IC Northern Gateway, well-done accents get extra karma! Options

[ravensoracle]

09:25 Saturday morning, 1 October 2072, somewhere over the trackless forest of the Canadian Shield

JD watches the kid not sure whether to believe his eyes or not. He reaches down and flicks the release on Aces collar, letting it fall. A sign for all three dogs that something is up. As the bird flies up under the plane JD takes note his eye tyring to identify the bird through the small window. He takes a moment to look for Old Wolf, with the kid they may need some magic support real soon.

{OOC:

North American Critters skill- North American Critters 3 + Logic 3 = (6d6.hits(5)=2)

Initiative - Reaction 5 + Intuition 5 = (10d6.hits(5)=7) = 17 Initiative

WOOHOO, Awesome dice with this guy!}

[Critias]

[ Spoiler ]

Surprise test, 5 hits

[pbangarth]

09:25 Saturday morning, 1 October 2072, somewhere over the trackless forest of the Canadian Shield

Chase begins his preparations for the approach to Attawapiskat when he notices two Thunderbirds rising towards the plane, one from each side. In his experience, these birds are normally just curious. But this pair is.. acting 'funny'. It may be an idea to get some distance from them as soon as possible.

[Critias]

Well, that's unusual. Thunderbirds aren't flock avians by nature. It wasn't the most unusual thing in The Sixth World to catch one, or even occasionally a pair, flapping around -- especially making a panzer run out in the Southwest -- but they didn't fly like...well...like those two. Their formation was too neat, their approach too purposeful. Chase knew when he was being flanked by escort craft, and as a rule he didn't like it.

"Y'all hang on a stitch, keep them seat belts on," his voice crackles over the in-flight comm system, just as the plane lurches and angles upwards. "Got a couple birds lookin'...hinky."

And when something looks hinky, Chase reacts by lifting the nose and pouring on the speed. He knows the kind of power the plane's got, and he knows the kind of air speed a thunderbird is capable of. It'll be a simple matter to watch the artificial horizon pop-up display wobble and drop ten degrees, hear the engines snarl angrily as they burn hotter and push harder, and swing around the belly-mounted minigun to fire into the rear arc as the plane pulls up and awa--oh, right. Not that last bit. No minigun on this crate.

Chase will settle, then, for the pulling up and pouring on speed. When in doubt, every smuggler knows, the rule is to create distance.

[Foxx]

Vixen opens her eyes to the pilots request that they keep their belts fasten. She looks out the window and notices one of the rather large birds that the aircraft is attempting to pull away from.

"Oh this is not good."

Init: 7d6.hits(5)=3 total for 11

[pbangarth]

09:26 Saturday morning, 1 October 2072, somewhere over the trackless forest of the Canadian Shield

The kid has a crazy look in his eyes. Neither grandma nor mom notice. He's starting to make gestures with his hands, like the kind you see in the cheap trids about Marvelous Marvin the Magician.

He's drawing one arm back, as if to throw something.

[pbangarth]

09:26 Saturday morning, 1 October 2072, somewhere over the trackless forest of the Canadian Shield

Chase has started a climb away from the birds.

Longshot and Old Wolf are caught by surprise in this situation. It appears they didn't catch quite as much sleep last night as they should have, and are only now waking up from a nap because of the sudden shift of the aircraft's trajectory. JD and Vixen on the other hand are aware that something is going on. JD moves first.

[Foxx]

Vixen frowns as she spots the young boy mucking about with the creatures outside. She gets up from her seat and makes her way towards the boy and the door, "Young man, what do you think your doing?"

She puts enough edge in her voice to get his attention and hopefully stop him whatever he was about to do. It beat trying to grab him and making the situation worse.

Intimidation: 13d6.hits(5)=2

[pbangarth]

09:27 Saturday morning, 1 October 2072, somewhere over the trackless forest of the Canadian Shield

The boy snaps his head around as soon as Vixen speaks. The halo of electricity around him disappears. "Nuthin'!" He replies. "Just lookin' at the birds."

The mother turns and rises, worried about her son, and the stranger who seems aggressive. Grandma comes out of her snooze, and belying her age, sizes up the situation quickly. Her gaze goes fuzzy a moment, and then refocuses. "Boy, you are playing with things you shouldn't... again. Sit down and behave yourself." Hers is a voice accustomed to being obeyed, and the boy complies, folding his arms and pouting.

