Sep 20 109 PA - Escort to Arzno
From Chronicles
A Land Rover pulls out of Uncommon Mechanics and heads out onto the landing strip and towards the gathering crowd of friends. Tek pulls it up close before dismounting, "What a lovely day. How is everyone so far this fine, fine day?"
Crack of dawn on Thursday morning. Exactly when Valeriya said to meet at the landing strip for departure. Already the Rolling Thunder combat vehicle is there, ready to rumble. Valeriya is there as well, all in leather and leaning into the driver side window for conversation. On the Thunder's railgun a flying lizard is perched.
Gabriel is right on time, but comes walking in from the west, armed and armored with two large duffel bags, one hanging from either hand. No reason to use the 'pack when the feet still work. Based on what's strapped to his body, one might only imagine what's in the bags. Guns, lots of guns? Who knows. He approaches the two vehicles, helmet off, looking between them as if sizing up where he wants to go. Despite this, he manages an amicable Kentucky, "Morning," to all.
That dawn is cracked implies that it is broken. Leonard agrees, as consciousness this early is decidedly wrong, much less cramming one's self into armor. His helm remains off so that he can both breathe freely and nurse his cup of coffee from the comfort of the vehicle.
Tek walks over to Valeriya, "Morning Val. So I am a bit behind I know, but what are we doing today? Don't get me wrong I am in for whatever I just am curious of our ultimate goal for this excursion. That is what is it that will bring in the credits?"
Valeriya pulls away from the window as people start to show up, giving a short nod to the driver inside before turning away to consider everyone. Tek is most curious so he gets her attention first. "Out client Jon is paying a hundred thousand for us to transport him and his belongings to Arzno. Split five ways that’s twenty-thousand each. However, we are expecting resistance to our efforts at some point. Bounty hunters after our client. Depending on how well they are equipped, they have the potential to increase that number considerably. The trick is, not to completely destroy everything in doing our job. The more that is left when the smoke clears the better off we'll be." She explains.
Gabriel listens without commenting on the money or possibility of keeping it pumped up as much as possible. "Two questions, Valeriya. First, which vehicle will Jon be riding in. Second, who did he piss off? Just so I might guess on what kind of resistance to expect. I know you're not a mind reader," he adds, with a bit of ironic tone behind it. Somewhat belatedly, "Tek, I guess your vehicle's going to be the trailing one?"
"In other words," Leonard voices his opinion, "We should destroy any opposition as politely as possible. It shouldn't prove too difficult, as the individual, rather than the equipment, is generally the weakest point of the ensemble, anyhow." Perhaps imbibing more caffeine will improve his demeanor. If not, it is imbibed, regardless. "Yes, what are our marching orders?" The query is directed to Valeriya, as the apparent organizer and competent person.
Bernard walks out onto the landing field with an assortment of weapons... a grenade launcher.. a pulse rifle, along with a saber and hammer. Otherwise he looks completely unprepared for a trip into the wilderness. He makes his way over towards the gathered group, offering a little nod of his head, "So where do I ride?" he asks.
Tek smiles and nods at the information, "Well I am looking for someone who has the skills to either run my weapon systems or to pilot the Land Rover so I can man the weapon system," looking around to each of the gathered personnel to see if any step up to man one of the two posts.
Valeriya shrugs at Gabriel. "Pissed off may be too strong of word for that type of people. Those kind of people you deal with them long enough and they expect your dealings to continue. Changing your mind and considering new choices is highly discouraged. With hit squads. That way other people dealing with them know better than to think the grass is greener elsewhere." She explains to him before gesturing to the two vehicles. "Yes, Jon will be driving the Rolling Thunder and handling the navigation. We need one person manning the weapons in each vehicle. Beyond that we can be flexible. Also I have three armor talismans available to protect most of you."
Gabriel looks at Tek's vehicle with a careful eye. "I can probably run the cannon on a basic level, but I'll be of far more worth to everyone outside. If it gets into that kind of fight, I'll be gone to where I'm more useful." He adds to Valeriya, "I'll check the man's navigation as we go. I'd hate to end up in Utah or something because we made a wrong turn. But, though I would hate to accept this... all I have is this single suit of armor with me. If it goes, I go. One of those magic armor things would be appreciated." He seems to grind out the last as possibly distasteful - not directed at Valeriya, just a general thing - but also a necessity.
Leonard lifts his free hand to exclude himself from gunnery or driving duties. "I would be a poor choice for either, I'm afraid. Were I familiar with the destination, the trip could be very brief," another glance to Valeriya,"Though not likely as profitable."
"I can man a gun while it's needed as well." Bernard says, "Though my magic will likely prove more useful in getting clean, profitable kills." He adds. "Depending what we have to face I'll move as needed. Though, I suspect Leonard and Valeriya will be able to handle spells quite well without me, for the most part."
Tek looks to each person as they speak and smiles with a nod, "Well Bernard if you would like to run the weapons on the Rover that would be good with me." Then a side glance to Gabriel, "Or Gabe can... I figure as soon as the caravan stops we are all going to dismount to work on taking any attackers with as little damage to their equipment as possible." With that Tek loads back up into the driver's seat on the Rover though he leaves the hatch open so as to hear any last minute commands. And then adding as an after thought, "What radio channel are we using and is there going to be an encryption protocol?"
Valeriya nods. "One step ahead of you there Tek. Got encryption settings ready. Channel 154.8." She answers, passing a data chip with the encryption. "How about Tek and Gabriel in the Land Rover? Keeps all of us mages together which will probably make us more of a target. So if you see an opportunity to flank our attackers because of that Tek, do oblige," she suggests before reaching into her pocket to pull out three brass rings. She hands one to Tek and Gabriel before looking to Bernard and Leo. "Which one of you needs this more?"
The old soldier makes a note of the frequency, and though he looks clearly dubious about the splitting of mages, he can't help but ask, "Why are they going to be after you more than us?" with a wave given to Tek. Then, Gabriel's head clips to the side slightly, and thanks to the fact that his helmet is off, one can see his face grin at Tek's words. "Why would we stop and give them a stationary target to shoot at? That would be a terrible strategy." The last is just as much for Valeriya as it is for Tek. "If someone hits us, we need to keep moving. I'm sure that Jon isn't going to want to stop and wait to see how things turn out." He shakes his body, shifting the jet pack around the rear of the Crusader a little, with a quiet *CLICK* making sure that it's in place. The rifles on either side are set, as is the rest of the immediately available combat gear. Hefting the duffels, he does say, "I need somewhere to put these where I can get to them quickly, but without leaving them on the hood." He is happy enough - enough - to accept the ring, but needs to ask, "Okay, do I press a button or something?"
"Let the Colonel use it," Leonard defers,"Though I'm doubtful that you'd get it back." The question on its use causes him to chuckle and nod at Gabriel. "There is an 'or something.'"
"Leonard's are probably more potent then the ones I cast, but I suspect we can both manage. I'll take it though if he's deferring." Bernard says to Valeriya. He casts a little look towards Gabriel as he 'dresses up' "I can't imagine it's going to be a comfortable ride with that thing strapped to your back the whole way," but he offers a little shrug either way.
Tek remains quiet as it is apparent that Gabe does not understand the plan to steal what equipment can be salvaged from the merc group that is expected to attack the party en route. Figuring that Gabriel is not in charge so Val will correct him if she deems fit, Tek is content to let Gabe think whatever he wishes but Tek knows his place in all of this, "Ready to go when you are boss." the comment obviously directed to Valeriya.
Valeriya levels her gaze at Gabriel, her patience waning. "The opposition does not complete its objective without stopping us. So, if they hope to have any chance of doing so the must have a reliable means of stopping us." She notes before donning a smug smirk. "Well like the fire globes you've seen me use before it works on one's intention. If you wish it to protect you it will. For a time. Which is limited so don’t be wishing until it is definitely necessary. If all else fails scream like a little girl. It will certainly recognize your need then."
