May 30 13:42:21 106 PA

From Chronicles

The current game time is: Mon May 30 13:42:21 106 PA.

The time will come for your strike and a runner will give, just a little bit before, the meeting place to each of you. Norwick will have him make it clear that there is no need to be concerned with long distance travel. The trip there will be taken care of, as will the return. All that they need be concerned with is executing the attack. The place to meet for the attack will be about five miles outside of Kingsdale. Not too far a walk and at that meeting point will be Norwick. A tallish man of swarthy complexion with a preference for blue as his hooded robe and cloak are a dark, royal shade of it. Along with his will be a gathering of five men sitting around a small fire, whilst Norwick is standing a few meters off, waiting with his hands folded into his sleeves.

Flare makes the walk today, humming to herself, she has a backpack on her shoulder and gone is her usual attire. She is actually wearing a suit of urban warrior enviromental armor, though the helmet is attached to her belt at the moment. She seems to be having a good day at the moment from her smile. There is a hint of glitter in her hair.

For once, Leonard is both properly dressed for the occassion, and reasonably in the correct frame of mind. He arrives on foot, the steel gray of his own armor not all the dissimilar from Flare's. Save for the notable deformation in the rear of his right pauldron, his explicit lack of a smile, and an absence of glitter, the two could be mirror images in many respects. His helm is likewise doffed and clipped to his waist.

Norwick is in a positive demeanor, his hands emerging from his sleeves, spread to welcome the two who arrive first. "Welcome! You are prepared for what comes, yes?" He then motions for them to come closer to him, while behind a bit the five men who accompany him eye the two newcomers carefully, a counter to the blue one's more positive welcome. "There is much to be done today and a fierce battle to be fought."

Ema emerges from the clearing in full body armor as well, helmet firmly attached to her head, mace on her hip, and rifle slung across her back. Her entrance has her appear just behind Leonard, her steps slient up until the end, her last few footfalls audible. Her helmeted head moves from left to right, survey those who've arrived before her, "I'm not late, am I?" says her voice through small speakers in her matte-black armour.

Flare nods, "I am here, that means I am prepared." she says and giggles just a little, she smiles at each person in turn, letting her eyes fall on them and then nods to Ema and back to the others. She doesn't have too much to say at the moment though.

"We are." Leonard nods firmly to Norwick without taking a consensus. Another nod is given to Flare in greeting before his head swivels to Ema with a bit of quick snap. He pauses a moment before shaking his head. "You're not. That's Bek's responsibility. She will be here, but 'fashionably late' is as early as she'll arrive."

"No, there is yet time left before you will need to depart this place for your ambush site," Norwick replies to Ema. Leo and Flare get a nod as well, the man smiling broadly as he motions for them to gather before him. "I have some things to make clear, but I believe I shall wait for your fourth to arrive. One of my other packs was.. troublesome. It has prompted me to be quite clear in my expectations, though they should be clear cut without the need for such a thing." He lifts a hand then and adds, "But first, need you anything? This is your last moment to consider such things. Have you a proper plan for how you shall proceed?" His eyes move between them slowly.

As if on cue, fashionably late as ever, Bek glides down to one end of the clearing and hovers for a moment before touching down amid a whine of jets and a roar of superheated air. The Flying Titan power armor does a fine job of concealing her identity, but the suit is familiar enough to Leonard and can probably be easily guessed by anyone else. Lacking any place to wear it on a sling, she holds the new(ish) particle beam rifle in her arms as she walks across the gathering place to join the rest of the group.

Ema crosses her arms before herself, remaing uncharacteristicly quiet, as she stands there, content to follow along for now.

Flare shakes her head, "Na I am good." she says and smiles a bit and glances over at Leo, and then back, "Strategy I have never really been good with, which is why I am mostly just here to be a weapon." she says and grins.

Leonard considers the fact that one known pack includes both Tirzah and Cel, which draws his lips from neutrality and firmly into smirk. "Troublesome? I can't imagine why..." The moment passes and his countenance firms and settles into business. "I have a plan, and no need for any other equipment, myself." He turns to the ladies with a querying glance, then shifts it further to include the arriving Bek. "As I expected, Bek, you're right on time." One more airborne entity makes an arrival, albeit much more quietly. In a flutter of black feathers, the raven known to some by name dives and stalls to alight upon Leonard's armored shoulder.

