IC: The Sun Never Sets, IC thread for The Sun Never Sets Options

[pbangarth]

Stogie surveys the situation and comes to a decision. "Hey, chummer. Your crew lasted longer than I thought it would. But it's looking pretty bad for the away team.

"If I could find a way to stop the firefight, maybe this insanity could be brought to an end. I'll try sending out a general ARO and see if that gets through."

Stogie cranks up his commlink and sends out a broadband message with an image of a hand held up palm outwards: <<@allinrange: Stop the shooting. It's over. Let's talk.>>

[Tecumseh]

Stogie eyeballs the distance between himself and Gunny. He's likely at the very edge of his commlink's range. There doesn't appear to be anyone else who might be listening. Stogie doesn't hear any gunfire from the trees - only what's coming from Gunny and the drones at this point. He wonders for a moment if that's a good sign for Ellesar or a bad sign.

[Tecumseh]

Stogie guesses that his message did get through because he sees Gunny pause for a brief moment. A look crosses his face - maybe he recognized Stogie's voice? - but then he clenches his teeth again and resumes firing. He blasts away with a large pistol, his movements smooth and highly practiced. Stogie remembers Gunny's aura and the massive amounts of old cyber throughout his body. It may be old but it still seems to work; it has given him enough of an edge to stay alive where others have fallen. A spent magazine drops out of his pistol and is replaced a fraction of a second later so that he can continue firing. His aim is exceptional and likely aided by a targeting system of some sort.

[Tecumseh]

Gunny continues to backpedal toward the shoreline, firing as he goes. Stogie looks up in time to see a wicked manabolt slice out of forest toward the old man. He can do little to dodge it or blunt its force. He grimaces, teeth clenched but no scream. Not even a whimper. He coughs once; Stogie's exceptional vision sees a red slick dribbling out of Gunny's mouth. But for all that he's still on his feet, still moving. His hand clutches his ribs as if he's trying to hold something in place, but that doesn't stop him from making it to the trees along the side of the river.

The spirit fighting the drone freezes, then vanishes. Stogie checks the astral. The spirit has left completely, gone home to its metaplane. Stogie thinks for a moment. Either the summoner died or was knocked unconscious. Given the size of the last manabolt, it's possible that one of the Sisters KO'd herself with drain. Shaman (and shawomen) often rely upon the strength of their personality to offset the debilitating effects of spellcasting. With Hester and Selene, this is not a considerable cushion.

The spells stop now that Gunny is in the trees. Without direct line-of-sight he will have to be pursued on foot. In theory the Sisters might be able to hunt him down with spirits, but Gunny has proven himself against the smaller spirits the Sisters have been relying on outside of their aspected domain. And there's only so many spirits you can send to their doom before word gets around the metaplane that you're a drekhead summoner and that the spirit should do everything in its power to resist your call. Hermetics are known for this (and corpers, Stogie thinks to himself), but it's unlikely that the Sisters would adopt the same approach.

Stogie stands with his prisoner, the air quickly falling quiet. A lone roto-drone continues to bob in the air above the river, scanning for a target with its dogbrain autosofts. A second spirit - presumably from another Sister - circles below it, racing around to try to catch the drone unaware.

[pbangarth]

Stogie sizes up the situation, looking for anyone he can see from this vantage point.

[Tecumseh]

Stogie considers the scene in the river below. He can see two men on rocks in the middle of the river, neither of them moving. Using his heightened senses, he believes he can see them breathing, although that could be an illusion from the cold river water lapping around them. The river is shallow after a long, dry autumn. The water swirls around, soaking their limbs and making their clothes wet and heavy. The men are not in any immediate danger of drowning although hypothermia could be a real concern. Stogie can't seen any other people than the prisoner he's leading in front of him. The prisoner sighs at the scene, perhaps unsurprised by the fate of his companions after what befell him. It doesn't look like anyone will be rescuing him anytime soon.

The sounds of gunfire have stopped. Gunny is no longer firing in his retreat. He has disappeared into the woods. One roto-drone covers his retreat, unaware of a spirit circling below it. The spirit spins above the river, creating a small whirlpool, which then rises up like a water spout. It reaches the drone and engulfs it. The drone quickly shorts out; its systems were not designed for full immersion in water. The spirit then disappears from the physical plane, its services to its summoner complete. The water spout cascades back down into the river, sending a large, rolling wave downstream. It douses the two men who are unconscious on the rocks. They spit and sputter to clear their airways, confirming that they are indeed alive for now.