"I'm not worried about comfort," Gabriel says with a smile to Bernard. "Being uncomfortable for a few days in order to survive isn't a debilitating issue. Val, I'm saying that you should keep going, if at all possible. They go back and grab your reward when we win. We're stopped, we're stopped. No reason to help out. But this is your game, who am I to point out the obvious?" As he looks to heft his duffels into Tek's truck, he asks, "How long do I have with the ring?" The four-way mocking apparently just rolls off of his back.
Leonard finishes his coffee and now appears energized. "Now that the plan is known and the intricate workings of rings explained, shall we prepare to depart?" He even goes so far as to don his helm.
"I'm certain running from your problems was handy in your day. It's quite a bit easier to brutalize our pursuers when the opportunity arises so they don't continue to hound us the whole way." Bernard offers for his two cents. He then looks to Leo and Val, "Indeed." He says, moving to don his demon-faced helmet as well.
Tek puts on the helmet to his Crusader armor and closes the driver's side hatch on the Rover as the vehicle's electric engine hums to life. Over the radio Tek says, "Tek to Val, am I running point or rear guard? Over."
"Three uses lasting 18 minutes each," Valeriya answers to Gabriel before taking the cue from the others that it's time to get some miles covered. She helps herself into the passenger seat of the Rolling Thunder and waits for everyone else to board their respective vehicle. "This trip will familiarize you with Arzno and the land in between. Opening future transport and trade with ease," she points out before pulling her radio. "Which are you more comfortable with? We are likely to be targeted for our magic. But that doesn’t guarantee you will be ignored. If you're in front it's possible you will miss a trap intended for us and be able to double back. But the same could be said for following... Fifty fifty chance of being right."
After securing his bags, Gabriel pulls his left gauntlet off silently, puts on ring where a wedding ring would normally be - but isn't - then slides the armor back on. "Nothing to do with running, everything to do with being a moving target. Win, collect later. But if you prefer blunt force, that's your prerogative." He secures his armor and fits himself into Tek's vehicle, having been sidelined from the conversation. "Alternatively, we could run side-by-side. No front to stop, no back to hit. Someone sees a trap, it's more sets of eyes to spot it."
His helm secure, Leonard checks his radio with a reply of, "Abreast would be preferable, if the terrain allows it. As long as we don't all overlook signs of some ambush and perish simultaneously, we'll be better able to aid one another. Also, Gabriel," he clarifies, "I don't believe that anyone considered looting corpses in the midst of battle to be the intent, simply not moving on and leaving valuables behind."
Bernard lacks a radio, so isn't hearing the conversation. He does move to man the railgun on the Rolling Thunder, however, stowing his rifle and grenade launcher for easy access from his position. "Glad I don't have to ride with the white knight." He comments, "Heroics are a magnet for missiles, I've found."
Tek pulls the rover up next to the Rolling Thunder ready to move out.
"Agreed, abreast it is," Valeriya confirms before shrugging to Bernard. "It's been my experience missiles don’t need magnets," she notes as Jon gets them underway. He seems to know the way quite well, probably why he chose Arzno. An hour later the group is past Laramy and forging into the winding forest trail beyond. Three hours pass before the grip of the hills and forests relent to reveal much flatter plains for the foreseeable future. And so far nothing unscheduled to note.
Gabriel mumbles, "I never liked riding in APCs," as they go through the wilderness buttoned-up. After taking a while to look at the whole setup of the cannon, he radios for anyone who cares, "I'm not sure how useful this cannon will be. But we'll see." He stands to use the vehicle's various systems to do a three-sixty like a WWII sub's captain with a periscope.
"How long is the trip?" Leonard inquires of Jon and/or Valeriya. For the moment, he has little to do but converse and watch the scenery ahead and to the flank. Not that he wastes his observations.
Bernard rides along on the gun as the two vehicles trundle along the trails and roads, occasionally drumming his fingers, or fiddling with his optics visor, or any number of things to pass the time. "I'm quite hoping we can get a good score. There's a few things I'd like in Arzno. Though, if I have to wait, I'll hire you to take me there again later, Leo." He adds to the two in the care.
Tek continues driving in tandem when he can and pulling fifty to a hundred feet behind the Rolling Thunder when the trail narrowed. He remains quiet as he drives, though he is keeping an eye out for anything that might seem out of place or like an ambush.
"30 hours total. We'll be taking breaks every twelve to keep the vehicles fueled and ready for trouble," Jon answers. His voice is low a gravely, belying his reason for being mute most of the time. Valeriya nods, having little to add. Her flying lizard still clinging to the barrel of the railgun to keep an eye out.
"Hey Valeriya? This ring-armor, what are we talking here? Like slapping on another set of Crusader, or just grabbing some of that padded stuff? Just so I know when it's time to start screaming like a little girl again," Gabriel chuckles over the comm. He eyes Tek a bit and offers a gentle reminder, "I think Val wanted us in a line-abrest, Tek. Looks like we're fading a little." As for the timing? Apparently he has no comment.
Leonard simply nods and continues to enjoy the ride. Well, tolerate, at least. "Perhaps we'll be fortunate to have well-equipped but completely inept opponents, should any appear."
Bernard laughs a bit at that, "Perhaps so. We'll have to wait and see, however. Perhaps if they've a vehicle I'll try and board it and kill its operator, those generally sell fairly well," he says to his vehicle-mates.
Tek seems to just ignore the comments of his passenger as he critiques his exceptional driving skills. Staying alert he keeps to the formation as discussed. Side by side unless the trail narrows, at which point the Rover will fall back in order to cover the lead vehicle.
Valeriya shrugs, considering the rings and her lack of perception on the Crusader specs. "I dunno. Say if Bernard was going to shoot you with the railgun here. You'd probably withstand more the 6 good hits before it expires. But if Tek was shooting you with his cannon you could maybe take twelve hits, as it's resistant to energy. It will also provide you with air and other environmental needs," she offers over the radio as the vehicles continue forging their path. The trip so far is rather sublime, going along a seldom-used but evident path over ridges and down valleys. Passing various copses of trees and crossing small creeks. Towards the end of another three hour span the vehicles come up to a large river and Jon leads south along it. On the other side a large herd of grazing dinosaurs can be seen.
Gabriel gives Valeriya a quick, "Thanks," with the genuinely helpful information regarding the ring. He maintains his own lookout from inside the vehicle, checking what sensors he can. "Cool, never seen one of these things before," comes across the radio. "We have to worry about anyone out here hunting them?"
"So long as any hunters are after the creatures and not us," Leonard opines, "They are not our concern." So far, the trip has proven uneventful, but there is still the majority left to travel. "Unless we plan to stop to catch our own lunch?"
"If it's a Simvan herd, or the like we may get harassed a bit. Best to keep clear either way I'd think." Bernard offers, taking a moment to do a check of the gun, just in case as he takes a more active scanning of the surroundings.
The Land Rover's large tires and improved suspension system keep the ride inside relatively smooth for most of the way, though they do hit a rough spot every now and again bouncing the two inside around a bit. Tek stays quiet reserving any comments for questions directed specifically to him. He manages to keep the Rover next to the lead vehicle for most of the trip so far only having to fall back in a valley here and a couple other areas where scattered debris made another path unsavory.
"They are a variable, don't discount them until their value is known," Valeriya advises clinically before the vehicles pull to a stop before the river runs into a large lake. Valeriya steps out with a brief consideration of the surrounds before nodding. "I'm going to carry each vehicle across so we can continue." She notes in explanation.
Though the concept of anyone carrying a vehicle across a lake sounds laughable, Gabriel doesn't. Instead, he just keeps up with the vehicle's sensors for a short while and its simple optics, sweeping the skies and the ground for anything dangerous - perhaps whatever the hell a 'Simvan' is. He does ask, "You want me to get out and keep aerial cover while you do the heavy lifting, Valeriya?"
