they may have gone.

A rather guttural expulsion that sounds like, "goovnoh" comes from beneath Gabriel's helmet. Whether or not it was actually intended to be heard is anyone's guess. The rather ancient-looking, but well-cared-for rifle swings slowly back in the direction of the figures who just pulled off the Houdini parlor trick. Of course, the armed man doesn't seem nearly as amused as he would have been watching the real Houdini. Without taking his eyes off of the newly and instantaneously emptied area of forest, a question is clearly directed at the incoming trapper. The polite tone and use of grammar usually heard in the city are gone, replace by a direct question that is not threatening, but definitely invites an answer. A simple and brief, "What are you hunting?"

Thane watches the figures just melt from sight, growling as they do so. He glances to the trapper, then moves to the location where he last observed the figure drop from sight, moving slowly and cautiously, his weapon and eyes seeming locked. When one moves, the other follows just a split second behind. He takes small steps when in the dark forest, although the forest isn't so dark to him. He stops a few yards into the woods, looking back at the group and then back toward the direction of his quarry. He maintains his position, thinking better of chasing off after something obviously more at home in the woods then the Operator is.

Summer Riddle nickers softly as the moment of tension seems to drain away likely bringing a smile to Sage's lips inside her helmet. She reaches out her hand to lightly pet her horse for the courage it displayed. She glances to Erica as the other woman approaches, "I came to see if I'd be able to help... and hopefully there is a safe place to put my horse as well."

"I'ma huntin deer, what's it to you?" The trapper retorts to Gabriel and drags the fresh doe carcass out from the bush. "Aint no trail led you here, no ones been here but me for some months. I think I'd know if some cattle thieves traipsed through the muck of a swamp and right on by my blind." Over to the woods Libre disaapears just a suddenly as the shadowy figures did..

Erica takes notice of Libre's sudden dissaperance. "Huh that is odd." She mentions to Sage as she starts moving quickly towards where Libre vanished. "I don't know what you want to do with your horse Sage." She calls out over her shoulder.

Jackson looks up as Libre goes tearing past him, shaking his head and muttering something about leaping off bridges head first, when his head snaps up and his fiery green gaze is on his surroundings. Benefits of being gifted. "Eyes out! Incoming!" He shouts out loud, and he concentrates carefully, a slightly shimmering sphere of mental energy snapping into place around him.

Daeni quickens her pace through the treeline with the shouted warning. If whatever awaits now chooses to come into the open, it is possible she can move to the flank, or otherwise cut them off. If nothing else, their movement may make her more easily able to locate them. The warning is also cause enough for her blades to be drawn.

Libre drops from view with a, "Whaaaaa *thud* Ouch. What the hell man." Raising from his questionably graceful landing he peers down the tunnel while checking that his pistol wasn't damaged in the fall. Libre calls up to the others with, "Watch that first step, it sucks real bad."

Thane, upon hearing the warning, moves to available cover and crouches, the laser rifle firmly in the pocket of his shoulder. He glances left, right, and up, looking for any source of danger. He cautiously picks his way forward toward where the figure disappeared, carefully watching his footing, relying on his superior night vision to navigate through the woods. He stops another ten paces from his original position, taking stock of what the others are doing before preceeding any further.

Gabriel moves off, his footing secured with each step yet remaining light and quick, nearly floating over the deepest underbrush as if he's spent a lot of time in places like this. However, the occasional unfortunate clatter of armor would seem to indicate that while he might have spent a lot of time in places like this, it wasn't done wearing armor. The muzzle of the rifle is taken off of the trapper, who seems to be genuinely innocuous, but after hearing Jackson's cry of warning, he does what any moderately intelligent person would do - he goes to ground. Legs spread in a steady 30 degree angle behind him, rifle lined up with his right leg, stomach on the ground, chest raised enough to caress the stock back into his shoulder. Yes, he's done this before. His helmet scans the trees for whatever the alarm was sounded for.

With a sigh, Sage nods to Erica's comment about not being sure about what to do with the horse. "In that case, I'll see what I can find out there since I can travel faster than any of you currently." She decides, "Channel 243.1 for anything I find." She adds before turning her horse and urging it into motion. "Ya, Summer!" She calls as she and the horse quickly disappear into the trees.