[pbangarth]

Stogie grunts a "Hmmph." as the firefight dies down.

"We should go down and pull those two out of the water before they freeze. Then maybe we can get this damn toxic bullshit straightened out." He indicates with his shotgun to go down towards the creek. He stays behind his captive. Jake takes up a wingman position to the left and back of Stogie.

[Tecumseh]

Stogie's captive leads the way down the river, carefully picking his steps so that he doesn't fall. His ability to catch himself with a badly injured (and bandaged) shoulder is motivating him to stay on his feet.

At the bank of the river, he turns to look back at Stogie. He seems reluctant to wade into the river, both because he would be little help in lifting the men out and because he is starting to shiver violently. The cold weather, the blood loss, and the lack of insulated clothing is beginning to catch up with him. He might be going into shock too for good measure. He leans against a large rock for balance as he trembles.

Stogie looks around and sees the Sisters slowly emerge from the treeline - the ork from the west, Ellie and the troll from the east. All of the women look battered and fatigued, as if they had just run a marathon and then had to box a few rounds for good measure. Ellie's hair is damp with sweat; what hair isn't plastered to her forehead is wildly askew as if she had been hit with electricity. The troll either has two black eyes or stunning deep circles underneath them. The ork has dried blood underneath her nose trailing down to her chest. All three of them are suffering from severe Drain and don't look much more upright than Stogie's prisoner.

On the astral, Stogie sees a certain dark presence swirling around the ork and the troll. He guesses that they are displeased that there is a captive. Given their expressions and their emotions, he would hypothesize that they have come down to the river to confirm their kills. Whether or not they realize that the men in the river are not yet dead is an open question. Astrally the question is usually clear but the woods and even the river can be so full of life that it can be difficult to tell at a distance. If they don't know now, they will soon enough when the approach closely enough to see the men breathing.

[pbangarth]

Stogie takes one look at his prisoner and shakes his head. "You look like shit. My doing. Here, sit down and have a snack while I pull your buddies out of the water." Jake. Watch him. Keep him in place. He gives the man a bit of food and heads down into the river.

It's cold, really cold and clears some cobwebs out of his mind. This is lifting time, just like bales of hay back home. He stops by the two still forms and pulls magic out of the air, pumping up his body to do what it has done hundreds of times, schlep dead weight from one place to another. His muscles bulge and he feels the solidity of the Earth fill his bones. He shoulders the shotgun. Not much chance the man uphill will do anything now.

Grabbing one man by the scruff of his clothing in each hand, Stogie intends to drag the two unconscious men out of the river, place them gently on the shore and stand over them, waiting to see what the women do. The fight is over. There will be no murder today.

[pbangarth]

It becomes apparent to Stogie that the two men are too heavy to bring out at once. He leaves the lighter of the two, a dwarf, in the river and concentrates on the big, heavy one first,using both hands. Stogie gets him out onto shore, but is immediately overwhelmed by a bout of dizziness as the drain from the magic boosts hits him. He stands, fixed in place as he watches the Sisters approach.

Fuck. Not much good I'm going to be if they wanna get medieval.

[Tecumseh]

The ebb and flow of mana is a familiar feeling to Stogie, often no more difficult than inhaling and then exhaling. The mana flows in - inflating his muscles and hardening his bones - then recedes, leaving him the size and shape he was before. But this time is different. Things do not settle in their proper places as he shrinks back down to size. He shakes out his joints, which are suddenly stiff. His fingers cramp and ache. His skin feels stretched and uncomfortably loose in places. There's a trickle of blood from his nose, likely from a burst blood vessel. He reaches up to touch the bridge of his nose, which is a bit tender. The size and shape of it feel normal enough - it's probably not fractured - but there might be some bruising. Add to the list of stuff to mend in the next day or two.

The Sisters begin to stagger in his direction. There are noticeable limps in their gaits and they all move slowly. Stogie catches the ork and the troll exchanging glances. There's a bit of mischief in their auras; perhaps they're thinking that having a live prisoner or two might be kind of entertaining. The glances are (literally) over Ellie's head, who doesn't appear to notice them. Instead she hobbles over to Stogie, summoning a shaky smile from the depths of her strength.

