Well you are here now, things are going to get interesting! Your mind wanders back over your journey to this place...from everything you’d heard about Stillwater you had expected some sort of utopian transhumanist haven on the edge of the squalor of Redmond. The truth is somewhat different...

...As you leave the comparative safety of Touristville and head out beyond the derelict sky scrapers, the proud remnants of the Redmond computer industry, the landscape changes. Union Hill road east towards the Cascades, driving through miles of monotonous abandoned suburban semis. It isn’t possible to imagine this area as thriving once. Burnt out shells litter the streets, the wreckage of so many lives scattered about you. Furtive figures, huddled over fires watch you as you pass, wondering if there are enough of them to strip you of anything of value.

Toxic castles leer at you, pumping fumes into the already thick soup that passes for air around here. The sinister behemoth of the Ares Arms principal weapons plant in the barrens lies ahead. A VTOL thrusts upwards, its turbines churning the smog into lurid forms in the halogen lights blazing from the factory. The Ares corporate logo is not a friendly sight here, the helmet of some ancient titan waiting to call down judgement on any who stray too close to those massive walls. You pass St. James Lake, its waters stained with effluent from the factory, unnatural vapours caressing the stunted plants along the shore.

You move briefly onto Redmond Fall City road, the broad carriageway pitted with decay. On your left is the remains of another major urban centre but only maps recall what its name was, the oldest residents here don’t tend to live long enough to gain very full memories. In front of you, still a long way in the distance are the peaks of Cougar Mountain and Tiger Mountain, pristine when compared with the filth around you.

You are forced to swerve as a vehicle that barely resembles the bus it was cobbled from hurtles out of a side road. It scatters debris as it mounts the pavement and then jolts back onto the road. You expect some of the armour plating strapped to its sides to be left behind in its harebrained race towards wherever it is going.

Somewhere over on your right is Glow City but thankfully you are heading away from it now, directly towards the mountains, the only major obstacle now is the Snoqualmie River. This close to the source in the Cascades the river is cleaner without the oils and toxins that mottle its surface further inside the barrens. The huge packs of distinctive bone white devil rats that plague the Snoqualmie are missing here, only a number of corpses remain, strung up, the skeletons showing the damage caused by rifle fire.

Gang sigils begin to appear on prominent places along the side of the road as you begin to head uphill out of the flat basin that makes up the majority of Redmond. A stylised wolf’s head grins down at you from the remaining vertical walls and twisted lampposts. The buildings around you begin to look more cared for although they are still derelict, you can see signs that they have been shored up to prevent them from collapsing. To your amazement you can see a living tree up ahead, although it is sickening in the poisoned air it is nevertheless fresh green in an otherwise concrete world.

As you rise higher still and leave some of the smog behind you see a child playing in the road, something unheard of in the centre of the barrens. There the children live like animals and don’t have the energy to play apart from the violent games of survival in the gangs. As you cross the 203, the official end of the barrens and the Seattle Metroplex you become aware of motorbikes shadowing you at a careful distance, the Wolf Pack.

The houses now were once the homes of computer execs and their ilk, at the start of the foothills of the Cascades, surrounded by what was once verdant countryside. An effort has been made against the odds and the land is green again, though a far cry from the natural beauty still to be found out of the reaches of the industrial poisons and corporate greed.

The centre of the community was once a large spar complex and the holiday homes that surround the lake. Abandoned by the corps when they would have had to travel through the barrens to reach it, it is now home to a scattering of people guarded by the Wolves and the blind eye of the Salish authorities.

The tower is a forlorn sight...a stark reaching skeleton against the dusk. The unusual greenery is already beginning to entomb it, vines softening the edges of the bombed out structure. The damage is old and the place appears on the surface to be completely abandoned but your sensor feeds detected power sources still in use inside, sizeable ones. For those of you who have been here before the decay of the tower and surrounding buildings seems to have increased with surprising rapidity...it is as if someone is deliberately trying to make it look like this place has been abandoned entirely to the forces of nature...

After your briefing in a dilapidated conference room in the entrance block you are led across the bridge to the island and the remains of the tower. Light filters in on you through a web of structural reinforcement and trailing awakened ivy. Dim phosphoresce from the pools of water suggest something else is alive down here and the astral, for those that can see it, is a weird mix of signals, an oppressive foreboding coupled with a desperate sense of hope.

A helical stair leads downwards into the bowels of the tower. It has clearly been patched after whatever destructive force tore through here. Signs of inhabitation increase as you descend underground. Soft lighting comes from integrated displays that come alive in AR. They display abstract light sculptures that wrap around you, responding to your movements, curling in sinuous forms and seeming to lead you on...

...the room, more of a chamber really, contains a series of comfortable looking beds arranged around medical monitoring hubs descending from the ceiling. Attendant drones are already helping people to make themselves comfortable and prepare for their immersion in the UV reality. It would seem it is time for you to do the same...

A reassuring voice speaks into your mind

~Please remain calm. The nanite trode link is being established...connection in three, two, ooooooooneee...~

...A white flash...and you are standing on the shore of the lake...at first the differences are unclear and you are amazed at the clarity of the simulation...then the smell of smoke and ash catch in the back of your throat and you become aware of the sky above the tree line...It is dark and threatening with scudding clouds and ripples of sheet lightening. The tree tops are thrashing in the gusting winds and the lake is crazed with waves moving in conflicting directions.