The woodsman humphs at his unexpected and apparently disorganized guests, going about his business and dragging his carcasss to the blind. That is until a large beefy hand springs from the ground to grap the deer and tear it from him. With what must be notable strenth the carcass us pulled into the earth, a small hole left in its wake. You paged Jackson with 'one moment'

Erica calls out over the radio channel that Sage gave. "Alright. I will keep you updated on what happens." She quickly hurries over to where Libre disappeared with her rifle held to her shoulder. She pauses for a moment as she watches a hand emerge from the earth and drag the deeer away. "Yah that has been a problem lately." She calls out to the hunter.

Jackson freezes, unwilling to dismiss his protective shield should there be an actual threat. He saw the hand take the carcass away, but then Libre fell into a hole somewhere ahead so either of the two caused his senses to go haywire. So he does nothing, waiting to see what happens, safe behind his shield should things hit the fan.

"Hole! Flee like... bunny." Daeni announces this, with the pause to pull the last word from her vocabulary, as she reaches the opening and looks down at Libre. As an alternative, the theft of carcass suggests those underground may be more fight than flight. "Come down." Daeni gives Libre this brief warning before she steps into the hole to drop below. The prey is down there.

Libre nocks as much dirt from himself as he can with his free left hand. "Anyone up there have some rope, or a ladder, or a flashlight?" He moves aside to give Daeni plenty of room for her landing. "Hey, Daeni, I can't see down that tunnel. You see anything?"

Gabriel, spotting the hand rising from the earth utters a possible unnecessary phrase: "Fuck, it's the god damn creature with the atom brain." If this actually references anything that would give it any meaning, it's most likely lost on anyone but himself. He jumps into a military-style position of a low running-crouch, a compromise between speed of movement and concealment from at least two unknown possible hostiles. The armored legs take him to within distance of the rising hand area that a deaf, dumb and blind man with an IQ of 7, and a completely quadriplegic could still shoot and hit what he wanted. As someone trained in that kind of thing, it's even better. As calm as he normally seems to be, he does sound a tiny bit rattled as he asks, "What the fuck was that thing?"

Thane pushes forward to the area where he last saw the figure disappear at, using the trees for cover as he approaches. He takes a good look around, crouching on the ground to make himself less of a target, the battered but completely functional laser rifle in a low ready mode. He hears Daeni and nods, "Tunnel dwelling folk, I'd reckon. Dangerous foes that makes for." Thane goes searching for the hole used by the second foe, his face beneath the faceplate hidden from view in the shadow of the trees.

The scene is now a bit divided. Two people are down beneath the surface with theirs foes and the rest remain above grounbd for the moment. The trapper is sending fould curses down the hole that claimed his deer before looking accusingly at the others. "What in the hells have ye brought to my blind?" He asks, very out put. In the tunnel the passage looms darkly ahead for libre and Daeni.

Erica switches over to night vision optics and looks down the tunnel that Libre is talking about. She takes a few steps down the tunnel with her rifle raised to her shoulder. She walks with caution as she starts to explore the tunnel. "Hard to clear out tunnels." She murmurs into her radio.

Jackson scowls at his inability to connect the appearance of the monsterous hand to anything he's seen or been told of before. But.. He does dissipate his shield and move quickly to the hole where Libre fell. "Watch out below!" He calls softly before jumping down beside his companion. He looks around carefully in what limited light is streaming in through the hole.

Erica switches over to night vision optics and starts climbing down the hole to the bottom. She looks over her shoulder and looks down the tunnel that Libre is talking about. Once reaching the bottom she takes a few steps down the tunnel with her rifle raised to her shoulder. She walks with caution as she starts to explore the tunnel. "Hard to clear out tunnels." She murmurs into her radio.

The ground cllapses beneath Dani to swallow her into a deep barbed pit trap.. Luckily her armro fends of the very sharp barbs.

Libre allows Erica to move past him in the tunnel. He appears less eager to run here in the dark. "I'll guard the rear for a bit." He starts fiddling with the switches on his armor to see if there might be a setting that helps in the dark.

Gabriel moves toward the men and women at the tunnel, but keeping distance and feeling out the ground with each step. Carefully, but quickly. His helmet remains in constant slow motion as the dappling of sunlight through the trees plays upon his armor. He acknowledges one man with a simple, "Just like Iwo Jima," and a nod at Libre. He then rotates his head toward the barbed pit, and with a slightly raised voice, asks, "Daeni? You need a hand?" If anyone might care to listen closely enough, it could seem as if he is most familiar with the elf.

