Exiles Hope, Sometimes, the only way out, is through! Options

[TinkerGnome]

Warpath nods. "1200 hours at the hangar. No problem. I'll get a list of op gear to Zoe as soon as we're out of this hellstorm." With the rest of the group, he retreats to his Brumby, taking the slow and careful route back that his mapchip suggests.

[Chance359]

Sedryk sits quietly next to Warpath, trying not to distract him.

I hope Mellow is alright, knowing her, she's probably down at the mall with that damn Tolliver boy from the Ancients again... I'll have to ask Zoe if she can make a call for me.

[Shadow]

1730 hours 05NOV63

The trip back to the city is more hazerdous then you would think. All except Delacroix are able to make the trip with the vehicle they arrived with. It takes twice as long as normal just to reach Lake Washington. The normally peaceful lake is a maelstorm of turbulent waves and blowing wind. Emergencey vessels are anchored near the I-90 bridge, fighting desperatly to keep it from total collapse. The good is the road is practically deserted. Lead by Grendel in his beast of a vehicle, the small convoy is able to cross the 405 un-impeeded. The storm however, has yet to let up, and Seattle is bathed in water and wind.

This post has been edited by Shadow: Nov 12 2003, 05:49 AM

[Shadow]

OOC for those who go to the Tacoma airport

Tacoma. The word hangs in the air like the stench that creeps through the city. The only descent thing about the constant rain fall from the last couple of days is that it has cleaned some of the chemical smell out of the air. The airport turn off is right before the Narrows bridge. The airport itself is situated on a leveled off hill just north of the bridge. As airports go it’s pretty run down. Three large hangers dominate the west side of the airfield, over looking the narrows. A burned out shack that once was called a tower stands close to them. The newest piece of equipment stands at the head of the 800 foot long runway. An automated tower unit, implemented by the FAA for those few people and corps that use the runway still. When a plane is detected aproaching the runway the unit verifies there identity, checks to see if they are on flight plan, then contacts them with the appropriate landing instructions depending on wind and weather. The unit is surrounded by a 12 foot tall chain fence with signs that proclaim in big bold letters ELECTRIFIED FENCE – DANGER – 50,000 VOLTS.

The only signs of activity as you arrive is in the third and largest hangar. Both doors are open wide, and light spills out as they work. The sound of generators can be heard through the wind and rain. Inside the hangar is a sleek grey Ares TR-55C Both engine mounts are open and you can see white jump suited men working on them. A SUV with a large barrel on the back is connected to the plane with a hose, the words EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE are stenciled on the barrel.

[TinkerGnome]

At about 1700 hours, Warpath places a call to Zoe with the list of gear needed for the operation. "We need sufficient comm gear and encryption to make sure everyone can communicate quietly. I think the driver has enough gear for himself, and most of us have comm sets, so three comms and enough encryption for everyone but the driver should do it. We also need basic saftey stuff for the conditions. Chutes and float vests all around, as well as some basic survival gear for everyone. Four or five GPS units, a few camo suits in some suitable paterns, and some flare grenades in red, green, and blue. Descent gear for four. Also, some hollow point rounds and some gel rounds in various sizes, too, if you can scrounge it. You know what most people pack, I take it. Oh, and half a dozen survival knives, just in case."

He finishes rattling off the list and uploads a hard copy from his pocket secretary to her phone.

[Shadow]

I take it. Oh, and half a dozen survival knives, just in case.


Zoe nods making a mental list while she listenend on her head phone. Her fingers allready logging phone numbers of contacts she would need to talk too. "Null sheen Warpath, I can have that stuff ready and delivered to the hangar by 0800 hundred tomorow."

The line disconects and Zoe begins her calls, treading carefully to spread out where she got the equipment from. She didn't want anyone vendor delivering to much. The truth could be put together to easily.

