Willie pulls up short and holds up his free hand. <<Wait! What was a shovel doing out here? Nobody fought the birds with a shovel. Stay here. I'll be right back. >>

He marks their location by the local landmarks, a tree with a funny branch, whatever. Then he jogs back, retrieves the shovel and returns. <<Got it. Might need it at the end of the trail. >>

The eyelights not only make it vastly easier to see into various dark corners, but it also just generally make it quicker going for the whole group since you don't have to watch your steps as closely.

The group moves along, until, suddenly for the critter, you sweep your eyelights into a dark corner after just cresting a small hill and actually spot something significant. It's some sort of dark furred dog or hyena like critter, it is lying on its side in a cleared patch of dirt, facing the general direction of the path you've been following.


However in addition to just the critter you notice that in front of it are two large earthenware bowls, one of which is reflecting like it's full of water. Also some bones, what looks like a plastic pink dumbell, and a blue plastic football.

The critter does not like the eyebeams suddenly swept at it and it yelps and closes its own eyes involuntarily.

(OOC; That's a split second response. Willie has some options. If he wanted to make this a surprise round he could. Since he's looking over the hill Willie could also drop down to get out of line of sight of the thing. It's 32 meters away, most of that down the trail and then about five off to the side through the weeds. )

Willie ducks down right away. He sheathes his knife. << Big canine about 30 meters ahead. I think it didn't see me. from the bowls set out, it must be a guard. Means something is here worth guarding. Can't shoot it or cut it because they would know we were here. So I'll go in with fists and you two do your thing to stun it senseless. Go.>>

Willie leaps up and charges the ... dog(?), pushing himself to cover the distance to the animal.

(OOC: Sorry. But I want to check a rules thing quick in case I'm missing something. The extra sprint test you rolled takes a simple action. A melee attack is a complex action. Is there some extra rule somewhere that lets you get some kind of action discount?

Otherwise I think you can either sprint (possibly twice right?) or use the melee attack but not both. If you use a regular run you know Willie won't reach it, but you can hold the action until you see if anything gets in range during that IP. But if nothing does by the end of the first IP that action would be effectively wasted.

If Willie sprints and reaches the critter and it tries to get away or run around him Willie would get an attack of opportunity intercept attack as a free action.

Just let me know if either there's some rule you know of that I don't and, if not, whether Willie wants to try and sprint (and anything they might want to do with their other simple action) or to just run while ready to bop anything that gets too close. )

(OOC: Aww hell, I forgot about the simple action bit. Naw, let Willie reach the thing with his sprint, and he will still be on Full Defense for the rest of IP 1 and all of IP 2. He'll do what he can in IP 3. In the meantime, Willie's buddies can nuke this thing with science and magic.)

It was a bit farther to the beast than Willie figured, and there he was, face to maw, and he figured he would duck and weave the way he did with the things in the water. There better be sumthin' good here, he thinks for the umpteenth time. I'm bein' the target way too much for my taste.

(OOC: You get a simple action, and with it you can buy enough extra hits for IP1 contact. That is, I think, advantageous, in terms of dodging and all since they could just delay actions until contact occurs in a later IP. This way you get the most out of full defense, and a free IP 3 and T2P1. Also in other scenarios you might need to roll to notice these critters but I think in the middle of combat you'd notice even otherwise sneaky things running in. So I can't think of any reasons for rolls. )

Willie can get a better look at the creature as he gets closer, as the animal is also rushing towards with a bark and a snarl. It's rather a lot like a wolf. About four feet tall on all fours. Probably lighter than Willie though. However there's something weird going on with it's fur. Darkness and shadows play through it in ripples as it moves.

As it closes in Willie spots a couple other things coming in behind it. Unlike the first which is trying to make some noise, these are shrouded in darkness and paranormal silence. Maybe they'd be a pain to spot normally, but running through tall grass is a bit of a give away.

Luckily, unlike Hellhounds, they aren't hosing Willie down like quadrupedal flamethrowers, but are instead trying to chomp on him. (Attacks are 2, 5, 3, and 5 hits. Remember your dice reduce with each subsequent one. only 5P damage).

Either way a stunbolt shoots out from a still invisible Flatline, dropping the most visible one.

Lenny however doesn't shoot, instead he says over coms <<I'm seeing some wireless activity. Trying to deal with it. Kill the eyelights!>>

Willie is getting a little pissed off about this place. Who the drek would want to live in a shithole like this with magic para-fucking-normal things behind every tree and bush?

He ducks and weaves as well as he can as four, count'em, four of these things all try to chew on him.



It's tough to dodge 4 separate attacks, and a few bites get through his dodging and weaving, but all that armour and his tough skin pull Willie through.

One of the creatures drops. <<Thanks, Flatline. >> He really is grateful. One continually against four eventually loses.

They're all up close and personal now, so Willie hauls off and slugs one of the standing ones.



The crunch of fist meeting jaw sounds great.

Without armor the creature is easy on Willie's knuckles and it wines as an uppercut sends it reeling backwards, landing hard on its haunches, though like the one flatline hit it's still wriggling.

