Aug 30 07:44:35 109 PA - Tools to Laramy

From Chronicles

Aug 30 07:44:35 109 PA.

CITY GATES

The sun will rise in about half an hour, exposing CS Missouri to the warming rays of late August. A light drizzle falls from gentle clouds floating across the sky on their way out of the northwest. Here by the city gates, normal vehicular and pedestrian traffic hasn't stopped, and people continue to flock both in and out, bringing goods to market or skipping out with a good bargain - or so they hope. Off to the east side of this mayhem are four horse-drawn carts. Genuine wooden carts, with wooden sides and wooden-spoke wheels. Two horses apiece tied up, and it would appear that each of these odd bits of transportation has a single driver at the reins. All four are filled with mountainous piles of various metal parts, from hammers and nails to a few instances of armor plating and small knives. One might imagine that this mass would weigh down the carts, thus the need for multiple carts and multiple horses. Pavel is dressed in his armor, chain mail and all with weapons dangling, speaking to one of the men who at some short time in the future will be in the lead of the little caravan.

Alex descends on what would be a museum exhibit of the medieval in another time. But in today's reality it is actually a common practice. Not everyone can afford all the luxuries and curses of technology after all. Perhaps that is why the robot has agreed to attend, to afford some to a needing caravan.

Whitefeather meanwhile comes in simply walking, her soft moccasins pulled snugly onto her feet. Having made Pavel's acquaintance once before, she merely furnishes him with a nod, and a simple,"He yauh ho." With her usual unruffled demeanor, she takes a moment to lean against one wagon and streeeetch.

Sithik with reptilian companion in tow, comes from the direction of the wilderness to meet up with Pavel and his band of merry men. He gives a simple glance over the odd choice of travel, but pays it no mind as it was already explained. A slight bow of his head in greeting to everyone gathered. "Hello everyone."

Pavel never really knew exactly who to expect, so when people begin to gather near his little wooden caravan, it is with a big smile and open arms that he greets them. "Dobroye utro!" is his first call for a good morning. Then, as he does his best to begin to corral everyone - even a giant floating robot - he switches to American as best he can. "Szehnk fohr cohm hyehlp. Hohp noht trohbeyl, boot good be sehf, jess? Ahl rhehdy to goh? Noht be move fahst. Tvo dehs to gyeht to Lehramy. Ohkeh fohr ahl?"

Alex is corralled easily enough, inverting upside down to hover over the gathering group. As it does a technological lance can be seen in the grip of its humanoid arms. A long and very advanced design it looks to be a capable ranged and melee weapon.

Whitefeather directs at Pavel (in Euro as usual), << It will be a nice diversion, to travel. I do not believe I have been to Laramy, yet, so the chance will be nice. >> She merely directs nod to Alex, and a slightly more familiar tip of her head to Sithik.

Sithik carries, slung over his shoulder, a Ja-12 rifle instead of the bow normally carried when in town. His bandoleer decked out with grenades to replace the pouches normally present, those have been moved to his utility belt. "I will travel as long as it takes," in answer to the smith's inquiry. "I will also walk ahead by fifty yards in hopes to avoid any ambush." The reptilian predator following the hunter sniffs at the horses hooked to the carts, a quick snap of the hunter's fingers brings it back to his side.

Rasputin comes walking out up from the south. He is dressed in his usual outing gear. A set of knock-off NG Explorer, his helmet slug on his side for now. A few pistols in holsters, brace of knives and a shotgun in a scabbard on his back. He hails Pavel and in Russian says, "Morning to you Pavel my friend. We be going to deliver goods today, yes?"

<< Yes! >> Pavel replies happily in Russian. << Good animals, indeed. >> But, to be fair to everyone else, he does his best to stick to the common American tongue. "Mahny szehnk fohr cohm. Soon seh taheem to go." He points to the top of the sun's disk peeking over the eastern horizon. A nod is given to Sithik's hunting desires, an appreciative nod. "Vahgohn ohnly vood. Noht tehk heet vyehry good. Vhaheetefeszehr? Rasputin? Cahn rhaheed een vahgohn, eef vahnt. Four to peek frohm. Alex? Could... mehbe steh een aehr? Look laheek vas veesz Rasputin?" As he does his best to organize some kind of security, he fades back behind a small stand of trees, to pull out an absolutely gargantuan horse of charcoal coloring. By tone of muscle and the way it carries itself, clearly bred and trained for battle. Only the barding is missing as he reaches to mount up. Upon seating himself, peeking over Alex's rim at standard height shouldn't be a problem. The men driving the wagons hop in as well, and Pavel then waits to see what everyone else calls for before giving the signal to move out.

"One orbiting scout for the journey, no problem," Alex confirms before flipping back over to rise back into the sky and keep altitude with the tree tops. A that height it starts slowly circling the gathered group and wagons to be protected from nearly two thousand feet away.

Whitefeather hops up into the air, drawing her bow as she does so,"I can sense danger from some distance. I will cry foul if and when it comes up." She alights on one of the lead wagon's sidewalls, using her gravity-defying abilities to keep her easily balanced, and then waits there,"Ready when you are."

