Jan 25 05:06:38 108 PA - Ranching Problems
From Chronicles
The current game time is: Thur Jan 25 05:06:38 108 PA.
The ranch that has been advertising for help with its herd is a sprawling little complex south of the city of Kingsdale. Various barns as well as grain silos dot the scenic ranch as a variety of goats, sheep, and cows mill about in pins. A few ranch hands are tending the animals while a tall man on horseback oversees the workers. The supervisor looks to be in his late 40s and well dressed for the cold weather.
Clop clop clop. Sara walks south along a dusty access road, carrying an overloaded Sebastien with Gabriel riding along behind him. Between the bulky armor Sebastien wears, the chainmail Gabriel wears, and the plate barding Sara wears, the whole lot of them are a shiny tin heap rattling up towards the farm. "Easy there, big guy," Sebastien rebukes. "No getting hard on me now. We're getting close." He flashes a smirk over his shoulder and then falls silent as they pass the outer fence to the farm, approaching the foreman. Sebastien smiles at the man, sizing up up for a long moment. His lips bulge, and his jaw clenches against it. Yet, unbidden, he can't help himself. "Howdy!" The word bursts forth, Sebastien helpless to stop it.
Hmm, nice weather. Certainly not moody, and even outside of armor, probably not chilly, and a nice time of day, to boot. A good time for those armor modifications that the man made to his armor. Sure, he catches the age-old joke that people have been making ever since the in-line motorcycle ride was invented. However it is that Gabriel got here, the fact is that he's here, and he's armed to take care of a problem. A problem which may happily be a bunch of teenagers with a mean streak - in which case he's far over-armed - or, more likely, some kind of horrible monster of yet another kind that he's yet to see, in which case, he's probably nor armed enough. But you can't go everywhere expecting to wade into a full combat. Of course, he wouldn't necessarily have announced himself with a loud, moronic John Wayne shout. In fact, it would have been best to have not been seen. But it's done. He raises a hand in greeting in the general direction of the mounted cowboy, assuming him - perhaps improperly - to be in charge.
The man directing the ranch hands turns his horse around to face the newcomers as he spots them riding up. He tips his hat slightly to Sebastien and Gabriel, each in turn, before replying. "Howdy there strangers." He takes a moment to eye the armor and weapons carried before he talks again. "You two look like you are either looking for trouble or looking to help my ranch out. You come about the advertisement I put up?"
"Oui," Sebastien replies gamely, visor up so he can be seen by the man. "We came to see how we could help. Another famine in Kingsdale is ... well. It would not just be a refugee and dregs problem for long." He shifts then, easing a touch forward in the saddle, and asks, "Perhaps you could describe the problem? Do you know what's been getting into the herd?"
“Colonel Gabriel Blaze, United States Marine Corps, sir,” the older man says with a much more crisp salute than normal. Certainly not a military salute, but more formal. “As my companion says, I understand that you have a problem, more than just some cattle rustling. Over the winter, a food source needs to be secured, which is why I'm here.” Perhaps not entirely why Sebastien is here, though, so he's not included. Nothing against the man, just that you should never speak for anyone else's motives. “From what I've heard, no one has seen whatever it is that's taking your cattle, and it's been happening for few weeks, but got worse rapidly a week or two ago, is that correct?” Always best to make sure that your intelligence is accurate before moving further.
"The name is Maxamilian Powders." He says as he rides his horse a little closer to Sara. "Well something has been coming in at night killing some of our goats, and sheep. Something is eating them, but it doesn't leave much except for blood and a few bone splinters." He takes a moment to roll himself a cigarette and then lights it. "Whatever it is it has been hitting my herd harder then just wolves. "We lost four sheep and a goat this week alone." He shakes his head slightly as he inhales from his cigarette. "Been hitting our south pasture more then most. So I figured maybe some folks like yourselves maybe hang out with the herd and kill whatever has been doing this."
Sebastien frowns at that, head turning to the left to stare out across the fields. "It eats them here?" He wonders, and blinks. "Wait. You keep your sheep out in the pasture at night? With something attacking them? In the snow?" He makes a small face and peers at Max Power. "Now, I'm no cowboy, but don't you have a barn?"
