IC: Post or Die, Lifelines, and deadlines Options

[Warlordtheft]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:18 AM, Crosstown Depths

<Oz, any word from Jovie on where da Ghouls went? I'm headin in dat direction right now.>

"Professor, ya got Ferret covered? I'm goin ta get da trog--maybe he'll be willin ta talk."

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:19 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

<<I'm happy to cover, but I'm better at talking. Want me down there with our quarry?>>

[Notsoevildm]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:19 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

<<Hey, no splitting the party.>>

Ferret sighs at the questioning looks from Zo and the Prof.

"I take it neither of you play online games? First rule of MMOs, well and stalker trids too, is 'don't split up'. So if you are going looking for BDLL, I'm coming too. Anyways, we are going to need either him or Oz to get these trucks running again. They've been disabled and while I might be a wiz with electronics, I'm no vehicle mechanic."

[Warlordtheft]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:20 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

"Good point about da stalker trids--the ork always bites it. I'z got a little experience with fixin vehicles--maybe I figure what iz wrong wit da trucks."

<Oz, Can you tell Jovie to summon a spirit ta bring BDLL here?>

Zo begins examining the truck he is next to. He pops into the cab and presses the button for the cab to tilt at an angle and reveal the engine. Hopping down onto the ground he starts to examine the engine. Frag, dis is a bit more complicated dan my bike...... After a minute of looking aroud, and not even figuring where the carborator is, Zo gives up.

<Oz, you better get here.Dese trucks ain't like my chopper.>

[Sephiroth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:19 AM, Inside the Flipped Roadmaster

"Hmm. It is no problem. I am sure your lucidity will fully return to you after you come down from your drug high. In any case, I shall wait here with Long Legs until the boy arrives, then search the surrounding area in pursuit of Archer. It will be a cold day in the metaplane of Hell before I let an enemy slip through my fingers after he has seen my aura."

Crosstown Depths

Jovan sighed inwardly. The troll was clearly too sick to make sense of his surroundings anymore, and there was no way for Jovan to magically ease his mind toward lucidity without being physically present. He turned back to his elemental servant as he waited for the others to arrive. We are going to need to hunt down that ghoul and neutralize him once my co-workers get here. I'm sure we'll be able to catch up before he can leave this hellhole. Do you have any thoughts on which path would lead us to him fastest?

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:20 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

<<Professor@team: Alright, then, I'll keep a watch over things here in the big room while you guys dig into the mechanical innards of the trucks. If I'm needed elsewhere, someone let me know.>>

[Saint Sithney]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:20 AM, Inside the Flipped Roadmaster

"Guy's been down there a week. Don't know why he'd need you babysitting him now. That said, I'm not sure about chasing ghouls through strange tunnels. Tight spaces play to their advantage. Either way, I don't suppose we could really back you up, so it's your call."

Oz pinged Zo back. <<I guess the time for necessary caution is past. I'll bring the car around so you don't have to get an escort for my wrinkly ass across this toxic shithole.>>

[Saint Sithney]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:19 AM, Crosstown Depths

The spirit, having dealt with the dog above after it slipped Jovan's mind wipe, replied. I see one path before us. It may branch and snake all through this earth, but I do not know how or where it leads. As such, there is no way to guess where the quarry has flown. I will say that I do not like the confinement of this place. It is sick like above. Not the slaughter house sickness of the warehouse, but the poisoned sickness of the grounds. This is a toxic place and I do not like being here.

[Warlordtheft]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:20 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

Zo closes the trucks engine compartment, as he waits for Oz to show up. Looking around at the back of the truck Zo takes stock of what the trucks were carrying.


<Hey-do we uz got a list of what is supposed ta be in the trucks?> And more importantly could I swipe a few samples and get away with it?

[Saint Sithney]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:21 AM, Inside the Flipped Roadmaster

Oswald was deep in VR juggling duties driving his blimp and his SUV. Still he wasn't too busy to respond. <<Only thing I knew about the trucks was that they're full of small arms from Ares. Nothing beyond that. If we knew where they were headed from or to, I could probably give you a better guess as to their contents. If you found any of BDLL's personal effects, we might be able to check his comms to find a manifest. Speaking of which, anyone found the gear the Vipers were after? Wouldn't mind a bit of military-grade comms gear myself.>>

[Notsoevildm]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:21 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

Ferret yawns as the adrenalin begins draining out of his system now that the immediate threat is gone.

