Audric pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs heavily. "Whatever, as long as you die with an empty clip... I think that's all I can expect a this point."
Kwartz gave a chuckle, " It's good to hear your voice say that. The first step of the process is acceptance. Then, figuring out what I want. That's the hard part. But rejoice, I might start developing self-motivation from time to time. "
Audric sighs even more heavily...
Kwartz sighed as well, though it mostly in pleasant manners. For the situation, it was about as good as it was going to get and at least if they were going into death he got something in return. That was all he could hope for.
In the two months time as part of Black Company you've seen its ranks swell once more and the small company consisting of only Owens and yourselves is now pushing fifty strong.
In the meantime the aftershocks of the Plaza E Incident are still being felt.
Skadi rotations are now much more rigorously scheduled and monitored and Loki assignments have doubled.
The surviving Longitus squad has been lauded as being an exceptional unit and have taken the place of the recently vacated designation of Foxtrot.
In addition the council of Jotunheim placed a requisition order in with Langley for the new additions to Black Company's genetic material.
An excerpt from the letter in which he would share with you of Julia Munchausen stating "We are deeply curious about this group. As well as their apparent attached disposition to you and refusal of normal medical care, which as I'm sure you know Richard, is not normally the case, given your special personality."
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In the two months since your genetic modification your bodies have begun to adjust. You feel better at pretty much everything you do, if only marginally so. You feel stronger, faster, and more alert.
Your healing abilities if you choose to test them are impressive in their ability to regenerate but while their time to heal is a few seconds or minutes for minor cuts and bruises, more serious injuries can take several days or longer to fully heal.
More recently, you all begin to notice a dermal plating of sorts beginning to form underneath your skin and walking around Jotunheim without your armor on becomes all but impossible.
Around this time Langley takes full responsibility for overseeing your medical well being.
Nathan Owens uses his pull to get each member of your group their own room, something other members of Black Company are sure to let you know their displeasure over.
If asked, Langley will reveal to you all that Loki Lima, did not survive the procedure that you all underwent. Richard has a theory that because of Lima's age, his genetic makeup from R14 was too resistant to undergo the necessary radical changes to properly accept Cancer's evolution and thus was unable to heal rapidly enough to recover from the wounds he sustained.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the first time since being a part of Black Company you've heard the call to report to briefing.
Upon arriving you see Brautigan ready to address the group.
"Black Company has been gathered today to perform a recovery operation."
"Recent sweeps of the locale performed by Skadi Hilo reports that nearly all equipment in the area seems to be scavenged."
"As such you are to touchdown at Plaza E, recover any immediately apparent functioning equipment and then track down the scavengers and retrieve the remaining equipment from them."
"Armor is deemed noncritical, standard Occams equipment is a secondary priority to the reclamation of Titus load outs."
"Due to the still volatile nature of the drop zone, the drops will run on time."
"Pick up will occur one hour after touchdown for equipment reclamation."
"If reclamation does not occur after the first attempt, we will send a second drop at three hours after touchdown, if that drop fails as well, then no further attempts will be made for rendezvous."
"Dispatch is in twenty minutes from the western wall. Are there any questions?"
During the time Kwartz had been amazingly active for him, something anyone who knew of this man would note bizarre.
At several points in self and appointed training with Nathan Owens, The Former Loki seemed focused on pushing his abilities to the max, as if trying to reach some non-disclosed goal. His speed, strength, endurance and toughness were stretched to the limit every time. Instead of resting he would transition to another muscle-group or characteristic that was currently at rest to push that as well. He seemed to spend abundant of time with munitions training as well, more than other such courses and exercises.
Kwartz could, much to his dismay, feel the changes in the familiarity and handling in his gunplay. Oftentimes he'd set up firing courses where there were multiple targets with preset mental checkpoints so that his twitch muscles and eyesight targeting senses were taxed. At Close Range, Mid Range and beyond, nothing in these fields were left out of training. He took to constantly carrying a certain load-out for weight training as well. Longfang for Long and Mid Range; Lotus for Close, Hardline for Close and Mid; Viper for Melee and Parry.
Of course he would slack off after burning himself out but, it was becoming notably frequent the LACK of lazing around Kwartz actually did. Eerie one might say. those times he simply seemed to watch a particular group of individuals train, those of the survivors of Plaza E. Sometimes he would watch other members. It was difficult to determine when or where he would be. Though the sight of him with Fluer was assumed out of familiarity or specialization training.
At night the experimentation took a different route. Kwartz was relentless. Taking the viper he had personally, he would cut along the top of the forearm ever so slightly and count mentally the time it would take to heal. The amount of damage was inflicted; the variance in recovery; the ratio of severity to pain. Just how much did the Cancer cells change him?