Then your eye is drawn to a weird structure further along the lake shore...it is some sort of pylon but the air around it is distorted and it is uncomfortable to look at for long. Three figures stand at its base, seemingly communing with it. Its purpose is unclear but further on you can see a second pylon and in the trees behind you another...you hazard a guess that they surround the Stillwater area...

“Welcome Clerics...that is what you are here, we find the name reminds you of your purpose, to defend the flock... I see you are admiring the Choir? It is their sacrifice that keeps us safe for now. Magic to dull the senses and turn things away, a technological mesh network to defeat other sorts of searchers...all to let the Sleepers have the chance to dream.”

Turning you see that the figure speaking to you is a wizened old black woman hunched over her staff that is carved with arcane and technological iconography

“Come, you have a task to perform...” and beyond her you hear the rumble of engines over the rising wind. A column of mechanised infantry vehicles turns out of the tree line and approaches were you stand. Hanging onto the flanks of the lead vehicle are two heavily armoured Supertroopers with an impressive arsenal strapped to their limbs. A Yellowjacket buzzes overhead, its weapon loadout looking suspiciously like a Firelance laser.

They clearly weren’t kidding when they said this simulation would let you play with the big guns...that even looks like a mobile howitzer towards the back of the column...and it is getting harder to think of this as a simulation when your mind is frantically telling you that this is real!

OoC Thread

Rina "Wolf Cub" Yoshida
[Time Unknown – Stillwater Lake Shore]

Rina turns her hands over, examining them. Her gloved hands undulate as the opti-camouflage adjusts to the surroundings.

"Incredible. This beats the frag out of any BTL I've ever taken."

She checks the operation of her Ranger Arms SM-4, and, once satisfied, turns to examine her new comrades.

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

Gash sighs. Playing computer games? I am too old for this. Still it beats prison.

"OK well I guess we had better start."

As the white flash start, Gash finds himself back in his old familiar suit of MichelinMan^TM armor. The detail is fantastic. The repair marks where it got puctured fighting the spider queen was here, the acid slag on the back from a Doo Zoo Noo Qua with attitude could just be seen. Slung over the back of the armour was a HUGE two handed sword. There were those that scorned the use of such an old fashioned weapon, but this was a good luck totem for Gash. When it broke killing that Shedim possessed Formori, Gash had cried. A little of it still lived on his walking stick, but still it was nice to see the old thing.

Gash tried it out. Ooph... well maybe I'll take them up later on the offer of a younger simulated body.

When Gash was younger he would have sneered at the armour, proud of his reflexes and combat prowess. Now however Gash was conforted by their presence. The brash young kids could carry on sneering, Gash would stay better protected in this tin can.

"Well Legundo... if you are Legundo and not some fake spirit wannabee..." Gash paused was it really Legundo, or just something that acted like him? "Well Legundo, time to get this show on the road.

With a roar Legundo turned up and struck Gash. "The forms and customs of our Ancestors are important: I taught you better than this. I can see I have to teach you again"


Staggering Gash practiced the Log out manouver, returning to the simulation area with blood pouring out of his nose

"OK Its pretty real, I guess I had better try that again"

Rina "Wolf Cub" Yoshida
[Time Unknown – Stillwater Lake Shore]

Rina watches as the peculiar little man weighed down my armor staggers around with a bloody nose.

"You there, magician. What do your senses tell you about this place? I feel unease about what may lie ahead."

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

There is a second flash and the peculiar little man sans nosebleed returns.

"My apologies, I made the mistake of not taking this world seriously. I won't be making that mistake again. A near death experience is natures way of waking us up."

Gash salutes.

"I shall see what the spirit worlds holds for us", and Gash sits down and explodes out of his body

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Stillwater Compound
It felt nice getting outside the city, quiet and away from the confusing voices inside and outside of his mind. It was nice right until they logged him in.

Most of the time, the AIPS was little more than a distraction, like a Japanese soap commercial playing in Texas: you didn't understand it but you couldn't quite stop listening to it. This time it was a scream, a scream that blocked out everything else and when Joey couldn't hear it anymore he didn't know if it had stopped or if he'd just gone deaf.

He awoke in the node,
Don't vomit! Don't vomit! Not in front of the civies, not on your first decent job in years.
Deep breath,
Ok, crazy lady. She's saying something about clerics and dreaming sleepers and a sacrificial choir. Oh boy! Well, I've worked for weirder.
Looks around,
Okay, look up. Two civies. One looks like she's got some military training but she's not moving like spec-ops, the other's got some magical training, must've learned it in the circus.

Where's the CO for this op?

Gash
[Stillwater Astral Space]

You slip free of the meat and can’t help but marvel at the astral space here. Although you know it’s not real there is very little to give you any hints that you aren’t hovering in the astral outside the Stillwater community. There is no way that some tech head was able to program this! They have to have somehow tapped into how you expect the astral to look and are looping it back to you...the effect is flabbergasting!

Of course that doesn’t explain how they’ve modelled those pylons, they are like nothing you’ve ever seen before, distorting the astral around them in ways that shouldn’t be possible. Circling closer to them you inadvertently pass some invisible barrier and suddenly everything inside is gone! You know damn well that there’s no way to mask something like this in the astral, it’s not possible! A barrier would be visible, even a spell matrix would show up...here it’s like a phantasm or disregard spell (on a massive scale), that has somehow been inverted so that you can’t see the mana weaves on the astral...

It isn’t a barrier though, a quick experiment and you pass through the space and the pylons are visible once more, along with the auras of the gathering crowd (tense with excitement) on the shore below you.