Thane looks down at the hole in the ground. "Anyone have a rope?" the dwarf asks, "I could jump down there, but I might break a few bones in the process..." He looks to the others, then shrugs, slinging his weapon and beginning his climb down the hole. His eyes immediately adjust to the darkness, and being a underground sort himself, he finds the small confines very comforting.

Erica walks over to the edge of the pit that Daeni fell down. She looks down to see if Daeni needs any help. At the sight of the approaching deer she raises up the barrel of her laser rifle at the deer. She zooms in on the deer with her optics to try to determine what she can about the deer.

Jackson isn't taking any chances either, though small and outdated, he pulls his fathers stolen pistol from it's holster on his hip and levels it at the approaching beastie. Every logical bone in his body is screaming at him to run, or shoot. Deer should not be underground, or approaching people in said tunnels.

Daeni looses a elven explicative when she loses the ground beneath her feet. After deflecting off the points at the bottom, it is her pride that is damaged more than her person. She regains her feet and kicks at a few of the spikes in annoyance before looking upwards to the tunnel level. Noting the distance, she backs to one wall in order to get as much run-up as possible before leaping upward. If not enough to reach the tunnel, Daeni hopes to start her climb nearer her goal, at the least.

Libre calls out to Thane, "That's what I said." He then moves to stretch out his left hand to help up his fallen comrade. His attention is pulled away by the deer to which he calls out, "I call bullshit!" Taking quick aim, he's determined to be preemptive if the shot is clear.

Gabriel seems to be somewhat taken aback when the shot is fired. Not actually disturbed, but mildly surprised. Two people in a tunnel in the middle of the woods, a trap just like he's made before catching someone else, a subterranean food-source, and someone taking a wildly errant pot-shot at it. Though experienced in the ways of the world, Gabriel isn't very experienced in the ways of *this* world, and thus takes a more passive defensive stance, allowing others to handle the deer and tunnel for the moment. They clearly remain at the forefront of his mind, judging by where his rifle remains pointed, but he's obviously looking back to see where those other, rather more disturbing apparitions have gone. He still manages to get out a louder, more directly emphasized in a general sense, "Anyone need help?"

Thane begins to hand and hand it down the hole, picking his foot and hand holds. Suddenly, the soft earth gives way and the dwarf tumbles down, landing hard on the floor of the tunnel with a WHOOOMP. He rights himself up, "Oi...that'll be a big ass bruise in the morning..." He winces as he moves his leg, "Yep. Going to be a rough day." He disentangles the L-20 pulse rifle from his armor and accessories, and then tentatively stands. He looks around, his nightvision having no problems being able to see in the confines of the tunnel. He calls over his radio, "I'm at the bottom of a hole...in a tunnel." He listens intently for sounds in the tunnel, crouching down on one knee.

As things stand Gabriel is the only one still on the surface. Everyone else has ventured into the tunnels in one form or another. Mostly from the one side. Though Thane deemed it clever to try flanking. Apparently the tunnels are trapped, as Daeni discovered not too far in. And now a Deer is scwoling at them from the other side of the trap. unusual for a deer to scowl after being shot at..

Feeling somewhat out-in-the-open up on the surface, with everyone else playing "tunnel rat" like those dam Japs who dug in like ticks on worthless Pacific Islands, Gabriel turns to scan the surroundings. Apparently, he decides that the tactical situation has changed beyond his control, so as is now instinct, he adapts to the situation. He taps a gauntleted hand against a metal portion of the rifle's receiver, just loud enough to hopefully get the attention of his erstwhile companions, then announces, "I'll cover the rear. Tail-end Charlie."

"No." It is not a curt answer to Gabriel's offer of aid, but Daeni declines, nonetheless. Her single leap is enough to return her to the level of the tunnel, and on the far side. This is right in the midst of the ...scowling deer? When in doubt, kill it. It is likely a threat, and, if not, the villagers may be in need of food. It is also in the way, which is nearly enough reason for the thrusts of blades that follow.

The blades penetrate quite deeply into the deer. And the fact it is only deeply is probably enough to give things away. None the less the deer hightails it out of there down the tunnel, grey blood dripping in its trail.

Jackson lowers his weapon when he see's the deer flee back down the tunnel. "Ok.. so.. correct me if I'm wrong, but the very dead deer that we saw get sucked down the hideyhole over there.. Now same said deer... is aparently alive and well and mean. And ran away down the creepy tunnel after you stabbed the thing. Am I right?" He asks, trying very hard to keep his calm, and think about this calmly.