"Why, hello, S-" she catches herself mid-syllable, realizing that mentioning his name out loud in front of a prisoner might be imprudent. "-sir," she finishes. "It seems that you have invited another guest to the party. How wonderful, how wonderful." Her voice trails off as she pants for a few breaths. Whether she really thinks this is wonderful or if she's reverting to habit while tired is an open question.

"I see that you've already served refreshments," she continues, indicating the survival bar Stogie had given his prisoner. "Shortbread?" she asks, trying to be upbeat. (She's not far off. It's enriched wheat flour, vegetable shortening, sugar, natural and artificial flavors, and a good dose of vitamins and minerals. They taste like lemon-vanilla cookies.)

"Perhaps some tea to soothe some jangled nerves," she says, barely getting all the words out before she has to pant some more. She looks around to locate a teapot but fails to find one. She sits down heavily on a downed log next to the river, her eyes and her expression drained.

Hester and Selene step into the river toward the dwarf. The prisoner tenses up, his aura showing concern for what might happen.

[Tecumseh]

Hester and Selene wade into the shallow river. A few splashing steps later, they reach the dwarf. They look down at him, prod him with a foot, then look at each other and smile.

The troll bends over and picks up the dwarf. She staggers a bit under the weight, although it's unclear if it's because she's just not that strong or she's just that tired. She takes a couple tentative steps but isn't feeling confident about her footing in the river with the dwarf and all his gear. The troll grimaces a little, which the ork sees. The ork takes the dwarf's pack and slings it on her back. That seems to have made the difference: the troll throws the dwarf over her shoulder and moves forward with greater certainty.

Ellie looks up at the proceedings. Her face is unreadable. She doesn't have much of a reaction, either because she doesn't care or because she thinks that Hester and Selene will do what they want anyway. The ork and troll approach your position, quietly speaking to each other in low, guttural tones.

[pbangarth]

Stogie stands by the man he pulled out of the river, and positions the shotgun in just a tiny bit better position to react.

"Thanks, ladies. Always nice to get a little help, though you shouldn't exert yourselves in... your condition. We did well. Managed to keep three of them", he nods at the prisoner on the other shore, the one at his feet and then the one on the troll's shoulder, "alive. You will be amazed at the con job Gunny fed these men in order to convince them to come after you. Good thing I asked a few questions."

[Tecumseh]

"Well, Stogie, what did you learn from your tongue-tied friend, hmm?" Ellie smiles weakly at Stogie's prisoner.

Before Stogie responds, Ellie get distracted. "It's chilly out. How about a nice cup of tea?" She looks around. There's no tea to be found, nor a tea kettle, nor any cups or mugs. This seems to surprise her. Then she looks for a fire, but there isn't any. Presumably Hester and/or Selene are usually responsible for a fire, but in their condition even a small spell could cause them to black out. Ellie just wraps her shawl more tightly around her. She looks like she wants to go back to camp but knows that the prisoners need to be addressed first. She sighs.

"Well, speak up," she says more sharply to the prisoner, expressing a more temper than she usually allows. "Let's have it. You're here for us, that much is clear."

The man opens and shuts his mouth a few times. He senses how precarious his position is, and he still believes the Sisters are toxic.

"I'm a shadowrunner from Seattle," he blurts out. "We were hired to capture three witches."

"Capture, you say," Ellie says, bemused.

He nods quickly. "Yes. Capture if at all possible." He gulps. "Worth more that way."

Hester and Selene glare at him. Stogie can tell they're assensing him, watching him for hostility or telltale signs of lying.

"Stogie, what do you think?" Ellie asks. "What should we do with men who openly admit to being here to bring us in. Should we make an example of them? If we are to cleanse the Earth, we must rid ourselves of Gaia's enemies."

The man begins to protest but it's obvious he's powerless to resist if the Sisters want him dead.

[pbangarth]

Stogie sighs, and straightens up as much as his beaten up body will allow.

"I think if we slaughter those who are powerless we'll be startin' ourselves on the road to becoming the things they were told were out here. Perversions of Nature. They thought, and by the look on this one they might still think, you are Toxic shamans. There's a huge bounty on people like that. These 'runners came for that bounty. The one over there," he points to the man he captured up the hill, "tried to cut me in on the bounty. I found that out when I chose to talk to him instead of murder him. He was truly confused by my behaviour. And when I didn't see his logic. But the lot of them would be sorely disappointed when the Draco Foundation would reject you three as merely ordinary magicians.

