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

[Jr. Woodchuck]

The watchers appear next to the Elf. Quickly the elfs body begins to tingle as he feels the rush of mana. His robes flow out and grow surrounding both him and the watcher. The Elf about to strike on his pray, is interupted by the small spirit as the two watchers identify themselves as a servants of Danny.

Holding the mana not wishing to release it quite yet the Elf speaks, "Tell your master that a watcher spirit has been set to watch the island. Shall I dispatch it?"

Delacroix's hold on the mana begins to become intense, and releases it allowing it to fizzle back into astral space. His astral signature subsides as well.

[grendel]

With an eye to the shrinking distance to the island, Grendel begins the transition from horizontal to vertical flight. The outboard half of the Traveller's wings begin to rotate, directing more and more of the turbo-prop's thrust on a downward vector. He uses the plane's forward momentum to ease the transition to the hover, bringing the nose up incrementally to suck as much lift as possible from the remaining wing section. The tilt-wing shudders, pivoting greasily in three dimensions before dynamic stability dampens out the oscillations. Still drifting forward at twenty knots, Grendel engages the rear ramp, timing the operation to have the cargo door open by the time his hover was established over the beachline. He brought the last of the speed off the tilt-wing, smoothly adjusting the throttles.

"Steady hover, deploy ground team."

[Fortune]

Startled by the reappearance of the Watcher, Danny recovers quickly while he listens to it's report. After pondering the question for a moment, reaches a decision.

"Return to the mage with the following message. 'Might as well. Whoever sent it is gonna know 'bout us no matter what we do.' After delivering the message, stay and assist the mage."

The Watcher disappears, and Danny finishes his preparations, then stuffs the now-unneeded duffel bag under the aircraft's seat.

[Leowulf]

Blackjack grabs onto her seat harness and holds for dear life with all four of her arms. She grunts under the strain, but manages to hold on.

Once the aircraft reaches a hover over the beach, Blackjack undoes the straps on her parachute, since it's no longer needed, and slinges her duffel bag over her back. She jogs off the rear door and jumps the few feet onto the ground. Once on solid ground, Blackjack gets clear of the craft and waits for the others to exit.

[TinkerGnome]

Warpath hits the beach quickly as well, moving quickly for cover, though the island's uninhabited nature makes doing so of minimal value. Over the comm system, "Base, any readings on the target?"

[Fortune]

Danny slings his shoulder bag and follows Warpath out the back of the plane. Shifting his perspective to the Astral, he keeps watch for mystical surprises while searching for any sign of their intended target.

[grendel]

"Team, Base, target bears 310 mag for twenty eight meters. Just beyond the treeline. I'm moving into an overhead orbit as soon as Two and Five are clear."

[Leowulf]

Blackjack scrunches her face and says, "Three ten mag? What does that mean?" She relaxes her expression into a smile and shrugs.

Looking around at her surroundings, she remarks, "This is a scary place, isn't it?"

[Grey]

Jessie unbuckles and grabs her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder. She takes the short drop out of the rear with ease. Motioning for the others to follow her, she heads for the treeline.

"This way. Stay alert. Three, any signs of other threats that may pop up at us?"

[TinkerGnome]

Warpath cycles through vision modes, looking for any signs of danger. "Fan out," his digital voice comes over the comm. "Slow and steady." He takes his own advice and moves toward the glowing icon on the map displayed across the inside of his digital retinas. "If our target is capable, there may be traps, so watch your ass."

His Ares is slotted with gel rounds, and the saftey is off.

[Fortune]

"Ah ain't seen nothin' so far."

Danny turns in place, surveying the near Astral in a circle around the group. He notes the continued presence of the Storm Spirit and the pair of Watchers protecting the aircraft. Calling the Watchers to him, he instructs one to continue watching Astral space near the plane, informing him of any danger, while the other is to accompany him and perform the same task.