<<None of the dead ghouls looked like trolls, so unless we trip over BDLL's corpse we're out of luck.>>

He scurries round to the rear of the truck.

"Guess we can check the trailers while we wait for Oz. Maybe the comms stuff the Vipers were after is still here. And if the ghouls already filched some of the guns, I guess Ares won't miss another couple."

He pulls the pistol out of his pants and points it at the rear of the truck.

"Hey, Zo. Want to open the trailer doors. I'll cover you."

[Warlordtheft]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:21 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

"Jovie's got a bead on BDLL. He can summon a spirit and bring em here or something. I'd like ta talk ta em, may be important. As ta dese trucks..."
Zo pulls out the hand held monofiliment chansaw and begins cutting through the maglock off the back of the truck he just examined.

[Sephiroth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:20 AM, Inside the Flipped Roadmaster

Jovan considered the words of the old man and his spirit servant and sighed. "Indeed. I suppose we do have a bit of time to find him before he can escape this viper's nest. Very well, I will refrain from pursuing him for the moment. For now, though, I'd like you to keep track of what time we lost track of Archer and use our map of Crosstown to keep a running calculation going on your commlink of how far he could be from here, assuming that they are running with no vehicular transportation. We can use that after we're done with the trucks to guide us in our hunt for him."

12:21 AM, Crosstown Depths

What is taking those metahuman fools so long? he thought to himself, slightly irritated. Moving at the speed of thought, he backtracked up through the sewer entrance and was back in the astral space of the warehouse. Seeing that no one was making a move to head into the north passage, Jovan whizzed through Professor's aura repeatedly until the tense dwarf opened himself up to the astral plane. The first thing that Professor noticed, of course, was that Jovan's astral form was shining much "brighter" than it had the last time he had assensed the young Infected. It was easily just as magically potent as his own or ZO's, despite being enveloped in the slaughter emotions of the background count. The second thing he noticed was that Jovan was accompanied by a spirit of equally strong magic, which seemed quite displeased that it had to be in such an emotionally tainted place.

You seem to not be terribly busy, Professor. Why is no one coming to fetch Long Legs? I told Oswald that the troll is deathly ill and needs treatment so that we can get information before he leaves this world. Long Legs is not lucid right now; he is too weak. Did you three not receive my message?

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:21 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

Glad to see you, too, Jovan. Word I got here was you had the situation under control and would extract Big Daddy with the help of a materialized spirit. If that's not the case, of course I'll come down.

"Hey, Jovan is just now telling me my medical skills are needed immediately with Big Daddy. I'll go down there to see what I can do. Jovan and his spirit will accompany me, so I won't be alone."

Professor heads into the north tunnel, looking for the hole that opens into the sewers. Once there, he drops down into the sewer and follows Jovan's directions. He keeps aware astrally. No point in being surprised, eh chummer?

[Saint Sithney]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:21 am, Sewers beneath the Cross-town Warehouse

Professor braces himself against the wall and pushes the dead form of the pale white Barghest off the metal access hatch with his legs. It's a short climb down into the foul, chemically-soaked pit that is the area's sewer. North-west of the ladder down, the ceiling is recently collapsed, with the earth above it filling it in. The smell of the explosive is still fresh. It occurs to him that Archer probably collapsed the tunnel to get away. South east, about 30 meters down the tunnel, Professor sees the Troll, arms bound at his side by the pipe he's stuffed in. The cover grate is held in with a nut and bolt only, which could be undone by hand.


Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:22 am, BDLL's Cross-town Warehouse

Ignoring the handle on the container's rear doors, Zo breaks out the chainsaw and starts to cut the restraining bolts on the bottom of the truck's rear doors. With them severed, the top bolts slide down enough that the doors can now swing open. Keeping them closed while driving though, that might be a problem.

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:22 am, Sewers beneath the Cross-town Warehouse

Having reached Big Daddy, Professor brings his perception back to the material plane. The low-light function of his goggles along with his flashlight reveal a nasty, unclean place, as any sewer should be. "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten into, Big Daddy. Let's see if we can help you out of there."

