IC: Post or Die, Lifelines, and deadlines Options

[Warlordtheft]

Friday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15, Deep inside Annex in Redmond

Zo paused and began scanning the room.

"Jade how many did ya wing? an is they commin in our direction?"

[Red-ROM]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15, Deep inside Annex in Redmond

The Biggest dog let out a whine at the sight of Jovan unleashing his power over her. He sped away as Archer yelled,"You can run wizard, but you can't hide!"

Jade moved so fast that the ghouls ambush was caught off guard. The Spirit threw the grenade toward them as only two ghouls managed to fire upon it. The bullets flew wide and the spirit dodged them gracefully. It had no skill with a grenade, but there wasn't much need. The small hunk of metal bounced and rolled a few meters short of the ghouls and erupted in a "boooom!" that echoed through the warehouse. Ghouls jumped and rolled in pain, Growling and screaming. Shrapnel bounced off the truck sending the Ork ghoul ducking for cover.

At the Bar

Ferret scanned through the virtual Rolodex. A list of random names that meant little to him. He began to notice though, that half the names were in Latin, or followed by a Latin. It was like the file got mixed with some-body's science research.

[Seth]

Friday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15, Deep inside Annex in Redmond

"Incoming" Jade grunted through the commlink. The world was moving in slow motion, and it was always hard to talk when immersed with a thought form. Jade backed away so that any ghouls with guns would have to come around the corner and up the tunnel to get her.

Time, Distance and Shielding she remembered from her mothers lessons. When there are a lot of opponents with guns, make sure you minimise the time they can shoot at you, keep a lot of distance between you and them, and impose as much shielding as possible. Make sure you can run away, heal and come back It was good advice. Jade looked around for suitable cover.

[Notsoevildm]

Friday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

Ferret shuts out the faint sounds of explosions and automatic fire as he scans the list of names.

What the frag? Did the file get corrupted when I got kicked out?

Code swirls around in his vision as he checks the file.

Nope, CRC is good. Some sort of code then? Damn, no access to the net.

"Hey Prof, can you read latin by any chance? Half this address book seems to be encoded in it.

He forwards the file to the Prof, which appears as the familiar bouncing Ferret icon with an envelope clamped in it's jaws.

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

"Yeah, I can take a look. Latin isn't my thing, but I have some exposure to it."

[Red-ROM]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15 am, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

Professor looked through the file. Some run of the mill names topped the list, Marcus, Terra, Saul. But some names had Latin after them, Soft Foot- Crotalus nex, Sphex Atlantica. They looked like binomial nomenclature for animals. Then some entries were just Latin, metallum oculi , psychotropicum burd , mox indagatrix..

Some of the words were recognizable metal, drugs... It suddenly hit the Professor that Metallum oculi most likely translated to "Metal eye".

[Warlordtheft]

Friday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:36, Deep inside Annex in Redmond

"Hear ya Jade. Holdin fire till I see da whites of der eyes."Wazn't dat a quote from da history trid channel some time back....

Zo firmed up in anticipation, using the door as additional cover and began scanning in Jades direction through his AK's ultrasound scope.

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:45, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

Professor scans the info Ferret has sent him. Some of them seemed to be animal nomenclature.

Oh! Crotalus nex -- viper of violent death or slaughter? Or maybe death of a viper? Check that one out!

Mox indagatrix? Current investigation? No, female investigator. OK, check that one out.

Psycotropicum burd? What the drek is burd??

Metallum oculi? Metal of eyes??? Oh. Maybe it should be metal eyes. Definitely check that one out!

Professor scans through those three files first. In case shit hits the fan soon.

[Sephiroth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

In the hectic chaos of the moment, Jovan's irritation with his lack of control of the situation coupled with the threat posed by the paranormal dogs was causing some of the stress lines in his psyche to become more apparent in his thought process. He looked behind him to see where Archer and the dogs were. Following me. They're still following me. It will never happen. They're out to get me. All of them. Lead them this way. Will they fall for it? Need to lead them down here, away from the chaos. Need to regain control of the situation. Must regain control. Must create a plan. Tiger did not see me. Thank Ghost the tiger did not see me. I exited the scene right on cue. I wonder how a tiger's blood tastes. If I bit her throat out when she had the form of a human, would it taste different compared to her tiger form? Perhaps that is how I should deal with Archer. Tear his throat out. My teeth are sharper than his anyway. No ghoul's teeth is sharper than a nosferatu's. That would be ludicrous.

He listened closely to the sounds of battle behind him, waiting for the sound of gunfire to drop off. That would mean that the tiger had retreated into cover.

[Red-ROM]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:48 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

It wasn't long before the first wave of ghouls were charging out of the tunnel like a pack of wild animals. Six or seven had rounded the curve and were bounding towards Jade. Jovan was waiting in the opposite direction. It would be a while before the dogs and their master would catch up with him.

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:45, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

Shit! I really do need to spend some time in the present, not a thousand years back. These are just commlink addresses. But still...

<<Professor@team[not Johnsons]:From the Latin labels in his contacts list, it looks like our friend Archer may have had contact with our Ms. Johnson and the Vipers. It just gets better and better. There's another one that seems to point to a female investigator. Don't know who, but I suppose we could just call and find out!>>

[Seth]

Friday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15, Deep inside Annex in Redmond

Jade had already shouted the "incoming" warning, but it suddenly didn't seem enough. There were really quite a lot of ghouls coming, and quite likely a load more following.

Hopefully the their movement and Jade's movement would make it hard for them to shoot accurately. Jade wasn't very worried by inaccurate bullets: small wounds would heal quickly even if they got through her magical defenses. The big problem was getting grappled to the ground by a load of them. Fortunately the thought form provided mobility that would allow her (hopefully) to stay ahead.