[Leowulf]

Blackjack connects the Nav-Dat GPS to one of her jacks and brings up a map overlay on her Imagelink. She notes her location and coordinates, and then she kills the image so that she can focus on what's ahead of her. She loads a clip of gel rounds into her Ares Predator II and holsters it, so as not to scare their target. She speaks over the radio, "This is Six, team, did One find anything when he went astral?"

[Fortune]

"He done found the Watcher set t' guard the place. Ah'm thinkin' he's a-takin' care of it right 'bout now."

[TinkerGnome]

Again, Warpath's voice comes over the com. "Four to team, No point in hangin' out here while that gets done. Let's get a move on, the target is supposed to be close." Warpath refrains from pulling the ties on his stealth cloak, but goes about working cover as best he can. He fumbles around in his webbing and produces a clip of hollowpoint ammo which he hangs on to, without slotting into his weapon. A quick change might be critical if the wrong type of person is what they find. That done, he moves forward stealthily.

[Grey]

Jessie continues on towards the location of the target, keeping an eye out for any signs of a trap, or anything else for that matter.

[Shadow]

The wind blows from the hovering Ares, sending small dust fragments and spray in every direction. Under Grendels skillful manipulations the Tilt wing manages to stay nearly perfectly on station.

It doesn't take long for the landing party to spot the target. Huddled under a makeshift shelter, unconscious and freezing, is Jason Montgomery Feathers. His eyes open slowly at the approach of the team. He manages to push himself up slightly. He razes a fist sized rock in his left hand.

"If you come to kill me, know that I die a warrior. And I curse your souls for all eternity."

His words come out a stutter, and his body is shakingin extreme shivers.

[Grey]

Jessie leans down next to him, setting her backpack on the ground.

"Hush now, do I look like I'd hurt ya?"

Pulling out a warm blanket and wrapping it around Jason. Slipping an arm around him and helping him to his feet, she smiles to him and says, "Come on, lets get you outta this place."

[TinkerGnome]

Warpath voice crackles over the comm. "Four to base, target secure. Subject appears stable, though not too good besides. Requesting evac." In the more visible sense, he lowers the point of his Ares and gives the mental impulse to engage the safety. Then he trades the gel round clip and a clip of ex-ex. Anything from here out is likely not to be a mercy situation.

[grendel]

Ignoring the drama on the ground, Grendel focuses on the surrounding airspace, alert for the response he knows is coming. When Four's call comes in, he throws the aircraft into a hard left bank, coming into the wind again to make his approach to the beach. Once steady in a hover again, he lowers the cargo winch down to the ground team.

"Four, Base, in position, winch coming down."

[Grey]

Jessie climbs out of her climbing harness and helps Jason put it on. Once done, she clips him onto the winch and gives it a tug.

"Take him up, Base."

She looks up to Jason as he starts to rise.

"Toss down that harness when you are done with it."

[grendel]

"Negative, Two, send someone else up first. I don't trust the target's condition enough to get himself into the cabin without assistance."

[Grey]

Feeling really stupid, Jessie says over the comm, "Right."

She then unhooks Jason and motions Warpath over.

[Fortune]

Danny steps forward and stops Jessie as she is in the process of unhooking their charge.

"Y'all jus' send him on up. Ah'll go up with him an' help out." He pauses, taking a last look around them, scanning the Astral for any sign of opposition. "'Sides, Ah wanna have a closer look at his condition."

With that, the shaman rises off the beach into the stormy night air, and flies straight towards the hovering aircraft.

[Grey]

Jessie chuckles a bit. "Alright then. You're back on Jason."

With that, she hooks him back up. "Take him up Base."

[Shadow]

Jason slips in and out of unconsciousness as the winch pulls him up. A strong wind come up suddenly, forcing Grendel to move the tail of the aircraft around. The motion swings Jason to the side, but otherwise has little effect. Danny reaches the aircraft before before the boy, and positions himself to help the kid in. Danny unlatches him and sends the harness back down.

@ Grendel

Your passive sensors scream at you. Messages flash across the screen warning you of a fast mover. Inbound from the north, 35 klicks, moving at 800 kph, 2000 feet above sea level.