[grendel]

Grendel parks the Bison in front of the hangar, watching the actions of the ground crew with a critical eye. He would have to perform his own preflight of the aircraft to ensure nothing was amiss. With a soundless thought, the network cable ejected from the jack at the base of his skull, all protocols shifting to his mobile. Status reports scrolled across the bottom of his vision as he moved to the back of the truck. All of his required gear for this operation was stored in the gray utility lockers lining the rear cargo area. The pair of large black duty bags swallowed weapons and gear with ease. Once complete, he carried them aboard the tilt-wing, stowing them securely behind the rows of bench seats. With his personal gear taken care of, he commences the required visual inspection of the aircraft. It would be extensive, requiring the better part of two hours. Only then could he move on to the actual interface with the tilt-wing's onboard systems.

[Grey]

Jessie makes her way through the storm, cursing it every inch of the way. Once she gets home and gets the car parked, she heads down the street to a bar and gives Grendel a call to pick her up.

[Shadow]

@ Grendel

The crew stops as you approach with your gear, a short, stalky human pulls his head out from behind a cowling.

"Hey," he says as he slides of the wing, narrowly avoiding the large propeller, "You Grendel?"

The tall elf nods silently.

"Uh, right, ok well your probably familiar with this bird so if you have any questions, I'll. uh, be over there..."

The man looks utterly intimidated by Grendel, and quickly flees to the engine compartment he was in when the stoic elf arrived.

[grendel]

Grendel, torso contorted to allow him to see into the upper hydraulics bay, answers the phone in an offhand manner. With a tight smile, he reaches out through the network interface, finding the condor high overhead, then out once more to the Eurocar parked in the garage. With a quiet growl, the sleek sedan comes to life. Driverless, it noses out into the rainstorm, electronics interfacing with the network systems. Grendel relays to Jessie.

"Transportation is on the way."

[Leowulf]

Blackjack goes home to pack for the trip that is coming up. As soon as she gets home, Blackjack grabs a duffel bag and starts throwing clothes into it. When she is almost finished, she realizes that taking that much stuff with her would be a bad idea because it's heavy, so she tips the bag over and empties it onto her bed and starts over.

She thinks to herself about what and how to pack what she wishes to take with her. It's going to be cold, maybe rainy... lots of water.. and dirt. Ew!... I better travel light, since I'm going to have to carry a survival bag too.

Blackjack grabs a smaller bag, and into it she puts three small plastic bottles of water, a clean piece of underwear and a clean bra, and some feminine products. She goes to the kitchen and grabs three large ziploc freezer bags, tossing one into the duffel bag and carrying two in her hand. She finds the carrying case for her cyberdeck and puts her deck into it. Then, she squeezes the deck's carrying case into one of the bags. It doesn't quite fit, which she expected, so Blackjack just leaves the bag open, with the end of the case sticking out. She puts the other bag onto the other end and lets its top go over the first bag. Blackjack hunts around her utility closet for an extra roll of duck tape for a few minutes. Once she finds it, she takes the plastic wrapper off of the roll and uses the tape to close up the plastic wrapped cyberdeck to protect it from water and dirt, and puts it into the duffel bag. She tosses the roll of tape in too in case it will be needed later.

Blackjack gives Zoe a call to see if Warpath had sent her a list of requests. Verifying that he had, she also makes sure that one of the camo full suits will be her size and have four arms, or at least some way for her to accomodate her additional arms. "You know I always need things altered for my extra arms. I know this is short notice, so I'll take what I can get, but if you can... Great! Thanks, Zoe!"

Blackjack settles in for the night, getting psyched up for the potentially scary experiences awaiting on the island for her. She puts on some soft music to calm her nerves and reads some more of the book she had started the night before. Blackjack has a frozen soypizza and a couple of cans of beer for dinner while she watches the local news updates.

Once she finishes eating, Blackjack cleans up and goes to bed. Initially, Blackjack has trouble falling to sleep, feeling a little sad that she doesn't have anyone in her life to talk to about feeling a little scared that she might not make it back from this run, given the danger involved, and that she doesn't have anyone who would miss her if she did happen to die. Blackjack tells her feelings to her favorite little stuffed panda bear and gives it a hug. Then, she sets her alarm, curls up with the little stuffed panda, and quietly cries herself to sleep due to the alcohol making her overly emotional.