Once over the initial shock you realise that the astral atmosphere is dark, not tainted; there doesn’t appear to be any background count which you might expect from some dark apocalyptic future, just dark and oppressive. The female sniper was correct: there is a deep feeling of unease...

Sticks
[Stillwater Compound]

Sticks eased himself into the simulation pod, the Evo doing most of the work. He settled down into the soft biobed, as wires and tubes started attaching themselves to his form. Spending most of his life in medical cocoons, Sticks was more than used to it by now, and ignoring it he dropped himself into the initial VR interface.

Why the drek did I come back here. I must be crazy putting myself inside this node, again. Well, here goes nothing.

Sticks appeared next to the others, his.. giant metallic frame.. wait what. Giant metallic frame? Sticks stood 12 feet tall, and could see in a wide variety of spectrums. He turned his head, and eyed the robotic arms, and the giant minigun he was holding. "Holy Drek!!" Came out of a synthesized speaker. He was jumped into a Mechanized Combat Suit! He disconnected from that VR into the VR of the simulation. That was going to get confusing pretty quickly. He found himself inside a Combat Enhanced Rigger Cocoon, with all the bells and whistles. He jacked back into the MechA, and started doing diagnostics.

The Mecha whistled... somewhat disturbingly. "Gash, look at this toy." Sticks did a one handed cartwheel, completely showing off. "This is awesome."

Shoulder mounted Grenade launcher, Minigun, lots and lots of processing power and sensors. Sticks had gone to Nirvana. He turned to the others, "You guys can call me Sticks" He said to the others.

Rina "Wolf Cub" Yoshida
[Stillwater Compound]

Rina ducks deftly as a bundle of mini-gun barrels careens over her head. A nimble side-step separates her from the 1100 pound power armor now doing a cartwheel. It would be irritating if the pilot didn't seem to jubilant about it.

"Konnichi wa, Sticks. You can call me Wolf Cub, as most do."

She jams a thumb over her shoulder. "This is Srgt. Serious and that's bloody-nose mage. They haven't introduced themselves yet."

"We're waiting to see who is running this parade."

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

"Well I have checked the Astral, and it is dark and foreboding. There is a sense of menace. Fortunately there are no ebbs or voids. As far as I can see there are no spies.

"I must say Sarge that your Mech looks very impressive. Do you think we can get one of those back in the real world?"

Gash's face becomes more serious when he faces Wolf Cub.

"Greetings Wolf Cub. I am the one known as Gash. If we face magical threats I will become your best friend. If I am to protect you, you needs something of mine. Here is a gris-gris. I made it for you. Wear it near your heart, and it will help you when the darkness comes."

Gash handed over a small pouch with a leather thong.

"Ogoun was calling your name in my dreams. The bones of your defeated enemies were crawling to haunt you. Soon you will need to face the darkness within, and not just in this place of make believe"

Rina "Wolf Cub" Yoshida
[Stillwater Compound]

Rina slips the talisman around her neck. Her expression exudes mild skepticism but betrays a hint of trepidation.

"Arigato, Gash. I will keep this relic close."

As she lowers her hands, her fingertips drift to the corroded data jack behind her right ear--an absent gesture. She snaps back into focus and strokes the barrel of her rifle lovingly. "As for my enemies, they'll have to crawl through quite a bit of earth to get to me..."

She tilts her head at Raccoon. "Were you able to locate our liason?"

Joey "Raccoon"
[Stillwater Compound]

Nope, no idea who the CO is. Joey, by the way, Joey "Raccoon". I'm the wilderness specialist. He holds up his Barret.
I guess we're gonna be working together quite a bit. You wouldn't happen to be some kinda computer specialist, would ya?

Joey looks over at Sticks

Hot damn! That's some nice gear.Pause...You, uh, you do have a plan for taking that through a 30-odd mile cross-country hike, followed by a stealthy waterborn insertion, right?

Turning to Gash
Gris-gris? What the drek is a gris-gris?

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

"Gash holds out a little bag.

"This is a Gris-Gris. It is your Gris-Gris. Wear it to protect you from evil magic. Please don't mess with it, or it won't work as well.

I am Gash by the way. My role in this fight is Magical Suppression"

Gash hands over another little bag with a leather strap.

Sticks (& others)
[Stillwater Lake Shore]

Despite your reluctance to subject your mind to this weird arse place again, you have to admit that the toys are nicer this time! Mecha are a bit of a dead end in the real world, passed over as too expensive or specialist in favour of armour suits at one end of the scale or light tanks or combat drones at the other. But the reality of standing as a four meter giant wielding a small arsenal is certainly satisfying.

The lead APC in the convoy comes to a stop a short distance from you and one of the mecha, a much smaller model than yours, jumps from the running rail and stalks towards you. It is bristling with communications equipment rather than weapon systems and looks sleek and fast. Then a voice from your past comes across the intercom channel on a private frequency, Kit of all people...after the mess of her leaving Deep Watch you didn’t think you’d hear from her again (even if secretly you had hoped to meet her here where it all began)...

<<Hi Sticks. You like? It was my suggestion to give you this hulking thing, I thought you might enjoy it! Sorry it’s been such a long time, it’s good to see you again!>>

Most of the convoy is visible on the side of the lake now. A couple of Appaloosas are running shotgun and rear guard and there’s an armed Hotspur for ranging ahead. Then there are three Citymasters and two Devil Rats flanked by a couple of Striker tanks. Following all the heavy stuff there are two Nordkapp tractor units, one trailer looks like a C&C setup with drone racks and the other is a flat bed carrying some large object wrapped up under tarp and a bloody big mecha unit reclining at the rear, cycling its weaponry across the skyline. Finally at the rear of the column there are three mobile howitzers and a last APC with anti aircraft weaponry.