(OOC: I think you have some math off on the encumbrance with your armor, but with body 8 you're still covered. I also note that in the past I'd been doing combat slightly wrong in that I didn't re-roll initiative every turn, and it does seem like you are supposed to.

Anyway for the coming turn to keep things flowing you might want to just assume you go first. and go through the attack pattern. The one twist is that you should make a perception test (visual) but with a hefty ( for other people) -9. Lenny and Flatline probably won't be much help with their dice pools. While technically it shouldn't make a difference, it seems fair to give two dice back if you still have the eyelight system on. Though Lenny must have had a reason to say turn it off. The little spot isn't that easy to see though. )

Willie turns off the eyelight system. If Lenny says so, something must be around, looking. The things are close enough to chew on him, so he doesn't think he needs it.



Two are down, if not out, so Willie slugs another one still standing. He is no stranger to brawling, but this business of fisticuffs is nowhere near as much fun as filling things with lead.



To give a hint to Flatline, after the punch he points a finger at the one at which he took a swing.

Willie swings but the shadowy hound manages to evade the swing (OOC: I think Willie's first miss of the mission)

Two of the critters get up and close to Willie, unable to latch on in the limited time (OOC: But in position and giving bonuses)

The other two keep trying to bite, seeming to lack the range of options your friends at the watery ditch had (3 hits, 4 hits straight 5 DV)

Suddenly two more of them appear out of nowhere with their jaws on Willie. They don't seem to be trying to bit into his flesh but to use their momentum to whip him off his feet (OOC: Attacking to knockdown. No defense roll. This is their gimmick.) Willie can feel the strength of the critter, but Willie is quite a bulky critter himself and even with the favorable conditions it just winds up getting whipped away for its troubles. The second however manages to yank at an angle Wilie isn't balanced and he hits the ground.

A second pair also come in (OOC: Technically they should also negate defense but maybe Willie's upgraded brain is half expecting in and is fully defending and thrashing around, I'll just give them position bonuses. I'm also not giving charge bonuses as, while perhaps allowable by RAW, infiltration rolls and charging don't seem like they're fair together. Still, only 3 hits for the one, and then my best roll so far with the last one getting 8 but again against these two Willie is using his full defense though down I guess 3 dice on the last one. I'm thinking since you didn't roll defense the knockdown attacks don't count? Still only 5 DV base, no AP bonus or anything.)

Finally getting into the mix Flatline zaps the hound that Willie pointed at, sending it onto its side. He can now see all the creatures after their attacks.

Lenny could see them if he was paying any attention to the physical world. Instead he says over comms <<Ok Guys! I think I got on the drone before it could confirm intruders! We should be all good!>>

(OOC: edited to reflect corrections in post #162 and OOC thread post #574)

Now things are getting serious. Eight of them chewing and digging away at him. The knockdown tactic is new to Willie and somewhere in the back of his mind it makes sense. Once the prey is down, the pack can have a heyday.

So, things are getting serious. Willie fends as well as he can.



Willie lets out a grunt and a roar. That last bite dug deep. He's hurt and he knows it. He is almost inclined to pull out the SMG. Almost.

Memories of a bad time in a junkyard in Seattle as a young(er) lad rush through Willie's mind. Fear rises momentarily at that memory, but the boy has Guts. Down on the ground is the worst place to be when a pack of dogs wants to eat you. Willie shoves the dogs away momentarily and tries to stand up.



He stands shakily. As the memory of the junkyard encounter rolls on like a movie, he remembers. He digs the remaining pieces of jerky out of his pocket and drops them all around. (OOC: simple action to get them, free action to drop?)

(OOC: I don't know if it would make Willie reconsider something of a panic response, but I wanted to correct your damage assessment before assuming he goes for the AK and processing that. Even with all those net successes, the hounds attack still isn't enough to punch Willie's substantial armor rating. So that's 6 STUN damage.

Also since you mention not being used to knockdown I'd want to highlight that being on the ground in melee is a net 5 die swing in the attacker's favor. When Willie is on his feet they haven't been able to even scratch him. Without their gimmick of coming in stealthy, a knockdown attempt is unlikely to be successful since with his body they need 4 net hits. Also only 6 could attack if he's standing. But if Willie is on the ground stretched out like a buffet and them with that much of an extra bonus, well, Willie thoughts about the pack having a heyday might prove accurate.

Standing isn't free or a sure thing though. It's a simple action that requires a body+willpower(2) test with wound modifiers. Not a hard test for Willie, but without edge maybe not one you'd want to assume he'd get to in a future turn. )

A dog to Willie's side had not actually seen him attack any of its pack. It had snuck in at the sound of trouble, and attacked as its instincts and natural territoriality drove it to. The jerky then presents a moment of confusion, and another almost instinctual response (OOC: It doesn't have an action technically, but the jerky is clearly moving past it without engaging in combat, so I'll let it have the prescribed intercept attack as a free action ) . Suddenly finding itself with a mouth full of jerky it starts to move away from the crowd of its fellows.