Leonard is mildly surprised by Valeriya's plan for the crossing, but not by her capability of implementation. "I'll enjoy the ride, unless you prefer otherwise," he offers to her with a chuckle. Not that his meager mass would be an issue when compared to the vehicle.
"There's something riling the herd up to the north." Bernard says, "Can't make out what it is, predators, or hunters, or something. Looks localized though for the moment," he adds to those in the car with him, since he lacks a radio to tell the other vehicle.
Tek keeps the Rover stationary while waiting for Valeriya to get them across the water. He does take a moment to use the magnification optics in the Rover to try to get a look at the herd he keeps hearing about, never having seen a dinosaur before.
"Probably best not to linger here then," Valeriya notes, not looking confident the river could fully impede a charge from the herd to the north. Nothing further can be seen of potential trouble now that the vehicles have stopped though. One vehicle then the other starts floating in the air with a gesture and phrase from Valeriya hovering a mere two feet above the ground. Then she herself steps into the air to take hold of both vehicles and draw them across. Wary of potential trouble she doesn't bother stopping on the other side. Instead she pulls towards the hills at the edge of the valley, picking up speed.
Maybe those credits paid off? Gabriel's head twitches inside of the flying Land Rover, and he pops up to use the vehicle's built-in optics, possibly orienting the weapon by default. Orienting it to the north. He keys the mic inside of his armor and broadcasts for everyone with a radio to hear, "Something pissed off the dinosaurs, they're heading this way like a goddamn herd of angry buffalo. If you can just keep going west, Val, maybe they'll just funnel themselves inside the valley and we can be on our way?" He hesitates just for a second. "Your choice, I can pop out and fly over to take a look, or we can be on our way in magical silence." His eyes remain on the optics, tracking the herd as best he can and watching for anything that might have made it stampede.
Leonard looks across the water and observes the approaching herd. Uniform direction changes, not unlike a flock of birds. Fascinating... except that they are flocking this way. "Whatever drives them, they can be driven elsewhere easily enough." A brief gesture and incantation precede his departure from the vehicle. Whether it was airborne or not, Leonard now is so that he can cross the water towards the stampede.
Bernard finds himself alone in the Rolling Thunder, well, with the driver that is. He hears the noise and turns his attention towards the herd. "We're in your hands Val. Almost literally," he adds with a bit of a laugh. He aims the railgun towards the herd, just in case.
Tek just waits as Valeriya does her thing he does stay alert in case he needs to speed away in one direction or another though.
Valeriya is rushing towards the edge of the valley and the herd is rushing towards them. Anyone's bet who gets there first at the moment. Hopefully whatever Leonard intends will buy them some time. "Tek, Jon, hit the accelerators. You're going to be landing in a moment and we don’t want to lose our momentum," she advises over the radio. Hope, hope hard..
Still waiting on Valeriya - having no idea how long this magic flight is going to hold out - Gabriel secures his magazines and preps his weapons to go, doing so much as gently opening the door that he's been near. But, as their magic flight seems to be depositing them shortly right in the line of traffic, he does make a slight leap out of the vehicle, engaging his jet pack. Driving them away is more important that silence. In fact, "You know, noise is a good way to make things move." What makes more noise than anything? The good folks at NTI! The rifle is prepared as he flies north to try and direct the herd.
Leonard comes to a stop ahead of the "landing zone" and utters two quick invocations. The first is placed between himself and the incoming herd, and the second is centered upon him by default, but shall likely aid the others, also.
Bernard remains in the vehicle, with everyone else having scattered to the four winds to address the animal problem. He frowns a bit and scans around a little towards the south primarily.
Tek revs the engine up in preparation for the coming landing. He gauges the terrain and the distance between the edge and the approaching herd as well as the turn he will need to complete in order to dodge the oncoming dinosaurs.
Take ten-thousand dinosaurs and drop them into a six kilometer valley and it's pretty open. No crowding, shoving or pushing for room. Until you get them all to charge in the same direction at the same time.. Still the dinos are comparatively well spread, but it will only take a handful to trample the vehicles. Leonard's efforts reduce the potential to just about that much. Which is much better than several handfuls. Now it's up to Tek and Jon's piloting skills and reflexes to beat the tide as Valeriya releases and they hit the ground.
Gabriel, seeing his previous thought already done by Leonard, lowers himself down to escort the two land vehicles along, ready to try and shoot anything in the face should it get too close.
Bernard keeps the railgun trained towards the herd to the north in case any get too close to the rig, he can let loose on them. Otherwise he holds fire and leaves the escaping to the two drivers.
The Land Rover hits the ground with its wheels already spinning, throwing rocks and dirt behind it in a wide spray. The tires dig in hard and the vehicle lurches to the side as Tek cranks the wheel as to avoid a dinosaur heading right for him. Having dodged the first he keeps his foot on the accelerator preparing for the next hard maneuver he is sure he will have to make.
The two vehicles nimbly avoid the first two dinosaurs as the exterior defenders move to screen them against those that follow. Leonard joins up with Gabriel to defend Tek's Land Rover as Valeriya takes position along the Rolling Thunder.
Gabriel's ability with a jet pack allows him to both keep pace with the vehicles, and remain safely above the thundering herd, which in times long past was the mascot for Marshall University. Not so much fun now. With his nicely kinetic rifle ready to fire - he edges closer to the Land Rover for reasons that he doesn't bother to voice over the radio. As three of the herd barrel down on Tek's vehicle, he fires off three bursts at the nearest beasts, then ejects the empty dual-feed magazines to fall to the floor, reaching for a new set to load.
Two dinos pull away from the stinging weapons fire. Just scratches in the scheme of things but they sting enough to make changing direction a good idea. Thus one is left for Leonard to divert, throwing a shield of energy in its path to the Land Rover.
As the dinos move in to start threatening the vehicles, Bernard readies the railgun, and lets rip a burst of fire in the direction of the stampeding herd, trying to encourage any of the rampaging dinos to rampage someplace else.
Ever had the feeling you had all the time in the world, but none of it could change the inevitable? Valeriya did momentarily as she moved to try and intervene between the Rolling Thunder and a particularly large bullheaded dinosaur. Both her efforts and Jon's fail to prevent the multi-ton beast from slamming into the back end of the Rolling Thunder. Armor shatters and breaks under the brunt of the collision and the Rolling Thunder is sent rolling. Somersaulting clear of the stampede into the side of the valley.
Tek has everything well in hand with blasts taking out a couple but then there is one that cuts suddenly to the side a little away from the herd but directly into Tek's path. With a skillful, if not a bit lucky, turn the Rover throws rock and gravel in a fan behind him as he cuts a turn hard just dodging out of the way of the large dinosaur. Seeing the other vehicle cartwheel he steers the Rover in a direction that will bring him up alongside of it.
Surprisingly enough for as bad as the damage could have been to the Rolling Thunder it turns out to be mostly cosmetic. The armor is dinged but still has a lot of integrity left after the collision. A sign of good craftsmanship or last minute luck as Valeriya rights the vehicle so the group can continue on their way.
Gabriel stays in the sky for now, watching for any other unpleasant surprises as darkness may be falling. He does offer a very heartfelt, "Nice driving, Tek. You built a nice beast. Everybody in one piece down there?" A new dual-feed set of magazines are slapped to make sure that they're fully engaged in the pulse rifle. "You know, Rasputin would be drooling over a herd like this, I'd bet."
With the Rolling Thunder righted again, Bernard grunts a bit, ignoring any comments from Gabriel because of well.. lacking a radio. Ignorance is bliss sometimes. He looks to Valeriya, "Thanks for the help there," he says as he goes to take stock of the situation now that he can see his surroundings again.