"Ahh, and here is the latecomer.. not so late at all," Norwick murmurs as Bek drops down onto the scene. He then nods to Leonard and smiles broadly. "Good, good. I like self sufficiency. More should adhere to its precepts. He lifts his arms again and speaks just a bit louder. "Now.. I will make some things abundantly clear to you all." One arm dips and the other shows a single extended finger. "First, you do battle for your pay. Not for salvage. The materials in the trucks and the possessions of the dead are mine to claim. Second.." Another finger comes up. "..the contents of the trucks are not for your eyes. I expect discipline in this. Excess curiosity will result in your dismissal." A third finger. "Finally, while I do not wish to hamper your assault, do try and do as little damage to the trucks as you can. I understand necessities, but the quicker they can be gotten underway after by my companions.." He motions towards the five men at the fire. "..the better." His hand dips and both fold into his sleeves. "I trust that there are no disagreements, yes? Execute the attack and slay all who you encounter. There are to be no witnesses and no quarter. I will assure you, they would give none in return."

Emayn sways from left to right, her head moving around slowly as she takes a quick inventory of those she's about to risk her life with. The tinted visor on her helmet keeps her face obscured, and only her body language gives any hint to her current mood. Still, she nods as she listens, giving at least the impression that she's paying attention.

From those instructions, Rebekkah can only make guesses to what happened with Tirzah and her group. Her armored head shakes slowly from side to side but it's hard to tell if it's in reproach at the scene playing out in her imagination or in answer to what Norwick says. "I only want to make absolutely certain that these supplies are going to hurt the Coalition war effort if they don't receive them."

"Take them down quickly, don't destroy everything, and don't peek." Leonard reiterates flatly for Norwick's benefit, then turns to regard the others. "Oh, and don't die." The last is added in case anyone may have forgotten, and his attention returns to Norwick, arms crossing in front of his chest. "I believe the criteria are known. Shall we get to it, then? Unless there are other..." Apparently there are, and Leonard takes the issuance of Bek's question and the expected answer thereof to retrieve his helm and don it.

Flare cocks her head to the side as she listens for amoment and processes that information. S he shrugs a bit and doesn't really have a problem, don't blow up the trucls and contents, and no looking to see what they are.

"Any deprivation of supplies harms the effort, "Norwick tells Bek. "Moreso when it goes to those who battle against the Coalition in return." He grins his eyes shifting to regard the silent Emayn. "Though it goes beyond that, for they will feel less secure in their shipments as they are hit. Prompting more protection for them, drawn away from forces in other places." He nods his head once. "A simple and effective means to altar the flow of the war without the messy nature of front line combat, yes?" HIs eyes sweeping them as he speaks, the words general for them all.

The swarthy man chuckles lowly. "As you all seem quite focused to the task, far be it from me to stay your hands with meaningless talk," he says then. "Prepare yourselves. I require just a few minutes to prepare your way. Then you shall have an hour to prepare before they arrive at your chosen ambush point." He draws a small device with a single button from his sleeve then, offering it to Leonard. "When the deed is done, this may be used to signal and I will come with your pay and give you passage back to this place." With that he turns and takes a few steps before pausing. And at once beginning to work his hands in smooth passes, intoning low, spidery words in time with the passes.

Ema's masked face seems fixed on Norwick as she starts to slowly circle the man. She's uncharacteristicaly quiet today, seeming to actively avoid any interpersonal chit chat. She will, occassionaly, turn to glance towards her companions. As the casting begins, a soft hmmmmms, can be heard coming from her.

Rebekkah goes quiet after Norwick answers her question, evasive though it may have been. She fiddles with the oversized rifle in her hands, aimlessly checking the mechanisms and the charge of its e-clip. Once she's exhausted the options the weapon offers, she moves to fiddling with the fasteners and dials on the side of her helmet instead.

Leonard takes the offered device and carefully stows it upon himself. The ability to easily return is not necessarily a dire issue with him, but getting paid would be rather nice. One last look to everyone gathered and then his attention returns to Norwick once more. Casual observation as he awaits, judging by his posture, in lieu of checking his weapon or other equipment yet one more time.