Sithik eyes the dwarf entering the picture, someone he has not seen around till now, and by the accent is from similar lands as the big smith which he finds somewhat interesting. With everything looking to be getting ready to move out however, the hunter calls to his pet that seems curious of the robot, outstretched neck lifting its head up to try and get a sniff of the hovering machine, but as Alex flips back over, the creature scurries with a hiss over to its master's side as he starts heading down the road to take the lead point position. "Whitefeather, would you mind walking with me for a bit? I'd like to talk to you for a moment."

Rasputin nods to Pavel, and with a leap that is much more strength-based than grace, he climbs up to ride in one of the wagons. He puts down his rucksack, looks it over to make sure everything he needs is in it. He nods to himself puts on his helmet and finally sits down. After he is settled, he pulls the shotgun from his back, rests it in his lap to have it at the ready. He looks around the group and reaches up to grab something off of his chin, but then looks at his hand as if it does nothing against the face plate of the helmet. He shakes his head, and squaks the radio, in English, "Da, da. So, no dino's this time, da?" He chuckles as if not really asking the question and just leans back.

Pavel waits until everyone is set, though he gives Sithik an interested eye at his request. Not that it keeps him from whistling loudly, obviously the sign to move, as the horses start to tug and pull before the big wheels on the carts begin to rotate. It's going to be a slow trip, no one can discount that. As Alex zips off, he and his horse wait until the small train has almost passed before pulling near Rasputin, the shoulders of the horse almost at the same height as the wagon's own walls. << No dinosaurs, my friend. Hopefully, nothing at all. Just keeping these things in working order. I brought some tools along in case anything breaks down. >> With a pat on his animal's flanks, he introduces the gelding as, << Zoyenka's new friend, Blagodat. >> The little train needs to move with extreme care here where normal traffic is wild and fast.

Alex is not moving fast per se, but the wagons are slow in comparison. Thus the robot's orbit soon becomes a static fixture. The distant hum of its hover jets getting tuned out with other common background noises.

Whitefeather nods to that, and, lifting off from where she stands, she flies forward towards Sithik to join him on his walk."As you wish, brother. Aiya." To Pavel,"I will be close enough, if any danger approaches. Hopefully we will have peace though."

Sithik moves with a pace to gain ground, not quite running ahead, there is no danger just outside the city, but soon enough he and his hunting companion gets to their fifty yard lookout distance ahead of the wagon train. Once at this point, he keeps attentive for any potential dangers ahead as he chats with his fellow hunter, Whitefeather, "Have you heard of the mining town of Arcadia?"

Rasputin gets a little unsettled as the wagon begins to move. He isn't sure he likes this mode of transportation. He shrugs, readjusts and slightly twists his facing so he can keep an eye on the rear and left side of the wagon train. He start to hum to himself, then stops as he remembers he would be broadcasting that hum. He just sits there quietly, keeping an eye out for anything which is less than friendly.

Pavel kicks his horse into gear, moving on up to the head of the train - a distance that from back to front can't be much more than fifty or sixty yards. He speaks a few words to each driver as he goes, and looks back at the gates as they start to fade into the distance leaving the traffic behind. Not quickly, but wilderness travel is relatively thin in this part of the continent. "Ahlex? Cleer fohr moov? Seeszeek, ohkeh?" Sometimes little communicators come in handy, particularly with coif, helmet and gas mask not in place.

"Clear for now." Alex confirms immediately. "Will likely be so until we are well on our way, out of sight and immediate response from Kingsdale," the robot explains. One could imagine it knows much about such things, having to recover victims of accidents and bandits alike and bring their vehicles back to the city for repair.

Whitefeather floats alongside Sithik for the time being, eyes scanning the the woods with a sort of comfortable wariness, rather than on the man himself,"Heard of? Yes. Yes I have. But that's the extent of my knowledge."

Sithik responds over his own communicator, "All good so far." His pet having scurried off into the underbrush along the side of the road, not out of anything interesting, perhaps just a small lizard caught its attention, maybe just off to sniff around. "It has recently come under Coalition occupation, unfortunately through their own doing, not realizing the deal they had gotten themselves into. I traveled there just recently to see how things have been going for them, and now the whole village is on lockdown. No one in and no one out. To get to the point, I am looking to gather a group that will be capable of a harassment campaign in order to free these people from their bondage."

Rasputin doesn't have much to say, as he is perhaps the furthest behind the group. He doesn't expect anything really to happen here inside Kingsdale space. So he lets his mind wander around, thinking about this and that. Then he looks at his shotgun and grins, he checks the safe, then flips it on and off. Then goes back to just watching the rear and left side.

OLD HIGHWAY WILDERNESS

The train continues on, with Pavel checking in with all of his drivers. The giant warhorse is as graceful as its name suggests, nimbly pirouetting through the important set of people and wagons. There's a creak here and there, but all seems to be fine as far as his own senses go. Blagodat is allowed to roam backwards again, coming up against Rasputin's cart, leaving the two forward scouts to their own devices for the moment. In his native Russian, << It's a good trip, yes? Look around you, all sorts of tools that no one can live without. But - >> he points into the wagon's bed << - I wouldn't have chosen to sit so close to that saw blade. >> He chuckles, and then waves backwards. The city can no longer be seen, and traffic is extremely low, but there is still the occasional hover truck passing through. With the trees closing in on both sides, some people would be claustrophobic. That would be an extreme, but some might.