Tek pulls up along side the Rolling Thunder and says into his radio, "Tek to Val, Would you like me to check that all the systems are still intact on the Rolling Thunder? It will only take me a moment once I touch it. Over."
"Ugh." Jon replies to indicate that he is in fact still alive and everyone will still be getting paid. "Let's continue to the first break area," Valeriya suggests as she and Leonard re-board the vehicle to press ahead. Indeed the rest area comes six hours later, a luckily uneventful time of looking out at the vast fields of the central plains.
Gabriel rides along mostly in silence. Whether it's because he's the only person here without special powers, or something else, he has found himself rather isolated from conversation. So, looking for something useful to do, he sat on the top of the Land Rover during its journey, keeping eye out by riding the modern equivalent of a Wells Fargo shotgun until reaching their destination. "Val, you sure this place is safe, or do you want me to take a look around?" he asks, hopping gently to the ground below.
Bernard moves to disembark the Rolling Thunder, as well, stretching out a little bit as he looks around, "Might as well look around if you want," he says towards Gabriel. "How long are we going to be camped here?" he then asks, looking towards Valeriya.
Tek opens the hatch on the driver's side of the Land Rover but remains inside using the optics to search the area as well as possible before he dismounts.
Valeriya shakes her head in simple answer to the question as she disembarks the Rolling Thunder. "No, I don’t know it's safe so let's all get acquainted with our momentary home. It'll be dark soon, we should be dark as well. So see Leonard for sustenance and we can avoid a fire. Any measures to conceal us would be worthwhile as well."
As he slides his rifle back into its place on the left side of his jet pack, Gabriel moves to open one of his bags from the back seat. "I have some netting, but I didn't expect that we'd be trying to cover things this size out in the open. Got food too, no fire necessary." He waves a small tin of genuine rations, then grabs the long-barreled pistol out of the holster along his leg. "I'll stay on the ground to keep it as quiet as I can. Pistol won't bother anyone. Back in a few for dinner and rest." With that, he moves off to give a decent scouting of the area with both thermals and the Mark I eyeball. "Scream if something attacks."
Bernard dips his hand into one of his belt pouches and begins to pull out a full size roll of camouflage netting as well, the thing coming out like his pouch were some sort of clown car at a circus, "I've a roll as well." He says, tossing it onto the hood of the Rolling Thunder, "Any of you particularly keen at setting it up?" he asks, brow quirking a little. "I've a little stove in one of these as well, if we want to cook something or need heat."
Tek finishes his scan of the area before moving over to the Rolling Thunder and laying a hand on its hood and closing his eyes for a moment, "Seems that we indeed did get lucky, no internal damage." Tek then moves off to find a place to relax until it is his turn for watch.
Valeriya goes to Leonard, a phrase and gesture exchanged to she that she is sustained for the week to come before she does her own walk around of the camp to ensure all is well.
Gabriel remains out a distance, just checking over the area as quietly as he can manage, swapping between thermals and opening his faceplate for simple night vision. "Remember, thermals can miss something cold," he advises. It won't be long until he's back at the camp, presuming he finds nothing. "You know, there's no real substitute for food in the belly," he opines before returning.
With no one jumping on setting up the net. Bernard shrugs, puts up his net over the Rolling Thunder to offer some overhead cover at least. He's no expert at camouflaging a position though. That's done. He then produces a sleeping bag, laying it out before going over to chat with Leo about the sustenance trick offered.
Tek decides he is hungry as well and moves over towards Leonard, "Val said something about seeing you for sustenance?" a smile on his face as he asks.
Valeriya shrugs at the comment. "There are magic substitutes though," she offers and all those who go will find they need naught for sustenance for the following week. For the here and now though Valeriya finds a nice cozy spot to meditate will the first sign of dawn start to approach. Her flying lizard keeping watch for her though the night. Again the group is undisturbed. but it's too early to get optimistic with not even half the distance traveled. Jon spent the evening in the relative safety if the Rolling Thunder.
Gabriel does his best to maneuver the two pieces of camouflage netting into a place where their rather meager coverage will do the most good. His holster and other weapons tucked away, he finally gets around to popping of the helmet that has led to so many foul words coming from his mouth. His old Raider blade may be old, but it does a perfect job of penetrating and opening one of the C-Rations that he'd brought along for the journey. "You know, technically these are called MCIs, but everybody calls 'em C-Rations anyway. They made almost no change, just different packaging in '58." Whether anyone cares or not is up to them. "I've got more, if you want something physical in your belly." Most of his sleep - where you can get it, when you can find it - is spent underneath the Land Rover, and he's up before sunrise.
"Why eat one of those when the magic will do it just fine?" Bernard asks Gabe, "Save those for when you really need them, I say." He adds with a grin, "Your call though," he says before he too goes about meditating atop his sleeping bag for much the rest of the night, until it's his shift at watch anyway.
Tek moves up to the Land Rover and uses his optics systems during his watch while the others are resting. When Bernard comes he will catch some rest right here in the Rover.
Dawn lingers beyond the horizon, a few hours away when it's time to pack up and move on. The mountains are starting to build on the western horizon, looming ominously in darkness. Valeriya's watch never really ended as she seemed to be somewhat coherent in her meditative state throughout. All the while her flying lizard keeping patrol. Now she rises without any sign of lethargy, helping to break camp.
Already up, Gabriel stows his own netting, and removes Bernard's for delivery to the other man. There doesn't seem to really be anything to say. Just to pack up his gear, make sure that it's secure inside of the Land Rover, then take up a prone position from where he can be an elevated lookout with the minimal visual footprint. "Any geographic roadblocks in the way today, Valeriya?"
Bernard stows his sleeping bag, and camo net back into one of his tiny little belt pouches, stuffing them back into the clown car that is the pouch the next morning. "Our employer might be the better one to ask on the route," he suggests to Gabriel's question.
Tek replaces his helmet in the morning when he wakes. Other than that he sits ready in the driver's seat of the Land Rover with the side hatch open.
"Like yesterday there will be a major river to cross about halfway through the day's travel. As we continue west the terrains going to get rockier as we enter the mountains," Jon answers to the question as the vehicles get underway. And true to that as full dawn comes three hours later the plains give way to hills, the mountains clear ahead.
Doing his best to stay low and concealed on top of the Land Rover, Gabriel uses his pulse rifle's optics along with those of his armor to scan the horizon for the bad guys that were promised to be seen, and more dinosaurs. Somewhere along the way, as the mountains and hills start to rise, he asks, "You want me to look around for an overhead view, or do you want me out of the sky? Up to you, Val, you're the boss. Pluses and minuses for each."
Dawn has arrived three hours after the party has set out again. They are now leaving the plains for the hills and then mountains of the west. Unlike the east these mountains are rather sparsely forested. Much of the land around the group is becoming arid rocky wasteland as they continue. A stark contrast to yesterday's lush valley where the stampede was nearly missed, the minor damage to the Rolling Thunder still evident. "Nothing saying if you get spotted you'll be associated with us Gabe. So I don’t see how scouting by air could hurt. Just don’t get shot down.." Valeriya replies to Gabriel.
Gabriel's armored helmet gives a nod to Valeriya, even though neither of them can see the other. He takes a moment to slap his sleek energy rifle into place, taking up the clunky NTI in his arms. Grenades and magazines are checked along belt and bandoleer, and even his pistol and sword are patted. "Don't want things falling off," he explains to no one, before hopping out the door of the Land Rover and taking off toward the mountains, looking to attain about fifteen-hundred feet for optics and defense. "Anything I should be looking for specifically?" he asks, zipping through the air faster than an early race car.
"Anything that attempts to fire upon or eat us would be a good start," Leonard offers from the vehicle. Aside from his brief flying foray the prior eve, he prefers to be a passenger there. No reason for him to tire on the long journey, after all.