The man behind Sebastian looks over the side to the drop below, obviously wanting to get off - but he doesn't, seeing as how he'd have to trot alongside a real horse and a fake horse to keep up with the conversation. Gabriel asks Powders, "Anything special about that pasture? Terrain, enclosure, vegetation, water source? Different animals?" There's a small pause as he taps Sebastien's shoulder. "We'll need to see the perimeter, of course. But not riding along it on horseback looking for breaks in the wire." His head is turned back to the cowboy. "Is there an easy spot to see your entire ranch from?" It seems immaterial as to whether or not the animals are kept indoors or not. The fact is that apparently they aren't, and something's eating them, and even if they weren't being eaten, there's something out there that could be a potential problem to humans. And D-Bees.
"Barns aren't for keeping animals in all night. We have hundreds of head of animals here at this farm. We sure as hell couldn't keep them inside." Maximilian Powders says with a frown as he eyes Sebastien. He turns to look at Gabriel before responding to Gabriel's questions. "Naw it has been cleared of trees for the most part. Some hills here and there. The fence is pretty well maintained, but it isn't designed for anything but to keep the animals from wondering away." He chuckles softly and then takes another puff from his cigarette. "Maybe from a plane you could see it all. We have about 4000 acres of land here, give or take. The southern pastures are the ones that get hit most often. I recommend keeping with some of the sheep and see if you can catch this damm thing in the act."
Sebastien gives the South another long look, and utters, "Right. No cover. Well, let's have a looksee. See what we're dealing with." With a wave ahead, Sebastien asks, "Can you show us where the remains were found? Perhaps get a feel for where this thing is most comfortable." He gives Sara a touch of heel, and the horse begins to walk towards the Southern pasture.
"What are you talking about no cover? We have some snow, we have animals, we have bushes, and the terrain isn't even flat!" Gabriel seems a little amused at the complaint. But tank drivers never have been known for subtlety. Just rambling on with heavy armor and a big gun to make up for inadequacy issues. Tsk-tsk. "Sir, have you ever had a problem like this before? Perhaps not on this scale, but a similar problem, with your livestock going missing with nothing left to bury? Any common season, if so?" The older man reaches behind him, rummages expertly through his bag without even needing to look, and pulls out a pair of anti-flash binoculars with genuine, good ol' glass-and-mirror optics. He then taps Sebastien's shoulder again. "No need to run, Seb, just take it slow. Don't need to make a scene." Perhaps an unnecessary advising, but better safe than sorry.
Maximilian Powders starts his horse moving to ride in the lead. "Well we always lose animals from time to time due to predators, but not like this. We had some raptors a few years back. Hired some guns like yourselves to take care of them. HAven't had a serious problem until this. The raptors at least left bones. Whatever this thing is crunches most of the bones and eats em." He says as he leads the way down south. After quite a few miles he arrives at a herd of white sheep with full coats of wool. The surrounding terrain is covered in light snow and a lot of brush.
Sebastien muses, "I like to hunt varmints from an elevated position. Top of a grain silo, that sort of thing. A scope and three hundred meters away. They can't get to you. A bush is concealment, not cover." As they near the fence, Sebastien looks left, and looks right, taking stock of the surroundings. "Could roost in one of those," he muses, pointing. "I have the jet pack, if something goes wrong I can get out above danger. Have you found any tracks in the snow?"
"I don't suppose you'd let us use some of your livestock as bait, sir?" Gabriel asks as he turns his head and flips on his helmet's integral thermal-imaging system. You never know when something could be hiding right in front of you. Some things in this era really *are* better than what he's used to! "Besides these raptors that came through last year, do you have any problem with other animals, creatures, whatever coming through? Giant ants that live a few miles from here, a creature in black lagoon, that sort of thing?" Perhaps referencing two movies from the 1950s isn't the best description, but for lack of better terminology, it's the best that he can do for Mr. Powders.
