IC: Evolution, In Character - Epoch, Survival, Revolution Campaigns Options

[Bastard]

03:40:00 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street Alley - Tehran

By the time Ludi had made it to the 5th floor of the corner building, and set up at the north west corner with the sniper rifle, Bubba and Duster had set up at the end of the alley. There Duster hid behind the giant who had set up his machine gun covering the mosque only a half a block away from their position.

"Good to go," Ludi notified the team, as she peered through the scope, scanning for threats.

At that, Kliko left cover, and alone he crossed the street to make use of the treeline.

Felix used the cover of invisibility and matched Kliko's movements across the street, as he hovered several feet off the ground.

[Bastard]

03:40:30 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street Alley - Tehran

Keeping in the treeline, Kliko made it to the ruins of some sort of faculty building. Checking his BattleTac, it looked like he was far ahead of his team, save Felix, who had some sort of invisibility spell that kept him covered. However, the orc scout was somewhat comforted by the long range cover of Ludi behind a sniper rifle, Bubba behind the gun, and Duster behind... well he was also there.

[Kliko]

03:40:36 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Heydarkhani road - Tehran

Crawling inch-by-inch, foot-by-foot, yard-by-yard Kliko made his way to the abandoned building backside in front of him. He knew he was ahead of the team and the time had come to wait for the distant green diamonds indicating Bubba and Duster to moving down the distant alleyway. 'Please, let them check their BattleTac receivers for my position!' "Kilo, Bravo I'm on your 12 o'clock, do you copy, over."

The abondoned building seemed like a decent enough position to recon the mosque premises before making their final approach. Kliko just hoped the mosque was long abandoned and perhaps this could turn out to be a milk run after all.

[SneakyJoeKDB]

03:41:55 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Heydarkhani road - Tehran

Bubba gently flicked Kliko's dot on the Battletac and shook his head in amusement.

"Haha, where does you learn to tells time... yous on my two oclocks maybe threes."

[Kliko]

03:42:01 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Heydarkhani road - Tehran

The DNI controlled "Snake-eyes" endoscope slithered across Kliko's forearm as he prepared to scout out the abandoned building ahead of him. The Sony "Snake-eyes" made for a wonderfull infiltration kit, being a high-tech replacement of the old-fashioned mirror on stick. Besides that it also allowed for easy peaking underneath doors and through drill holes.

"... Haha, where does you learn to tells time... yous on my 2 oclocks maybe 3s...."

Double checking his cyberlink tactical overview screen, either something was very wrong with their GPS bearings or Bubba was acting like a fragface.

"Ehhh, negative Bravo, confirm your position over"

[SneakyJoeKDB]

03:42:19 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Heydarkhani road - Tehran


"... I told yous, yous on my two oclocks maybe threes. Dos you want me to turns so you be on my twelves? Then I wonts bes looking at the targets. Yous ready for Foo Foo Boy to moves north to da next buildings or you stills checkin da times?"

Bubba took Ludi's queue and was dealing with the team losses by being antagonistic to the team leader.

[Bastard]

03:42:25 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Heydarkhani road - Tehran

Ludi watched the team through the telescopic lens as they moved on the target. A sudden chill ran up her spine followed by a wave of hate washing over her. She pulled away from the scope to scan the room. The dark, desolated room. Nothing was there. Was it? She looked back out the window toward the target, this time without the enhancement of a 10x scope. Darkness. That is when she realized how alone she was. Her team had moved several blocks ahead, and she sat alone. On the fifth floor of an abandoned building in an abandoned sprawl, save the spirits and rats, panic started to set in on the cool ex-operative.

[Bastard]

03:42:32 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Heydarkhani road - Tehran

Using his snake scope Kliko scanned the interior of the abandoned building. The only thing moving inside were insects and small rats. He was half expecting to find another group of shadowrunners or devil rats waiting to ambush them.


03:43:41 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Heydarkhani road - Tehran

While Kliko had peeked inside the campus building, Bubba and Duster double-timed it to the next major intersection. Bubba crashed to the ground in what he calls a combat-slide, coming up in a prone firing position behind the gun, directly across from the mosque. Duster was a bit more graceful in taking cover, sliding behind the giant's large frame.

Felix continued his invisible glide up Heydarkhani, where his teammates just passed below him.