Professor works on removing the nuts that keep the cover on, pulling out a handkerchief and wrapping that around his hand, making sure to touch nothing with bare skin. While he works the cover grate free, he studies the metal of the grate and bolts, wondering how long these things have been here.

[Notsoevildm]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:22 am, BDLL's Cross-town Warehouse

Ferret steadies himself, pistol held in a double handed grip just in case there is a surprise waiting for them in the truck. However, the only surprise is the chainsaw that Zo takes to the restraining bolts.

"Erm, I don't think that's a... ah never mind." he mutters as the bolts clang onto the floor and the doors swing open. "I'm sure Oz can jury-rig something to keep them closed when he gets here. Let's see what we've got."

There is a gleam in his eyes as he moves towards the open trailer, not greed as such, just the lure of shiny tech.

[Saint Sithney]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:22 am, Sewers beneath the Cross-town Warehouse

The troll was in terrible shape. That was perfectly clear. The sewer itself wasn't too bad though. It had been used for chemical and organic waste years ago, but not for long before the place was shut down. Since then it has had over 5000 days of Seattle rain to wash it relatively clean. The upper walls and ceilings were pretty gross, but the rest was relatively spotless, so Long Legs wasn't likely sick from the environment. Either way, he was still incoherent and stuck in a pipe.

[Warlordtheft]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:22 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

Zo starts to slowly open the door, as he opens it a glint of loose wire catches Zo's attention before he pushes doors wide open. Zo mutters "Fragging amateurs....". Unhooking the wire carefully, Zo looks at the line of grenades.

"Ferret, two bits of good news. One, you're not coverd Zo bits, an two I think I got replacements for da grenades I used.

[Warlordtheft]

Double post...

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:22 am, Sewers beneath the Cross-town Warehouse

Professor surveys the situation after the cover comes off. "Well, big fella, I'm not going to be able to do much for you stuck in there as you are. I don't know what damage you have, but I'm going to have to risk aggravating it to get you out. Hope you don't mind."

Professor momentarily opens his senses to the astral. Jovan, I believe that was a spirit of air you had floating around with you? If I can't get BDLL out of the pipe on my own, I might need some extra muscle.

He lays hands on Big Daddy getting as good a grip as he can. Days worth of excrement make the task odious, and maybe more difficult with the crusty bits gluing BDLL in, but Professor grabs a hold anyway. "OK, here we go! Uuuughh!"

[Saint Sithney]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:22 am, Sewers beneath the Cross-town Warehouse

Professor graps the straps of the Troll's overalls and starts to pull, realizing pretty quickly that he doesn't have the leverage. Pulling himself up he manages to plant his feet on either side of the pipe and slide the 400lb troll out far enough for gravity to help the process to completion. The troll was out of the pipe and on the ground, but still quite out of it.

[Warlordtheft]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:22 am, Deep inside the Annex in Redmond

Zo untapes the grenades.

<@team>Gots da first truck opened. Deys tried ta fragging frag it wit frag grenades<chuckles>. So uz we should be careful da next on we openz. Looks like dey took about 20 crates of da stuff from dis one.

An here's hoping that the cases aren't trapped. Zo examines each of the boxes, checking to see if there are any trip wires, sensors or anything suspicious that might indicate that they are trapped.

[pbangarth]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:22 am, Sewers beneath the Cross-town Warehouse

Picking himself up off the sewer floor, Professor checks over Big Daddy. Not looking good. He quickly sets up his medkit and connects it to BD. There are a couple of suppurating sores that he tends to as the machine does its analysis. The first thing the machine flags is a dangerous imbalance in electrolytes. No wonder, being stuck without food and water so long. Professor prepares an injection of the appropriate chemicals and hits up BD. A bit of colour returns almost instantly to BD's cheeks. Well, his blood still flows, anyway.

Professor continues to wash and dress wounds as the machine runs on.

[Saint Sithney]

Saturday, Sept. 12, 2071, 12:22 am, Sewers beneath the Cross-town Warehouse

Long Legs was looking better, but still disoriented. At this point though, he did realize that Professor was there and helping.
"Healer. Shaman. Please. I'll pay you. Please. Get me to a Healer. Not too late."