Thane begins to move down the tunnel slowly, the weapon firmly planted in the pocket of his shoulder, the barell up and down range, and his finger indexed on the trigger guard. He is relatively unaffected by the darkness of the tunnels, as his people have lived and worked in tunnels since time eternal. He takes a deep breath to relax himself as the spiders of nervousness once again begin to crawl along his back as he begins to sweat lightly, even within the cool confines of the EVA armor. He looks up the tunnel, then back, moving along the wall a few inches out.

Erica holds her position as the Deer runs off. "Yeah Jackson, this is getting somewhat creepy."

Libre continues his steak of scaring things by shooting in their general direction without actually causing a singe. "I knew it!", He yells as the deer starts to retreat further down the tunnel. He moves to the side to try to avoid scorching Daeni and squeezes off another shot.

In Thanes tunnel a huge hulking humanoid rushes at him, aiming to grab hold of the dwarf..

For someone out of his element, Gabriel is clearly also within his element - and obvious contradiction in terms, but there it is, laid out for all to see. Perhaps somewhat unusually, the man swings the mint-condition wooden-stocked rifle back over his left shoulder, and swings the other rifle, the larger one which he doesn't seem to grasp with the same feel of perfection. Even as the man covering the rear of the makeshift platoon, it was impossible to miss a dear being viciously sliced by two swords and yet still being able to run off alive. At this point though, no questions are asked. When a hulking beast out of a bad Warner-Bros. science fiction flick attacks someone, you try to kill it. The L-20 is raised, and he takes a shot.

For someone out of his element, Gabriel is clearly also within his element - and obvious contradiction in terms, but there it is, laid out for all to see. The wooden-stocked rifle remains at his shoulder, but at the sounds of gunfire and a faint slashing and galloping, he clearly calls down, "What the hell's going on down there?!" Then tacks on a possibly unnecessary, "Surface is secure."

Daeni is uncetrain if it is the same deer, but she is uncertain about many things, where it is concerned. "May be. Strange blood, like ones grab Thane." That is the extent of her knowledge on the topic, but she moves rapidly after the fleeing creature, regardless. "Not let escape!" Whether that is a directive to others or an explanation of her own actions is left for interperetation.

What looked to only be a stray root a full run was acutally a trip wire.. Its Release be Daeni causing a spiked wall to slam down in her face. The Deer continues down the passage before disappearing around a corner.

Jackson swears explosivly and impressively as he thinks harder on just what they are dealing with. "It's a fucking Dybbuk.. I'd lay any odds on it. The deer explains it. Skipping the history lesson.. It's a demon, it hates sunlight and bright lights, hence the tunnels.. it hurts the thing, cold and fire are useless, and it can physically possess the recently dead, like that deer And they are tough as hell!! We need light and lots of it!" He calls out, hoping SOMEONE will know something about what he's talking about. After Daeni's pit he starts moving carefully farther into the tunnel towards the others, watching for traps and triggers.

As the dwarf moves along the tunnel, the calm of the darkness is shredded by an angry, hulking humanoid creature dead set on ripping Thane from limb to limb. Thane catches the movement from a side passage, and pivots on his right foot, the weapon already brought to bear. He depresses the trigger as the electronic sound generator on the laser fires, giving sound to the lights. A pulse of light erupts from the business end of the weapon, and the beams of supercoherent light tears into the creature with a hiss of vaporized skin and the smell of burning thing-meat. Thane yells, "Under attack" over the radio as he prepares to fire at the target again, now much too close for comfort.

Libre misses again and curses, "Damn venison steak, stand still!" He makes a running jump to clear the pit that Daeni had fallen in previously. He stops at Daeni where the spike wall has just struck her. "Are you ok"

"I have some flash grenades, But i'm afraid ther could be a debilitating to us as them." Erica explains, pulling one for her belt to show Jackson.

Close for comfort is an understatement.. The beast has Thane is its clutches. Though the shot was not enjoyable. With a mighty bellow that echoes through the tunnels It swings Thane into the wall in a effort to disarm.

"Somebody talk to me!" comes what is eventually a hopeful demand. Even a confident man can feel out of place in a strange world, with hulking objects fading in and out of site, gunfire in a tunnel that opened up below an innocent person. Yet as a man who has obviously dropped into a well-oiled roll, he retains his defensive position at the opening to the trench, head on a swivel. But just to emphasize - if nothing else that he's still there - he calls out, "Anyone need backup?!"