Maxilian laughs and shrugs his shoulders. "Sure lots of tracks there are herds of animals here. But past the fence we have spotted some strange clawed tracks in the snow. Not the tiger claw raptors from before more like a big cat with webbed toes or something." He nods towards the herd of sheep. "We can keep these out here. I'm going to move the rest closer to the ranch. Hopefully that will serve as bait." He takes a moment to roll another cigarette. "We have river predators to the east. But I don't let any of the animals close to that river. We also have some wolves that are around, but they don't pick off animals like this."
"Sebastien gives a low chuckle. "I think I know what it is," he says. "Fought one before, years ago. Called a ... something lion?" He frowns, slowing on Sara. "Big black mane, usually comes in a pack. Fast, vicious, tough. Jumps on you and tears you to pieces." He looks back at Gabriel, and tilts his head, "I didn't bring the right equipment. The last thing I want is to face one close up. I'd probably lose." He frowns and points at the trees. "They can probably climb, and could knaw one of those down if they put their mind to it, but it's a start. I'll head back to Kingsdale, get a rifle. Can you find some good, elevated positions?"
Gabriel considers. But not for long. "I don't know what kind of beast you're talking about, but you only get up in trees if you're ready to die. You can get cornered in a tree. Stay on the ground, hide behind a tree, a bush, somewhere that's harder to see. People are usually easy to spot in trees like these." He waves his hands at the short ones around. "At least on the ground you have the option of attempting to run for your life. I think it's best if we set just a few yards down this side of the ridge. Won't be silhouetted, and have decent range, though I guess I don't know how far your rifle shoots." There's no jovial attitude around him, just business. "I'll help Mr. Powders as I can, look for some good spots while you get your rifle. Can't believe you rode out without a rifle." He shakes his head a bit. "Tell me about these things when you get back. If you have anything, bring a white blanket for yourself. Better than nothing."
Maxilian just smokes his cigarette while he listens to Gabriel and Sebastien talk amongst themselves. "Just please don't kill all the sheep. I am going to head back to the ranch house. Bring back what remains you have and you'll get your money." He says before turning his horse around and starts heading to the north.
"Brought the crossbow," Sebastien replies. "It's a lot more accurate. Good for varming hunting. But it would just make these mad. The swords aren't much good but as a last resort." He points at one of the larger trees. "I have a jet pack. If I can get airborne they can't touch me. I can keep them distracted while you take the low road. I'll put Sara with you, in case you have to run. You can ride a horse?"
Gabriel chuckles. "I used to be ride horses. But whatever it was that brought be here rather knocked some knowledge out of my head. Riding horses was one 'em. Learning to walk again." He calls back to Mr. Powders as he begins to leave. "Mr. Powders, would you please take this with you?" He holds up his combat duffel, having taken out only his ghillie suit, netting, two sets of binoculars and his length of cord. "Don't want these getting in the way." As an afterthought, he states to Sebastien, "Maybe if we use some of the cord, we could just tie something to her that I could grab? She's smart, right? Run on without instructions?" He continues to hold his bag out, hoping it will be retrieved.
Maxilian takes the duffel bad that Gabriel hands him. "Good luck." He says before riding away letting Gabriel and Sebastien handle their ambush however they want to. The sheep will about as they take no notice of the two people and the horse.
Sebastien flashes Gabriel a look, affirming, "Smarter than I am, apparently. You work out how to hook yourself to her. You can just tell her what to do. She'll understand voice commands. The unit is halfway busted though, she can't talk back. I have a text reader at home, but," he shrugs, "we won't need it. You work out how you'll hold on. I'll be back." Sebastien lifts a leg and drops from Sara's saddle, jogging out to clear field. There's a high-pitched whine and a blasting noise as his jet pack comes up to speed and lifts him into the air, allowing Sebastien to tip forward and Superman his way back towards Kingsdale. And, an hour later, he's on his way back, slowing to drop and land clumsily in the snow. Carrying what looks like a polearm with a funny stock.