Hardly a battalion but if this level of fire power represents an inkling of what they anticipate you will be facing then this simulation certainly isn’t going to be a quiet walk in the park!

Interlude...

[Stillwater UV Matrix Node]

Aria stepped lightly out from amongst the gargantuan trees into the clearing, brushing aside the floating motes of light as she did so. From the forest floor she conjured up a view into the simulator and watched as the forces gathered. Athena appeared beside her bristling slightly at the intrusion...[b[Aria[/b] forestalled her outburst

<<I miss Operator...he was a nice old man! I’m sure you do too. They were only partially responsible for what happened, we know that now. So the Deep Watch clowns are back to dance at the circus? Well playing with them won’t hurt them too badly...and you have some interesting newcomers too...are they ready for what you are going to throw at them I wonder? Perhaps I will go and speak to them>>

And she stepped from the forest into the simulator

[Stillwater Lake Shore]

The lake begins to churn and then from the depths a figure rises up, shedding water from her long flowing hair like a mermaid sweeping away the cascading droplets. She spins once or twice and then the childlike figure drops down lightly to stand on the sandy shore. She leaves no impression in the sand as she walks towards you

“So, you have returned? Under duress or do you really want to be here? A certain amount of belief in what you are about to see will carry you a long way...and don’t forget you can die in here! But I’m sure you have nothing to worry about with all your ironmongery to protect us all...”

Her words are spoken in a laughing mocking tone as she runs her fingers lightly across the barrels of Sticks’ inaptly named minigun

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

Gash approaches the woman.

"Aria. I am here playing your game because of external coercion, largely caused by you. We are risking our lives to play these simulations which you feel have some value. So don't be demeaning and belittle us. Offer us the respect we deserve. In exchange for that we will give your games the respect they deserve.

With that Gash stomps off.

Sticks
[Stillwater Compound]

Sticks' Mecha looks down at Aria's diminutive size, and the barrels of the Minigun start to spin up. "Does that mean YOU can die in here? That might be pleasant." Says the robotic voice.

<<How do you put up with these people, Kitt? Though I do like the Mecha. It's like being able to walk, but better.>>

Rina "Wolf Cub" Yoshida
[Stillwater Compound]

Rina drops to a knee and faces Aria so that they're level.

"Whatever is waiting for us out there can't possibly be worse than a life filled with fear and forced servitude."

She twirls a tendril from the girl's hair in between her thumb and forefinger. "Don't forget that we're doing you a favor. For as much power that you have, it's all meaningless without us. What is a game, without players?"

[Stillwater Compound]

Aria smiled up at you all

"Oh, this isn't my game, I just thought I'd come and see how you were preparing yourselves. I don't suppose any simulation will really do reality justice but this UV is certainly intoxicating and it can't do any harm to try..."

She also wings a private message to Sticks

<<I think you've misjudged me Sticks. But I'm glad you're here anyway...it'll keep you out of trouble for a while, at least until the real task comes to hand>>

Which is followed by a rapid response from Kit

<<Don't piss her off Sticks...I don't know who or what she is but she isn't exactly with the Stillwater lot...and she can do things with the matrix which are frankly impossible and given where we are now...>>

and she lets the sentance hang...

<<I'm glad you like the mecha. It's a shame they are only prototypes in the real world. I can see you striding across a battlefield in one of those things (although they aren't exactly subtle!). Are you gonna hang back while we enter the complex and send in a stealth drone or two? I don't know what Roberts has planned yet but it probably isn't a frontal assault?>>

Private Third Class Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

Gash returned

"How about a quick sitrep report Aria. What is the primary objective? Are there any secondary objectives? What forces are we interacting with both aggresively and friendly? What are our rules of engagement? Do we have any bug out strategies?

Gash appeared to be taking the game more seriously. Probably because of his earlier nose bleed.

[Stillwater Compound]

She looked at Gash...almost at eye height

"Well I'd assume everything in here is hostile if I where you...it's not exactly a pretty time in humanity's future...until proven otherwise anyway. Objectives aren't really my thing, it depends what they've told you this time? I'm sure Sandman will talk to you if Athena won't deign to? Athena's still a bit cross about the last time you were here but I don't think she'll interfere...it's not really her game either after all"

Joey "Raccoon"
Stillwater Compound
blah blah blah Clerics blah blah blah creepy little girl blah blah blah arguing blah blah blah miniguns blah blah blah greek goddess blah blah Holy Drek! Is that a howitzer? And anti-air?

Joey runs a discerning eye over the military vehicles; a slow whistle escapes his lips.

And here I though we were going spec-ops, take a nice hike, pop a few key installations, then call in cavalry. Drek! This is some proper gear. Hardly gonna have a chance to get my boots dirty.

He turns back to the others.

Still: no CO, the boss is a whackjob, and half the team is bickering already. At this rate I might as well pop open a cold one and wait for them to get this sorted out. Hey, I wonder if I can...

Ignoring the others Joey holds out his hand and tries to order the simulation to create a cold beer.

[Stillwater Compound]

<<Honestly Kitt, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I don't seem to have any drones linked to me right now. We'll figure it out>> The minigun spins down, <<@Aria: Maybe maybe not, no need to be a prat about it.>> Wanting to see what sort of paces Sticks could put the Mecha through he started in on a full set of diagnostics.