There is a growl from Daeni's face, which is now sandwiched between the spiked wall and the tunnel. It is not pained, but pissed, and grows louder. She releases her swords just long enough to grab hold and tear the offending contraption from its moorings, in pieces works just as well. "Many traps here." Daeni regains her blades and resumes her chase after stating the obvious.

In her pursuit Daeni will encounter the body of the dead deer..

Jackson is racking his not inconsiderable brains trying to come up with an answer to thier predicament. With nothing coming to him immediatly, he charges down the tunnel, trying to find Thane, trying to buy the dwarf some time to get a bit of distance and hurt the thing more.

Thane finds himself in quite the predicament as the creature snatches him and uses him like a club, "Ack....didn't your momma teach you any manners?" He retains the weapon, however, and attempts to squeeze the trigger in an effort to get the hulking brute off him.

Libre calls back in response to Gabriel, "We have a lot of traps down here." He follows Daeni quickly down the tunnel after the false deer. He stops short when he arrives at the body of the once again dead deer. "I guess you got it after all. Just took it a few seconds to bleed out." He gives the deer a couple quick pokes with his toe to asure himself that it isn't going to pop up again.

The moster or 'dybbuk' as Jackson called it is traipsing down the passage swinging and armored and armed dwarf to a frow.. Another slam into the wall in an attempt to relieve the dwarf of his weapon.

Gabriel takes one look around the strange clearing once more, utters a guttural "coorvah!" under his breath, then he turns toward the opening to the tunnel, leaving his post. Based on his armored body motions alone, this is an action far beyond his better judgment. The rifle is once more slung over his shoulder, secured, and he takes a gentle step into the open tunnel, wishing for a good jump and a soft landing.

Daeni scowls at the deer carcass and continues on. The explanation that Jackson seems entirely plausible, but she does not have a supply of light. If it was the deer, or the arms below, she knows that it bleeds, however. Her pace increases down the tunnel to a spry clip, only mildly wary of further traps. She appears to locate them, regardless, and they have only annoyed, so far. Whether this brings her closer to Thane and his struggle remains to be seen.

Jackson is moving faster than probably adviseable, running down the tunnel as best he can towards Thane's fight, dragging Erica along with. "I have an Idea to buy us some time.. only about ten minutes unless it digs it way out. When I shout now.. throw two Flash bangs at the demon, at it's chest, I want them to land at it's feet. Make sure to prime them. I'll trap it in with the grenades, and we can breath a bit." He tells her before reaching Daeni and see's a second Dybbuk lash out at her. "Fuck!!" He screams out, frustrated at the monsters in the dark and his waning powers, and his inability to do anything to help. A colorful explosion of expletives and foul curses spews forth from his lips and he stops running to step in close to Daeni's Dybbuk. A single raised hand and Jackson unleashed the fury of the heavens at the things face in the form of a bolt of lightning generated by his mind.

Thane exhales sharply as he's once again slammed into the soft earth tunnels, "Damn you..." He still manages to hold on to the laser rifle like it was a tankard of rare dwarven ale. He is being thrashed about like a miller felling wheat as he pulls the trigger one last final time, hoping that the focused beams hit their mark at the same time saying over the internal radio communicator "I'm in a wee spot *OOOOF* of trouble here folks."

Libre steps over the corpse and ventures down the dark and deadly burrow. He staying a few steps behind Daeni as she seems the better trap locator, or at least more experienced. Upon seeing Daeni take a shot as she turns the corner her gets ready to Zap himself a critter. As he makes the corner he aims and fires again, hoping for better results than before.

The creature wielding the legendary weapon Thane continues to demonstrate its prowess with the dwarf by oblitrating another wall in attempt to disarm. The crash can be clearly heard by the others, must be just around the corner now.

Finally down in the trenches with everyone else, and clearly hoping that he hasn't made a mistake by going against everything that he'd been trained to do, Gabriel unslings the second-hand (at best) L-20 from over his shoulder and raises it to his shoulder in a smooth manner that does at least befit some of what he spent a significant portion of his life doing. Seeing the dwarf being tossed around just like Frankenstein tossed around villagers in that '50s flick, his target is chosen. A trigger is expertly caressed, and three bolts of energy rip out of the muzzle, more quietly than he would have expected. There is no more specific aim than, "Hit that big thing."

Daeni loses a sizable chunk of hide from the creature's claws. The hide is that of her armor, rather than her own, but this is no consolation. She retaliates at the beast with quick movements and reciprocated viciousness.