(OOC: I guess technically that should give Willie an intercept attack option on it )

Flatline feels a slight tingle of panic as he watches Willie get whipped to the ground and laid into. Most people wouldn't get up from something like that. With a jolt of adrenaline he goes bigger than he has before with him magic.
(OOC: Use 1 edge to go first instead of last like always, and he is attempting to dual cast stunbolts at the newcomers that got Willie down) . Twin bolts of mana surge out form where Flatline stands invisible. They connect, the hounds are again not down for the count, but that isn't so new, at least they're stunned and on the ground for a moment instead of latched onto Willie.

Sweat pours down Flatline's face. He feels his usual healers urge to sit down until he feels he can do his job to his best ability. But that isn't going to be an option, he just hopes it was worth it.

(OOC: Willie goes next at T3 IP1 There are three on the ground at the moment, all still wriggling as if to get up. One is starting to walk off with the Jerky. Four are around Willie, two of which were previously knocked down. )

Willie feels a little surge of hope as a couple of the dogs go down from magic. Yeah! Flatline coming through now!

Still holding to Brewster's desire, he doesn't pull hardware to end this quickly. Beaten up dogs can be explained away. Dogs with SMG bullets in them, not so much.

He lines up one of the dogs that was zapped earlier by Flatline.

(OOC: I really expected that to whiff even with the wound modifiers, but no hits on 7 die.)

Still woozy from getting up, Willie manages to clock the hound despite throwing a bit of a ham handed haymaker. It still has Willie's substantial muscle behind it, and this time when the hound hits the ground it seems down for the count.

Out of the corner of his eye Bongo see's the first taser lines of the fight emerging and hitting the other hound that had just gotten up. It didn't even know Lenny was there, and while Lenny was barely on target, it was good enough to get the darts in, and in a moment a second hound is down.

Unmolested by Willie, the hound with the mouthful of jerky continues on its way for now as others snap at him. They give a wary eye to the proceedings, somewhat unsure of this whole situation.

Two of the hounds that had been knocked down get back up and into the fray around Willie, not seeming to figure out what's up with Flatline and Lenny despite all the flashes, or they just stick together. The third tries but stumbles down breathing heavy, and decides to start crawling away.

The last two hounds that had been standing, the only ones in the fight not partially stunned, get after Willie. (OOC: 3 hits and 4 hits. Still only 5P base though. )

Willie is getting the rhythm of the dance, and keeps targeting dogs that are woozy. He hates with a passion that he is 'off' because of a wound. This is not how things are supposed to go down.

Despite their wounds, the hounds are proving elusive for Willie. At least there are fewer of them now.

Lenny usually prides himself as being quick on the draw, but this time the dogs manage to go faster, even the woozy ones.

One tries another knockdown attempt (OOC: Ooop. I excepted it to strike out, despite having worked last time. However It managed an impressive seven hits. I guess this one really is good at this technique. Willie gets to defend this time though, and has all his dice. He'll need 4 hits to stay on his feet. On the plus side, if it was attacking normally that would be 5P with 7 hits behind it. At least knockdown doesn't do damage. I guess I'll have to stop here to see how this pans out. )

The combat is dragging on too long. The older Napoleon got, the more he relied on sheer weight of numbers to do what cleverness did in his youth. The numbers here are beginning to tell. Willie hasn't gone this long in a fight in, well, who knows how long. If something doesn't change soon, the dogs will wear him down like a pencil stuck in a sharpener.

Willie doesn't want to be like a pencil. He's the fucking ERASER.



Willie staggers from the lunge of the dog, but stays on his feet. It ain't over yet, puppies.

The rest of the pack just tries to get a good chunk of Willie through his armored clothes. Maybe they're starting to get tired as they aren't having nearly as effective a go at it.



(OOC: One actually strikes out entirely. Then 1 hit and 2 hits. I think I'll move on since even with reduced dice on subsequent rolls it isn't likely they'd be able to move on to other targets)

The last conscious hound again tries to get up and fails twice, falling back down, it whimpers pitifully and just tries to wriggle away from the fight.

The hound with the jerky slinks off, going silent and with shadows wrapping around it again. (OOC: On a perception 3 test, mostly for being distracted, Willie could note that it hasn't actually eaten the jerky)

Lenny is getting really worried about Willie and carefully lines up his next shot (OOC: Using first edge of the game...which it turns out he really needed to, since I think he'd have missed entirely otherwise. ) The hound drops to the ground, not unconscious, but it seems pretty out of it (OOC: Finally something failed the electric damage test).

Flatline takes a shot at the closest hound he'd previously hit. This time it stops wiggling when it hits the ground.

That just leaves Willie standing next to one previously injured hound and one uninjured hound.

Huh. How things can change in a matter of seconds. Willie is not so overconfident as to assume victory, but things are looking up. He takes on a couple of feeble nips at him.


Willie avoids those bites with ease.

Now, he takes a swing at the weakened one in front of him.



Is that the dog weaving and bobbing, or is it staggering, about to fall?