Flare nods and checks her gear as well. Pulse rifle and a vibrosword strapped to her backpack, which she checks through a little and then nods and shrugs to the other and smiles a bit.

The casting takes not too long before, with a final flourish, the air before him is rent asunder, tearing open in one place and another, an angry crackle of blue-white energy lining the opening as reality fights back against this unnatural disruption. It's a good sized and stable portal and after a brief inspection of it, Norwick turns towards the four. "Step forth and see to your task. I will be waiting."

And through the portal is another place. No true landmarks easily seen, though the field itself is a ripe one. A deeply rutted travelers trail is cut through the greenery, long years of use molding it into a commonly used path for traveling merchants, caravans and adventurers. The track passes north and south here, with a raised outcropping just a few meters to the east and the tree cover thickening noticeable perhaps twenty meters to the west of the path. There is a soft uphill climb at the north of the trail, the land more or less flat to the south. Once all are through, the portal will close at once, nature's way reasserted for now.

Once on the other side, Ema looks around briefly as she backs towards the edges of the trail, staying near the tree line. She touches a button on her helmet before unhooking the latch on her pistol's holster, "Well that's pretty convenient." she says, her voice audible to those listening on the radio, admiration tinging her voice, "So what's the plan?"

The power armor's exoskeleton reacts to the shudder that passes through Bek's body an instant after she emerges from the rift and looks around at their new surroundings, giving the impression of a robotic spasm. It takes a little time for her compass display to realign itself, but then she brings up her copy of the map they were given and tries to get her bearings. "I really don't trust that guy. No one's that creepy if they have nothing to hide." She makes the statement aloud, but not directly to anyone in particular. She takes another few moments to glance around, then adds, "I have a very bad feeling about this."

"That same as the original, save for personnel." Leanord did not hesitate to use the portal, and does not now, either. He motions to the rocky mass on the far side of the road. "Given that and the treeline here, an ambush and crossfire seems easy enough. Bek is our eyes in the sky, with she and I there. Ema, you and Flare get the treeline, here. When I force the trucks to stop, we hit them. No matter which side they choose to flee to, it will be the wrong one. They won't be able to hide behind the trucks, and we won't have shoot through them." Then a chuckle across the comms. "I'd be more worried if he /didn't/ seem that he was hiding something." Edgar the raven takes flight, bound for the rocks.

"He's not human," claims Emayn's voice over the radio, "So at least we can be sure he's not on their side." She draws her pistol and unfolds the stock, letting the weapon dangle at her side, "Aren't we at all afraid they're gonna notice a large loud robot flying around before they get here?"

Flare nods and moves towards the treeline indicated pulling her rifle, though she might not use it, always good to have she thinks and ponders a little.

"He's not human?" Bek repeats, swiveling her visor and her upper body both so that she can peer over at Emayn. "No wonder he's so creepy, then! But still... since when does the Coalition dress up like adventurers are move stuff around in unmarked trucks?" She starts walking towards the tumble of rocks, looking for a likely place to hide higher up over the road. "It could be this has nothing at all to do with Tolkeen or anything, you know?"

Leonard now follows the bird, dutifully looking both ways before crossing the road. He would not wish to be run over by the convoy they intend to ambush, now would he? "She can jump up and take a look when needed, then the rocks should hide her when not. I expect that she'll be able to spot their approach well before the rest of us. You'll also be blocking any radio calls, of course, Bek." With the raven on the rocks and all others in place or en route, he moves behind the outcropping to make his own final preparations. A length of thick chalk, as good at drawing as scratching out marks in the dirt, is produced and used on the ground. It will require several minutes, but the presumption is that they have some time. Norwick wishes his wolf packs, and Leonard will deliver.

Flare gets herself into a good position behind some rocks with a good view of where the shooting is going to happen. She pulls her spare eclips out of her pack and sets the pack beside her as she readies her rifle.

Ema shrugs over at Bek as she's addressed, "Rule number one of most hired guns is never question the client, right?" her helmeted head regards each person in turn, "He's definitely suspect, but we knew that going in." She seems satisfied as she turns and seems to melt back into the forest, perfectly at home alone in the wild, she appears to know how to use the cover nature provided. Despite her earlier standoffishness, a soft please chuckle triggers her radio's voice activation proceeding her speaking again, "Still, its nice to be outside again."

