IC: Post or Die, Lifelines, and deadlines Options

[Notsoevildm]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:00 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Ferret looks over to his van. Guess she'll be safe enough here.

He takes another couple of commlink's out of the bag and sticks all but one in his pocket. He stares at the remaining one for a minute and then tosses it to Rusty. "Here, hang onto this. It's clean and not linked to a service. But if you need to reach us, I've reprogrammed the emergency call feature to dial into our secure line."

Then he mentally locks the van's doors and sets up a feed from the van's sensors to his commlink.

Prodding at his belly, he sighs, "Guess I could use some exercise. I'm ready to roll."

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:01 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

"All right gentlemen, look alive" Rusty says as he pulls up the second garage door via a heavy chain. The light from the room spills out onto a black street. A small bit of moonlight silhouettes the buildings. There are fallen signs and poles, and abandoned cars stripped to a rusted frame. All of it has been cleared from the path to the north. Nothing has leaped out of the shadows yet. The streets seem empty, and very few parts of Seattle are this quiet.

[Acme]

[quote name='Red-ROM' date='Mar 4 2011, 06:47 PM' post='1048189']
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:01 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Acme nodded, clearing his mind as he tuned out things. He'd been spending the time looking into the other realm and wheedling a few favors here and there, bringing a watcher up to his attention. Anyone watching him would see him arguing with the thing, but in the end he cleared his vision, nodding. "Ok, we got a watcher for... a couple of hours at least," he replied. "I told him to watch over Thirty and tell me if his condition has gotten worse. I'm ready to go."

[Warlordtheft]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:02 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond
Pan Mode:Hidden and slaved to ferrets commlink.

I'm ready too. Ferret, I'm going to slave my pan to yours, cauz it don't have much in the way of protection. Other than that lets get goin.

Zo moves out towards the gas station taking cover as needed--not ninja like in stealth but decent. He takes it slowly and deliberately as he watches for dangers such as gun ports, cameras, ambushes and any other danger.

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, heading to the gas station, Redmond

Professor takes a position in the middle of the team as it moves out, pistol ready, astrally aware, keeping an eye out to either side.

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, heading to the gas station, Redmond

Much to everyone's surprise, the drugged-up old man moved out ahead of the others, darting across the street to the wall of the next building and then inching around its face, gun at the ready. He paused every little bit to watch the blimp and its radar through AR as it traveled ahead of the team.

[Sephiroth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

Jovan sighed to himself as Professor and the rest of them headed off into the night, utterly refusing to bother with further planning. That would come back to bite them all later tonight, Jovan was sure of it. Peh. No matter. If no one will assist me in outthinking our enemies, then I will handle it with my own abilities and my own servants.

He shifted himself around in his seat and moved into the rear of the Rover, where the ork Thirty was still hooked up to medical equipment. Wasting no time on thoughts of pity, he unhooked the various IV's and other tubes from Thirty's comatose body, and moved him into a sitting position on the floor (with a bit less care than what more emotionally sensitive people would think appropriate). Then he settled into the medical chair, simultaneously issuing orders to two of his watchers standing idly by. You two, go with those metahumans that just left. Scout ahead of them, and tell me what you see. Then he relaxed his body, took several deep breaths, and summoned an air elemental even more powerful than the one that had downed the Vipers' helicopter.

The med bay exploded in a burst of spots as his brain suddenly found itself very short on oxygen. The pain! Oh God, the pain! He felt like someone had just smashed a hammer into the side of his head - nay, even worse than that, and unlike the damage from a weapon strike, this pain was not going away. He felt the blood rushing to his head, he felt the beating of his heart pounding everywhere in his body, he felt the incredible ringing in his ears that drowned out all outside sounds. Black spots filled his vision, blinding him. He couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He could hardly even feel that he was sitting in a chair. He was blacking out, falling off a cliff into an endless chasm of darkness. Yet somehow, somehow, the nosferatu held on. Somehow, he managed to stay conscious. I cannot afford to black out, not here, not with these people. It will not happen. I will not let it happen.

He fumbled weakly for his commlink, and after a long period of groping blindly, managed to hit the sub-vocal mike button. He breathed heavily into the mike, too weak to speak politely or even to form complete sentences. <<@Oswald: Human...old man... med bay... need... medical assistance...your services... are... requested...again.>>>

He was able to communicate with his new elemental with more coherence, not having to expend so much energy on speaking. I will be with you momentarily... There is just a small inconvenience I must take care of first.

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, Redmond

The team was scanning the area in every way imaginable. The blimps sensors picked up nothing new. The spirits raced ahead with nothing to report yet. The first road to the left was blocked by a mountain of debris, and the bulldozer that pushed it there. Zo spotted some movement up the street of rats slipping along side of a building. There was a sound like someone rummaging in a dumpster far to the east, and the sound of the garage door coming back down behind them. As they made their way up the street, they saw a sign that read,"CAUTION: Contaminated Area. Contact the CATco Hot-line for more information, 522.411.65/ Phoenix Labs" hanging on the door to a crumbling tenement. Progress seemed slow, but the alertness was comforting.

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, heading to the gas station, Redmond

The call seemed like a pretty major emergency. Enough to stop the old man in his tracks. He crouched down next to an old mailbox and slipped into VR. Bringing up the machine's control display, he saw the same out-of-control readings on the diagnostic. Hemocrit levels through the roof and blood flowing like pancake batter. It was baffling how Jovan could operate at all in such a state. I really should see if he'll let me do a little research. Been meaning to see about getting a gene-tank installed...