Bernard continues to ride along 'shotgun' on the Rolling Thunder once again, lounging a little behind the gun as he conducts lazy scans of the hills and mountains they're starting to push into. "Anyone have any bets on how long it takes for something unpleasant with wings to think he'd make a good snack?"
Tek lines the Land Rover up to the side of the Rolling Thunder as they travel continuing to prefer this formation than one behind the other and he does his best to travel this way. He keeps silent and off the radio unless it is needed.
"I thought most things with wings had better judgment," Valeriya comments as the vehicles continue through the building hills. Almost three more hours pass and the first actual mountains loom 20 miles ahead, their path apparently taking a narrow pass between them.
Gabriel continues his scouting mission, never leaving more than ten or fifteen miles distant from the small caravan. "Hills and more hills. Narrow path up ahead, you might want to get out of the giant moving targets," he suggests. He gains a little altitude then, zipping upward for a better view.
Leonard notes movement of a lone individual in body armor in the foothills of the mountains ahead. One running from the pass and towards their miniature convoy. "We have company ahead, though if he means to attack us, he's either far more powerful than he appears, or quite foolish."
"Yeah, I see him." Bernard says, turning to train the railgun on the runner, "Could be a distraction, could be the start of an ambush too," he adds in response to Leo's comment, activating the zoom on his optics to try and get a better look at how the guy is armed.
Tek scans the area indicated with the built-in optics on the Rover to see if he can catch a glimpse of what everyone is talking about. "Tek to Val. Do you want me to take any specific action as of yet or hold here on your flank? I might add that without a gunner in the Rover I am not able to drive and work the weapon system at the same time. Though if I stop I can use the weapon system. Over."
"Hold position and lock your rifle on the running man. We'll investigate. No one take your guard down," Valeriya replies as the Rolling Thunder is brought to a halt short of the approaching man. "Keep an eye out for anyone taking advantage of a distraction Gabriel,"she advises as she steps out of the vehicle to see what the man is running from in the middle of nowhere. Indeed he looks to have had the run of his life, breathing haggardly as he comes to a wheezing stop before the vehicle. "Bandits.. help.. Farm on the river.." he manages between gasps.
"Ah, someone in need of assistance," Leonard pokes his armored head out of the opened passenger-side window, "...or so it appears." He then directs to the weary man,over speaker, "What manner of bandits? How many?"
With a long loop, Gabriel passes over the area, searching for any other targets, and reports, "I don't see anything special from up here. Where do you want me, Valeriya?" Unfortunately, he's out of the loop on anything vocalized below.
Bernard continues to train the railgun on the guy, "Bandits huh?" he says to the others in his vehicle, "Want to be good Samaritans and see what we can do? Could be a trick too, to lure us to an ambush," he adds, giving the man a little looking over.
Tek switches seats and brings the cannon around to the rear of the small caravan to keep an eye out behind so no one can sneak up on them unawares but stays off the radio until needed.
"Gabriel the river is about forty kilometers west. See if you can find this farm.." Valeriya suggests before looking the man over once more. He certainly looks haggard enough to have run that far. But the speculation of her team gives her pause. A gesture and phrase is made before her questions continue. "How many bandits and of what type?" She asks.
Gabriel makes his way toward the river, but not directly. He cuts a significant distance southwest before approaching the river, intending to then follow it north. "That's a long way for a farmer to run," he observes in contrast to others. "I thought we were worrying about bounty hunters, not raiders." The safety of his rifle is tickled as he reaches the river for his flight north.
Leonard observes Valeriya's interrogation as he comments over the radio. "We are, but there is nothing to say they are not one and the same, or interrelated. If it is a genuine threat, we can benefit the farmstead and ourselves. If it is a trap, then our enemies will have conveniently converged for us to defeat. In either case, I wager that we gain by venturing there."
Bernard nods his head slightly at Leo's words, his attention shifts a bit from the one man, though the weapon remains trained as he searches for any possible ambushers waiting in them there hills with missile launchers, or the likes.
Tek keeps his attention trained behind the group and weapon at the ready. Still using the built-in optics from the Rover to search with both the zoom and thermals.
"Two borgs, a warlock, and a mind melter," the man is compelled to answer and Valeriya nods before keying her radio again. "Gabriel, possible powerful mage in the group. Be advised," she sends before looking back to the man. "That IS a long way for a farmer to run.. Are you a farmer?"
Gabriel looks to settle down somewhere in the hills and then hoof it quickly into a position from where he can safely and hopefully covertly observe what he's found - a farmhouse. That is, until Valeriya radios her warning. Then he plays it even safer, setting down where it looks clear, just on the edge of his optics, peeking from around a boulder. "I see a farmhouse, with two 'Borgs standing watch outside. No one else. About twelve miles west of your current position." The optics of his pulse rifle actually make for decent telescopic vision. Nevertheless, he takes a moment to swap it out for the sleeker energy model; same optics, but quiet.
"It seems the threat is genuine enough," Leonard looks to Valeriya. "Shall we pay them a visit, or pass them by?"
"The threat's genuine, though I suspect this fellow isn't being so upfront with us either though," Bernard says with a little shrug. "I'm not seeing anyone else with him though yet." He says with a little frown.
Tek continues with radio silence as he does not have anything helpful to add at this point he does continue using the optics and weapon turret to scan and cover the rear of the caravan.
Instead of answering the man breaks into a sequence of coughs and wheezes that does add credence to his claims. Valeriya seems moved the the performance at least. "Pull up Tek. This one will ride with you," she calls over the radio. "Gabriel, got anything with you that could draw their attention so we can flank them?"
"Um, how big is the group?" Gabriel has to ask a little belatedly. His faceplate is popped open only briefly enough for him to give a quick scan of the farmhouse with some unique binoculars. "Someone's inside the farmhouse, but I can't tell what it is. Decoy, though?" He hunkers down completely behind his friendly boulder, looking over the gear that he'd brought along. "Bunch of grenades that make loud noises, flashes and generally rip things up. I could try to tape them together or something, but I didn't really fly out here with proper demolition gear. Toss 'em and get the fuck out?" He waits for the rest of the group to chime in with opinions, as he really doesn't know where they are or what's happening.
Leonard considers a moment before, "A simple grenade would be enough for a momentary distraction, once we are nearer. Or I could simply deal with the borgs, myself. Let's get moving, shall we?"
Bernard laughs a bit, "Our scout, with the eyes on the place needs us to tell him how many people he sees there?" He asks those in his group, "Are we going to pull up short and move in, or drive right on up?" he asks.
Tek swivels the cannon around to center the optics on the man before saying over the radio, "Tek to Val. I don't mind him loading up with me so long as I watch someone prick his finger with a normal knife and he bleeds red. Or if one of you mages care riding over here to keep an eye on him while I am driving? But I am not having some unknown D-Bee ride in here with only me. Over."
"Probably advisable to do both." Valeriya suggests before pulling her silver dagger. The man recovers enough to remove her armor's gauntlet and complies, his blood indeed running red before he returns the dagger to Valeriya. She then turns back to the Rolling Thunder. "Leonard, join Tek for me please," she asks before keying the radio. "Grenades will work fine Gabriel. We'll be there in fifteen, set them off just before."
Gabriel's helmet nods silently from miles away, and he removes two flash-bang grenades, perhaps figuring that they were designed to get someone's attention. Every now and then he peeks around his boulder, but not for more information. Just to make sure no one's sneaking up on him. "Val, there's a pass. Be better for you to let me know when you start to come out, than to try and time fifteen minutes. I'm not going anywhere," he promises.
"As you wish, my dear," Leonard chuckles as he dismounts, uttering a brief invocation as he does so. This allows him to travel to the other vehicle without ever touching the ground. Once there, he lands on the exterior for the trip. "We expect there to be at least four, Gabriel. The two borgs, a psychic, and a warlock. That is the information we received." He raps on the rover to inform Tek that he is prepared to depart.