Jackson after delivering his electrical punch to Daeni's demon, and seeing Libre join the fray, Jackson takes off further down the tunnel, heading for Thane. He can hear the ruckus clearly, and he charges in following Gabriel with another blast at his fingertips, this one packing a harder punch than last time.

Daeni swings at the beast but in her frustration is very far off, lodging the blades into the thick clay walls. Luckily for her the creature is stunned and does not get ot retaliate while she is defenceless.

Thane gets smashed another time against the wall, the focused beams of light missing their mark. "Fuck...." he growls, taking the handle of the laser rifle with both hands, he swings it like a club repeatedly toward the face of the creature throwing him about like a rag doll, "Get off me, bitch" he snarls, "And stop bouncin' me off tha walls!"

The monster lashing out with Thane roars in anger as someone shoots it in the back. Immediatly it turns and charges on Gabriel, bringing Thane charshing down..

Gabriel is slammed by the creature that yes, verily towers above him, but to his credit recovers quickly. He pushes back just enough to keep the weapon trained on the beast and yanks back on the trigger again. It may speak well to his training however, that despite being bashed by something that somewhat resembles the Swamp Monster from the Silver Screen, he is otherwise unfazed.

Defenseless and Daeni rarely coincide. Her buried blades are abandoned in favor of weapons both at the ready and not stuck. In this case they are the claws tied into the vambrances of her armor. If they were good enough for their original owner, they are enough for Daeni.

Jackson growls, watching Gabriel getting pummeled by the Thanish hammer, and he pulls his little pistol out and raises his hand at the demon once more. His thoughts supercharge the air and another flash of lightning lashes out at the thing, hopefully around the head area. The pistol isn't fired, just held in reserve. Another blow from Daeni burries into the ghouls gut and this time it will not recover as she seems to pull something vital back out. It crumpes to the floor quite dead.

Thane goes crashing into Gabriel, the impact jarring him through the cushioning of the EBA, before being snatched back like a whip for another strike. "Sorry..." Thane manages to call out to Gabriel after being lifted off, and then he sets to firing at the hulking creature again, shouting curses about it soiled heritage and its lack of drinking prowess in his native tongue, while pulling the trigger on the L-20 once again, hoping to score a hit.

The one creature dead Erica dashes down around the croner to fire at the next.

Libre grimaces inside his helmet. "Sorry D.", He shouts by way of apology. After watching Daeni pull bits and pieces out of the monster he begins running further down the tunnel toward the sounds of more fighting. As this monster comes into view, Libre skids to a halt and fires into its supernatural form.

The Second Dybbuk has a very large hole blown in it by Erica, it drops Thane to the ground before falling itself.

Thane gets to his feet, woozy from being thrashed around. He saw the shot, however, hit Gabriel and he runs to the man's aid, "Ah shit...shave me beard and call me a gnome. I'm sorry Gabriel..."

Daeni takes the time to extract her swords from the tunnel wall and move ahead. Once it is apparent that the other beast is felled, and no others rise to challenge them, the blades are wiped on her thigh before sheathed. "Not tough." She glances to the gouges in her armor that might argue otherwise before her eyes lower to the one she felled. "Still good prey." It is grabbed and hoisted over her shoulder, tunnel permitting, or dragged, if not. She is not about to leave without a prize.

Jackson stands from his breif examination of Gabriel, seeing that he and Than are both relativly fine. Turning he heads back the way he came, to the big hole where everyone jump, or fell in. Once there he tries to climb out by hand, as his mental gifts are temporarily exhausted.

Jackson growls at himself and tries oonce more to climb of the tunnel, trying the opposite wall this time Jackson once more falls to the ground, annoyed at himself. "This is so much easier when I can fly... damn demons,," He gets up and tries once again. Jackson sits down and rests after his repeated failures to climb out. "Damned Dybbuks.. I need my powers.."

With her scouting complete, Sage and Summer Riddle return to scene where people had been fighting. "By the looks of it, there isn't anything else out there." She comments, "Anyone need help here?" She ask as she slow walks the horse back towards where the holes have been discovered.

Jackson looks up at Sages voice, knowing it from previous encounters. "As a matter of fact yes we do please.. can you toss some ropes down here? Preferebly connected to a tree or something up there. Please?"