The trees close masking some of the ground from Alex's orbiting scans. But all of the air is open, a much preferred medium for many forces to exploit. Thus the robot keeps its altitude at the peaks of the foliage, leaving closer inspection to those traveling below.

Whitefeather nods slowly to Sithik,"Freedom and life. Two very important things. Aiya. This is the best kind of military action, next to none at all. There is no peaceful way of managing this, I would take it? Then your options are limited, but clear. Deny them advantage, strike where they are weak. Kill and melt away. It is unlikely you will easily cause enough attrition to make occupation impossible, so you must render them unwilling to continue. Have you considered simply covertly evacuating the town?"

Sithik remains vigilant and watchful as they travel the main road, even more so now that the traffic has slowed and the city has been left in the distance. The reptilian beast bounds across the road up ahead as it scampers along just off the road, seeming more at home in the underbrush than in the open of the road. "I have an idea on that as a matter of fact, I need to speak with a man called Leonard, I believe he will be capable of what is needed for that aspect. There is a special squad of bio-weaponry that I believe is what they are using to keep the villagers in line. I have not been able to pass the innermost security measures as of yet which will be required to organize any evacuation, and I am unclear as to what bio agent the Coalition has available to them. You mentioned you are in tune with spirits, what is your relationship with elementals?"

Rasputin looks up from his post as the large horse and rider slowly wanders his way. He smiles to Pavel and nods as the Russian words flow towards him, his speaks back in Russian, "So far, this is a very peaceful trip, yes. Maybe it will be like those first several days we went east, yes? How long do you expect it to take us to get to Laramy?"

• CRRRR-SNAP* *ERK* Perfect. The wagons haven't gone more than fifteen miles from the city, and their old wood is already beginning to show its wear. So hard in fact - perhaps it's just the unusually large weight - that the first wagon's front axle snaps in two, and the right rear wheel just spins its way off of the second. If there's something fortunate to take away, it's that the entire caravan was moving so slowly that there's no pile up and no dramatic loss of cargo onto the dirt. Mostly gear from the first wagon as it clunks its way awkwardly down, its driver cursing up a storm in what might be Spanish.

There's no chance for Pavel to happily answer Rasputin. His ears can't help but hear those noises, and Blagodat tensed before being shushed. With a sigh, the big Russian moves up and dismounts to try and take a look at the problem of the front axle, asking in his best languages for someone to try and put the wheel back on the second wagon.

This is why mechanics use metal, it is far less susceptible to wear from friction to moving parts. Alex quickly notices the issue as it brings his charge to a stop. Thus it stops its orbit to find some suitably large trees to make repairs...

Whitefeather tilts her head a little at the question,"You mean the spirits of earth, water, fire, and air? I suppose as well as might be expected. I am, myself, part of the spirits of the realms of earth, air, and even plants. Aiya. They will speak to me if they can be found. I do not know what they will say. I do not command them if that is what you ask. They are guides and to an extent, allies." She looks over her shoulder and calls back,"Aiya. Do you need help back there?"

Sithik turns back towards the wagon train, the loud snap of the axle and clang of displaced metal parts catching his attention even at fifty yards, "What happened?" he calls over his communicator, stopping his travel but remaining attentive to potential danger. To Whitefeather, not over the radio, while he awaits the status of the problem, "An ally is what I am looking for. My idea is a tunnel through the earth into the deepest part of their new mine. From there, I believe, we will be able to provide an escape."

Rasputin hops down from his perch, holsters the rifle on his back and goes scrambling down ditch to find the wheel. Over his radio he says over his radio, which is built into his helmet, "Da wheel came off, mink be gettink it." He fetches it, and while it is just about as tall as he is, he has it over his head carrying it by the spokes. For a little guy, he is fairly strong. As he marches through the brush he says on the radio, "Howink bad dis it Pavel? We stuck?"

Pavel grumbles something in Russian beneath his breath as Whitefeather asks if a broken axle and missing wheel is the kind of thing that needs help. He radios back to Sithik, "Cahrt brohk. Vood snahp, old vood ahnd hehvy cahrgo." Switching to Russian, << Rasputin, do you think you can put that wheel back on? The wheel isn't bad, it's this broken axle. >> After getting down on his knees and sticking his head beneath the front wagon and its snapped part, he looks up to Alex. "Eef Ahlehx cahn leeft, veel poot myehahl ohn, laheek... laheek, ah... -" he snaps his fingers as he searches for the word "- ah, oh, laheeke spleent. Fohr leg? Vould hohld to Lehramy." Knowing that his vocal communication with the giant floating robot is not the best, he pantomimes the motion of applying a splint to a broken leg.

"I can fix it in a few minutes, patience everyone. But as I’m no longer being your outward eyes I suggest most of you do that so that no one takes advantage of the situation," Alex points out as it cuts off the top of a dense hardwood tree nearby for a new axle. "How heavy you figure the wagon is Pavel?" it asks as it considers the rest of the tree for the next step.