The hound is obviously not moving as quickly as they had been (OOC: -2 penalty) , but it's still going fast enough to avoid Willie's blow.

(OOC: Willie is at the top of the initiative order again though. And if he attacks the same one it should have a -3 penalty)

Well, it's a bit of weaving, and a bit of staggering. Willie sends another haymaker the way of the groggy doggy.



Ah, now that one felt good!

This time Willie manages to land a solid blow from above, slamming the pooches head down into the grass and dirt. It slumps over on its side from there.

Suddenly finding itself without a pack, the last healthy hound goes fully on the defensive itself and disengages from Willie, heading towards the woods. (OOC: I think that still gives Willie and intercept option if he wants it. )

The hound with the jerky is nowhere to be seen at the moment (OOC: At least not easily)

The hound on the ground finally manages to get on its feet, but it doesn't seem to have any fight left at all and is panting heavily from the injury and effort. It continues moving away, which happens to also be towards the woods to the south, just with much greater speed now that it's up.

Over the coms Willie hears Flatline say <<Jeez you were really getting thrashed around Willie. Just keep it together a little longer, I'm heading towards you now. I'll be able to help. Lenny, let us know if there's some critical Matrix thing happening otherwise please keep you eyes on the real world for a while. >>

Lenny mumbles back <<Well, they're starting to get a better view of the thing in the woods. I guess they didn't detect our fight. They're starting to send chat and markups via the drone for coms so I can see it. They're....>>

Flatline interrupts to say <<Can't you log it! Pay attention! At least until I'm done with Willie! >>

(OOC: I suppose specific actions by Willie might preclude that discussion. But I can roll it back if needed.)

Willie is of a mind to just let the damn dogs go. He's had enough of this as much as they have.

He started reaching for his stim patch when Flatline's message came through. <<Whatcha got in mind, Flatline? >>

While he waits for Flatline to do whatever, he takes from Lenny's comments that the locals are busy with that big thing to the north, so he turns on his eyelights and looks to see if there is anything here the dogs were guarding. With those food and water bowls, there has to be a reason the locals were keeping the dogs in this location. He figures.

<<Keep up the lookout, Lenny. I wanna know what that thing is that is drawing their attention so much. You never know. We might be able to get another commission from them. >> He grins at that. Beaten up and drained, he still thinks of combat and payouts.

But ... with whatever that thing is, they surely wouldn't mind gunfire. Willie likes gunfire.

Almost as much as driving fast.

Lenny grumbles over coms. << Well if I'm keeping my eyes on the grass and treeline I can't be also checking the matrix. There's matrix stuff to do too. I totally hacked a second drone out here. I saw its signal pop up when it started to detect noise. Didn't even get a chance to figure out what kind of drone or triangulate. I guess it could even just be a comlink set out to detect stuff. I think down here on the ground somewhere though. >> Lenny makes an invisible effort to look around.

<<Darn it those dog things are sneaky. They were right here and now I can't hear or see any of them. >>

While that is going on Willie hears flatline say out loud. "Ok, it's me, I'm over here, don't panic and bust my face open. "

After a moment he starts messing around with Willie. "Let's see what I can do about those bruises with science, I assume out here in the wilderness you're going to want to keep your pants on. I'll do what I can. Willie can feel Flatline prodding around where he see's do saliva. Occasionally adding meds and a couple times an injection. " (OOC: He manages 1 hit on first aid).

After he seems done with that he says. "Alright, let's see what magic can do. Normally I'd rather be at my best, and you aren't the ideal recipient, but here's hoping"

(OOC: Actually he does a horrible job and uses his second to last edge to re-roll that garbage. Three boxes cured on the re-roll, for a total of four boxes)


Flatline adds "Hold still, I need to sustain this for a while. " Eventually he lets go and says "Alright, that's what I can manage."

Lenny occasionally says over comes <<Still don't see anything>>

Willie feels a lot better. "Thanks, Flatline. I'm only a little stiff now. I hope this stuff hasn't sucked your energy a lot." So, Flatline healed some of his bruises with magic. And he cast a spell. Mystic adept? Willie thinks.

He considers manhandling the dogs off the path and decides against it. It would look suspicious. That makes him think of the swamp things further back. Knife wounds on the ones out on the road are likely to raise suspicions. On the way back, he thinks to himself, I'll have to drag those into the water.

He draws his knife again, and prepares to move on down the path. <<Let's carry on, then. Great eyes in the sky, Lenny. There's gotta be something here soon.>>

Lenny says <<Finally! Hold on a sec people let me sort through everything. >>

Flatline says "Glad to help. You've certainly done a lot. I'm shocked your still standing, and glad not to have been the one getting chomped. And I guess I'll take a turn keeping my eyes open while Lenny spaces off. "

The forest is quiet again. From where he's standing Willie can now see that the path doesn't seem to continue all that far. Or at least not as wide as it currently is, because he can see a pretty solid corral of trees in the dim light. Maybe it could do something weird and curvy, but it doesn't look like it. There does seem to be a lot of dirt piled up around here though. Must be some holes, but the tall grass makes it hard to see from the distance.