" 43 seconds, 47 seconds, 39 seconds.. that one was fast. 61 seconds, too deep. "
Secretly he placed metal plates along a punching bag he used and trained knowing it would fracture bones, similarly to test the recovery and effects of the genetic restructuring.
The strange hobby among all this was the sudden fascination to paint his armor various shade of Black, with a nice coating. The very fact he could customize his outfit made the act somewhat soothing to him, a plethora of options that was usually locked. Kwartz made sure however not to be too much different, Longshanks could always be around. The sudden changes that sprung up along the skin just gave him reason to sport the art around more frequently, it also meant less effort for attire and Kwartz was all for that.
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At the briefing his expression hadn't changed much from the last mission but his form was internally exquisite. Kwartz sat forward notably the same but busied himself with a Hardline mechanism he was testing. Once Brautigan had stopped speaking his eyes slowly met the man.
" Ah, its the man who named me. Cool. I have a few questions. One, How much do we need to retrieve from the Scavengers? Two, How quickly do the Dropships expect to disembark once they meet a group? Three, are there designated areas we are aware they reside in? Lastly, Can we make a request on success or maybe have a point system? Seems like it would make it interesting. I'd personally like a Fine Lobster Dinner as a reward. "
Brautigan squints his eyes at Kwartz for a moment before turning his attention back to the podium and his field report papers.
"929-461C? Shiki, Kwartz? I remember you. I had to dial back Rubric a bit after he was finished with you, gave him too much creative license, what a ridiculous name."
"Think I messed up your dosages, you got too much of your father, but I digress."
"For this mission to deemed a success we are expecting a retrieval rate of 80% on all Titus platforms."
"Dropships will spend one minute on disembark to ensure immediate Evac isn't required. Afterwards, retrieval periods will last for ten minutes or until the accompanying Occams defense perimeter for the drop is exhausted."
"Eyes on scavengers has been sparse, we know they're relatively close by given their retrieval of Titus equipment, as it's far too heavy for them to risk carrying for significant distances. Determining their exact location will be up to ground troops."
"Mostly importantly, this is not a game. Such foolishness will not be condoned by me and I expect Owens - - Grandmaster Owens to quash any such antics in the field."
"Finally, access to marine lifeforms for consumption is entirely prohibited as you should well know."
"If there is nothing else then I suggest you get down to Armory Twelve, departure is in Eighteen Minutes."
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In the downtime, Serai began undergoing small changes herself. Finding herself lost in thought imagining the landscape of the city and the possible death at every corner, she'd began undergoing simulations custom to her wants. With each snipe she'd made became more accurate and deadly. She began not only wanting to do her job, she craved it.
Her armor, though snug and casted black, gave her a sense of pride. Not being a Loki anymore took time to adjust to, though now she'd gained more free reign in her own stead. Every now and then she'd catch Kwartz undergoing training simulations of his own in the firing courses. Seeing him working, an exact opposite prior to, made her want to work harder as well. Not seeing much of the others, considering, (Bob and Audric), she'd taken to mostly training by herself or with Nathan.
Serai began increasing her workout regimen to double. Whether it be jogging farther or climbing structures she'd use all that was available to increase both her comfort and skill in doing so. She'd went as far as to scale a building, make a snipe shot and time herself while both doing so and escaping or reassigning herself a new snipe nest. The judgement on where to shoot to deal the most critical damage increased as she trained. Time after time she'd restart a simulation only over what she seen as a mistake. "There are no mistakes on the battlefield... There is death and there is victory..." She'd tell herself as sweat beaded off her face.
In her down time when alone she took up a hobby of customizing her armor and guns. On the barrel of her trusted longfang she'd carved
..."I saw that" ~Karma..."
While on her armor she'd taken a more artistic route. Now having more freedom to do so she'd began carving designs into such as well. If she'd gotten to be known so quickly as the ice princess, perhaps she would humor it.
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'...Seeing Kwartz apply himself was truly a miracle...' Serai thinks as she listens to the well timed questions to Brauigan. Stepping aside she waits for a moment then begins leaving On his ending statement.
"Sir, if recovery of a particular Titus weapon is not possible within the mission time, am I to assume you want it permanently decommissioned?"
"If decommission of equipment is an option, then so is recovery 929-455P." says Brautigan.
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Kwartz scratched his chin and quirked a brow at that.
" Well then shoot. I guess there is no fun in this dojo. I'll toss out one more thing, more as a suggestion then. If the Titus weaponry can' be moved you might want to have the pilots watch out during drop, don't want to get shot outta the sky. And I want Hamburgers then.. or Steak, Salisbury Steak. "
Kwartz would stand up and motion to the rest.