Morning comes, and Blackjack limps out of bed. Being a little drunk had caused her to sleep funny, so getting out of bed and to the bathroom is a chore. After the blood starts flowing better, Blackjack showers, blows her hair dry, and dresses herself. This time, she puts on a pair of tight gray sweatpants and a matching gray sweatshirt, which has had the arms removed and the shoulder armholes cut bigger so that each one fits over two of her arms, being held up on her shoulders by the remaining stitch. She puts her blonde hair up in a ponytail and uses a couple of berettes to secure some of her bangs that aren't long enough to be tied back. Opting for no makeup or jewelry, blackjack puts on a pair of comfortable white walking shoes and her watch. She adds a set of thermal underwear, the shirt of which is modified the same as her sweatshirt, to her duffel bag in case it's really cold.

Blackjack has another healthy light breakfast. She finishes the other half of the honeydew melon she had eaten yesterday so that she doesn't have to throw it out after it goes bad before she returns, if she returns. She also has some soy cottage cheese and some toast with soybutter. After breakfast, she gives Grendel a call to pick her up, cleans up the kitchen, starts her dishwasher, and waits for Grendel to arrive.

This post has been edited by Leowulf: Nov 14 2003, 08:14 AM

[Shadow]

@ Jessie

The vantage point from your front door is rain and more rain. The howling wind reminds you of a story you covered about barghests a few years back. The roar of a high performance engine pulls you from your thoughts. A black Westind sits in the lot, lights on and passenger door open, Grendel, you think. You run down toting your equipment trying not to get wet. You jump in the car and are barely seated when the vehicle takes off, it is only then you notice no driver.

It takes about 45 minutes to reach the airport, the car slides up next to Grendels Bison, the engine idles and the door pops open.

[Fortune]

Having arrived with Grendel, Danny loiters around the hanger. He bides his time smoking cigaretttes, drinking bad soycaf from the machine in the corner, and idly watching the elf go about his inspection. The rigger's mechanical way of going about things reminds him of some of the jammers back on the Azzie border. It has a soothing effect on Danny, helping him put his thought in order for the upcoming mission.

[Shadow]

@ Danny

the ground crew mostly ignores you, a few give you a look after you light up your first cigarette. But they leave you alone. A little investigation finds a couple of empty cots in the back, as well as some mechanics tools.

@ Grendel

It takes about as much time as you expected to go through you checks on the aircraft. the frame has about 14,000 hours on it and is in fairly decent shape. The number two engine looks brand new, while the number 1 is the stock engine. The electronics all check out fine, there even an advance thermal suite installed, probably for thermal readings. The LMG in the back looks brand new as well as the mounts and the SGL II circuitry.

By the time you finish your retinal clock reads 2130, and your stomach is starting to growl a little.

[grendel]

"Two, Three, you two hungry? There's a couple of drive thru joints down the road that are perfect for a preflight snack."

Grendel drops down off the aircraft, resettling his longcoat over his shoulders. He takes orders on via his headware, transcribing the broadcasts directly into text before climbing into the Bison.

"Hang out here, I'll be right back. Give me a call if something comes up."

With that, the vehicle disappears into the rain.

[TinkerGnome]

Warpath takes advantage of the evening to finish checking out his own gear and packs up a couple of bags for the excursion which he stealthily transports to the Brumby in the morning. The rest of the evening he spends in contemplation of the target maps and watching a trid about helicopter rescues, looking to pick up a few pointers on the sly.

[Fortune]

Flopping himself down on one of the cots to wait for the rigger, Danny decides he's waited long enough to start his preparations.

He digs through his large duffel bag until he finds the box containing his special candles. Shifting to the floor, he lights one candle, then places it directly in front of him. After one last glance around, he begins his summoning ritual, conjuring several minor servants that he can then later call upon at need.

As he proceeds through the ritual a number of times, he continues to replace the candle in front of him, as the conjuring seems to make them flare brightly and burn with tremendous speed.

[Grey]

Jessie places her dinner order with Grendel and kicks back for a while, taking a moment to relax and have a smoke. After a few minutes of that, she grabs her bag and unzips it, going through her things one last time to make sure everything is there and in working order. Satisfied, she stashes her bag into the plane and waits for dinner to arrive.