A few impressive leaps from boulder to boulder carries Bek with surprisingly agility up into the rocky outcropping and a final jump upwards, assisted with a blast from her armor's jets, lifts her to a small ledge where she can sit with her back to the stone wall behind her. "Okay, I'll start checking the radio waves, but remember that if they're jammed then so are we. I'll try to warn you before that happens, though."

The five-pointed star and surrounding symbols are drawn, the intonations are made, and Leonard is eventually finished. All to no spectacular, or even obvious, conclusion. He rises from the task and moves against the rocks in a position to allow him as much view as possible without making himself obvious. "Then we'll just need to do what we came to do, and get it done. The sooner we finish, the sooner we won't need worry of his motives and I can buy everyone drinks. Thank you for the warning, Bek." Now it's time to watch and wait, for a number of reasons. Six of those reasons make their presence known first, emerging from the foliage further east of the rocks. Canids of the lupine variety arrive in singles and pairs, coalescing as a group at Leonard's flank. This draws no more reaction from him than to reach down and pat the neck of the nearest in a friendly, if needles gesture. Irony is one of the few things that he seems able to do well.

As final preparations are made, there is but to wait. The convoy is a bit later than expected, nearly ten minutes past an hour since they came through the portal. But after that time four heavy trucks come rolling north. They're squat, broad beasts with thick tires, moving along the rough road at a steady clip. They're built to take a bit of a pounding and stable on the uneven terrain, though the drivers keep from rolling too quickly. It'll just be a minute or two before they arrive at the stretch. Just enough time for final hiding.

Flare makes sure that she is well secure and not readily visible from where she is at. She lifts her rifle preparing, hopefully this is going to go well, but then again, nothing really goes well in fighting. "In position, going radio silent. Don't fuck up." Ema's voice is mostly calm, a tad bit of excitement sneaking through her all business demeanor. She's hidden well, and one would have to really be looking for her to see her form sheltered by a tree, wilks pistol out and ready, its unfolded stock nestled closely against her shoulder.

The time has come. Leonard's focus narrows, far easier than it might have in the past. Now, the threat ahead is not a feared unknown, but a welcome challenge and diversion from other thoughts. A breath is taken and a hand readied to craft the spell that should force the vehicles to halt once they're in position to be struck.

And so the convoy comes, unsuspecting. Whilst Bek discreetly works over their communications, they roll into position, unsuspecting. It's a decent day and a quiet, lovely stretch of wilderness, after all. An astute eye would pick out that each truck has a driver. Expected. Though the first and the final each have a passenger, the weapons and armor they have is as of yet not clear. The time is here.

"Here we go" Ema mumbles to herself, her radio off while she stares into the optics of her weapon. Her eyes close slowly as she clears her mind, allowing herself to become one with her weapon. A psychic calm overcomes her as eyes open, a small feral grin on her lips.

The waiting hand makes it's gesture as Leonard directs the games to begin. A field of shimmering energy forms in the immediate path of the lead vehicle, easily eight feet square and perpendicular to the roadway itself. A potentially effect speedbump.

Flare moves just a little away from where she left her back and things since she doesn't want them to catch on fire and while still under cover, not leaving that yet, she sets her aura aflame, her body bursting into flames which surrounds her armor and leaves her and all she carries unharmed though the ground at her feet darkens a bit.

As the trucks roll into place Bek hefts up her particle beam and braces it on her knee, muzzle aimed down at the vehicles below. A single word comes clear over the radio, "Jamming." After that there is nothing but electronic chaos.

With the obstruction rising up before them, the first truck comes to a momentary skidding halt as the driver slams on the brakes. The ones behind likewise pause. There a moment of uncertainty before Flare makes herself an obvious target, if not completely clear from afar. The drivers of the vehicles linger within, though the passenger of the first and last vehicles hop out. The one in the first wearing heavy Crusader, the last GLadiator. Lighter, but still strong. Both have distinctive, sleek black rifles in hand, the look of Wilks weapons hard to miss.