Whitefeather nods to Sithik,"I will ask. But if you must dig, I wish to be present. The earth is often prone to collapse when her belly is hollowed out." She turns to fly back towards the wagon. Seeing Pavel stick his head beneath it, she moves forward, sets her legs and her hands after stowing her bow, to lift the end of the wagon up so it can be worked on. A slight grunt follows, as she pivots it on the back axle, allowing her to keep it up in the air,"Aiya. Here, my metal brother. Can you reach it now?"

Sithik responds over his communicator, "Alright, will keep watch until it can be fixed." And that he does, keeps his eyes open while the repairs are done. He does this by running over to a nearby tall tree along the side of the road, leaping upward to grab a hold of a low branch and swinging himself up into it. The branch, however is not made for gymnastics or acrobatics and breaks under the hunter's weight causing him to land on his back at the base of the tree. A thud and grunt are all he manages at them moment, but he is moving.

Rasputin moves the wheel up and sets it on the ground next to the wagon. He looks at the wheel, and the wagon and the axle. He shakes his head and says on the voice speaker as over the radio isn't really needed. "Net, net. Mink strong enough, but it just is too high and large for me to do it, especially without the axle working." He sighs, "How abouttink I keep watch with Sithik, you all fix. Mink height is a bit of disadvantage, da."

Pavel looks at the wagon, then to the giant floating lumberjack robot. "Perhahps szree-szouszahnt pounds, Alex? Ovehr vhol vahgon." Whitefeather receives a polite bit of gratitude as the broken axle is exposed. "Good hyehlp, jess. Szehnk joo." Then, back to the robot. "Ahr pooteeng nev ahexl? Veel veht fohr joo. Nov hyehlp Rasputin." He gets off of his knees and moves back to become the odd-couple with the dwarf. << If I can lift it up, can you slide it back on? I'll nail it in place to hold it there until we get to Laramy. >>

Underneath Alex a shower of sawdust bark and unneeded branches rains down as it machines the tree cut to desired dimensions. The most advanced portable mill on the planet perhaps. But not the largest. Still the new axle is ready quickly and the robot descends to where Whitefeather holds up the wagon to make the replacement.

Whitefeather is steady, without much in the way of wobbling as she holds up the wagon. But she doesn't do much else, as if she were concentrating. She /does/ however, sing something in her native language.

Sithik pushes the thick branch off of him and gets up on one knee for a moment before getting to his feet, even a man as tough as he is can get the wind knocked out of him from an unexpected fall, not to mention the branch falling on him to make matters worse. Once he catches his breath, he looks again for another tall tree being the last one was rotted too much to support weight, this time climbing more carefully for a better view down the road.

Rasputin watches the human monkey climb up the tree for a better vantage, he shakes his head and looks to the back. With a hop in his step, he moves to the rear of the convoy and takes up his position watching for anyone coming from behind of the wagon train as it is being repaired.

Pavel watches with some surprise as his friend hops off to the end of the train just as he bends down to lift the second wagon in order for the wheel to be slid back on. << Rasputin? Do you hear something? >> He allows a moment for a reply of danger before asking, << Um.. could you come and slide the wheel back on, so I can nail it in place? >> Déjà vu all over again.

Alex cuts the old axle away with inhuman precision before sliding the new one in place. Each wheel then mounted on the new axle securely to leave the wagon good as new. At with point the mecha nods to Whitefeather so she may let the wagon down.

Whitefeather will set the wagon down as soon as Alex gives her the go-ahead, then wipes her forehead. Seeing Pavel readying to do the same, she moves to help him lift the second wagon,"Do you wish assistance, brother?"

Sithik quickly climbs down from his perch and jogs back to the wagon train, "About three miles up there is a spot that would be a good ambush spot, I'd use the bottleneck if I were trying to take down a caravan. I suggest in two miles, Whitefeather, Alex and I should fly ahead to check it out a little closer, before the wagons can get in danger. We can radio back if all looks good."

Rasputin shakes his head, and mutters to himself. He comes back, and starts to manhandle the wheel off so he can put it onto the wagon over the speaker he says, "Net, net. Mink just was lookink, makink sure dis was net a planned failure, da." He starts to go to town, getting the darn wheel, which is almost his size onto the axle hub.

Pavel grins at Whitefeather, and since she's the local, replies in their common Euro. << No, thank you. This one is easy lifting. >> Then Rasputin appears, perhaps slightly grumpy, and the smith defers to an appreciated elder as the big rim is slid in place. When it's close to being set, he leaves the weight of the rear of the wagon hanging in one hand while he retrieves a nearby hammer and bucket of nails for the dwarf to use. In Russian, << Happy coincidence for a bad thing, I guess? >>

Alex turns away from the repaired wagon towards Sithik at the mention of the potential choke point with a nod. "My energy lance can fire accurately from over a mile away, so perhaps if there are bandits lying in wait I should draw their attention over a mile away from this caravan?" The robot offers with a nod to Sithik.