[Bastard]

03:44:00 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 5th floor of abandoned building on 82nd and Heydarkhan - Tehran

Ludi kept tried to keep her focus on the target, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching her again. She flicked her cigarette to the floor and pulled another one from her soft pack. Lighting it, then taking a long hard drag, and the feeling did not leave. She looked around the desolate room, but saw nothing. Her emotions were tumbling around, her heart was pounding and it was all she could hear in her ears. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. She turned back toward the window, her hand gripped tightly around the grip, and she began to crave a target to shoot.


03:44:10 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – The Mosque - Tehran

With the rest of the team pulling guard, Kliko moved around the abandoned building, and quickly moved to the south east wall of the mosque. Finally, he thought, this long night is finally going to end. He did a quick gear check readying himself for the final battle. Looking over his shoulder, he realized that the building position left him out of sight from his team. However, he could climb the platform here and be back in Bubba's vision, and use the building's front wall as cover leading to the open entrance.

[Bastard]

03:44:20 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – The Mosque - Tehran

Kliko climbed the entry platform and flattened out against the front wall, returning to ready stance. Bubba kept his gun trained on the open entrance, Duster ducked behind him. Felix continued hovering above them. Ludi kept her sights from range on the front of the mosque.

[Bastard]

03:44:30 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – The Mosque - Tehran

Kliko took a knee just outside the entrance. He looked down at his BattleTach and realized Ludi was still in her sniper's nest.

"Lima, are you okay."

There is static over the coms for long few seconds.

"Check."

"Move forward. We will move in when you are here. Foxtrot, I need you to do your mojo and run an astral scan."

[ntwi]

03:44:33 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – The Mosque - Tehran

"The outside looks clear on the astral, 90 seconds and I'll get back to you after a sweep through the inside. Bravp, I'll stash my body at your location while I sweep through."

Felix floats over to where Bubba and Duster are pulling overwatch before dropping to the ground and becoming visible. "Keep an eye on my body for the next minute or two, and no playing with the sharpie's!" Felix tells the two, trying to force a laugh.

Dropping into a lotus position, Felix takes a deep breath and separates himself from his physical body to visit the objective from the Astral.

[Bastard]

03:44:43 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – The Mosque - Tehran

Within seconds the spirit of Felix is inside the Mosque. The interior has been destroyed by more than time. Looters have completely destroyed what was probably a beautiful building of worship once. Large stone walls and statues have been toppled and obliterated.

He scanned the main room for any threats. In the far corner he spotted a dark aura of man, hunched over like an animal. Then he realized he was hunched over a dead body.

[Kliko]

03:45:03 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – The Mosque - Tehran

With his team in position all that remained to be done was get in, find the package, make the grab and get the frag out of dodge.

"... Copy that Foxtrot..."

"... Bravo, Foxtrot, Lima, you have area security ... Delta, move towards my position, I'll find us a nice entry point ... let us know when this man is on the move"

Kliko started stalking the central building wall looking for a good place to enter the building.

[Mister Juan]

03:45:03 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 5th floor of abandoned building on 82nd and Heydarkhan - Tehran

Ludi took a long pull from the cigarette. Burning acrid smoke rolled down her throat and filled her lungs. The ritualistic movements that came with smoking, as well as the nicotine hit, were usually well enough to keep her temper down. It calmed her down. Usually. But tonight, Ludmila could have gone through the entire pack, and then eaten it, and still... she would have felt on edge. Her feelings were running wild and pulling her body along with it. Her mouth felt dry. Her stomach was in a knot. She wanted to throw up and cry and scream all at once. She threw the half smoked cigarette to the floor and cursed under her breath.

It was only when she was about to bring the scope back to her eye that she realized the entire rifle was shaking. Her hands were shaking. Her whole body was trembling. Everything was wrong tonight. It made her angry at herself; angry at the world.

Up there, perched alone in the dark, away from everyone and everything, she didn’t feel in control. Her life didn’t feel like it was her own anymore. The urges she felt she could keep in check were bubbling up to the surface, clawing at her skin and tearing at her soul. She wanted to destroy something. She wanted to take all the pain she felt and inflict it on someone else.