Eventually Lenny exclaims "I figured it out! Well, not everything, I guess, but anyway they've figured out the critter they were tracking was a "Piasma" and one of them wrote that it's OK because it doesn't like the light either. Get it? "Either" These dogs had some kinda shadow thing going on. I bet they don't like light. If those things in the ditch don't like it either it would make sense. Like. You attract or don't kill creatures that don't come out in the light, and then you do whatever it is you do by daylight. That leaves them to take out anybody sneaking around at night. I guess they weren't just trying to scare us by saying not to come out at night.

Maybe Phoenix are just a little on the small side to spot? Maybe they got overconfident?

Oh, now that they've figured out the critter in the woods they're moving back towards the church. "

Lenny seems pretty proud of himself as he adds. "And I've triangulated that drone signal. Probably something there worth watching. It's over there."

After a few beats Flatline says "Lenny, are you pointing while invisible?"

Lenny doesn't reply, but after a couple moments a waypoint shows up in Willie's AR.

Willie heads for the location of the waypoint Lenny dropped in his AR. <<That drone gonna mark us or do you have control, Lenny?>>

Lenny switches back to coms and replies << I've got reasonable control of whatever you're heading at. It was just sitting there, waiting to detect and report something. It's good at differentiating things like gunshots, but with the dog things around it can trigger on howling and whatnot. At least I think that's how it works.

But remember I can't do too much to the drone in the sky without them knowing. At least while there's a rigger active in it. But there isn't any way for them to detect me snooping on their signal. So far they're still just heading back to position near the church.

It might be tricky to sneak back in, but that's for another time.

Also this means they aren't tracking that Piasma for us anymore. It wasn't heading this way when they were last looking at it though. >>

As Willie gets to the waypoint he see that it's one hole among many holes (On 3 hits he could spot one of the hounds near one of the holes scattering jerky for a bunch of pups). The drone isn't exactly a drone. More like a camera emplacement. Maybe it was meant to be a mailbox that watches itself? In any case it's driven into the ground and is hardened securely.

Lenny adds <<Well, I guess a proper drone would be excessively expensive as a chew toy. I don't know that those dog things are entirely tame. The locals might just rely on being gone before nightfall. >>

Covering the hole is a chain link gate, with stakes driven into the ground to hold it in place and a simple chain and padlock keeping it closed. At least it would keep the dog things from being able to get down in there.

Willie assesses the scene. He sets his imagelink to record as he looks around. <<Unless one of you can pick a lock, there's no way we can open that without leaving a trace of our interference. Lenny if you can move in front of the camera and block it, it might look like a dog is in the way. I'll look down the hole and see what I can see. Flatline, keep an eye on those dogs, will ya?>>

He pulls out his flashlight. Hopefully the camera won't pick up on that with Lenny blocking it. Damn eyes got image magnification, vision enhancement, ultrasound and then some. It'd be good if the cost of all that came through.

Lenny replies over coms <<So long as they don't try to interface it we don't need to worry about the camera, I'm blocking communication. I suppose I should loop the AV and mess with the logs while I have a moment, just in case something comes up so I can't do it later or someone does try and log onto this thing. >>

Flatline looks at the lock. Standing close to Willie he speaks out loud. "I can't believe something as silly as a lock would stop us. How hard can they be to jigger? I've watched trids of people making it look easy. Or, I guess if that's really a problem do you think you could pull up some of those stakes? We could hammer them back down? "

While Flatline is speaking, Willie is looking down past the gates. Unfortunately it's a tunnel. He can see it descending down and to the north, but at this angle he can't see very far, maybe if he had a little drone or endoscope or something. What he can tell is that there are a lot of tracks of people going in and out of the tunnel and to some of the mounds of earth. There are some wooden trusses, probably made from local trees, holding it up. However the mounds of earth aren't that massive. The tunnels can't go all that far. Well, unless they occasionally bring in vehicles or something to haul out dirt. In any case in the details Willie can pick up with this enhanced eyes, he doesn't think that this is the sort of thing that looks industrial in scale. He isn't exactly a mining expert, but it just all has that hand done sort of look, instead of the smooth walls and identical timbers he'd assume you'd get in an industrial operation.

Willie is feeling the time pressure, knowing that the locals are heading for the church. His curiosity and greed get the better of him, though, and he tries to dislodge one of the stakes, lifting it straight up if he can. If it comes loose easily enough, without dislodging too much dirt, he will lift one or two more, enough to be able to fold one half of the gate back onto the other half.

(OOC: You'd need to handle a 4th spike. But since it'd be strength tests you'd have more dice and he was doing great so far. So I'll give you that one too.)

It takes some elbow grease, but the spikes aren't cemented in. Based on the sight of some of the other holes, perhaps they need to relocate with some frequency. In any case with more grunting that time lost the gate is open.