A few seconds later, Jovan's levels were normalizing.
<<@Jovan: I'm getting pretty good at this, eh?>>

[Notsoevildm]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, heading to the gas station, Redmond

Ferret trails the others out of the garage, slinking along behind them. One of the advantages of being a scrawny dwarf, was that people tended to overlook him.

It was quiet out here, even the matrix was a whisper. He could see little beyond the icons of the other team members and the feed from his van showing Rusty closing the garage door behind them.

As he sneaks along behind them he links their icons with the overhead maps and blips the data back to each of the team members. It's not exactly milspec but might help if they get split up.

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

The few miles to the gas station, were stressful, but uneventful. There was still a sign standing on the corner that read,"Cross-Town gas". a place that has been out of business for years. The small garage looked worn and one of the bay doors was missing. The front windows were broken, and the pumps look like they were dismantled as well. The place was pitch black inside.

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Reaching the building, Oswald took up a defensive position on the southern wall.
"The jackpoint for the old PLTG should be in the front room. There's probably only room for one plug, so that's you Ferret. If there's room for a second, or if there's any old-time stuff you thing my decrepit ass would be better suited for, let me know. I can work with any code going back to COBOL. Otherwise, I'll be on guard out here."

[Warlordtheft]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond
Zo looks at Oz for second, puzzled---"Kobold? What does a Skraa band hafta do with the terminal?

[Notsoevildm]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Ferret peers nervously into the gloom, relying on this thermographic vision to pierce the gloom. Frag, do ghouls even give off body heat?

As he steps cautiously into the darkness with his machine pistol held ready, he still manages a brief hint of a smile at Zo's comment.

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Oswald rolled his eyes up under his goggles. "About as much as syncope has to do with rhythm... By the way, Rusty mentioned that Biggs likes traps. I don't expect much to be living around here, at least not so that our astral scouts wouldn't find it first, but the traps are another matter. To that end, watch for wires."

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

The team peers into the dark garage. There's very little light and very little heat, so even the dwarves are looking at deep shadows among the ransacked tool benches and old machinery. Ferret looks into the front room through the broken window, and can just make out an old Matrix terminal on the west wall by the sales counter. Oswald can almost hear the faint hum of electricity waiting for the circuit to close. As the team made there move on the gas station, Oswald's blimp picked up movement to the east, about half a mile. The signature was small, and it was moving slow.

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

The sound of the electricity humming perked Oswald up a bit. He thought back to Rusty's big bastard cattle prod that'd dropped a berserk ghoul with a tap. "Anyone else hear that hum? Be careful of electrical traps. I figured Rusty would tell us about any traps on the station, in the spirit of cooperation and all, but assuming the best is how fools die."

Crouching down, Oswald turned the blimp east to check on the movement. No use getting everyone worked up about a bag blowing across the open yard. He flipped first through the blimps thermal to see if he could spot it by its heat, then he switched to low light to try and get a better look.

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Redmond

<<GLL@Jovan: Didn't really take the guy's picture, here's a clip from our security camera [attached]. He's wearing a disguise, but that's pretty normal for ghouls out and about>>

The footage was nearly useless, a dark sewer tunnel with a man in a long coat, hat, and a beard that was probably fake.

[Notsoevildm]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:35 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Taking heed of Oswald's warning, Ferret fumbles around in his toolkit and pulls out a little screwdriver, the kind that lights up when touched against a live wire. He taps it carefully on the handle of the door to the front room as he carefully examines the door and the frame around it for traps before attempting to open it.

[Warlordtheft]

Taking cover outside the frame of the broken front store windows. Zo takes a peek in side, scanning the interior with the ultrasound sight of his AK-97. He pauses for a second taking it all in and feeding the image to the rest of the group.

[Acme]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:35 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Knowing that there was a possibility of dealing with ghouls, Acme took a position where he could get a clear view around them, looking for that faint glow in the astral that would show them off while they still had time to hunker down and prepare. Inwardly he muttered about this job seeming a lot worse than Johnson ever said it and he'd give her a nice slap up the face if he survived.

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Zo scanned the front room finding little of interest. Shelves that probably were stocked with nabs and Machitoes now sit dark and empty. The door behind the counter was still intact and closed. There was an old beer can sitting on the counter near the terminal. Acme and Professor watched over the team in the astral. They could see Jovan's watchers scouting ahead, past the gas station. Ferret was fairly certain that the door was free of traps. Oswald was pretty sure that the Tower had spotted a couple more ghouls. Two men with pale features walking north. one was carrying a body on it's back, the feet just dragging in the dirt behind him. The other walked about ten yards ahead with an armload of what can only be described as flesh.

[Acme]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Acme held his hand up to keep people back. They couldn't be sure if the ghouls they'd spotted were affiliated with the ones that had attacked them or were simply just... doing their own grisly business. He slid out of the gas station a bit to see where they were headed.

[Sephiroth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Jovan played the video footage slowly, waiting for the best possible look at the man's face. When he felt he had gotten the best picture the footage had to offer, he showed it to another of his watchers still on duty outside the Rover. Find this man. I know it isn't much to go off of, but I'm much more concerned about ascertaining whether he's nearby than I am about his specific whereabouts right now. Go.

Watchers scouting ahead, double back a bit and check on the metahumans. Let me know what their situation is. They've been radio silent for some time, I hope they haven't gotten themselves eaten or anything. I have to feed sometime too, after all.

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

"Two ghouls coming from 500 meters east. Moving slow and swollen with fresh flesh. Should I scare them off, kill them, or invite them for tea? They're ghouling out pretty hard, so I doubt they're sensible. Hell I don't even know how well a warning shot would work with those fucked up eyes of theirs"

Oswald sat down, cross-legged, and went into VR.