"I've never gotten to be the heavy before. This should be interesting." He scanned around looking for some packed drones he could override and 'borrow' for the op.

Gash

"How about a quick sitrep report Aria. What is the primary objective? Are there any secondary objectives? What forces are we interacting with both aggresively and friendly? What are our rules of engagement? Do we have any bug out strategies?

The old crone has returned and now she cackles at you

"Your primary objective is to live through this, not something the others have managed so far! How you fullfil the mission is down to you, that's why you are here! You must secure the launch site so that we can move in and get our satellite in to orbit before too much more time has passed. Your opposition will be as you find them...as Aria said, it would be wise to consider most things hostile! And as for rules, in this place society is on the point of collapse...the only rules are those of your conscience and I cannot answer to that. If you treat it like a video game you will fail...act as you think is right and you may or may not succeed!"

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Stillwater Compound

Joey looks sadly at his empty hand.
No beer! Drek this!

Hey you! Big guy! Pointing at Sticks. It sounds like you've got some experience with these guys and you're the biggest, so you're in charge until somebody else shows up.

Now I recommend we get out of here before our bosses drive us nuts. I recommend we hold off on approving any specific plan until we've had a chance to check this place out. Those howitzers change everything; we're hitting an airfield and if they don't have VTOL craft, or don't have a lot, we can shell their runway with the howitzers and keep their airforce out of the fight. So I recommend you take a look on the map and find some high ground nearby where we can safely scope this place out for a day or two, check their VTOL craft, get a hang of their routines. I recommend we mount up and go before any more crazy chicks show up. And I recommend we pack some beers before we go.

Sticks
[StillWater Compound]

Sticks scans the area and sighs. "Why is there never an officer when you need one." Checking the map lay outs and the available information he pondered. <<Kitt, you're Overwatch. Faraman, give Kitt full access to Betty Sue. How many Scout Drones do we have. I want a 3 K radius around us scouting the area. No surprises.>>

"Corporal Gash, we'll need Magical Reconn. I don't want anything magical getting within 3 K of us, without you telling me about it. Kitt will set up you up on the Reconn Channel." The robotic head turns to the others, "Lets have a quick rundown of who you are, and what the hell you're good for. Also, please allow Kitt to check your commlinks and subscribe you to the appropriate channels."

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Stillwater Compound

That's a bit more like it.

Joey, former Wildcat, wilderness specialist. Went by the codename "Raccoon" back in the day.

I know wilderness, know what lives in it and how to stay hidden in it. I'm also a bloodhound, cyberware, the whole nine yards. I can smell a fart a half mile away and I could track any of you for miles just off your stink.

In combat I do sniping. I use a modified Barret 60 cal, so any hit'll wreck most folks or even light vehicles. Give me time to set up my shot and I can threaten anything short of a tank. Course, I can also mix it up with my axe if need be.

What I ain't good at is this networking thing. I got the AIPS in the Crash and I can't stand wireless. My suits got a Faraday cage set up, so all your signals ain't bugging me, but try to hook me up to a network and all you'll get is a good cussing.

Sticks
[StillWater Compound]

"A Wilderness man and Sniper I can't talk to aynt worth a pile of drek in a can." The Mecha sits there for a second, as if Sticks is considering something. <<Kitt, we got any good old fashioned transmitter/receivers with some kind of headset for our Wildcat here?>> It is somewhat disconcerting how still the mecha seems to be. "And you can't see the maps, or the way points." The Mecha shakes it's head, "How am I supposed to work like this."

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Stillwater Compound

You can download your maps and static tac info to my suit, that'll work fine.

I can lower the Faraday every now and then to report in. Or you could set me up with a partner if you gotta micromanage me. Rina seems to be a sniper, so might not be a bad match, if she can keep up.

Beyond that, I recommend you get used to not looking over my shoulder, give me a couple broad objectives, and just let me do what I do.

[Stillwater Lakeshore]

Kit offered Racoon a purloined old fashioned comm with throat mic and headset unit and a holographic HUD interface,

“It’s not as good as the real thing, and I don’t suppose the benefits will be the same but this will feed you our tactical information and let you keep in touch with us. I’ll patch it through to the main comm channels as I seem to have landed the task of keeping everyone in communications range.”

And she moves off once more towards the hulking figure of Sticks, grabbing the running rail attached to the lead Roadmaster and clinging precariously

<<@Sticks: We’ve got eyes in the sky and I guess we can maintain a three k perimeter. For anything more you’ll have to rely on the three Yellowjackets. We’ve got the Hotspur on point and the Apaloosas for the flanks and they should be able to give us some warning of anything coming. So are we ready to roll? Give the order Sarge, seems like you’re the boss again for now …it’s good to be working with you again, even if it is somewhere as weird as this!>>

The Hotspur screams to a halt beside Racoon and a wild looking man leans out of the door

“You riding with me I hear?”

And he gives you a decidedly feral grin

“They don’t trust me with the Deep guys…probably just as well. So you and I are going to see whatever’s out there first! Wonder what the techs have dreamed up this time?”

The Hotspur guns its engines and in a spray of gravel heads away from the column and around the southern boundary of the lake.

Immediately beyond the line of the pylons the atmosphere changes, it feels darker and more oppressive. A lurid sun suddenly strikes through as it dips beneath the turbulent clouds. Rather than lifting the creeping feelings the red caste to the light caused by the dust clouds makes it feel like you have been dipped in gore.