Over coms Flatline says <<Well, ok, that's a thing. Do we want to keep people up on the surface?>>

Lenny chirps in quickly. <<With access to the, well, maybe not exactly a drone, but the thing up here I'd know if something came for us. And if we all head in it'd keep us out of sight. That drone in the sky is looking at the church, but it could swing this way. I guess with the trees it might take a little traveling to get the right angle, but being out of sight would be good. Actually it's a good deal that, as far as I could tell, they didn't put any cameras in the church. I suppose it's out far enough they'd need more expensive ones to get the range. That blimp drone won't be able to tell we aren't in there. >>

Flatline lets Lenny talk but adds. <<We're invisible. And this should work against machines as well, as long as they aren't using ultrasound or something. >>

Lenny replies <<Well, unless Willie wants to go in alone, I say lets stick together and follow him in. Uh. That seems to be what works best in my games.... >>

Willie tells the two, "I don't think it goes too far. I'll go down first and take a look. If it looks like it goes a long way, or if here's something I don't understand, I'll ask you two to come with me. After the dogs, I'm not so confident I can take things on by myself. At least not out here."

He starts down in, flashlight illuminating the way ahead of him, knife at the ready. Yet again, he wishes he could have the SMG at the ready.

Willie moves along warily. At least without the other two following if anything invisible or cloaked in shadow is bumping around or kicking up dust he'd hopefully hear it and know to stab it.

However Willie isn't picking up on anything at all. Just the sound of his own breathing and cautious steps. He steps over and looks down a sort of ditch a short distance from the opening. Shining his light down he can see mud. If it rained, all the water coming down the hole would end up there instead of going down. Though the ground is still dirt, and probably pretty absorbent. There isn't a whole lot to see moving through it. The mine slowly goes down, and occasionally will branch off a short distance to a side but not far enough to merit more than a few steps and a glance, or it will weave around the roots of a tree.

After about 40 yards it comes to an end. Down here there are some shovels and trowels left out. There are some sort of buckets. They're a bit odd. Instead of a pail where everything goes into the same spot, they are shallow and subdivided in a honeycomb style into seven separate sections. They also have a plastic lid to cover them. The few sitting out are empty.

The mine itself is also odd. Willie can't detect anything worth mining at all. His eyes are pretty sharp if there was any glint of gold in the dirt or something. Certainly nothing like a coal seam. Also everything seems to be worked by hand. Sometimes it seems like actual hands by the look of things, Wilie feels like he might be able to get a finger print if he wanted to, but usually trowel or shovel work.

Willie relays what he sees to the two up above. He checks the honeycomb pails to see if there is any residue in the separate compartments. That could indicate, upon study back home, what is being collected here."

Willie tells the other two what he is doing and asks for suggestions.

Hmmm. Another idea strikes him. <<Hey, Flatline. I remember being told it is a bad idea to open up to the ... Astral plane out here, but you think you could come down here and give an ooglie booglie look at the stuff down here? You know, like magical fungus and that kind of shit.>>

There isn't anything in any of the buckets. More than that, they're not just empty, they're clean under those clear plastic lids. Not dirty in the slightest.

In the silence of the underground Willie can hear Flatline approach fairly easily. He keeps his invisibility up though.

When he gets to Willie he says "The earth acts as a sort of astral barrier. So unless something is in here with us on the astral I should be fine. "

He pauses for a bit. "Well now I'm a bit nervous. Still, they say spirits don't last long out here, so maybe this is even safer than astrally perceiving back in the city. I'll give it a try. I should turn visible if knocked out and drop out of the astral. I still have my medkit. "

Lenny, some distance down the tunnel says "I think I might be getting the hang of the medkit. I'm coming over. I'm still watching the outside with the cameras up there. But I didn't like being all alone"

Flatline sighs and goes quiet.

For a while there's just the sound of Lenny getting close. Eventually Flatline starts talking "Well, I don't see any hostiles. So that's good. There's definitely something different about the earth here though. It's like it's, well, hard to describe. Closer to another plane? It seems to almost be imbued in the dirt. Somewhat unevenly, pooling in spots, but I'm not sure what to do with it exactly. "

He pokes it with a finger, judging by how the wall looks, and some falls, presumably into his hand where it vanishes form normal sight.

"Well, it still looks different in the astral when removed from the wall, but that was a particularly vibrant spot, and its lost most of the glow. There must be some trick to all this, but I'm not entirely sure what it is. Probably some other people know, I expect. So maybe this is enough info? You could haul out some choice dirt as proof, since I can't take Astral photos. "

Lenny chimes in "I wish I had an extra comlink or little mini drone or something. I could put it up in the raftrs and we'd be able to figure out exactly what they're up to in here and how they do it. "

Willie didn't get much ROI on his vision enhancements down here, but the cerebral booster kicks in with a vengeance. "So, if I get it right from the clues, there are seven different kinds of dirt down here that are somehow connected to different ... you call them planes ... that spirits and stuff go to. Drek. No wonder the locals don't want anyone to know about this.

"This stuff could be worth more than gold. Every magician who does that kind of travelling, every magical group, every corporation would want a piece of this. Or all of it. This gets out and the locals can kiss goodbye to their quiet little corner of paradise. Imagine some egghead in a corporate basement figuring out how to build gateways to other worlds. What would that be worth?