"If we take just a moment when we get near, we should be able to come in with the element of surprise on these guys." Bernard says, "And prepared. Though that may tip them off as well." He says with a little shrug, "Ready when you are, though."
Tek unlocks the hatch to allow the strange man that just ran fifteen miles from raiders into his Land Rover. Once the stranger is inside Tek does not introduce himself rather he simply says, "Take off your gauntlet and set it on the floor. If you try anything I will kill you where you sit. If you don't like it get out." With that Tek says over the radio, "Tek to Val. I am ready."
The man shrugs, removing the gauntlet in compliance before joining Tek in the rover. Then the vehicles move ahead, traveling through the pass to get into position for Gabriel's diversion. "Ready Gabriel." Valeriya signals..
Gabriel was able to get in one clarification to Leonard's words. Or at least, to him they're a clarification. "Only two partials, no full-conversions. That's something, right?" As he'd ended up a good distance out for safe observation, he does need to close with the farmstead slightly. About eight-hundred feet out, he dips almost entirely behind another large boulder, sets down his sleek rifle for quick recovery, then arms and tosses the grenades in the general direction of the farm, but also away from himself toward the river.
Leonard rides along on the vehicle, making use of the travel time for a pair of preparatory incantations. Until they arrive and things detonate, he holds the remainder of his power.
Bernard takes a couple similar precautions as the vehicle begins to near, casting a couple invocations of his own and preparing himself for the upcoming attack on the farmhouse.
Tek activates his talisman on the ride over he says to the passenger, "When we get there get out immediately. If you want you can take cover behind the Rover but you can't stay inside." He keeps his eyes ever alert for anything out of the ordinary on the approach, both inside and outside of the vehicle.
The man nods silently in reply to Tek but offers nothing further for the ride. The vehicles pull to a stop just inside the mountain pass, a minute away from the farm house. There Valeriya step out, magics shimmering over her in activation before she calls Gabriel. "Light it up Gabe," she instructs, waiting for the boom before signaling the charge.
The grenades were already thrown, out and away. It's only a simple matter of waiting for them to go off. The energy rifle is scooped up even before they go off. "Remember, I got two outside, something inside, no other contacts." He moves as quickly as he can to some other place of cover before the flash-bangs actually go *BOOM*, hoping for yet another concealed position to fight from. For now, he sticks to his own means, apparently not wanting to activate the magical shielding.
Leonard enjoys the ride, brief as it is, but keeps his eyes wary for the noted borgs. Once they are in view, he'll be able to deal with them at the most opportune moment.
Bernard enjoys the ride as well as the vehicle continues to trundle along towards the target, and the sound of the explosions goes off.
When they come to a stop Tek waits until the suspicious farmer gets out of the Rover before he locks the hatches and engine. Keeping the man in his sights, he readies his ice blast shotgun and concentrates for a moment.
The boom goes off clearly, echoing off the mountains to shatter the stillness. Immediately one of the two headhunters starts running out to investigate, the blast nearly a minute's run away. The wind also picks up suddenly. Valeriya sounds the charge, signaling both vehicles to drive forward and engage in hostilities once their passenger is dropped off. No one likes hitchhikers.
When the grenades go off, shattering any concealment of his own position, what's the answer to a sudden, unexpected, unexplained giant gust of wind knocking you on your ass? The modern jet pack. It use to be feet, but Gabriel has adapted. With a good grip on his rifle, he gets up just enough to ensure that he won't go flying off in a bad direction, then engages the jet system. So what if it kicks up debris, one-hundred and seventy-fix feet per second is nothing to laugh at when there is known to be a powerful mage around and a gust of wind just knocked you over. A simple vertical gives him the most range without having to weave backwards over the hills. Now, as he focuses on simply gaining distance, he doesn't try to take a shot. But he does begin to think really hard that magic shields could be a good idea now. *Shimmer*
Leonard rides the rover in, but remains prepared to leave the large weapon magnet quickly, should the need arise. The remaining cyborg is his first priority, and he begins an invocation as they close on it.
With the farm still a bit distant, Bernard holds himself, remaining on the gun and keeping his eyes open for any sign of trouble out this far from the farm. "Let's get ready for some fun." He says with a little grin.
Tek continues driving towards the farm keeping an eye around to be sure the farmer is not doing anything and that nothing is coming up in front of them. He will stop when he gets within fifteen hundred feet.
The vehicles are charging on the scene and will be there momentarily. Till then Gabriel is on his own. Looking down will show the headhunters readying aim with energy rifles as a blade of light forms in the air from the point he was knocked on his ass. The blade then chases after him, clearly faster than he is.. The headhunters are out of range after a handful of shots, the blade of light is harder..
That was probably to be expected. But things could be worse. They are worse then, when the blade keeps on coming after a couple of neat dodges away from the other weapons. Winds continue to knock Gabriel around. This time, he adjusts his flight path away from the farmstead on the best perpendicular he can manage, calling, "I have a blade of light chasing me, what do I do?!" over the airwaves, hoping that a mage will have a useful answer. What does he do for now? His best to stow his rifle and evade the blade, drawing his two vibro-swords. Maybe that'll help.
Fifteen hundred feet is not quite near enough for Leonard, so when the vehicle slows, the need arises to depart it. He continues on under his own power at a pace possibly more rapid than their prior approach. His goal is to reduce the distance by two-thirds, to five hundred feet. "If it is magical, I can discorporate it, but you'll need to bring it to me." He does have an answer to Gabriel's troubles, once range is no longer an issue.
Bernard continues to ride along in the fast moving vehicle, ready on the guns for any targets of opportunity to pop up, and ready to abandon the vehicle at a moment's notice as well, if need be. He keeps scanning and searching for targets, in the meantime, however.
Tek stops at fifteen hundred feet telling the "farmer" to get out before he locks the Rover up tight. Keeping the man in front of him he takes aim towards the borg with his ice blast shotgun.
A minute to close gives Valeriya ample time to ready her tricks. As Leonard volunteers for the elemental chasing Gabriel she leaves an energy field over the front of the Rolling Thunder before reappearing behind the headhunter dead ahead with a net over him.
Gabriel turns toward Leonard's position, yelling over the radio, "Coming to you! Get this damn thing off of me!" 'This damn thing' being the blade of light that continues to dog him. Fortunately, a little skill with blades, thanks to an unsaid someone in this very group bats it away harmlessly. His eyes seek Leonard, calling for him to do whatever it is he's going to do.
With Gabriel making far better time than he, and rapidly arriving, Leonard turns his attention there. Or to the trailing sword, rather. He invokes a spell intent on unraveling the magic within the conjured weapon.
Bernard rises out of the Rolling Thunder's gunner's seat with the aid of magical flight and begins to surge towards the nearest of the headhunters. An incantation leaving his lips as he advances, before the sword, and hammer are both drawn from their resting places on his person.
And so the battle has begun. Already one of the 'bandits' is out of the picture but that’s no reason to discount the others.. The Rolling Thunder is right in the middle of it all, the farmhouse and netted bandit ahead of it by a hundred feet. East of that by 500 feet is the second bandit. And 1500 feet behind is Tek's rover. Leonard and Gabriel meeting slightly ahead of that.
Tek takes aim at the borg who is still up and fighting with his ice blast shotgun and lets fly with a single blast from it.
Gabriel settles his feet on the ground near Leonard, and asks a simple, "Did you try it yet? Can you try again?" Perhaps somewhat unnecessary, as he clearly hasn't - if he had, the sword would be gone, being his logic. As he stands with swords ready to parry any oncoming blows from the fighting blade - as he has no other alternative at the moment - he calls out over his external speakers. But not directed at anyone in the party. Rather, directed at the farmer who'd initially approached them. Perhaps he's just a very nice guy, perhaps he has some ulterior motive, but he calls with surprising calmness, "Sir, you should take cover somewhere."