A short distance on and you reach the 203 which marks the border with Redmond. The river is black in the failing light and in the distance you can see the reflected glow of man-made light from the ‘plex bouncing off the cloud cover.

Suddenly there is a white flash and you wonder briefly if the simulation has come to an abrupt end…then you see the blooming mushroom cloud rising from behind the horizon…somewhere in the vicinity of downtown Seattle…the direction you are headed in…

Corporal Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

"Well if cannot use Wifi stick these in your ears. They don't do Simsense or anything, they just make a noise" Gash hands over a set of earbuds. "You can thank me later"

"I'll keep an astral eye out boss. If you don't mind I'll stay in my body: but I will have some patrols out". Watcher spirits begin to appear around, and start to circle in the astral space around

Then the noise happened.

"Samedi!" Gash whispered as he dived to the floor. "A Nuke. A real nuke. Everybody down...don't just stand there! Lie down!"

[Stillwater Lake Shore]

The hot wind that hurtles towards you blows the tortured clouds ahead of it leaving a lurid vision of the sky and the looming thunderhead around the mushroom cloud. Lightening crackles in the dry air and catches in the throat.

Sandman’s voice comes across the ‘link

<<Suitcase nuke. Nothing to worry about at this distance, we’re some twenty miles from the centre of the blast. The real fireworks will start in a minute…this is serious folks, just want to impress that point if it isn’t clear already…Downtown core, due west, about now…>>

Streaks of light spear from the heavens leaving burning after images seared on your retinas

Mother of gods…thor shots now…someone wants to make an impression on something over there…hopefully your route won’t be anywhere close…

<<Move ‘em out Sticks>>

[StillWater Lakeshort]

"Corporal Gash. Pull yourself together." says the robotic voice. "Wolf Cub, find yourself a vantage point on the caravan. Rifle out, if we get in the Drek, you start killing things until we tell you to stop."

<<HotSpur, You're point, I want you 3 k ahead of us, at least. Here _link_ is the route we're taking.>> "Racoon, make sure we've got ourselves a nice safe trip up to Edmonds, your driver has the route." Inside his cocoon Sticks was nervous, this kind of operation really needed an officer's touch. <<Faraman, give me info on that nuke and those Thorshots. Estimated points of impact, size of radiation cloud, the works.>>

<<[Strike Force] Move out! >> That said, Sticks' Heavy Mecha began to jog it's way forward keeping up with the slower moving vehicles in the convoy. <<Kitt, start feeding me visuals, and spectrum bands from the yellow jackets and the Alpaloosas. Faraman, start analyzing the footage, run it in window 6.>>

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Redmond Barrens

Holy Drek! Didn't think I'd ever see anything like that.

Hey boss, our spooky friend have any idea what just got nuked? I mean, if they dropped fraging Thor shots on it, there was something there worth dropping Thor shots on. If this is going to turn into a bug hunt, I'd really rather know now.

For a minute, even under the orange nuclear sky, riding through the ruins of outer Seattle, Joey takes a minute to enjoy the ride. On the road, working with a proper military outfit, wind ruffling over his armor, Wish I could take of my helmet it was the best he'd felt in years.

Turning to the wildman next to him, What's your name pal? And how many times you been through this thing?

Fifteen minutes later, Joey comms, Hold up for a minute, I wanna take a sniff, see who else has been running through here.

Corporal Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

"I'll scan ahead and see what I can. " Gash explodes out of his body, armed and armored. He and Legundo headed as fast as only spirits can towards the area of the Nuke, pausing some distance away to see what can be assensed from the astral. "What do you think Legundo" he muttered as he peered into the distance

Gash
[Astral Space over Redmond]

Free of the limitations of your body you glory in the feel of the astral. Here it is the size of your will that determines your power. Legundo is beside you, resplendent in his natural form. From the relative purity of the astral sphere over Stillwater you can clearly see the massive astral disturbance from the blasts downtown. There is a blast wave of sorts rushing outwards from the impacts but it is being gradually subsumed into the general miasma of misery that seems to hang over the major population centres – and the ‘plex is one very big population centre.

There are less life forces out here than you would expect to see. Given the relative isolation of Stillwater you would expect there to be more signs of wild life, particularly in light of the healing magics that you know have been used to clean the manasphere and mundane world around the community. It is like the area has been cleared by the threat of earthquake or forest fire...except you have a feeling that it is a threat far more deadly than either of those...

Across the river you see signs of devil rats...nothing will kill those little buggers! Circling around the column as it advances down towards the 203 you see flickers of metahuman life centred around what appears to be a crashed vehicle of some sorts – its astral presence muted by its technological nature.

Moving closer you see that there is something deeply wrong with their auras...their will is blank, consumed even? And there is something dark hovering over them, possessing them...

Racoon
[Hotspur on Point, Redmond]

The wolfish man grins at you

“You can call me Feral...I mostly here as an observer as I’ve been through a couple of these sims before. I can tell you that they are rarely the same twice...the tech heads want to keep us on our toes!”

Lifting your nose to the wind rushing through the Hotspur’s cage frame you smell the pervasive decay of the barrens assailing your nostrils – nothing you wouldn’t expect – it almost serves to mask the smell of death which you catch in a whisper of wind as you pass a crashed bus. By the looks of things it was headed towards Stillwater when it went off the road for some reason.

The Hotspur flashes past and then you see movement in the smashed windows of the bus...something is alive in there!