Gabriel has spent the hour attempting two things. First, tying up some sheep to a few close together but otherwise random trees down near the southern perimeter. Nothing fancy, just enough to keep them from wandering out of being bait. Considering how stupid sheep are, that should be pretty simple, even without impressive rope skills. Second, scouting the upper- and mid-reaches of the down-side of the hill for good places behind shrubs and trees. And a few trees where a man with a jetpack might hide.
The full moon makes the white snow glow softly as it gets fully dark. The cold night air seems to glisten with ice crystals that are blown by the light breeze that blows through the pasture. The sleeping sheep make little noise as they all huddle together in one mass for warmth. The sounds of the night seem nothing out of the ordinary at least for now.
Out of the corner of Sebastien's eye he notices movement amongst the snow. An animal with a blunted snout that resembles some sort of canine is crawling quickly towards the herd of sheep. The large round eyes of the animal glitter in the moonlight as long curved saber-like canine teeth are apparent. A prominent mane runs down it's spine giving the animal an almost hyena-like apperance. The speed of the animal make it appear that only moments will pass before it reaches the herd of sheep.
"We have one," Sebastien breathes into his radio. He turns down the light amplification and goes to thermo, giving the plains a casual sweep. "Approaching the sheep, South by Southwest. Let it make the kill, when the sheep scatter we can see if it's alone or another takes chase." He stays still otherwise, just watching. It's a lot like Animal Planet. Except he's not entirely sure he's at the top of this food chain.
Out of the night the canine like predator leaps at the herd of sheep. It catches one of the sheep by its throat, crushing the throat easily. The momentum of the canine and sheep bowl over a few more sheep making the herd of sheep quickly awaken and start making horrible bleating noises of fear. The canine quickly lets go of the throat of the sheep it just killed and leaps again into the midst of three more sheep as they try to flee.
Sebastien shoulders his akward rifle/polearm and settles in to watch. A few sheep are much less expensive then ending up under that thing's claws. His head sweeps back and forth, mindful of a second, just waiting for now for the thing to settle in to eat.
He sure hopes that this expensive ghillie suite that he bought, the powered one that muffles a man's thermal signature is actually working, as this is its first combat test. Gabriel had begun mumbling to himself as soon as Sebastien began to speak, apparently quoting someone. "And he said to me of the Angels: 'This first is Michael, the merciful and long-suffering: and the second, who is set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men, is Raphael: and the third, who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life, is named Phanuel. The fourth, who is set over all the powers, is Gabriel." Pep-talk in the face of danger? Who knows. But he awaits Sebastien's shot, granting that the other man knows this creature better than he.
The canine swipes at one of the sheep, disembowling it. As the hot sheep intestines spill out steaming on to the snow the canine takes a bite out of the side of the sheep seeming to not care that it is biting into bone as well as flesh and muscle. The sound of the crunching and splintering bone can barely be overhead over the sheep that are scattering quickly. The canine like creature looks around around before taking another bite out of the sheep.
Sebastien gently eases his rifle against a tree branch to stabilize it, flicking on the IR laser. The invisible dot appears in the snow a thousand feet away, blazing like a beacon to those with optical sights. He sweeps it towards the lion, thanking the maker of the rifle that they installed a dot so he doesn't need to get his helmet crammed into the sight picture of the weapon's low-seated irons. He breathes into the radio, "I'll take the first shots. Watch for more. I'll bug out if it gets too close, then you open up and I'll cover you." He falls silent then, getting just so and taking his sweet time to try and line the rifle up with the center mass. Then, carefully, he depresses the trigger.
The silent pluse of the laser hits the side of the canine as it feeds on the dead sheep. It yelps in a high pitched cry of pain as it's fur and flesh is scorched by the micro second pulses of photons.
The older man knows that he has the range to hit the thing, but again, bows to the other man's expertise with these creatures, and does as told - keeps his eyes open, watching for others through thermal, nightvision, and even trading off with the simple magnification optics of his scope. Gabriel says only, "Tell me when to hit it."