And there was that voice in her brain... That leathery reptile voice that told her she was fragged; that animal instinct that kept tugging at her that everything was off.
Refocusing on the scope, she realized the crosshair was fixed on Kliko. Without really paying any attention to what her body had been doing, she had lined up a rather clean on shot on the ork. She watched him. She watched the dark and barely visible silhouette creep towards the target. Her finger tightened around the match grade trigger. He was right there. She could just reach out, with a few pounds of pressure, and release everything she felt. It was so easy. So very easy.

“Bang.” she whispered to herself “you’re dead.”

When she realized she was smiling and feeling excited, she pushed the rifle away from her and threw up. High protein bars and bile splashed on the floor. She stood there, crouched in the dark, heaving as quietly as she possibly could until everything stopped coming out.
Kliko’s voice brought her back to reality in a cold snap.

"... Bravo, Foxtrot, Lima, you have area security ... Delta, move towards my position, I'll find us a nice entry point ... let us know when this man is on the move"

“Copy...” she replied through her transducer link. At least, this way, the rest of the team couldn’t tell her throat was on fire.

She wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeves and got back to the rifle. Usually, Ludi knew she would've bitched about not being on the entry team. After all, CQB was her specialty and she worked best up close and personal. But now wasn't the best of time to parade around her well known attitude. That and if she wasn't on the entry team, she had better odds of not getting killed like Kliko was apparently trying to do.

“Looks clear from here.”

[Bastard]

03:45:14 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 5th floor of abandoned building on 82nd and Heydarkhan - Tehran

From her nest, Ludi had a clear view of the entry team: Kliko and Duster. The position of the mosque gave her a view through the open entrance, and the north side of the interior.

"Ludi..." she heard her name whispered on the wind, this time less reptilian, and more raspy.

[Mister Juan]

03:45:21 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 5th floor of abandoned building on 82nd and Heydarkhan - Tehran

Letting go of the rifle, Ludmila rolled to the side and onto her back. Before she even knew what she was doing, he sidearm was pressed into her palm. It felt heavier than usual, and not as reassuring as it should have. The barrel was aimed at the nearest doorway... the nearest completely empty doorway. Under the hood of her ruthenium suit, she felt beads of sweat roll into her eyes. It stung. All she could hear was the pounding of her hearth inside her head.

Propelled by direct neural interface reflexes her body had learned a long time ago, something coursed down the hair thin datajack cable behind her right ear. It ran along the line and disappeared under the flap of one of the pockets on her vest. Her customized and cannibalized military grade scanner went large across all radio and microwave bands, looking for signals. Someone knew they were here. They didn’t just know they were here; they knew who they were.

She left the rifle on its bipod, on the edge of the five story precipice. Ludmila got up slowly and quietly, her left hand shakily leaving the grip of the pistol to turn on her white noise generator.

As the initial shock of the situation subsided, the gears began to turn in Ludi’s head. No one had sneaked up on her; she could see that now. If it had been the case, either she’d be dead or injured, or she’d have shot someone. It wasn’t the case. That could only mean one thing, whatever she had heard had come over the radiolink. They were compromised

Moving swiftly, she holstered her sidearm, swung the large rifle across her shoulder and unfolded the stock of her compact carbine. Barrel up, she pied the entry through which she had come in.

“Kilo Lima. Comm compromised. Moving. Blanket coming up.”

As the message went out, Ludmila’s jammer started sending out massive amount of static over every possible band. She smirked at herself, thinking whomever was after them was going to have quite the headache if his volume was turned up.

[Bastard]

03:45:26 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 5th floor of abandoned building on 82nd and Heydarkhan - Tehran

Ludi dashed through the door, where she was slowed, as if running through a ton of cob webs. She tried to brush it away, but soon realized there was nothing there. Looking back toward the room, she saw something even more terrifying than spiders and spider webs.

On the other side of the doorway, back inside the room Ludi had just left, a figure in black robes stood... hovered. The robes faded into black smoke just below its waist, and at the edges of the figure. The figure's face was not visible below it's hood, but its raspy voice was clear.

"Beware Ludi... They will kill you... Kill them all..."

[Mister Juan]

03:45:26 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 5th floor of abandoned building on 82nd and Heydarkhan - Tehran

The carbine snapped up, but somehow, her finger wouldn't press the trigger. It simply trembled, unable to put on the required pounds of pressure to fill the room with bullets. Ludi's hearth was beating so hard, she barely heard anything else.