Ema watches the scene unfold, taking a quick, appraising glance as she finger wraps around the trigger of her pistol. She takes aim at where the driver should be behind the glass of his door, finger pulling the trigger one, twice, and a third time, the blasts silent as the streak through the air towards the truck.

With the sudden assault of laser fire from the passenger side, the drivers of the trucks each draw their own rifles up, including the one who was just peppered with the weapons fire, four barrels sticking out of the windows of the trucks. Two train towards the fire in the trees while the other two pick out the woman firing from under cover. Their targets assailed with return laser fire. On the other side, the two passengers turn, each moving around from their side to the front and back of the lead and rear trucks respectively, peering around to get a sense of the situation.

The calm, sunny day is shattered by the weather as well, sort of. The rear of the convay is again targeted as Leonard gestures with both hands in rapid succession. He disproves the myth concerning lightning as it descends from the sky to strike, twice, upon the more lightly armored, dismounted passenger. The pack has been loosed, and his canine companions bolt out towards the lightning rod's counterpart at the lead vehicle. Durable they are not, but a distraction they can be.

Flare swears as she gets hit, but luckily the blasts are mostly dispersed by her fiery aura. She shakes her head raising her rifle and fires a 3shot burst at both of the drivers that fired on her.

As the trap is tripped, Bek adds her own contribution from up on her perch. Lacking the silence or subtlety of a laser, her particle beam whines and sizzles as she fires twice at the soldier below in the heavy Crusader armor.

"Fuck" Ema says to no one in particular as a blast sizzles the ground where she used to be laying, no time to wonder how quickly her position was outed. She continues her roll and finds herself on the other side of the tree as she lets loose another shot at her intial target, her breath held as she pulls the trigger lightly.

The fight is on and fire is exchanged between sides, the battle rapidly escalating. The spells and weapons fire of the ambushes slash across the open air, striking home in multiple places, several of the men seeing their armor deeply scored, but they retain integrity. The drivers maintain their targets, the flaming woman easy to follow, both scoring strikes. The other two honing in on Ema's return fire to put the pressure on her from afar, but her rolling about manages to stymy their aim. The forward passenger that gets hammered by Bek's particle beam orients on her quickly, his own weapon, a bit larger than the rest, answering with its own focused laser beam, pulsing a rapid burst that strike home in retaliation. The wolves that come at him are, for the moment, ignored as they snap and snarl, encircling him quickly. The rear passenger seems startled when two bolts of lining strike him, with no real indication of where they came from, he shelters from the fire that assaults the passengers and turns his weapon on the wolves, firing through them with his own rifle, but his wild shots at them miss entirely.

Leonard works his will once more, though his focus is split, this time. Another bolt descends upon his prior target, but his other gesture is towards the second vehicle. Bek now rains particular fire upon the dismount, and the approaching six-pack splits off even as it draws fire. Three remain to harry the man, the others break off for the second truck. Reaching out across the intervening space towards the cab door with his thoughts, his intent is simple. Open door, insert one or more fearless, snarling wolves. A potential conundrum for the man inside not unlike attempting to drive with a rabid wolverine in one's pants. Just larger.

Flare gets hit again, her armored scored by the laser blasts. She swears a bit and aims her rifle at the back driver and looses another pulse at him.

Wedged as she is into her rocky nook, Bek's reflexive drive to one side as a rifle is aimed at her gets her nowhere fast. Laser fire rakes across her armor and she answers it with another glittering ray of high energy particles.

Ema is safe behind the tree for now, or so she hopes, her form rising to one knee and she peeks around, survey the area. She shifts her target suddenly, focusing now on the combatant that Flare shoots at, her hope to combine their efforts to drop at least one person quickly and start to even the field.

The lead passenger shouts out as another particle beam strikes him, this time cutting deep into his armor's chestplate. The heavy armor is showing wear as the heavy blasts damage it, he falling back a step, but dogged in returning fire despite the danger. "The flying armor!" he calls out. which prompts the rear passenger to reorient, firing on Bek as well, the pulsing laser fire hitting square and hard. His armor is showing signs of weakness as well. The rear driver ducks out of sight, slipping away from the driver's door under cover of it as he too has taken heavy damage. The driver of the third, however, continues to fire on Flare, though his shot goes just wide. The two front drivers also dip out of sight, shifting towards the other side themselves. Of course, the second driver unlocks his door at just the wrong time as it's yanked open a moment later and he finds himself assailed by wolves.