"Lets find some containers we have into which we can put some soil ... I dunno, pill boxes, plastic bags, I have an empty magazine for my SMG. See if you can get seven piles that feel different, Flatline. Hmmm. Maybe as clean as we can make it. If we take a bucket, they will know. Then, let's get the hell out of here. Those locals will kill to keep this a secret."

"Lenny, put together a text describing what we have found here, and as soon as you can get a link back to Brewster, fire it away. Starting an all out firefight with us will be a lot less useful to the locals if the news is already out."

Lenny says "Getting word out means going outside and setting up a satellite uplink. Uh, let's do that together after we get some dirt. "

After an awkward silence Flatline adds. " I'm doing the Astral equivalent of squinting and I can't spot a difference that would indicate seven different things. But maybe there's something to it. Anyway we could take samples from different spots on the way out maybe there-s something back a ways.

In the meantime, we'll, we probably all have odd and ends, but the medkit has all sorts of different baggies and things to organize all the different items and keep them clean. I could just turn everything out. They're labeled, just harder to work with unorganized. "

Lenny mumbles "The things you need as a Shadowrunner they never tell you about."

"Alright, let's do that, Flatline." Willie takes handfuls of dirt from different spots as Flatline produces bags.

Once they have seven, and then a few more in hopes of increasing the likelihood of getting all seven they think exists, Willie leads the way back up. Once outside, he closes the gate and replaces the spikes in their original holes, smoothing out any irregularities left by the removal.

"Let's go. Gotta get back to the church. How long does a satellite link take to set up, Lenny? Can you do that while I clear the swamp things off the path?"

(OOC: huh. As far as I can tell, this edition doesn't actually say. Probably an extended test measured in combat turns? )

Lenny gives a little yelp as Flatline tosses a bag. It suddenly becomes visible after Flatline throws it, already hurtling towards whoever he is tossing it to. It goes invisible after Lenny either catches it or it hits him. Soon they have a few bags and Willie is hammering back in stakes and stamping down the dirt.

Lenny says "Well, it should just take me a couple minutes, if that. I guess I could do it while you mess with the creatures out there. Uh, I guess we should pick up my used tasers too. We'll want to do that fast though. The blimp occasionally looks around. It's just acting as a scout. As likely to be looking at the water as anything, and I can give you some warning. But it can swivel pretty fast. "

Flatline replies "Actually, I could try casting invisibility on you as well Willie. That isn't trivial. This spell needs to be cast just right in order to actually work. Magic has a hard time with technology. It's much easier to fool people than drones. I could take my time back in the church to try again or rest, and I was fresh. Now...I can't exactly promise how things would go, but I could try. I might not be so effective at other things, but I bring it up because it would simplify things greatly if it works, and hopefully if we follow our tracks we shouldn't run into anything else, especially if we get there before that critter in the woods moves somewhere we don't like. "  

Willie finishes putting the gate back as close to the original as he can.

"Alright, hit me with the magic now, then, Flatline. I guess you mages have your own tough battles to deal with. Might help if the dogs are getting feisty again. Then let's book it back to the squidgies and while I try to clear the evidence Lenny can get the message out. The sooner the message is out, the sooner our deaths are less important."

Willie can hear Flatline really putting effort into the spell (OOC: he used edge, but still rolled bad. At least he rolled well on the drain). However he lets out a groan after finishing.

"Ugh. I don't think I can do better without some rest. But it isn't going to be enough to fool a drone. Stupid technology. I'm going to leave it up though after all that. It might not fool a drone, but the effect on the mind of living creatures can still kick in. Not as reliable as the spells on Lenny and I. If thing get thick I might drop it to focus on spell slinging, especially if anything we're facing is acting like its mind already saw through the illusion. It's just a waste then. I guess. ..I guess keep going. I can walk. "

After a little distance Lenny says "Hey, is it easy for you to check on the dogs? Make sure they're going to be OK."

Flatline says "I should be able to. I don't want to do a check up in case one wakes up or is guarding his fellows. But I can tell a lot in the astral. In this state I might miss something, but I think I'd know if they're in deep trouble. I'd certainly know if they're already dead. "

As the group moves past where the dogs are Flatline announces "Ok. I don't see a lot of movement with them, and I think some are going to be sore. But I think they're all going to live...probably. Almost certainly. I think. It has been a fair while if something was going to go wrong with them. Actually we should probably keep moving in case some of them come around. Dogs would have no problem tracking us down by smell, we have to assume these can too. Actually, we might want to pick up the pace. "

Lenny says "Ok, I'll make this quick."

If Willie watches he could see a disturbance in the grass as Lenny heads to where he started shooting. The taser lines in the ground jerk and then vanish as he picks them up. He then says "Ok, let's get going. I'll stay in the middle and focus on the drone. If it starts scanning the path or something I"ll let you know.