She felt her entire face tightened. He jaw started to hurt as her teeth began to grind against each other.
For a while, the words simply didn't come.

Slowly, the barrel of the carbine started to lower itself, slightly.

“Who are you...” she began, her voice sounding strangely small to her ears.

The carbine was now pointing at the floor.

“and just... just why should I believe you.”

[Kliko]

03:45:24 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Outside IUST Mosque - Tehran

'Drek' It hit the fan fast and hard. Kliko found himself alone and exposed. Out in the open, 200 meters away from the rest of his team. Frag, it could just have well been 2 kilometres away for all he cared right now. His comms were about to crash down any moment now.

"... all comms, switch to encryption sequence pattern #2...

- Foxtrot, cover astral
- Delta cover Foxtrot
- Bravo rescue Lima"

Somewhere in the depths of Kliko's brains neurons formed into cohesive thoughts ... 'no time' ... and found themselves translated in a final short burst of electrons hurled into the ether through Kliko's datajack piped comms unit.... if only his crew would think of checking their BattleTac comm text feeds...

[Bastard]

03:45:30 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 5th floor of abandoned building on 82nd and Heydarkhan - Tehran

“Who are you... and just... just why should I believe you," Ludi asked, her voice a little shaky, but she hoped the dark figure didn't notice.

"A friend," it answered, and though she could not see the figure's face, she sensed it smile with its reply.

Before she could fire off another question, it quickly whipped its arm up in front of its face and become a dark cloud of black smoke that quickly dissipated into nothingness.

"Beware of those who pretend to be your friends..." she heard the voice as it trailed off into the darkness.

[Mister Juan]

03:45:30 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 5th floor of abandoned building on 82nd and Heydarkhan - Tehran

Dumbfounded, Ludmila simply watch the “thing” vanished. Silhouetted by the doorway, she stood in the darkness of Teheran’s night for a moment. The carbine held loose at her side, she simply watch the empty room. She should have been scared, or at the very least spooked. But the only feeling she could really summon was hesitant.

They had already lost two team members in just an hour. Two people had died out of what she could only describe as carelessness... and not entirely on their part. The fact they weren’t all ghoul food by now was nothing short of a miracle. A lot of money was involved in this job, and with each corpse everyone’s share went up. Who was to say that someone on the team didn’t want just a slightly larger cut? She was going to have to watch her back. As far as she was concerned, the only one she could really trust was Bubba. The troll wasn’t really in it for the money, and quite frankly, she didn’t think he had the cognitive capacity for betrayal.

Bubba. Bubba would get her trust.

If it came to that, the others would get bullets.

[Bastard]

03:45:31 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Outside IUST Mosque - Tehran

The only response Kliko receives is static. He doesn't know if his communication went through.

[SneakyJoeKDB]

03:45:41 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Outside IUST Mosque - Tehran

After hearing Ludi's message through the comm Bubba looked at the battletac screen and saw Kliko's scrolling text. 'I hates dese little screens'. Bubba did his best to type, but his fat fingers seemed to win out.

"Rofer, sqitchin g to squende @. NeeD biffer ke ys f0e 4at fing3rs. gOin g 2 gey LiMa"

After struggling to hit the right keys on the battletec Bubba turned to Duster, "Watch Felix, mes got to gets Ludis, sounds like she be in troubles ...our comms are jammsed."

Bubba folded the bipod on the HMG and then slung the HMG strap over his shoulder. He then sprinted full bore towards Ludis blinking dot on the battletac. 'Mes coming hang in theres'

[Kliko]

03:45:37 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Outside IUST Mosque - Tehran

At the IUST mosques front entrance Kliko was gathering his wits. 'Ludmilla is down, no contact with the rest of the team, one hostile dark aura'd man somewhere inside...'

'... likely number five on the other team... the psychopath street sam... objective inside'

Gathering his thoughts the psychopath killer became like an obsession in the back of his mind. '...He has to go... gather the veil and haul ass.'

Clinching his Ares Alpha combat gun, the bull-pup rifle would finally came to good use in the Mosque's close quarters. Kliko's electronic sensor suite energized as it scanned the wavebandths for the psychopaths signature inside. Sneaking towards the mosque's entrance, the 'Snakeyes' cyberscope slithered across his forearm peaking around corners visually scanning the ante chamber ahead.