Whitefeather nods to Pavel, responding in Euro,<< As you wish, brother. >> With a nod, she lifts into the air, pulling her bow back out. Drawing the string back, an arrow of blueish energy crackles into life between her fingers, nocked and ready to fire, though the bow remains pointed at the ground as she addresses Sithik,"Perhaps, but it should be his call. That will drain the caravan of most of its defenders."

Sithik considers the option, giving his own, "I suggest you," looking to Alex, "fly down the road visible. Whitefeather and I will take each side of the road under the cover of the trees. Should someone take a shot, or any of us spot anything, then we react. I do not want to fire into an innocent party that may happen to be there. I only suggest you being visible because of your loud jets. You are in no way obligated to play the bait."

Rasputin takes the hammer, and nails. In a few moments, it is solidly re-attached to the wooden axle. He looks at his work, and nods. "Da, da. This is all good now. Net problems with dis wheel at least now." He looks around and is kind of amazed by the wood working going on with Alex's axle. He looks back to Pavel and his own work, "Da, good, good. Pavel, it should be able to be takink all of da weight now, da." He waits for Pavel to let it down fully to rest on the wheel. He doesn't say anything to the plans for scouting, as he is far from a scout.

Pavel gives his own assent to the hunter's suggestion. But upon hearing how far distant it is, he also instructs the wagon train to mount up again and get moving. There will be plenty of time to stop again if there's something dangerous, and there's no time to waste. As soon as everyone is mounted to move, he jumps up onto his horse and gives the whistle for 'go.' It's in the hands of defenders to make sure the way is clear.

Alex nods to Sithik. "That is a sound plan. I will take the lead and travel through the potential ambush. If I am attacked I will flee onward to lead the attackers away from the caravan and hold distance at the edge of my range. Meanwhile it will be up to both of you to catch up to my pursuers on the flanks."

Whitefeather nods to Alex and then to Sithik as well. Lifting off once more, she shimmers out of sight entirely, and takes off, invisibly, into the trees.

Sithik moves back to his point as the train gets moving again, his pet coming back from the forest with what used to be a cute little fuzzy creature, hard to say what it is now being half eaten and hanging in shreds from its mouth. After roughly two miles of travel he activates his ability of flight, commanding his pet to guard in Dragonese with an indication to Pavel, "Alright, let's go check it out," lifting off from the ground taking the right side of the road and quickly disappearing through the trees to check out the danger zone.

Rasputin sees everything is going well, and the wagon train is starting to move. He again springs up onto the last wagon and retakes his position watching the rear and left. He makes sure his mic is open and ready for action, he again rests his shotgun in his lap and just relaxes a bit. Then over the mic says, "Pavel, can you be gettink me da specs of your axles? Mink might be able to be making some replacements out of some harder material, so perhapsink dhey won't break." He says this kind of off the cuff, then goes silent again.

Pavel's warhorse is a bit antsy now, having stood by patiently while the old and rickety wagons were fixed. Blagodat clearly wants to run, but is in good manner and doesn't force it. Still moving among the wagons, Pavel is keeping a much sharper eye on things now, hoping to catch problems before they happen. Doing his best to remain in contact with the defensive party via radio, all he can do now is wait for a report. Rasputin is answered with a very simple, << I don't really know, I didn't build these. The people from Laramy send them down. If I had built them, they would have been of metal and not broken. Everything clear back there? >>

It only takes Alex thirty seconds to zip ahead three miles and inspect the potential ambush lying in wait. But the mecha finds nothing there and quickly reports this on radio. "Indeed this looks to be a point of convergence used before, but it is not used now." The machine then waits in the area for the caravan to catch up before it resumes its sentry duty at its perimeter, scanning thoroughly.

Whitefeather eventually zips back, shimmering into view as she does so, once the camping site has been cleared. She doesn't really wait for any return communication (since she doesn't use comms anyway), and parks herself next to the front wagon afterwards,"No sign of trouble. Simple camping site up ahead."

Sithik sails silently through the trees keeping an eye out for anyone or anything that might take the bait of loud jet engines coming down the road. Though with nothing taking the bait he goes in to get a closer look at the area, spending a few moments checking the campsite found, eventually realizing that this is an old campsite and nothing to worry about. "I agree with Alex, looks like maybe weeks ago or longer since anyone has been using the area," choosing to await the train with Alex. The reptilian creature follows Pavel and his horse closely as the train pushes on.

Rasputin scans the terrain behind him, he shrugs, a bit and comms the mic, "Da, da. Nothink dis back here dhat mink seeink." He actually is fascinated by a small falcon moving back and forth around the trail. He looks to the left, and doesn't see anything either. He ponders a moment, "Da, so dhese wagons are from Laramy, da. Dhat makes sense, perhaps we could fixink dhem up for dhem."

<< Perhaps, Rasputin. Perhaps. >> It takes an impressive amount of time for the little caravan to reach what could have been a very dangerous point on their journey. Pavel's horse is set to a parade-ground gait as it passes, with its rider appreciative for the investigation. The remainder of the day goes by reasonably smoothly, with only minor problems to attend to. Eventually, Pavel circles around near the intersection of the Old Highway and the Laramy-Whykin trail. Moving westward only a short distance, he declares solidly, "Veel steh heer fohr naheet. Hohrses taheehrd, vahgohns need feex. Vahtehr, trees. Good plaheece. Boot ees dehgehroos aht naheete een veeldehrness, jess?" He hops down as the wagons start to settle in. "Mehke shoor ees sehfe."