A gauntleted hand is raised, though a pulse rifle remains ready in the other arm, and the man (person?) wearing the suit calls out in a voice with a very unique and funny tang, with long vowels and clipped consonants, basically a drawl, "Any assistance that you can give, miss, would be appreciated. I don't have anywhere that I need to be, but wherever it is that I *don't* need to be, it's definitely here."

Daeni looks over to the woman on the horse. "Some fall, not get up. Need rope," her eyes shift past to the woodline, "or small tree." One with sturdy enough branches could serve as a modest pole ladder. Another viable option is made to those below, with some bemusement, "Good time learn to climb."

Jackson hears Daeni above, and frowns. "Yeah.. thanks.. Normally I don't need to.." He calls up, seriously peeved that he can't lift himself out of a simple dirt hole.

The dwarf sits heavily, next to the fallen creature that he carried over to the hole. He looks down at it, sighing, as he breaks the seal on his Carapace armor helmet, "Wow...these things stink worse than trolls do." He coughs some, then rubs his temples, "Yeah. I'm going to have a splitting headache for a few days." He shoots a dark look over to the fallen creature, then takes a long pull off his canteen, leaning back against the cool wall of the tunnel.

A soft chuckle comes as Sage hears the situation, "Glad I bought some then. At least I'll have something useful to do." She comments before getting off her horse to take out the rope from one of her saddle bags. A quick glance around is enough to let her guess at the strongest tree nearby. She quickly wanders over to it to tie it snuggly around the tree. She makes sure the knot will hold before she makes a loop on the other end in case the others don't know how to tie a proper knot. Then she tosses the length down into the hole. "You can put it around your waist and tighten as needed."

Jackson stands again, and takes the rope. "Thanks!!" He calls up, and tries his luck at climbing out this way. Jackson heaves and hauls and puffs his skinny arse up that 20 feet of rope and rolls onto the sunny ground on the surface once he's away from the hole. "Tha... Thank you.." He puffs, not having to work that hard in a long time."

The rather short gentleman named Gabriel reaches up as if to lift off helmet, but then thinks better of it and leaves it in place. In stead, from his speakers, and still in that odd twang, "I haven't kill anything in anger for..." there's a momentary pause, then, ".. five weeks, three days, and about four hours." Quite specific for someone who didn't seam comfortable with a pulse rifle. Or two huge hulking swamp monsters, for that matter.

Thane watches Jackson climb the rope with amused interest, then says, "We dwarves aren't made to climb. Legs to short, arms too short. Alas...what are you going to do?"

"Let me know if anyone needs some tending to as well." Sage comments, "I can heal up pretty much anything." She adds before nodding to the man as he makes it up the rope. "Glad to see you up here..." She says with a little amusement as the man opts for climbing instead of being hauled down. The comments from the other left in the hole leads Sage to glance down. "Put the loop around your waist and tug on the length of rope until its nice and snug then."

Jackson lays on his back, and calls down to Thane. "I'll throw the rope down and we can tie it to a truck or something.. haul you out, if need be"

"Hold rope, pull you out." Daeni offers this to Thane after shaking her head at the huffing Jackson. To the latter, she adds, "Too lazy, need move more." When it comes to humans and dwarves, and bias Daeni seems to hold may be the reverse of what some might assume.

Thane nods heartily, "I'm short and stocky, but don't weigh a whole lot either. Not enough ale...that comes in later life." He stands up, "You want to take Stinky down here up first?"

Jackson glares at Daeni at her comment, catching his breath slowly. "Yeah.. wait til I get my powers back and see who needs to move more.." He mutters at her. "Yeah! Tie it up.." He calls down. Stinky?" Sage asks before shaking her head, figuring she's likely to find out soon enough. "Guess we can have my horse help out if its heavy." She comments before making some clicking noises with her tongue to draw her horse closer to where she has the rope tied up.

"I admit that I'm pretty new here. In fact, about five weeks, three days, and four hours, but is this kind of thing normal outside the city? I've been catching my share of game, but I've never had a deer walk up to me, spit in my face, kick me in the balls and walk away laughing." He glances around at the other men, and seeing them attempting to get out of the damn hole, appears to decide that perhaps this reminiscing should best be left for later. The rifle is finally slung over his back, and he makes his way clearly to the relate "open are" beneath the vertical entrance.