Ok so a leather-clad bitch that can take your partner out of the fight before you even know she's there is bad. Thus it's simple logic the the other bandit is pointing his energy rifle at Valeriya. Even though his senses have been numbed by a shotgun blast. His weapon sure looks neat going off though. It's like they made a laser firing chain gun..
Yeah, where's that big mean mage everyone needs to worry about. Maybe in the farmhouse that just exploded from high voltage electricity. Literally it is just a ruin now surrounded by an electrical field that still crackles with the armored mage standing in the middle.
Bernard continues to go all out towards the non-netted borg, still with his hammer and sword in hand as he closes in to engage the still active headhunter.
Now now, shooting people is bad. Even if your real money shot misses. Valeriya's magical armor shimmers under the assault of the second 'minor' shot before she disappears to reappear almost five hundred feet closer, right behind Bernard. Once more and she's between Bernard and the merc with the merc netted.
Leonard grumbles as his effort proves ineffective. "Dammit. It's better to remove the source, anyhow, I suppose." Speaking of which, the likely culprit was now kind enough to inadvertently reveal himself. Leonard gestures and vanishes from what sensors could view him, reappearing nearly five hundred feet closer to the alleged warlock. He then flies half that distance again towards the target.
The hitchhiker, or farmer, or mind melter shows his true colors, erecting a translucent bubble of mental will to entrap Tek.
Though the phantom was not effected by the spell it seems momentarily phased. Maybe because it was chasing Gabriel at mach 1 when he stopped suddenly. It takes a moment to reorient.
Tek stares at the newly revealed threat for what he is now and also erects a shield of force around the mind melter saying, "I knew you were no farmer."
Gabriel is admittedly a little lost. No magic dispelled the dancing energy blade. The blade didn't even jump out at him. Instead, Leonard disappeared and someone popped a force field around Tek. Misery loves company, as does a common defense. With swords in hand, he blasts off toward the cluster of mages, circling the wagons as it were, and getting ready to try to shed any further blade attacks.
The bandit is now numbed and netted, left only to curse loudly at his situation and his captor. Use your imagination, or ask a grownup for examples.
What to do when half your team is already compromised? Run? Or even the score. Either is favorable but the warlock seems to like what's left of the farmhouse. The electric field consuming it simply gets denser.
The hammer is quickly hooked back on his belt, and the firebolt pistol quickly drawn as he takes aim on the warlock, "I suppose I should have just sat in the car and watched the show." Bernard comments casually as headhunters fall like flies about him.
Valeriya shrugs at Bernard. "I left you guys the real challenges," she notes before disappearing again to double back to the warlock. She reappears just outside the electric field, fiddling with it?
A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Unless the mind in question is opposed to one's own, and then it is fair game to be wasted. Leonard flies a few hundred feet towards the warlock, uttering words of power en route. Once within a tenth of a mile, he completes the spell, unleashing a torrent of energy tuned to something not unlike psychic effort. This, however, is an intentionally overwhelming raw force, rather than the precise, fine effort of will used for psionics.
"Guilty as charged," says the man facing Tek. "It also seems I have you all to myself. So let's see how your mental faculties really measure up," he challenges.
The phantom is back in play, heading after Gabriel still. Though it only has time to toss out three balls of lightning before the peril of its master draws it away. The balls spread around Gabriel and Bernard, forming a second electrical field.
Tek smiles through the two force fields to his opponent but does not say anything.
The mages seem to be doing their job. Gabriel did his, as scout and decoy. For now, he takes to the sky again, blades raised and ready to fight off the disembodied sword - for both himself, and for Bernard. It would waste time to swap out to take on the farmer, since Leonard and Valeriya are probably going to do it. No, this is pure defense. A pure defense that he gets into the air for, for better maneuvering should something get close.
The warlock stumbles back clearly distressed by the attack of pure energy on his mind. The wail of anguish that follows could be expected. But the typhoon of elemental force, not so much. Years of control and practice are gone in an instant, allowing the warlock's link to the elemental plane to lash out at random. Plus his summoned elementals suddenly don’t not what to make of it other than their companion needs their defense. What you thought there was only one?
Bernard's sword is returned to its sheath, and he stops aiming, and tucks his flintlock into his belt as he stands inside of the electrical field that's formed around him, crossing his arms and watching the show going on around him.
Valeriya tumbles back at the sudden blast of wind with a surprised scream of her own. Grenades and daggers go everywhere, rolling out of her pockets in the uncontrolled tumble. Situation aside it may be alarming to see how many explosives she had..
Leonard is likewise blown head over heels; one drawback to flight. What few belongings he had that were not firmly attached are probably not critical. After righting himself, he takes a moment to analyze the multiple attacks and prior witnessed flying swords, combined with the nature of the warlock. Interesting. This would not be the first air-aligned elementalist he's known, and that one made him aware of servants. Summoned aid is hardly unknown to him, and now he draws forth the power in attempt to remove such aid.
The mind melter jumps to the side of his bubble as his laser sword animates to turn against him. He chuckles at the effort though, reaching his own mind out to control the sword..
The phantom controlling the blade of light is the only visible minion surrounding the warlock in his time of need. It remains there, channeling the air to blow its master's attackers back.
The warlock and his assistants seem to only have one motive, create a twister that one could make a multibillion dollar movie with and sell Dodge trucks. Such takes all their energy and effort and is quite effective for that commitment.
As the blade seems to be staying away, Gabriel takes a moment to distance himself from... a tornado? Yeah, from the tornado, sheathing his swords and swapping for the sleek energy rifle as he goes to largely center himself between destroyed farmhouse and psychic combat. Over the team's radio he says, "Tek, drop the shield around that guy, I can hit him from here then we can help out. I'm no good against these guys anyway."
Valeriya recovers from her tumble, clearly agitated. "Gabriel, shoot this fucker in the head!" She calls as one of her daggers is summoned back to her. It stretches and morphs into seven spinning blades, scary. If one can get over the shock that she asked for help from Gabriel..
The electricity starts to sizzle at Bernard's mystical armor, presumably.... and he's gone, vanishing in the wink of an eye.
Last we left off our heroes were finding the tide turning against them as the warlock lost his mind, literally. Resulting in a very real and very effective tornado, though stationary surrounding the beset mage. Both Leonard and Valeriya got blown back by the display and are just new recovering to change tactics. Elsewhere Tek is having a one on one with a mind melter in a battle of wits. And so far seems to have the upper hand.
Whirlwinds Leonard wants no part of. Those with the long range weapons can deal with it. Unfortunately, they are occupied... and so he will rectify that. An utterance effectively halts the passage of time for all others, and in the following relative seconds, he rends space, as well. When he rejoins the current time flow, he stands close behind the shielded mentalist with the last fading sparks of a closing rift. "Batter through shields? That is so inefficient..." Another phrase, this one dark and menacing, accompanied by a curt gesture. Sticks and stones may break one's bones, but words are much more hurtful.
Tek drops the shield that is around both Leonard and the "farmer" before looking at around at the force field around him before saying over the radio, "Should I waste ammo blasting through the force field I am in or just wait it out? Over."
The farmer screams at Leonard's intrusion on his duel, and not in a pleasant way. His screams make one shudder to imagine the pain that could cause them as he collapses to crumple on the ground. His mental effort to enclose Tek collapses. And writhing on top of an active laser sword isn’t healthy either..
Meanwhile back at ground zero the maelstrom persists, showing no signs of abating until the warlock regains his senses or can no longer fuel the rage.