The canine quickly recovers from the painful burst of coherent photons. It raises its blunted snot up into the air and inhales. The eyes of the beast go wide and it starts bounding towards the positions of Sebastien and Gabriel at a very impressive running speed. Through the optics used by Sebastien and Gabriel frothing spit whips out of its mouth as it approaches rapidly. It howls out into the night air and another howl answers it coming from not to far to the north.
"There's the buddy," Sebastien mutters into his radio, aiming down his rifle to let loose three bursts, trying to tag the creature. "Damn it's fast, let them come to me." The tree'd cyberknight is sounding agitated, but he hasn't given up his post. Yet.
The canine is cut down by silent invisible bursts from the laser. Smoke from the hair on its hide rise up into the night air. It manages to let out a croak before falling silently to the ground.
This time, Gabriel is wiser, and not only does he think before acting, but he has the foresight to ask, "Seb, Blinders do anything to this fuckers?" Yes, fuckers plural, as audio cues would appear to indicate a second one of these things, one unfortunately coming at them from the north. One that he takes the time to briefly notify his companion about over the radio, though from the other man's own chatter, it's unnecessary. Figuring that Sebastien has the first animal "in hand" as far as combat goes - dead, in fact - he turns to look north with his L-20's muzzle training with his body. He attempts to remain under cover, hoping that the ghillie suit really is working as advertised, and using every damn optic sensor in his inventory to see the creature. Perhaps it will be dumb enough to silhouette itself against the ridge, which is exactly why Gabriel didn't make his position there.
The bounding shape of another canine comes out of the north as it moves to react to the death of its companion. Already it is about 600 feet out as the impressive speed of the creature makes it bound across the snow moving towards Gabriel's position.
Grenade, rifle, grenade, rifle? In either case, it's time to stand up. Thermal might still be muted, but the creature's nightvision is apparently not. Considering that the creature's nightvision continues to remain, a grenade might work, but he's not exactly a Major League Baseball pitcher. For the moment, he just quickly keys in his three digit code, which pops the lid of his little waist-box. Then the L-20 is lowered and a burst is fired. No time to do anything fancy.
The laser shors from the energy rifle pelt the hide of the canine like creature but it doesn't slow down the raging movement of the creature intent on revenge.
"Don't know," Sebastien replies, "But that thing was pulling at least sixty. Can you hit that with a hand grenade?" He mutters a curse as he turns, trying to get a fix on the thing headed towards Gabriel. Easing over a branch, Sebastien mutters into the radio, "Hang on there, I'm coming." But for these couple attacks, he's working his way around branches. The perils of being in a tree! On the bright side, there's a flash in the night as a pair of bolts illuminate the snow. A sharp 'crack!' and the smell of ozone follow, marking the shots as being an ion weapon of some sort. Sara has entered the fray.
The canine bounds across the moonlite snowy pasture in a blur of speed. It quickly approaches Gabriel and then suddenly it flys in a leaping attack heading right for Gabriels throat with its snarling jaws.
The large mass of the canine hits Gabriel like a load of bricks as its jaws lock around Gabriel's armored throat. Gabriel is knocked to the the ground as the canine locks its jaws and it works to crush Gabriel's throat.
Sebastien jerks his rifle through the tree, the blade severing a branch as he finally brings it down to shoulder. "Well," he mutters, "that does give a nice clear shot." The creature being elevated by Gabriel's prone form above the snow line. He fires from a distance, two bursts as the pounding of hooves cross the snow. Sebastien doesn't take his third shot as Sara enters his sight picture, aimed at the lion with head down and spike forward. Ramming speed!
The laser bursts from Sebastien's energy rifle cut into the tough hide of the canine like creature. Its eyes widen in pain from the first burst while its jaws tighten around Gabriel's throat. The second burst though manages to cut through the tough hide and the light fades from the beast's eyes. The locking jaws though are tight around Gabriel's throat as evident from the way the creature is partially knocked away by Sara's head ramming, taking Gabriel partially with him.