"If you want to make an example for others, let these ones go back, and tell the truth. That those out in this forest love a clean Nature, and will fight to keep it that way." He looks at the man at his feet. "That they have allies both human and otherwise. And that there is no profit in dying out in the woods."

[Tecumseh]

Ellie exhales tiredly. For a moment she looks her age, old and exhausted.

"We would say it is they who are the perversions of nature, Stogie. The clever men with their brain implants and their genetic treatments and their nanoforged weapons. Would not the toxic call those who are clean "toxic"? So it has always been: the insiders are clean and the outsiders unclean. They may call us Toxic; we do not care. Let them hate, so long as they fear."

Ellie turns and motions for Hester and Selene to drop the captives. They look reluctant to do so. Ellie says a line in Or'zet and the women comply immediately, smiling as they do so. They dump the men at lip of the river but take care to remove the captives' weapons and gear. The women sling the backpacks over their shoulders as they prepare to leave.

"Provisions for the war," Ellie explains. "What once was theirs shall then be ours."

She stands up slowly, breathing deeply even at the small effort. She looks in the direction of camp and seems to be dreading the hike back. She momentarily considers summoning a spirit to make the trip faster but decides that she's too close to passing out to risk it. She takes a tired step forward, then another. Hester and Selene fall in line behind her.

Ellie turns back to Stogie, Jake, and their prisoner. "They are yours for now, S-" She catches herself again, stopping before she says his name aloud. "Do keep an eye out for the one that slipped away. If you find him, ask him who he is working for. Maybe we can address the issue at the source."

Hester and Selene laugh lowly, muttering to each other as they follow Ellie's lead.

[pbangarth]

<<Stogie @Ellesar: You there, Ellesar? What's up?>>

Stogie waves his original captive over. He raises himself weakly and comes across the river to where the two unconscious bodies lie on the shore beside Stogie. Jake takes up a position behind the man.

"There's no way these guys will last the night out here, and the best I could get out of the women was them leaving your crew on your own. I certainly can't carry either one of these a long way, and as I recall there's a troll somewhere around, too. He may be up the other hill. My buddy should have taken care of him, otherwise I'd already have been a target out here by myself. I might be able to rouse these two enough for them to stumble back to a safe place, but your best bet is to get Gunny to wait for you at your vehicle. I can go fetch your magician's body if you want to take him with you, or I can give him a decent burial so's he doesn't become a midnight snack for something out here. Don't know about the troll yet.

"Maybe you could use your commlink to raise him." Stogie hands him back his commlink. "I'd like to have a talk with him, too. Find out who the hell has been hiring us all to come out here and die. This has gotta end."

[Tecumseh]

Stogie can't piece it all together but he does catch about a third of what Ellie says:

"… … … … hours … … safety. … … send … later … … … rested."

His captive comes over when summoned. He is cold and shivering. His wounded shoulder indicates that he'll be of no help moving unconscious men around either, and in fact will be little use other than to move himself. He nods to Stogie's suggestion of trying to raise Gunny. He produces a Hermes Ikon running Novatech Navi, one of the better off-the-shelf commlink/OS combos.

"I don't know. Gunny doesn't seem to have a high opinion of shadowrunners. Seemed beneath his dignity. But it might be our best chance."

He holds up his commlink like a walkie talkie.

"Mayday, mayday," he says out loud. "Does anyone copy? Gunny, are you there? This is Charlie Oscar. We are in need of immediate assistance. Lima Tango and Romeo and down but alive. Charlie Mike is KIA. Bravo Hotel unknown. Oscar India unknown. Whisky Sierra unknown. We need medevac if we're going to survive the night. Does anyone copy? Over."

He shivers as he listens to the static he receives in response. He offers it to Stogie to see if he wants to try.

[pbangarth]

Stogie pieces together the snippets of Or'zet he catches and figures these guys are toast unless he gets something happening. He takes the commlink from the man and searches for a moment for the right words to connect and make Gunny do the right thing. Hmm. How would he feel about his dogs? Nope. Not military enough.

"Gunny. This is no time for the silent treatment. You led these people out here on your mission. You brought them. They are your responsibility. You don't have the luxury of leaving them behind. Deal with it."