Jade began making with the "staying ahead". Retreating while blasting bolts back at the oncoming horde.

[Notsoevildm]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:45, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

<<Ferret@team[not Johnsons]:Just how many teams did the lady have looking for these trucks? Are we all being set up against each other in some sort of weird game? Was BDLL just another pawn?>>

Frag, calm down Ferdinand! No need for conspiracy theories, there are ghouls coming. Focus on the job.

With a gulp he closes the contacts file and shuts down all matrix access beyond basic comm' functionality and slaved inputs.

<<Ferret@Jade, Zo: You guys okay? Suggest you pull back to the street where we can cover you.>>

Assuming my hands aren't shaking too much to shoot straight.

[Warlordtheft]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:48 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

As the first wave came barreling down, Zo paused for less than a nanosecond..his thoughts turned to his sister, and rage filled him. He depressed the trigger on his AK-97, laying down a spray of bullets at the incoming horde. A big grin of satisfaction appeared on his face as the bullets hit.

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:48, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

Professor adjusts his position, draped over the back of a booth's bench. "Sounds like the party is starting in there, Ferret. To be honest, this is one party I'd rather not be invited to."

Hmmm... picking up the vernacular errors in grammar. Interesting. That didn't take long. Mortensen was right. I'll have to pay him that bottle of scotch if I ever see him again.

[Seth]

Friday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15, Deep inside Annex in Redmond

Zap! Crackle!

Jade blasted off bolt after bolt at the incoming horde. Now that she was in range of Zo's guns, she paused to let the pursuers know that they had a chance of getting her. Crackling lightning death spat from her fingers spurring the ghouls on.

"Only first horde. Need to pull rest. Jovan still in main room. Big Bad is an adept ghoul with gun" Jade grunted into the throat mike. She might not be able to benefit from AR at the moment, but at least the sound worked.

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:48, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

"Starting and heating up, if that thunderclap is any indication!"

[Warlordtheft]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:49 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond


"Got a gun too. An I'z iz uzin it!! Die Ya fragging 2 legged buzzards!!!". More bullets flew down range, to strike the ghouls. His bullet tracker went from 45 to 25 rounds. Cool it Zo, that ammo aint cheap..an your probably not going to get some in a while..

[Red-ROM]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:52 am, the Annex in Redmond

The lead rain poured sideways at the incoming wretches. One was yanked off his feet like a marionette on a string. The others jerked here and there, most of them making their way toward The woman in the street. She let loose a blast of lightning from her glowing fingers, but it sizzled past the ghouls and crackled on the far wall. Three of the gruesome men threw themselves wildly at the she-devil as there companion broke toward the gunman on the stairs.

[Warlordtheft]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:52 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond


Seeing the ghouls burst down the tunnel into melee with Jade and towards him, Zo shot the one ghoul heading for the stairs. Slamming it with a 3 round burst. He engages one of the ghouls in melee with Jade sending more bulets down range. Slecting her to be friendly in his smartlink figuring it might help avoid friendly fire. His bullet count dropped from 25 to 19.

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:52, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

"Explosions, and now automatic fire. Glad I'm out here." Professor checks his weapon, ensuring the magazine is full, and the safety off. For about the twentieth time.

Maintaining the increases to his speed and agility has become almost second nature now. The spell enhancing his insights takes a bit of effort, and is somewhat distracting. While keeping an eye on the likely points of exit for the coming onslaught, he ruminates on an idea that has been in the back of his mind for a while.

I think there should be a way to develop a focus that would allow my ability to sustain a spell cast on me to not drain me constantly. If mages can do it, I should be able to as well.

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:55, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

His ruminations on magical foci abruptly turn to worry as Professor checks the damage on the decaying building. I wonder if it has been destabilized by the newly opened 'access ports'.

[Red-ROM]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:52 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

Zo narrowed his attack at the ghoul heading his way. A narrow burst spins the creature around and sent him to the floor. A "snap" off in the distance was the only noise heralding the bullet that lays out another ghoul. a couple of beasts make it to the girl who glowed with electricity. One sank his teeth into her shoulder, but she twists away and smacks him with lightning, sending him to the floor. The first group of ghouls are just about mopped up as the howls begin echoing through the tunnel.

Jovan hovers in the tunnel listening to the faint impression of the howling. It sounded farther away than he expected. The magic of the howl didn't reach him in the Astral, maybe that's why it was quiet, or maybe they were heading the other way.

It was hard to tell what was happening from across the street. The Professor didn't see any structural damage. The Place was built like a giant bunker. He could imagine archaeologists studying the site in ten thousand years, slowly brushing the dirt out of the over sized plastcrete box.

[Notsoevildm]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:55, Lusty Wife Bar and Grill, outside Annex in Redmond

Hearing the distant gunfire, Ferret opens a window to the blimp's sensors. He watches as the ghouls rush towards Zo and Jade through a hail of fire. A few reach Jade, but continued automatic fire from the ork and a couple of gentle twitches from the blimp's feed indicate that the team have things well under control.

He is about to pass the message onto Prof, when he hears the howls. The first one is only captured by the blimp's sensors, but perhaps because he is listening for it, the second howl also reaches his real ears. Between the digital and magical noise, the subsequent biofeedback loop not only crashes his headware logic processors but sends him into catatonic shock.

He does manage a faint 'squeek' of terror before his entire body siezes up and topples to the floor.

[Warlordtheft]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:15:55 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

Zo, hearing the howls in between the spates of gun fire begins to sieze up. His hands begin to shake making his movements somewhat less fluid.

<@TEAM>More howling bitches, ya see see a dog dog shoootsoots its!>