If there are but a few thankful lessons that Gabriel was able to bring with him through the unknown ages, one of them was this - wrap your sling around your arm, and don't let go of your weapon. In fact, he was just about to plug the beast in the abdomen, where his rifle's muzzle had just ended up by luck and chance. Fortunately, not only for his life, but much lesser, for his pocketbook, he need not expend the energy from an eclip. Instead, his left hand snakes down to retrieve the vibro-knife at his left side - one of the only other weapons he can reach - to slice at the base of the animal's mandible, to get that damn lower-jaw unlocked. There are muffled sounds of struggle over the radio, no time for thanks.
Sebastien doesn't come down to help just yet. He calls into his radio, "You alive down there?" as he sees that bloody knife rise, and the tree shifting position. He scans the horizon for a few, just to be sure there aren't any more surprises. "I don't see any more," he states, and presently begins the cautious climb down, before falling the last five feet to land in a crouch.
It is an inevitability that the creature's mouth will be sawn through. All it takes is effort and patience. Soon, the bone is cut, and while it takes some considerable work to actually pull the lower canines out of his armor, the act is done, and the bloody piece tossed to the side. It takes more effort to work himself from under the huge body, and Gabriel accomplishes this by rolling like an alligator, out into freedom and low snow. He manages to get into a one-kneeled crouch of his own, his head bobbing. "I'm okay. Wasn't really as bad as it looked, actually. You might have let me know how fucking fast these things are. Might've decided to take the tree myself after all." A mirthless chuckle, then a thick Kentucky drawl. "Maybe you only brought me out here as a decoy?" Okay, well, there's a little mirth.
Sebastien scoffs. "You kidding?," he replies as he comes up closer. "Look at its legs. It could have jumped over that tree." Sebastien walks up closer, reaching to place a gauntleted hand on Gabriel's shoulder and peer down at the damage. "You're going to want that seal looked at," he mutters. "Tooth might have punched through." He shrugs and turns back to the fallen creature, poking at it with his toe to try and stretch it out. "Small though," he finally states. "Ones I saw last time were at least five meters, over a thousand pounds each. Not that fast, either." He grunts and adds, "Lucky us. I saw one tear clean through Coalition heavy body armor in under six seconds."
The older man points over to where the lower jaw landed. "Wonder if I should take it as a trophy, sell it to someone who wants to hang it over his mantle right next to his stuffed boar's head, let him claim he killed the damn thing." Chuckle chuckle over the radio. "Thanks for killing it, I appreciate being alive." Still, Gabriel isn't ready to pack it in and go home, which is obvious as he brings his rifle up into a ready position - not at his shoulder, but quite ready to drop there if necessary. "Job was to come here and take care of the problem. Think there were only two of them, or is there another ugly fucker hiding out there waiting for us to leave?"
"Might have just as easily been you picking it off after it dragged me out of the tree," Sebastien replies, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. "I'm keeping a claw off the other one. Leave it mostly intact though, Max Power wanted the bodies as proof." He shoulders the rifle, and notes, "We made enough noise I don't think we'll see anything else tonight. No question, there are other beasts out there, but we have a partially-eaten lamb and lamb in the other one's gut as proof these were the bad guys."
Gabriel's armored head bobs slowly, and he scratches at his neckplate. "I think I feel a little wisp of frost. Guess it did puncture. Ah well, I took those thirty pounds of scrap a few weeks ago, so I'll just weld it on." He then drops and gathers his gear, using the loose netting as a sack. His wide and ironic grin can probably be seen over the electromagnetic spectrum between radios. "At least nothing set my grenades off for me this time. Let's get out of here, Seb." He claps the man on the shoulder, considers picking up the jaw... doesn't... and heads over to his ride, in the form of Sara. "Game over. People two, stupid animals zero. Kingsdale wins the Superbowl."
Sebastien waves at the creatures. "You have rope?" he wonders. "If they take multiple laser blasts, dragging them back isn't going to do more than spook the animals. The larger man walks towards the partially-dismembered corpse and reaches under, grunting faintly as the servos help him lift its hips for Gabriel to get a line underneath. He'll do the same with the second -- after taking a claw for himself. Then, with the two bound to Sara, they'll drag the beasts back to the farm.