Lenny stays silent as the group retraces their steps, so they keep going. Before long the group is back to where the creatures that came out of the ditches were. Lenny says "Ok. I'm going to set up the sat uplink where the trees should shield me the dish from the drone if it looks. Remember you'll still show up Willie.

The creatures are still lying where they fell. The three that charged out clearly visible in the path, the three Willie fought in the cattails hidden in the muck. Green crusty jumbles of weird eyes, and limbs, with skeletons embedded in their shells. Flatline gasps and says on the coms <<Some of them are still alive! I think they'd have moved if they were conscious. But I was using stunbolts, Lenny was using a taser, and they did have some armor to soften knife blows maybe. Either way a couple of those are still glowing in the astral.

Willie schleps the three on the road out into the water. Then he takes some reeds or branches and clears tracks off of the path. Well, it looks less like a fight took place here than before. Once Lenny has sent the message, he gets the last leg underway.

"Thanks Flatline. It'll do. Now we have to make it back to the church before we are found out. Let's stay invisible as long as we can in case they get to the church before us. We will have to do some sneaking in if that is the case."

He leads the way, whispering to the others so they can track him and know when to follow. "I'm heading along the trail now. You should be able to hear me and see grasses part as I go. Once on the main road it will be a little more difficult to keep together. Let me know If i am going too fast."

Lenny takes a while getting the info out. Eventually he says <<Ok, I got some info out to Brewster. I. uh. Didn't wake him up, but it sent. Also those things are definitely Shamblers and they do not like the light. So I do think that's how they run this daytime operation. Well. that and the drone. Shoot. It does occasionally swing the camera down this way. I dunno if the path is a good idea. I'm still in range of the camera drone. I could have it send an alert. Maybe the blimp drone would go check it out. Then maybe we could get back the way we left.

Otherwise maybe we could get to the church by a route it has a hard time watching? I don't wanna get in the river. Be we could try the treeline. We already know that it's looking for thermal. But the Piasma wasn't trying to be sneaky. Plus figuring out there's something in the trees obviously doesn't let them know what they're looking at. We'd have, like, a forty foot sprint from the treeline into the church that way. >>

Willie considers the options. <<Alright. Let's keep to the treeline. It'll be slower, but we will be harder to see. Save the alert from the camera unless we really need it. We don't want to give the locals any hint at all that something happened at their mine.>>

Going through the forest is slower and noisier that going along the road.

Also much buggier. The mosquitoes don't seem overly deterred by invisibility. Though the general coverage of his armor and clothing keeps him from being swarmed. Lenny's verbal complaints on coms indicate he isn't doing so well.

There are some creatures around that Willie finds he can get a lot closer to than usual as they stare right through him when Willie or someone behind him makes a noise.

(OOC: Bought successes to stealth should be enough for this stretch against anything of particular concern, mostly the drone).

Eventually the group gets to the point close to the church.

Lenny says <<Ok, so Flatline and I don't show up on cameras. We ought to be able to go ahead and duck in while the drone looks over to scan the river. Usually there are a few seconds, and all we have to do is open and close the door without making too much noise.

So the tricky bit is Willie. But Flatline can see him right? So I can watch the drone from inside the building, send "go" on the comms, and then Flatline can handle opening and closing the door for Willie.

Uh. You just need to be quick I guess?>>

(OOC: If you want to go ahead with that plan, you can assume Lenny and Flatline can get in position, and Lenny will yell "Go! " when the drone pans away at anything. After that it's sprint checks.
If Willie wants to try something else, just have him reply IC )

It's a good plan. Willie agrees to it. Lenny and Flatline make it into the church, and Willie waits for the cue from Lenny.

There it is! Willie dashes for the door, putting everything he has into the sprint. <<Here I come.>>



Willie is motivated! Armour and all, he hits Olympic level speed driving for the door.

(OOC: I'm not sure if you actually mathed it out, but that is just enough to close the distance in the first pass. )

For a split second Willie is worried he went too fast and he's about to smack into the door. But Flatline manages to get it open and he shoots through. Flatline rapidly closes it after ward, and Willie can just hear Flatline getting away from the clear glass door over the sound of his heart.

After a couple seconds Lenny chirps in with an excited "Nice! Not seeing any traffic about anything suspicious happening. And geez I should spend some time really sweeping the area for any bugs or left comlinks. There was definitely nothing transmitting though. I'd have definitely noticed that. "

Willie can hear Lenny messing around. (OOC: Willie can also try to see through the invisibility if he wants, I've been assuming he isn't really bothering. )

Flatline says "Think it safe to drop spells? It'd be really nice to get some rest after all that. I'm hoping your too amped to take a first shift, and you're pretty well patch up. Still amazed you managed all that intact. "

"Yeah, in here it's best to look as little as possible as if we had gone out. And you need some serious rest, Flatline. So how about I sit up here by the front door and wait a while for my aches to go away, and you guys find a quiet place to rest or snoop or whatever. If the locals come, it will look like we've been here all along and it's my turn for watch duty."

Willie snags a few more edibles and settles in by a table, with his SMG handy. he sits still and waits for the cramps and aches to go away.