As the battlefield erupts, and Valeriya shouts out commands, Gabriel is caught between two scenes. It helps when the farmer goes down in writhing agony for no apparent reason that he can see. Rather than taking time out of his busy schedule to line up shots on something special, he simply nurses the trigger of his energy rifle three times in quick succession, for a total of nine hopefully very-nasty laser beams connecting with the confused target.
Valeriya nods with satisfaction as she watches the blasts come very close to crippling the warlock's armor. She then gestures to the fan of sword blades she summoned a moment ago and it shoots out at the warlock at amazingly high speed. Like a magic buzz saw, it could very well split him down the middle..
And split him they do, finishing the armor to attack his very rendible mess. With the conjured winds the splatter spreads quite far before the storm suddenly dissipates with the battle over.
Two netted borgs, one wailing psychic, and chunky salsa formerly known as an amnesiac warlock. Leonard relaxes somewhat, not that he was terribly stressed before. "Well," his helm turns to the remainder yet breathing, "What shall we do with them?"
Tek turns off the laser sword as he walks over to the unconscious mind melter. He then searches him as he removes his armor, "I say we take all their things and then continue on our way. Hell I could even strip the borgs, though I would need to kill them first, which I am ok with."
This might be a side of Gabriel that people have never seen before. Still in the air, he moves toward Tek and the unconscious farmer, stowing the rifle and pulling the long-barreled pistol off of his leg as he goes. His jets kick up some debris as he lands close enough to kick the man in the head. But, rather than exert that motion, he simply points the Parkerized weapon and pulls the trigger. For anyone outside of an arm's length or two, there's no sound, and only for the sharp-eyed a wink of light. If nothing else, the psychic can go to his grave knowing that it was a silver slug, rather than just plain lead. He makes no comment to confirm or deny his feelings about Tek's opinion.
The two borgs are quite alive yet. Riled even more by the warlock and mind melter's summary execution. But it's impotent while they remain in Valeriya's nets. "Whether they live is up to you guys. But I do want the implants of value stripped from the borgs. Leonard and Tek, probably need both of you to handle each one at a time." Valeriya instructs, moving over to the first..
Bernard is back in the time it takes Tek to strip search the mind melter, brushing his hands off a little bit, "Well, looks like everything's in hand here," he says as he moves to join the others. "So, what needs doing?" he asks.
"We could simply cut the limbs from them," Leonard opines as he approaches the nearest trapped cyborg, "Though that would make quite a mess."
Tek finishes up with taking everything off the farmer saying to Gabe as he does, "You could have waited until I was not kneeling next to him. Now I have eggplant all over me." After tossing the armor and sword into the Rover he drives to meet up with the rest of the group. Then looking at the trapped borgs, "I have no sympathy for these heathens. Posing as an innocent farmer... My work would be much easier if they were dead." Then looking over to Leonard, "I don't know much but I know there are power issues and so just hacking off limbs might sever something vital and possibly short something out. If I can just go touch one once it is dead I can tell you exactly where the machinery is and the best way to cut it out. Well at least I think so, this will be a first for me."
"The safety of making sure he was dead quickly seemed a small price for a little mess." Not that there really was much mess from such a small round and specific weapon. Really just a little entry wound. Behind Gabriel's faceplate, his expression is... well, who really know, no one can see it. His head might be seen to give a slightly negative shake at the mention of the implants, and he takes to the sky, rifle once more in hand. He offers only two things. First, "I'll keep watch, in case some enterprising group should happen to come along, or be in cahoots." There's a delay before the second. He speaks rather quietly, watching the surroundings and thinking. "Let them live, they're probably just patsies. Destroy their radios." Then an even longer pause. "Don't hurt them. Taking the implants will be a shock enough. Isn't it illegal to traffic in implants like this?"
"First we need them out of the net, and docile enough to remove their armor. Then you can kill them," Valeriya clarifies, looking to Leonard. "Make them compliant."
Bernard receives no answer to his question, so shrugs his shoulders, "I'll be on the gun if anything comes up." He then says and moves back to mount up the Rolling Thunder and get on its railgun.
Leonard nods to Valeriya and looks to the borg at his feet. He leans down to utter a single word near the captive's head, but the single word is enough. Some say that all of reality was created with a few words. Thus, it stands to reason that some can unmake it. This particular word only affects living constructs, which is doubly convenient in this instance. Deceased is compliant, and saves the effort of multiple steps.
Tek stands beside Leonard and is quite impressed, "I think that will do nicely. Will it hurt me if I touch him now or do I need to wait for the magic to be done? I am not sure how it all works." Looking down at the borg his expression at his death seemed unchanged when he died. His concentration on the work he has in front of him. He does pull out a Wilk's Laser Wand as he readies himself for his work.
Maybe it's better off that Gabriel is up where he is, at altitude and doing slow horizontal loops around the party. For now he has nothing to report. Anything that he might discover about the group? Well, that's only for radios. "How are things going down there? Still looks clear. See if you can get some information out of 'em."
Valeriya shrugs as one merc is dispatched, the net holding him dissolving immediately once it is no longer needed. "Well enough," she answers to Gabriel before considering the bodies. "Well if it would be better to transport them whole to Arzno Bernard can probably assist with a holding space.."
Bernard is up and scanning around a little while the executions take place over by the netted mercs, he has his optics down over his eyes and searches the horizon near and far for anyone that might crash Tek's cyber-snatching party.
"The magic is done,"Leonard explains to Tek, "There are no lingering effects." He then proceeds to the remaining borg, studying him. "Perhaps you would be willing to share information in exchange for a longer life?"
Tek kneels down and lays his hand on the bionic arm. After a brief moment he starts taking off the espionage armor. That not taking that long he begins to separate the flesh from machine with his Wilk's Laser Wand without emotion only steady purpose. He begins by simply cutting off the head and setting it to the side before methodically moving down the torso cutting pieces out one after the other. Which is rather gruesome to see. Especially for the borg's borg friend who is stuck standing and watching Tek go to work on his comrade.
Gabriel's voice comes over the radio with a light- to moderate-chuckle. "I know that I'm the guy here with no special powers, but I am the one who's sent a bunch of dinosaurs squealing, did the long-range scouting, and then the short-range scouting, and then the distraction for the rest of you, then put down most of that guy with the tornado, and then made sure the other guy was dead. A little information coming my direction would be great, if you can spare it." True, his words may be a little snarky, but his tone is clearly simply amused at the situation. He remains in the air - replies or not - using what optics he has to make sure that there isn't a counter-ambush until he's called on. "Before we cash out, I'd like to see what you found. Hey... where the fuck is Jon, anyone heard from him?"
Valeriya can clearly be seen cocking her head at Gabriel as she raises her radio. "Well Tek is currently extracting the bionics from the first one. Seems he had a prosthesis added to his tailbone to give him a scorpion-like stinger. Though looking at it as Tek cuts away most of the pelvis it looks like it was a compensation.." She informs the flying man. Meanwhile the other trapped borg sneers at Leonard. "Yeah, fuck that," it replies before detonating his missile arm and obliterating himself.
Bernard is off the comms, like usual, so doesn't hear the chatter. He does hear the explosion though and his head snaps towards it's direction, scanning. He calls out, "Hey, everything ok over there??" he shouts.
"A stinger? So what, he was waiting to kill someone, assassinating a person just as soon as he got 'em to pound his ass? That's a little..." Gabriel's laughing words are cut off by the explosion, and his grip on the rifle tightens. But rather than swoop low, he moves higher, raising the rifle to fire and use its magnification. "Something down there?" His tone is immediately serious and businesslike once more.
The second borg being eliminated expedites things at least. Though it was a shame to lose so much loot. Valeriya collects the rest of her spilled belongings as she lets the others load their boons into the vehicles. Jon is patient, wearing a smug smirk over the outcome all the way to Arzno. Which is reached without further incident the next day. Cashing in the loot and shopping follows as the group takes advantage of a different locale before Leonard opens a door to take them all home in a flash.