Grandma turns to Vixen, holding her hand palm out to the mother. "Thank you. The boy means no harm, he just doesn't understand what could happen. Things could have gone very bad here. You acted wisely." The old lady peers closely at Vixen for a moment, as if she were studying a painting. She smiles. Later, she glances surreptitiously at the other passengers who are strangers to her.

The plane rises rapidly and leaves behind the birds that turn together and head out over the bay. Automated signs come on, beginning the preparations for landing.

[pbangarth]

09:40 Attawapiskat AMC

Chase brings the plane in for a smooth landing along the Attawapiskat River. A survey of the town as the plane comes in shows a community spread along the north shore of the river, with the bulk of the town centered on the downriver intersection of two channels of the river. A large complex of buildings sits in the center of town... likely the administrative offices. There is an airstrip at the north edge of town, so both land and sea planes can reach the community.

Chase pulls the plane up to a dock where the two channels meet, and taxis in. Workers at the dock secure the plane, pulling it around so the back end can offload onto shore. Engines whining down, Chase drops the back, and people start filing off with their belongings. The boy scowls at Vixen as he passes her.

Chase asks the team to stay back a moment. He tells them he is available to ferry the team by plane or boat for the duration of the two weeks, and gives them contact information... a commlink address and a motel in town where he is staying. If the team has no questions, he will supervise the unloading of the plane.

As the family moves up the road into town, the old lady looks back at the team a moment, then turns and continues.

[Foxx]

Vixen was glad she was able to advert a aerial catastrophe. She gives her welcomes to the grandmother, while feeling the burn from the mother and young boy. Oh well, not like she hadn't experience that before in her military days. She resumes her seat just in time for them to start landing preparations. Once they touch down she goes about retaining her belongings giving the little boy a wave in return for his scowl. After all, fighting with children was beneath her.

She disembarks from the plane, thanking Chase and keeping his contact information. Surely he was going to become valuable in the next couple of days as they search for clues as to what happen to the missing men.

Once everyone is off the plane, she turns to her companions, “Well, here we are. Safe and in one piece for the moment.”

[Critias]

09:45 Attawapiskat AMC

"Yup, that's the one, fellas. Yup. Yup, just with the dolly, pal." Chase stands just barely within earshot of the rest of the group, nodding towards various dockhands and laborers, ticking off crates from his checklist as they're offloaded. He had two things to deliver for this job; the "special employees" were only one part of the gig. They had his number, he'd told them what little he knew about the place...now he had to worry about the other half of his cargo, and making sure all the supplies got where they were supposed to go. "There we go, boys. Nice an' easy. Watch the ramp, there..."

And so he goes back to the monotony of overseeing cargo being unloaded, dull and safe and boring. Sometimes he misses the panzer runs like nobody's business.

[Foxx]

*Placeholder

[pbangarth]

09:50 Saturday, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat dock facility, AMC

JD trundles off the airplane, his dogs close behind. On solid land, all three dogs stretch mightily in that "Downward Dog" yoga pose, and then quickly find a place to relieve themselves. The back legs then complete the post-flight stretch. JD scans the town. Nothing taller than two stories. Streets are well kept, though. Looks like the streetlights haven't been shot out, and the kids playing near the docks (and keeping a close eye on the newcomers) are dirty the way you get after a morning in the mud... not three weeks worth. The townspeople appear to care for themselves and their community. Not like a lot of places he's seen in the bigger cities down south.

The quad comes off at this point, and JD sees to the unloading personally. His gear has stayed in place. Good knots on the tie downs.

[Foxx]

Vixen checks her gear once more and goes to where the rest of the team was gathering after disembarking from the plane.

"Right, what do you guys want to do first? I was thinking we should get the rooms and then go to the fellow who is needing our help."

[pbangarth]

09:50 Saturday, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat dock facility, AMC

JD considers Vixens's suggestions a moment, and responds, "Seems like a good idea to settle in and stow our gear before we go see our contact. I don't think my dogs would go over well in a corporate office."

[Foxx]

"Alright, lets go find us a place to crash." Vixen says. She hmms, wondering how she's going to get around in town seeing she didn't bring a ride. She starts to scan the area for a rental place.

"Say, you don't see a rental area, do you? I think I may need a ride to get around this area."