[Shadow]

@ Grendel

"Yess-sssir," the pimply faced kid behind the counter sputters out. Your still a little peeved that the stuffer shacks drive through was to low to allow the Bison to drive through. It doesn't take long to get the soy burgers and shakes and your back on the road....

OOC: I am going to advance time a little

06Nov63 0800

@ Danny

Your summoning goes very well, you now have access to several watchers that will be around for a while. When you finish you eat and then get some rest.

@ Grendel

You work through the night, the perfectionist you are, by the time morning rolls around the tilt-wing is %100 and ready to roll. electronics, navigation, safety, everything checks out across the board. The groundcrew, who also stayed to make the plane airworthy, is finishing up. They locate and inventory all there tools, and one guy does a FOD of the planes turbo prop engines, just to make sure nothing got left behind. When there all done and packed up, they load up into the SUV and roll out without a word. You get the feeling they were a little intimidated. The call comes from BJ as your about to hit the sack, a mental command sends the Westwind out into the storm to get her.

@ BlackJack

It takes about an hour for the car to arrive, a sleek black Westwind Turbo, it slides effortlessly up your drive and waits patiently for you to enter. You go to say something to Grendel when you realize he isn't there. As soon as your secured the car heads out, reversing it's course to the airport.


@ Warpath

As you enter the delapadated airport, a white van pulls up behind you. You spot Grendels Bison and park next to it. The van pulls a u-turn, and backs slowly up to the hangar. The rear door opens, and the ordered equipment is neatly stacked inside.

This post has been edited by Shadow: Nov 14 2003, 07:29 PM

[grendel]

As soon as the Westwind returns from its run to pick-up BlackJack, he keys the unit push.

"Team, Base, the tilt-wing is ready to go. I'm going down for a four hour nap before we leave. Get your gear stowed and then catch some rest as you can."

[TinkerGnome]

Warpath hops out of his Brumby and unstows a pair of bags. They look rather heavy and weapon outlines are plain to see in one as he places it in the chopper. He's changed clothing drasticly to a woodland print camo with a roll of cloth about 3" thick at the top of his shoulders on his back. It looks like a rolled up cloak as much as anything. Over all of that, he's wearing a harness with a half dozen pouches for gear and ammo on it.

"Mornin'" he nods to everyone and starts inspecting the gear delivered by Zoe as soon as the hangar doors are closed. Once he's sure of what the group has, he lays out parachutes and life vests for everyone as safety gear and checks over the descent harnesses, figuing out how they work. He takes a few items from the pile for himself, but generally leaves it self-serve.

[Fortune]

After Grendel completes his tinkering with the aircraft, Danny is ready to start the next phase of his preparations.

Seating himself on the floor of the plane, he attunes his senses to the Astral, then begins concentrating on the ritual to create a protective Ward for the vehicle.

[Shadow]

@ Warpath

It takes you, Jessie and BJ about an hour to unload and sort through, all the ordered equipment. It isn't all brand new, but it is all in excellent shape.

Danny takes over the plane for the morning and you can hear Grendel snoozing in the background. The rain has seemed to die down for the moment and the wind with it. After you are done unloading the white truck leaves without a word, making it's way off the airport.

(OOC: I would like perception checks for Warpath, Jessie, and BJ)

This post has been edited by Shadow: Nov 15 2003, 12:15 AM

[Jr. Woodchuck]

Delacroix brings up Grendel on the trid screen. "Grendel, i'm going to need a ride out to the hanger. I'm ready to go." The elf spoke quietly, his words lacked all emotion as they exited his lips.

The trid shutoff and the Elf begins to suit up.

[grendel]

Awakened by the artificial organ grafted to his neural structure, Grendel brings his network interface live. The flashing message icon from Delacroix grabs a portion of his attention.

"Team, Base, I'm going to pick up One, will return in fifteen minutes. Plan on a departure time of one hour from my mark. Mark. Base out."

The elf disappears into the Bison, and the heavy diesel growls to life.