With the call for camp Alex descends below the trees to do a sweep through the forest for any signs of danger. The robot is quick to establish a four thousand foot perimeter against any thermal intrusions towards the camp which it then maintains. But nothing is perfect in such a forest with so many trees providing cold shelter. The robot cannot look everywhere at once..

Whitefeather meanwhile goes about setting up her own preparations... which mostly involve making a fire, and digging a depression in the earth to lay in. She is actually quite happy in, and used to, sleeping under the stars. "Aiya. A good place."

Sithik helps set up camp once the area has been chosen by Pavel, gathering firewood and such that will be needed for the night. He also takes some time to set a few snares outside the campsite in hopes to catch some small game for the following day before setting up his own personal sleeping area.

Rasputin seems to have just gotten comfortable on this rickety wagon as they are getting ready to stop. He hops down and begins to get ready to make a small meal for himself. He doesn't have nearly the collection of material that he does when he is heading up an expedition, but then again this isn't the same type of outing. He looks around for a place to throw his bedroll for the night. He keeps to himself, just kind of staying quiet for now. He does take his helmet off, to allow his skin to breathe.

Pavel sets in with everyone else, and though he has an amazing knack for starting a campfire, he just can't seem to find a good spot to lay out his bedroll. Even picking berries is somewhat unsuccessful, and the water that he brings back is slightly dingy with particulate matter. He'll live, but it's not his most comfortable night in the wilderness. Blagodat is set near a tree, his reins simply flopped across a low limb, indicating to the equine mind, 'stay.' The wagon wranglers have fed their own charges, and the area seems quiet for people to get a quick night's rest, up and early with the sun.

As the camp goes quiet Alex's hover jets probably get easier to notice in the distance. Coming and going as the robot orbits the camp for its security. They may be unsettling to some, reassuring to others. But they are the means of the nightwatchbot to keep its vigil and allow the others rest.

Whitefeather flops down on the ground in her little depression, humming to herself as she does so,"First watch, metal brother?"

Sithik snaps his fingers, getting the attention of his pet that has been curled up by a tree near Pavel. In Dragonese he calls his pet over to his side, lifting his rifle to the ready. Looking to the others with a Shh'ng motion and a point into the forest. Spines pop out of the bracer he has on one arm and protrude forward as he activates the sensing device and creeps into the forest, his pet following.

Rasputin watches everyone get ready for the evening, he watches Sithik go wandering into the woods and shakes his head. He just goes back to making a small meal. He says finally, "So Pavel, dis another day or so to get to Laramy da? Dis has been a nice trip so far, save for da run away wheels." He chuckles a bit and this time his hand goes up and tugs his beard.

Pavel is nearly asleep when he see Sithik tense, and hears the 'shhh' part. He's been somewhat used to being shushed by his girlfriend recently, and even though that actually brings up happy thoughts, out here it can mean danger, so he grabs his own weapons, first the giant mallet, then the rifle. Then the rifle is set aside and he grabs the club, mumbling in Euro and Russian to the others, << Get up, I think our hunter has found something. >> Unfortunately, he doesn't risk using a radio to inform Alex.

Why warn the robot who could be flying into a trap? Surely it can take care of itself. Alex is indeed formidable after all. If for the moment oblivious to what has roused the sense of others.. Perhaps also oblivious to their rousing..

Whitefeather meanwhile hops up as Sithik directs, grabbing her bow and drawing another arrow out of nowhere. She lifts slightly into the air, silencing any chance of footsteps, and follows behind Sithik, bow at the ready.

Sithik activates two of his tattoos as soon as he spots the intruders. The first giving him invulnerability, the second giving him a fiery aura of wispy red, like heat coming off the hot desert sands as he makes himself known to them as they get within 100 feet of him, his tone loud enough for all to hear, "What can I do for you?" looking to each and every one of them, his night vision enabling him to easily see them in the dark. His rifle being slung over his shoulder in a non-threatening manner.

Rasputin looks up as everyone seems to get all uptight by the action. He figured that the odd man just saw some game to go after, perhaps there is more to this than he thought? He slides his shotgun from it scabbard, and takes up a knee. He looks around for his helmet, but he doesn't see it right away. He isn't sure what is going on, but gets ready to do something...

From the darkness for most of the merry band comes a rather quiet call, "You can get on your knees and drop the rifle. Friend." The last is delayed, very obviously. Pavel rolls to his stomach and slowly gets to his knees, with the mound of chain mail being happily silent. It takes him some time to slowly put the helmet in place and slip on some thermal goggles to help him see in the darkness. << Rasputin? You up? >> he asks, back to the dwarf and thus unable to look with his own eyes. << Why couldn't we just be on our way? >> he asks rhetorically.