Flare gives a small sigh as she is missed by the one and the other ducks out of the way. She aims at the one still firing at her and looses another burst.

She wasn't flying until they decided to say something about it, and besides, just sitting where she is will get her killed from the way things are going. Bek's armor is thrust up out of the rocky nook on a stream of fire and her wings snap open as soon as she's cleared the rocks. Twice more she fires charged particle streams at the Crusader as she rockets up and circles over the stopped trucks.

The dual blast from Bek's particle beam sizzles through the heavily armored front passenger's chest, a broad hole burned through him and a deep divot shot through the ground just behind as he falls. The rear passenger takes up the call to fire at the flying armor. Now actually in the air. As the driver of the front vehicle peers through the window on the passenger side now, he spots Leo at his hidden place and shouts out as he opens fire on the mage. The second driver finds himself with wolves attacking him, which succeed in distracting him for the moment, though one gets slugged in the head and falls out, whilst the others do little more than distract. The third driver leans out of his window slightly, taking a moment to spy Bek before he opens fire on her from below and the last driver stays under cover for the moment. Bek manages to swerve clear of both strikes, while Leo takes his squarely despite a too late attempt to jink to the side.

Leonard snaps his rifle up again to take a fresh shot at the rear passenger, adding to the lightning assault that he's had on the man since the start of this engagement.

Rebekkah proves to be a much harder target once she's aloft, and the Flying Titan rolls and swoops between the lances of laser light like a falcon playing on a thermal draft. All of the aerial acrobatics leave no time for aiming though, and the shots go unanswered.

Flare shakes her head as her gun james. She drops it, forgetting about it for now and raises her hand. She is a bit out of position for most, but she has a good line on the driver fighting the wolves. Her hand glows brighter for a moment and then a bolt of flame leaps from her hand flying at the driver. She raises the other hand and the same thing happens, two flame bolts flying at him.

Ema holsters her pistol as she charges forward, the field before her suddenly a bit less frightening. Vibro claws pop out of her left vambrace as her mace finds it's way to her right hand. She's at the door of the rear vehicle then, claws swiping at the driver, the man she's been gunning for all along.

Leo's shot tells the tale and the rear passenger slumps back against the side of the rear truck as a thinner hole gets burned straight through him, scoring the side of the truck shallowly. Though there is a distinct lack of blood, the would cauterized instantly. Ema's mounting of the rear truck and the awkwardness of the angle play in the man's favor who is within, managing to interpose his rifle to be scored by the swipe of those claws. Naturally, he tries to snap the barrel at her and fire, scoring a glancing hit. The second driver flinches as fire hits him from behind, the ambient heat enough to incinerate one of the attacking wolves, though the one that got booted out the first time picks up the slack. Twisting, the man does his best to ignore the wolves as he fires back at Flare, picking out her flaming shape, scoring another good shot on her. The third keeps firing upwards at Bek, but can't seem to pin her down. The first driver seems to have a bit more sense than his companions. The truck he's in, still idling, is suddenly thrown into reverse,

Leo's shot tells the tale and the rear passenger slumps back against the side of the rear truck as a thinner hole gets burned straight through him, scoring the side of the truck shallowly. Though there is a distinct lack of blood, the would cauterized instantly. Ema's mounting of the rear truck and the awkwardness of the angle play in the man's favor who is within, managing to interpose his rifle to be scored by the swipe of those claws. Naturally, he tries to snap the barrel at her and fire, scoring a glancing hit. The second driver flinches as fire hits him from behind, the ambient heat enough to incinerate one of the attacking wolves, though the one that got booted out the first time picks up the slack. Twisting, the man does his best to ignore the wolves as he fires back at Flare, picking out her flaming shape, scoring another good shot on her. The third keeps firing upwards at Bek, but can't seem to pin her down. The first driver seems to have a bit more sense than his companions. The truck he's in, still idling, is suddenly thrown into reverse, bumping into the truck behind it before he pulls hard on the wheel, looking to swerve around the the barrier that blocks him.