Thane begins to loop the rope around the creature to the best of his ability, tying it in several knots. He gives a few tugs on the rope, "OK...he's ready to be brought up" he yells up to those above. He steps back, waiting for them to get the horse situated and to begin pulling the carcass of the dead thing out of the hole. Jackson nods to Sage. "Dybbuk demons, two of them. She brought one up, Thane has the other." He tells the woman, motioning back at Daeni. Untying the rope from the tree, then onto the horses saddle. " All yours."

"Sorry I missed all the fun." Sage says in a humourous tone when she begins to hear of the oddities encountered. "And, you'll get used to wierd things happening... since they keep coming." She moves to grab the lead on her horse. "Come on, Summer, let's get to work." She says softly before urging the horse forward in an easy walk to being hoisting the 'cargo' up.

Poor Gabriel. So well trained, so confident, so intelligent, and yet so still innocent to the ways of the world. As he watches the creatures being thrown and dragged out, and the various "creatures" whom he has at least temporarily befriended, and not just that, but the things that they're doing... well it does seem to be just a little much at the moment. In the end, his helmet is finally removed from his head with a mild sucking sound, and hooked within a small loop at his waist. By the look on his face, the fresh air is doing him well. Finally managing to come back to his full senses, his face is set into all-business again, and he asks a pleasantly martial, "What can I do to help?"

Daeni begins to pivot towards the catch she slew and retrieved, but the turn halts abruptly at Jackson and his muttering. "You ...challenge? Not smart. Not hunter, not get out hole self..." Her eyes lower as she surveys hims with narrowed eyes. "You lose." She resumes her rotation and walks to the corpse to throw it over her shoulder. Daeni recalls the return path well enough and begins to walk.

Once the corpse is hauled out, Sage brings Summer Riddle to a stop and murmurs praise before offering a quick treat. Then she walks the horse back towards the hole for the next bit thing to come up from the hole. The rope being returned to the depths during the process. "Next." She says simply.

Jackson turns to offer a glare at Daeni, but he saw her blades work and he knows he's outmatched. At least until his powers return, but until then, he's just a medic and not a very good one either.

Thane loops the rope around his waist, picking up his helmet and his pulse rifle. He gives the line a couple of tugs, "On rope! Lift away!" He says, ready to be taken to the surface again. Gabriel looks at the two other men after the riding woman's inquisitive statement. The still armored hands gentle gesture upward and around. "You guys go up. I'll cover your back." That's it. Crisp and clean.

Not being sure how heavy the next item is, Sage clicks Summer back into motion. She takes it slow and easy this time since its a live person that needs a bit gentler of a ride up. Once the dwarf is up, she'll repeat the process of returning the horse back towards the hole and tossing the rope down again.

Jackson watches this for a while, then starts to his feet again, and starts the long walk back to Laramy, walking slowly and carefully to avoid any pitfalls

Gabriel seems a tad bit disconcerted at the way everyone is just dissolving away. There was a battle. There should be a review of tactics. Things that went right, things that were wrong, things that were total fuck-ups. You'd need to be *very* close to him, but if you were, you'd say in his eyes, "This damn sure ain't the Corps."

Once she's adjusted the loop after Thane's been brought up, Sage tosses the rope down into the hole once more. "Next." She says simply, "Anyone else left down there?" She asks simply, not having a good head count now that people have been wandering off.

Gabriel might not seem to know how to climb, but he makes a damn fine knot. The rope is looped around his waist, and a secure line around his shoulder to keep him vertical. He thumps on the wall with his fast (as if that could be heard) and calls out, "Ready to go!"

Gabriel assists the horse (if it needed assistance) by grabbing a few handholds on the finally horizontal surface and pulling himself the rest of the way up. Everyone can climb a little. When he finally reaches a good and stable position he raises himself to his knees, unties the complicated knot, and offers a friendly wave to the mounted woman. The military efficiency is fading out of his voice, and the casual drawl creeping back. "Thank you, miss. Only done that once before, and it was with three goats. New time for everything, right?"

Thane shoulders the L-20 pulse rifle on his shoulder, "OK. I'm going to run back and grab the Diplo, and bring it back over here to load up the beast. Anyone who didn't have a ride out here can ride with me. Lots of room."

By mid afternoon the party returns to the farming village of Laramy corpses in tow. They do get a warm welcome from the results, the first so far. But some speculation arises. "While we believe these creatures being in the area were no coincidence we do not believe they were the true cause of the problem. But more likely minions of the main force. What would such creatures want with organs after all. None the less you've struck a blow to the enemy and we will compensate your losses. But as we do not have much to hand out the true reward must be reserved for the ones who deal with the true cause."