Alex must have flown right past the four men at some point. Several times actually making it all the more frustrating when it discovers them nearly at the camp this time around. The others even noticed before the state-of-the-art robot.. Such unacceptable situations must be rectified without delay so Alex accelerates to bear down on the men, brandishing its tool arms threateningly and cocking the energy lance as it arrives in just a few seconds.

Whitefeather meanwhile, upon hearing that... interesting call, drops out of sight quite suddenly. Out of sight, out of mind. No word.

Sithik smiles at the men, a rare occasion for most men to see, if they are lucky enough to see in the dark as he does. "I will do no such thing. I do not kneel before mortals. I suggest you kneel before me and perhaps I will be merciful." Two fire bolts being shot from his fingertips at the man who thinks he is being slick and sneaking up on him.

An order for surrender was given, that’s enough suggestion of hostility for Alex as the robot points its lance at the same merc Sithik attacked for a head shot. The powerful energy weapon unleashing after a moment's concentration.

Whitefeather goes hurtling towards one of the mercs, invisible and silent on the wind, a single finger stretched out towards him as she gathers the magic in her body, pushing it out through her skin. She doesn't wanna hurt the poor guy. Just take him out of the fight.

Rasputin ignores the fact he doesn't have his helmet, as he can see in the dark. He hums to himself, a brief glimmer of magic surrounds him and he fades from view. He shoulders his rifle, and looks around for whatever is going on, he still isn't sure himself. "Da, da. Mink fine. Dhat is it?" He looks around and then casts another spell, just to make sure he has some protection.

The mercenary being charged by the invisible Whitefeather takes a shot at the good target, the flaming Sithik. One nice laser pulse might well connect.

Sithik commands his pet to attack the insolent mercenary that requested him to kneel, to which the sleek reptilian charges to take down its prey with an amazing leap through the air. The hunter fires two more fire bolts at the insolent one as well, to distract him from the charging reptile, moving quickly forward with an intimidating look about him as if not a care in the world, certainly not worried about these mortals. The pulse of laser fire barely given a second thought.

The mercenary takes a fire bolt to the chest, but doesn't seem very impressed as he swings his rifle around to bat away the leaping creature.

The mercenary near Sithik, who had taken two hits and one large blow to the head fires his own rifle, perhaps hoping to get a piece of the action. It's a very good shot.

Pavel's big form just chugs toward the mercenary standing farthest to the west, and looking the most lonely. He's not exactly a sprinter, and he proves this once again.

The two remaining mercenaries raise their rifles at the giant floating robot that blasted their friend's head, as the burning man doesn't seem impressed. One of their pulses just slides past, the other has a decent chance of hitting.

Alex's vibro-pick swings out at the helmet its initial target to finish the job before it turns its energy lance to the one attacking the robot at distance..

The first swing is a messy one, cleaving the mercenary's head neatly in two through a near-perfect vertical slash. Fortunately, the helmet closes up against itself soon enough that it maintains the battle without an undue amount of blood.

Whitefeather reaches out to the man she has drawn near now, stroking her hand gently down the back of his armor, and whispers in his ear,"Rest for me, now." With that, she pushes the magic out of her hand, causing him to freeze up, paralyzed in place. Flickering into sight, she floats in front of the frozen merc, and points her bow directly at his head,"DROP YOUR WEAPONS IMMEDIATELY."

Rasputin now begins to head into the woods, invisible and protected. He is moving as fast as he can through the underbrush, so most likely he is making a horrible noise as he charges through the underbrush. Of course, he is also only invisible to the naked eye, any thermals can pick him up. Of course, heading towards the well lit Sithik to start with.

The mercenary graced by Whitefeather's touch stands straight up, then slowly like a tree just starts to topple, and with a crash ends up flat on his face.

Sithik's pet is not phased by being batted aside by a mere rifle, lashing out with its tail in retribution. The hunter continues his menacing pace, eyes locked on the speaker for the group. Another fire bolt zips from his fingertips as he activates his supernatural strength, the next attack should be more impressive for the insolent fool as he will be upon the poor mercenary.

On the ground, the paralyzed fellow that Whitefeather had so gently taken out of the fight gets hit by magical fire and a basically inconsequential hit from the reptile's tail.

Chug chug, chug chug go Pavel's legs. Perhaps he should have used that expensive mid-range rifle after all. Chug chug.

Some mercenaries are not impressed by threats on their friend's lives. Perhaps that's why they're lurking about the wilderness, rather than being part of a normal company. The two men still standing turn their attention from the giant floating robot to fire on the floating woman who appeared from nowhere to threaten their comrade with a bow. "Like mercenaries would give in to a threat like that," one might imagine them saying.

The mercenaries seem so easily distracted. Not the best of tactics, but neither was a frontal assault. Alex doesn’t forget the one that scored its plating, already pointing the energy lance at the merc. It holds that aim two, for a second strike.

The two bolts strike squarely on the mercenary's faceplate, but fail to puncture it. However, it does succeed in scaring some sense into the man, who simply turns his back on the whole thing and tears off into the trees.

Whitefeather goes streaking through the air as the last merc flees, gathering energy in her body, and calls out,"STOP!" She slaps him across the back of the head as she reaches him, ejecting the energy into his body and paralyzing him.