Leonard reacts to the first truck's attempt to run, hand lifted in arcane pass and firm mystical turn of phrase, a second, then third energy barrier popping into being to wall in the truck on two sides.

Rebekkah banks steeply and wheels around as another flash of laser fire streaks past her. She lines herself up on the driver firing at her from below and dives towards him with a scintillating ray of particle beam as her spear. She pulls out of the dive at the last moment, a tremendous blast of thrust slowing her momentum and letting her drop down onto the roof of the truck's cab.

Flare takes another shot and her aura which flared up and back to life takes most of it again. She raises her hand and hurls another fiery bolt at the second driver, who just shot her.

Ema's starting to get a bit upset, hanging onto the side of the truck isn't putting in her in the position she wants to be in. Still, she attempts to jab at the man inside, vibroclaws attempting to tear at him.

The man that Ema menaces can do little but accept the status quo, her jabs keeping him pinned, the twirl of his rifle to ward off her next strike followed through with another snap of it around to fire at her. Though each strike he parries causes a few marks in the side of the weapon. The one that Bek misses snaps back inside his truck as the armor lands atop his truck, causing it to shake slightly. Slid to the center of the cab, he snapping his rifle back and forth between both windows warily. The second driver continues to fire on Flare as she wears at him and the wolves snap at him, only just able to ignore them with his braced posture. THe first driver curses, trying several times to get the truck moving, yet the two new fields help to box it in entirely, with not enough room to build momentum to damage them.

Leonard keeps it simple, taking the main clear shot he has right now, taking aim at the third driver to fire off a steady shot from his rifle.

Rebekkah takes two steps and hops off the passenger side of the truck, her own rifle held at the ready on her shoulder. Her jets roar and hold her a few feet aloft, so that she can blast the driver inside with particle beams at terrifyingly close range.

Flare takes a deep breath and hopes this one does it and raises her hand and hurls another firebolt at the driver. Her flame aura is getting faint again.

Emayn keeps at her attacker, striking with her claws whilst shifting side to side in response to each time he lifts that rifle to fire on her.

Emayn is undaunted as she continues to claw down at the man, furiously jabbing down a second time before he can manage to get his weapon up against her.

Rebekkah drops to the ground and dashes up the line of trucks to the one whose driver is firing out into the trees. Approaching from the passenger side she yanks the door open and blasts the man inside with her suit's lasers.

Flare hurls two more bolts of fire at the second drive, not quite catching Bek moving to shoot him too. She is working up and moving a little closer as each hand hurls a ball of fire.

Leonard remains with the tried and semi-true of firing his rifle. As the only non-engaged foe, the lead driver is his target. Leonard is the only one able to drop any interposing field at will, anyhow.

Emayn continues her furious assault on the defending man, viciously slashing at him with her clawed gauntlets as his own weapon seems to go dead. Only a matter of time.

Rebekkah narrowly avoids being shot full in the face with a quick duck, and pops back up only long enough to blast at the driver again with the lasers mounted at her shoulders. She quickly rolls aside, getting out of the truck's doorway and pressing herself up against its side.

The lead driver doesn't stop to respond to the laser fire that slashes along his side, ducking around the big truck, head low as he makes a break for it, moving along the forest side of the truck, working north. The second driver cringes back at the fire on him, though as Bek shifts around to get away from response fire, there's a soft 'thoot' from within, the underbarrel grenade launcher on the man's rifle ejecting a mini-grenade. But he judges the angle wrong and it bounces out too far, exploding harmlessly. Meanwhile the other man fumbles behind him and opens the door to his vehicle, falling out on the cliff side, immediately rolling to his feet.

Flare tosses another firebolt as the one she has been burning is still standing.

He really should have stayed in the truck, since this makes matters all the easier for Leonard. A gesture, and then another, draw down electric wrath from the sky above. It's nearly as easy for him to make another the path of least resistance as to squeeze a trigger, and more accurate.

Emayn slithers through the open window after the man, following his path through and down, dropping onto the man to slash at him with her claws.

Bek sees the lighting strikes on the running man and decides to finish what was started here, dipping back around to fire once more on the man in the second truck, her suit's lasers flashing at him twice.