He switches off transmit and looks at the commlink's owner. "Let's see. Hope he still is in range."

[Tecumseh]

Stogie receives a big batch of static for his efforts. Gunny is either out of range or ignoring you.

[pbangarth]

Stogie shakes his head. "Well, no luck there. I figure you came in more than one vehicle. How far is it to where you left them?"

[Tecumseh]

The guy does not look encouraged. "20 klicks. Five hour walk, minimum. Longer if injured. We parked at Greenwater. Gunny showed us what the Sisters had done. The magicos almost puked their guts out at the background count. Seemed pretty fragging toxic to me. God knows what's waiting in the trees between here and there."

[pbangarth]

"Yeah, we felt the background, too. Lots of fear and despair. But that came from the total loss of people's property and livelihoods. We did some checking with people who lived there and turns out the Sisters sent dreams to everybody to get out before the firestorm hit. Nobody was injured. That's not what Toxics do.

"And, yeah. There are some nasty things out here in the forest. We met a few."

Stogie pauses a moment to consider options. 20 kilometers is just too far under these conditions. He will have to build a camp here and keep these men alive till morning so they can get out on their own steam.

"I've got some magic that will allow me to help you feel better. Can't fix the wounds, but I can take away some of the strain and pain. Long shot, but I might even be able to wake these guys enough to make them mobile. If I do that, you might be able to help me build a camp here to keep you men from freezing tonight. I'm gonna do it for my dog. Are you willing to let me help you, too?"

[Tecumseh]

The man looks around, unsure of what to make of his situation. He's a city slicker, as comfortable in the woods as Stogie would be stomping through an alley in the Barrens. His situation - wounded, without equipment or leadership - is dire. And why the hell is this outdoorsman being so helpful after shooting me in the shoulder? After I tried to shoot him in the back? It does not compute. Still, the ache of his wound is undeniable. If Stogie can defray the pain, that would improve his odds of getting out of here. He finally nods to Stogie.

"We were given callsigns. I am CO, or Charlie Oscar. Stands for covert ops, I think."

He points to the larger of the downed men. "That's LT, or Lima Tango. I think it's for lieutenant. He was Gunny's right-hand man on the op. Ex-mil."

He then gestures to the dwarf. "That's R, or Romeo. The rigger."

He turns around in place, looking for signs of his other teammates emerging from the woods. No one does.

"Who were you trying to communicate with earlier, before Gunny? Did you get a response?"

Stogie tries to judge the man's tone, which is balanced. Perhaps he's hopeful that the opposition suffered at least one casualty so that he can salvage some professional pride from this sideways op, but he's always wary of antagonizing his benefactor. Or perhaps he's simply eager to have more help for the work ahead. He looks to see what Stogie needs to do to begin this process of taking away some of the strain and pain.

[Tecumseh]

Stogie begins to direct the work. He looks through his pack, wondering how he left town so unprepared. An assaying kit? An automotive toolkit? An industrial toolkit? Just what was I planning to do with all this? None of it is terribly useful for surviving the night in a cold mountain climate. He does have a nice knife, which is good, but he doesn't have a survival kit. The first aid kit has one of those reflective blankets that helps maintain body heat, but that's hardly enough for himself, the injured CO, plus LT and R.

Stogie looks to the woods for signs of Ellesar. It's been too long and he's getting nervous. The fight is long since over. Did the elf not make it? His stomach sinks at the thought. What if he's wounded and needs help? Stogie shakes his head with worry. Jake sense it and whines sympathetically.

The first priority is a fire. LT and R are soaked and will be vulnerable to hypothermia as the temperature drops if he can't get them dried out. Using his Cougar Fineblade - a weapon focus of high quality - he slices some dead limbs from decaying trees. He's says a private word of thanks for the stretch of dry weather that has left the wood suitable for burning. Stogie disassembles a shotgun shell, using the gunpowder to start a fire. He stations LT and R around it, giving instructions to CO to get them out of their wet clothes. No clothes are better than wet clothes in a situation like this. CO is cold and shivering himself, likely from a loss of blood, but nods. Staying moving helps ward off the chill. He undresses the two other men then stations them around the fire using the reflective blanket to keep the heat from escaping. They're lucky to have an old-timer like Stogie with them, so active and attentive.