The fleeing mercenary goes down via sheer momentum, crashing like a crab's sprawled legs after shelling.

Rasputin sees the last merc and shakes his head, takes aim. And quickly pulls the trigger twice at the runner. Bright gouts of flame fire forth from his shotgun, but only one of the gouts of flame strike home.

The flames from the shotgun - perhaps magically unseen - are visible enough, washing over the remaining mercenary. Frantically, he does his best to fire on whatever shot him, after having taken a quick inventory of targets. After all, running didn't work out, and falling face-down didn't even work out.

Sithik grabs ahold of the paralyzed merc at his feet, raising him over his head he throws the man at his only friend left conscious. It may not damage the other merc, but the weight should knock him off his feet should he be hit. "I SAID, KNEEL!" shouts the hunter at his target as the human projectile sails from his hands and through the air at his partner.

The remaining mercenary, in a fit of panic, somehow manages to slip beneath his friend's thrown body. One can only imagine the look on his face behind the plastic mask.

The right impression made on half of the mercenaries the giant killer robot turns to the last one standing. Once again leveling the energy lance at its head so that Alex might finish the rather one sided encounter.

The blast strikes his head, but these guys have been very dense today. Perhaps they're some kind of odd D-Bee within. Who knows. The poor man is in pure panic.

Whitefeather meanwhile lifts into the air one final time, hurtling towards the last merc with her hand outstretched, to try to lay a hand on his shoulder as the paralyzing energy pulses in her body.

One more gentle touch, and one more man falls to the ground, paralyzed. Only one dead out of four attacking isn't too bad. Unless perhaps you happen to be the one being thrown around by a flaming man with an apparent superiority complex.

Rasputin focuses energy back into the weapon and gets ready to fire off again in a few moments. He keeps moving as he charges trying to get even closer.

Sithik heads over to gather the motionless, yet living, bodies of the mercs that attacked them and drag them back to camp. Unceremoniously grabbed by the ankles and dragged, to be stripped of their gear and handcuffed.

Pavel grunts as Sithik takes the time to bother with the downed mercenaries. He rapidly gives orders to unlimber the wagons, screw not moving at night, and head toward Laramy to get the tools there as fast as possible, explaining in various languages, << If we're going to be attacked, we might as well make distance between attacks anyway. >> He's soon up on his horse, just waiting - patiently waiting - for everyone else to get in place. The tied mercenaries can be dealt with when they get to town.

Alex pulls out a large chain net from its fuselage, dropping it down so Sithik can lay their disarmed captives inside. Once that is done the robot takes up the net to carry them to Laramy with the caravan.

Whitefeather meanwhile heads back to camp, noting,"They will awaken shortly and we can drop them off with the local authorities to deal with. Aiya. We should be on our way."

Rasputin gathers his things from where he'd made camp, and settles back in as a rear-guard in the last wagon.

Sithik bundles them up in the chain net so Alex can secure them for the trip. "We will be taking them back to Kingsdale, they may be wanted by the authorities. If nothing else, they will be known for what they did." He then takes his place up front for the rest of the trip.

Pavel kicks his horse into gear, shifting through first, second all the way past five and into overdrive. Using not-so-gentle words on the wagoners, suggesting that their own deliveries be made next time, the band makes excellent time through the night. It will soon be morning, and Laramy in sight. It's not often that the smith is grumpy like this.

Alex resumes its orbit of the caravan, the scar its plating took earlier starting to knit itself closed as if by magic.

Whitefeather meanwhile takes up a place ahead of the caravan, bow drawn, and keeps up the pace, apparently eager to be finished now.

Sithik gives a puzzled look to the grumpy and impatient smith, "Pavel, why so annoyed? We handled the bandits well, delivery made safe and sound. You should be happy it went so well."

The smith tells Sithik, "Vhahs hohp eesy. Noht eesy. Noht vhant peepohl ahlvehs trahee keel. Peepohl noht hahpy? Go do sohmszeeng. Faheend vohrk, gyeht hobby. Faheend preety geryl to tehk fohr deenahr. Mahny szeengs. Vohrk fahctohry. Vohrk mechahneec. Vohkr vehtohr, vohrk..." he continues on like that, listing other professions that people might enjoy and find legitimate occupation for an impressive few minutes, down to and including gigolos and prostitutes. The sun does eventually rise, just as they enter the town of Laramy. Pavel hops off of his mount, and gestures everyone inside. There's pay waiting, and hot food.

Alex delivers the captured criminals to the Laramy militia for 'processing', seeing if there is a reward for contributing to the safety of the road. Afterward the robot is absent for the time being.

Whitefeather nods to the smith in agreement as she follows to Laramy. She takes the offer of hot food. But the pay? She'll just encourage Pavel to turn it into food, clothes, and blankets for the poor of Kingsdale and Laramy.

Sithik joins in for the food, and accepts the payout to help finance his next endeavor in Arcadia. "Unfortunately, not everyone chooses those career paths and they end up like this bunch."

The rest of the day goes smoothly, with tools being slowly unloaded and cataloged at Laramy's famed General Store.