Wolf Cub
[Roof of Citymaster APC 1, Redmond]

Coming down the side of the valley towards the Snoqualmie river you see the Hotspur racing ahead, about a kilometre in advance of the column and gaining distance. From your vantage you can see they have just past a crashed bus with another wrecked vehicle further down the embankment.

Your scope is difficult to steady against the movement of the APC and the dry gritty wind that is washing over you but you clearly detect movement inside the bus...someone, a white female of about middle age, is climbing out of the door and moving to the side of the road, watching the dust cloud kicked up by your forward scout.

Sticks
[Column Flank, Mech 1, Redmond]

Faraman fills your tactical display number 6 with streaming data, chaotic weather front maps, radiological signatures...

<<Satellite telemetry confirmed. Target zone: Seattle Downtown. Estimated target: Aztechnology Pyramid and surroundings. Prevailing westerly wind is propagating the radiation cloud towards the east. Estimated casualties: Unknown – insufficient data. Visual mapping is impossible due to the mushroom cloud.>>

Kit forwards you the data windows from your air support overhead.

<<I’ll send over the feeds from the flankers once we get off this road and they can widen our profile a bit>>

Sensors are confused by the massive amount of electromagnetic interference caused by the bombardment over Downtown but there are telltales of some sort of aerial signature over Touristville...impossible to tell at this distance what this might be, probably a flock of birds disturbed by the cacophony caused by sat based weapon systems being used on a civilian population!

Corporal Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

Gash returned to report.

<<[Gash]: Sarge there is some serious heavy duty mojo going down <here:embedded ARO>. The astral plane is strange. It's mildly tainted, but it's stronger as well. If I was Gandalf I would tell you what was going on. As it is I think we should send some drones to look at the mojo place. It looks like a wrecked vehicle, but the occupants are being possessed by something. Stopping that something would be good.

Do you want me to stay back on warding duty, or go and get a closer look?>>

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Redmond Barrens

Couple times. Sounds like good odds for making it ok. Where you, one sec...

Joey pauses for a second. Watching the bus, he picks up his rifle, leaving it casually in his hands.

Hey boss, I got something moving here. Don't smell quite right though. Joey pauses while Gash reports in. Requesting permission to divert the convoy north, sir.

Sticks
[Column Flank, Mech 1, Redmond]

<<You're the Scout son. You got our destination, you get us there how you want.>>
Sticks diverts one of the Yellow Jackets to do a fly by, so he can get eyes on the problem. <<Gash, are there living people in that thing? Or are they gone?>> There is a pause, <<I guess that means I want you to check it out>>

Sticks holds up the column as Racoon picks out a new trail for em. <<Faraman, give me an ammunition report for that Yellow Jacket.>>

<<Wolf Cub, get ready, we're probably about to kill a bus load of once and future civilians.>>

The mini gun in Sticks' hands starts to spin up, not wanting to waste the time later.

Corporal Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

"Sir!" and with that Gash leaves his body behind again.

Nodding to Legundo, "OK lets go back and see what we can. " Gash mutters a short prayer, an invocation to Papa Legba to keep the works of Samedi at bay. Wrapping himself and Legundo in the strongest magical barrier that he is capable of, he heads back towards the evil vortex.

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Redmond Barrens

Gotcha sir.

Turning to Feral

Ok Feral, we got something spooky in that wrecked bus. Take us half a kilometer north and then plot a new route to Edmonds. Plot up a new course for the convoy as well, keep em a quarter kilometer away from that bus at all times. And keep your eyes out and the wheels turning, might be more of these things.

Joey trains his rifle on the bus and focuses his vision magnification on the bus.

Now let's see if it's nasty or just a couple chipheads.

Corporal Gash - Magical Supression
[Approaching Shedim Vehicle]

This is crazy dangerous Gash mutters to himself. He has faced the Shedim before, and it has never been a pleasant experience. At least it was day time, the Shedim were not quite as bad in Sunlight. Still if Sgt Sticks wants a report, then a report he will get.

"Take this message back to Sgt Sticks" Gash mutters instructions to a quickly summoned Watcher.

Making sure that he and Legundo approached the vehicle from the direction of the Sun No Shedim will be looking this way Gash moves to get a better look.

Back at the main body of troops, the watcher manifests in front of Sgt Sticks. "Sir! Corporal Gash Reporting. Definitely Shedim. Keep in sunlight if possible. Try not to engage in melee combat. Elemental ranged weapons are of course the most effective. Do not rely on sight, or sound, ensure millimeter wavelength radar active."

Sticks
[Column Flank, Mech 1, Redmond]

The Mecha looks down at the materialized spirit and nods. "Report back: Acknowledged, Raining Hell." The Mecha stood up and let it's eyes skim over the location. <<Yellow Jacket, Designation Rising Thunder. Turn that bus into slag.>> <<Wolf Cub, if they start moving our way, exterminate any that survive the aerial assault. Headshots only.>> Sticks sighed nervously, this would be the first test to how these people reacted. <<Convoy, move following new path designated by our scout team. Go.>> Sticks kept his gun trailed on the bus, wanting to preserve ammo for later.

Sticks

<<Rising Thunder acknowledged. Weapons live. Engaging hostiles.>>

The yellowjacket sweeps in from the south, its downdraft spinning the waters into a frenzy. The dying sunlight streaks through the clouds one last time as it sinks in a bloody haze behind the mountains to the west...so much for using sunlight to weaken your foes...