As the two others fall, there's but one left, still fiercely defending himself against Ema. Yet with his rifle weak under the strain and his armor flayed, it's of little effort for her to finish things. And given how persistently defensive the man has been, she gives no quarter. The battlefield grows quiet. The fight is over.

Flare blinks and lets her aura fade and appears none too worse for the wear, maybe a bit tired, and the fact that there is a laser damage to her chest armor. She moves and gathers her things before moving back down to join the others.

Rebekkah comes in low and lands at a trot that carries her down the row of trucks to make sure everyone has been accounted for and dealt with. She takes a moment at the end of the convoy to swap out the clip in her rifle, and then spends a little more time scanning the radio frequencies for any errant signals or warnings of unexpected arrivals.

And so the last piece is taken and the game ends. Nearly. Leonard allows for the sizzles to fade and take a brief survey of the fallen. Emayn's prey is left to her tender mercies, or lack thereof, as he looks to his compatriots. "Everyone alright? Unless there are objections, I'm calling in Norwick to claim his goods." This is emitted audibly, as he is uncertain whether Bek is still jamming.

Since the airwaves are clear, Bek switches off the signal jamming and walks over towards Leonard further up the line. "You're not even a little bit curious?" she wonders aloud, gesturing with the end of her rifle at the trucks behind her.

Flare nods, "Call him, I want out of here, just didn't look right."

"Yes," Leonard admits, "but not /that/ curious. I expect that he'll be on his way shortly." The signaling device is retrieved, a nod given to Flare, and then the button pressed.

Flare shakes her head and looks around, "Sooner the better." seeming a bit nervous.

Rebekkah throws a wistful look across the trucks one more time, but her discipline wins out and she stays where she is to wait for Norwick's arrival. The self-control isn't complete though; she fidgets and shifts her grip on her rifle in apparent discomfort or a case of jangled nerves.

Leonard now shifts his attention to the expectant wait, as well. He's still wary, attentive, and will remain so until everyone is back home and compensated for their trouble.

It won't take long for the portal to appear, the fabric of the real torn asunder, crackling energies bordering the yawning portal. Norwick steps through first, his hands folded into his sleeves and a broad smile displayed. "Ahh, well done, well done indeed," he says upon scan of the battlefield. Behind him come the five men that were with him, wheeling and carrying cases along with. Though what's in the black, hard covered cases is anyone's guess. They don't loiter, immediately moving towards the trucks. "And so little damage to the vehicles. I am most pleased," he declares, turning towards them. "The portal will not last long, come, I have your payments right here." He extracts four cred cards from his sleeve. Each will have the sum of twenty thousand encoded on it. He looks to Bek then, considering the deep scars on her suit. "I will also send a runner in a day to collect what your needs are for rearming and repairing. You have earned that and I would have my wolves in top form for what comes next," he adds.

Ema, done with her venting, is quick to step up and take her card, going back through the lingering portal without a word. Norwick's brow arches subtly as he looks after her, but otherwise he is unruffled. Flare moves to take her card as well and move through the portal, she dips her head once but still seems a bit uneasy.

"That's the best news all day!" Bek pipes up through her suit's speaker, her tone of voice making it perfectly easy for those who know her to imagine her pretty smile. She steps forward to accept her own chit, but can't resist turning to glance over her shoulder at the hirelings and whatever they might be up to. It's something that's going to nag her for weeks, probably. Like walking into giant magical mouths to be teleported to who knows where isn't bad enough. In she goes, silently hoping it's Kingsdale on the other side.

Leonard moves to take his payment after the others, nodding to Norwick. "You asked, we delivered." Bek's delight draws an audible chuckle as Edgar rejonis him for the trip home. Anxious as he is to return, he will pause to be the last through.

It will be the same place that they started from, only with the five men and Norwick remain no their side of the portal. As Bek glances back, she'll note that the men start pulling tools out of some of the cases while others examine the trucks themselves, one opening up the back of one to slip inside. But its turned sideway to the portal, thus the contents remain mysterious. "Farewell to you. Your conduct has been well noted. I do not forget those who work well," he says in parting once Leo has moved through last, the portal closing then to leave them to their return to Kingsdale from a mere five miles.