[Critias]

"Not much for a car rental place out here," Chase pipes up, glancing up from where he's still overseeing the unloading. "There's a couple fellas that sometimes do tour drives, give hunters rides, that sort of thing. Reckon they wouldn't be averse to gettin' paid to give y'all a ride around, taxi-like."

His Stetson exaggerates the bob of his head as he nods towards the heart of town, right down Main Street.

"JB's is the place to find 'em. Crazy Joe-Bob's, that is. It ain't the nicest bar in the world, mind, but it ain't got too much competition around here. You head up there an' ask around, I bet you'll find some wheels and a driver."

[pbangarth]

09:55 Saturday, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat dock facility, AMC

JD tests his ATV and offers Vixen a ride to Crazy Joe-Bob's. "The dogs'll just come along behind. With luck, there'll be a place close to the bar that can put us up for now."

The plane takes a few minutes to secure to the dock. Chase checks the moorings, as a stiff wind can come off the bay sometimes. The team makes it to Crazy Joe-Bob's in no time at all. The dogs settle in in the back of the quad. Music drifts out from the bar. A rooming house is, in fact, just up the street. Martha Obegong's Room and Board. Not much to look at, but it seems clean and able to resist the wind.

[Karoline]

Longshot had been stand offish with the other passengers, not saying anything unless required to. Longshot had never actually flown in a plane before, and was decidedly nervous about the experience, though she hid it well. She considered taking a dose of guts to help curb her nerves, but decided against it. On the plane she, unsurprisingly, left her cold weather gear on, continuing to deny anyone an actual glimpse of her, though there was the smallest chance just before takeoff when she took something from a small pocket on the arm of her jacket and lifted her face mask just enough to slip whatever it was underneath and supposedly into her mouth.

After takeoff Longshot had simply crossed her arms in front of her and tilted her head down some, as though sleeping. The idea is reinforced when she fails to react to the thunderbirds or the boy or anything else that happens during the flight. After touchdown however, she gets up right away, making it seem unlikely that she was actually asleep unless she woke back up just before landing.

Once off the plane, she takes the time to make sure her own bike gets off the plane safely, though she isn't overly worried about it getting damaged. It is built to handle a bit of a tumble. When she thinks no one is looking, she opens the smuggling compartment to make sure her rifle is still there, then quickly replaces the cover. Having checked everything, she drives the Falcon over to the rest of the group to 'join' in the conversation, meaning she listens until it is time for her to give her input.

"Sounds good to me." she says in agreement to the plan, then to Vixen "Can ride with me if you want. Or JD's ride 'as room for people. No need to rent."

[pbangarth]

10:00 Saturday, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat, AMC

Crazy Joe-Bob's is clearly one of the older, more-often visited establishments in the town core. While in reasonable repair and clean (what you can see on the outside, anyway), it does look a little tired. There appear to be rooms on a second floor. Up the street a few buildings is the police station. Across the street is a laundromat. Down a side street beside C J-B's is a grocery store. The tallest building in the downtown (maybe in the whole town?) is farther up the street, past the police station, and has a sign out front, "DeBeer's Mining". This is where you are instructed to seek your contact.

[pbangarth]

You can't see much activity up by the corporate office, but Crazy JOe-Bob's has a lot of traffic.

[pbangarth]

10:01 Saturday, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat, AMC

Three young rowdies burst out of Crazy Joe-Bob's, laughing and patting each other on the back. One of them notices your group and halts, slapping another on the shoulder, pointing at you and saying something. The three grow quiet, go to chairs on the front porch, and sit, watching you openly.

[Karoline]

10:01 Saturday, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat, AMC

Longshot glares at the boys from behind her visor, but of course they see nothing since it is tinted. "Should rest now. Do not like look of 'Crazy Joe's'." she says, her face pointed in the direction of the three rowdies. "I will sleep outside I think. When do we meet in morning?"

[pbangarth]

10:01 Saturday morning, 1 October 2072, Attawapiskat, AMC

Longshot catches herself and realizes the sun is rising in the east, not setting in the west. She does, however, notice one of the young men has a crust of something on his chin... toast maybe. The three of them seem to her like typical local boys, ready to cause some mischief with obvious outsiders.

JD calls his dogs closer. "Well, we could go in and get rooms now, or check out our contact and avoid these idiots." With a grin he continues, "'Course, I'm easy either way."