<<Missiles hot. Locked on. Fire.>>

Racoon

Feral leans across to you as the hotspur bounces over more rough terrain, narrowly missing a fallen snag, and whispers conspiritorially

“If your man fries everything hostile in sight between here and the objective you’re gonna run out of ammo before you reach the coast!”

We’ll cross the river on the bridge up ahead and then we’ll be back on track...if we go further off road it’ll take ages to find a crossing and I’m guessing we don’t want to swim just yet?

Gash

As you warily approach the shedim on the astral plane once more it locks your eyes behind your swirling barrier. You can feel its hunger and rage, the sensation crawling across you like a swarm of fire ants. It gives you a ghastly grin and then you are aware of the sudden whosh of fire from the speeding gyro and seconds later the area is consumed in an inferno.

Wolf Cub

Through your scope you have a vivid view of the scene as the convoy turns off the road and prepares to forge a way through the woods. The wing mounts of the yellowjacket spit two rockets that spin lazily towards the waiting wreck. Fire blooms around the woman and you see her scream in anguish as she is consumed. Figures come lurching out of the wreckage wreathed in flames and the firelance on the gyro spears one of them on incadescent light before it shoots overhead...it looks like you will be called on for those headshots. The scope shows you that these were once factory workers judging by their smouldering uniforms...but now they are simply targets to be put out of their misery, aren’t they? At least you can reassure yourself they’re not human any longer...nothing normal could be walking out of that...

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Redmond Barrens

To Feral, Nah, no point causing a fuss now. Let 'im get comfortable in command first. 'Sides, looking back on the emerging Shedim, some things are worth killing.

Keep you ears open, those missiles probably attracted some attention. Don't want to get ambushed by someone else. Let's let Rina take care of those zombies. And if she can't, *shrug* best to know now, ain't it.

Corporal Gash - Magical Supression
[Approaching Shedim Vehicle]

Time to get seriously Medieval on their asses Gash thinks. Moving just outside the astral ward, he locks onto the possessed factory workers. Whatever they may look like on the mundane world, their astral forms shouted their possessed nature.

I just hope they are as vulnerable to magic as the ones I fought in the past. With that Gash unleashed a swarm of Slaughter Spirit spells

Gash
[Astral space over Redmond]

Your spells lash out through the astral plane and rend the spirits from their hosts. Psychic screams of rage echo into the firmament and you have an uncanny feeling that it is a call…but surely such things aren’t possible?

Dimly you perceive the hunks of metal that make up the convoy divert north into the woods before heading around to cross the river ahead…

All
[Convoy through Redmond

The shedim are fast on their feet, considerably more dangerous than the typical zombies of the trid…it helps that they don’t feel the pain of their host bodies perhaps…

The air ripples around them and in quick succession they drop motionless to the ground but not before a despairing cry rings out…a howl that sets your teeth on edge and makes you grip our weapons just that little bit harder.

Corporal Gash - Magical Supression
[Stillwater Lakeshore]

Gash returns to his body

<<[Corporal Gash] Corporal Gash reporting. Three confirmed Shedim neutralized. Suspect Master Shedim or worse in charge. Require medic for minor injury>>

<<Private Channel to Sticks. I don't want to worry the other guys Sarge, but these Shedim aren't behaving normally. There is a least a Master Shedim out there, and I wouldn't mind betting that there is Grand Master too. By that I mean that I suspect that something more potent and different is out there. You know that the Shedim have never tried to pull of a Zombie Apocalypse...well I think they were waiting for something, and that something is here. If we kill bodies we had better destroy them, or the Shedim will just occupy them again.

This could get very messy.

I think we need to set up some fall back positions early on, with some serious elemental based damage traps. Barbed wire won't be too effective, but a laser fence would work fine. Getting them to wade through salt water, with some serious electric current will work too.

The good news is that if we kill the bodies I think we kill or disrupt the Shedim. The bad news is that there are probably a lot of them. However the Apocalypse won't be over until we deal with the Grand Master. I'm thinking of taking a quick look near where the nuke went off, and check out if its just Shedim or something worse. >>

Mercenary Joey "Raccoon"
Redmond Barrens

Let's see, Shedim. Zombies, basically, right? Tough, but they're unarmored and our guns are big enough to splatter 'em good. Wonder if they've got anything that might endanger the convoy. I mean, a zombie is a zombie but that ain't nothin' but a speed bump to a tank, ain't like they can do anything but scratch the paint. And we're going into the woods, gonna slow the vehicles down.


To Feral, Shedim. Guess our officer boy's gonna get an excuse to really unload. What's our ETA to the river? We may need to gun it here in a sec.

To all,
Working on an ETA to the river, will be providing an accelerated ETA if we have to go full speed here.

Hey boss, how we doing on the heavy stuff? I mean, I got enough .60 cal to drop a host of zombies but I don't think regular ammo's gonna do much to these things. We got enough EX and high calibur stuff for a proper shootout? Or drek, got any hollow-point? We ain't gonna be using that at the base but it'll tear up unarmored bodies something fierce.

Sticks
[Redmond Barrens]

<<We've got enough, but we're conserving ammo best we can.>> Sticks takes a brief moment to check with Faraman about the status of their ammo. <<We've got ex-ex rounds, and would you believe some flechette rounds. But they're back here.. and you're up there. If you want me to send someone up with some let me know.>>

<<Kitt, keep the convoy moving, don't slow down there's probably something bad coming. Get a Medic for Gash. We need him back up and running. Lets move it people>> That being said, Sticks and the convoy do their best to pick up the pace.