" Alright kiddies did you hear that, the mission is a fetch quest with tasty meat at the end for dinner! Let's go ahead and make these a#@!#&%s think twice of using us as pickup. We arent as fodder as they think. Plus, gotta keep your score up to redeem wonderful prizes later. Let's go Jotens! "
This was said with all the excitement of a limp, wet, piece of toast. He left to go get equipped.
As the drop passes over the cityscape the nearby denizens of Plaza E take notice and begin to chase after the ship. By the time you make touchdown a large swarm has converged on the landing zone's location.
Exiting Black Company quickly cut down the over eager Mortemcursor that pursued too closely.
Leaving the ship first, Nathan Owens calls out to you all, "Fan and spread, I'll take the south! Establish a perimeter once all threats are neutralized."
The ship itself quickly gets back into the air and races off to the east.
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Bob quickly draws both of his Hardlines as they prepare to land. Bob takes in the sight of the horde of dogs. As everyone disembarks.
"Well this will be on hell of a fight!"
Bob remembers Owens just said he'll take the south. So Bob nods to himself and then starts firing at the closet two enemies north of his location.
Kwartz landed Longfang in hand much like the first time he delved into this hellhole. Once more his eyes flashed Jade for but a second as he assessed the situation as best he could.
They were surrounded, but the precursor to the horde coming gave most time to be battle-ready at the least. He knew that Owens could handle the South but there was no guarantee some wouldn't leek through. He intended not to die here and strangely wanted to test the fruits of what others called 'labor'.
Knowing that they were all Black Company but some might listen to the Former Loki, Kwartz spoke over the comms.
" Alright this is a FUBAR situation. Standard for Black Company I suppose. I'm not sure all your reasons for being here but if you thought it was to die, get that out of your head. We are going back to rub our success in their face and come back with as many people as possible. "
" So I might not be acting commander but if you want to live, Those who have grenades throw them so that the blast radius is right outside the Frontline. Secondary Line Try and pick off as many as you can with concentrated fire! If you see an injured one that isn't incapacitated focus on that until it is! Those in the front with Vipers, Ready to Counter Attack! November Sierra and Foxtrot will provide threat elimination and cover fire. Titus, Hunker Down and get ready to unload on whatever is left after those grenades go off! This is a points system everyone! For Every Dog you slay thats 1 Point! For every Toad or Scorpion that's 5! If you live through this skirmish its 50. Try to get as many as possible! Let's Slay them Jotens! "
Kwartz then choked up on his Longfang crouched slightly and brought his center mass low. Making it easy to pivot and swivel his body to aim and fire at any enemies that moved, a nice bunch up of them would be more efficient.
" He November Foxtrot, can you take out the Loricatus? I'll try and handle the fast buggers. "
"Long winded as always Kwartz..."
Audric said while tossing a grenade towards a particularly large group of s$&$.
*Slap* Audric screams after slapping his own face. Heartbreaker at the ready. Charging in.
Kwartz shrugged, " That was the effort for the day. I'm up to Quota. "
Kwartz peered from his sights.
Both of Bob's shots brings down two Mortemcursor.
Kwartz however unloaded five rapid shots each colliding into a Mortemcursor and flying through them and hitting more behind each.
Incredibly though, while the shots manage to injure a staggering number, only 4 go down to the shots.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Owen's steps forwards putting three shots out from his Hardline and taking the lives of three Mortemcursor in the process.
While at the same time he sideways tosses a triangular bright green object, which explodes on contact with the asphalt and pours a torrent of sizzling liquid on two other approaching dogs and splashes the right leg of the Loricatus.
He then finds himself in melee.
It should become quickly apparent to those who observe Nathan that he is not amongst the best for his speed nor his strength or maybe even intelligence but for a near godlike level of instinct and awareness.
When he can afford it Nathan shoots an incoming dog and angles his body, or takes a small step to avoid the creature's still deadly momentum as their blades carry forwards even in death.
There is no wasted movement in Nathan's sword strokes, every swipe off the blade halts the instant it delivers a killing blow.
The abrupt stop to these swings you notice allow Nathan to make a great number of parrying strokes, often killing one dog en route to stop another's attack.
Each of these swings made by him seem to be rehearsed countless times as Nathan fights formulaically. Each attack by a dog seems to have an assigned predetermined defense to neutralize the attack and dispatch the dog, you notice throughout all his swings Nathan uses only two or three variations to his killing strokes, often in such a way that their momentum can be continued past the point of delivering a deathblow to be converted into another.
An example of this is seen as a charging dog closes with him and Nathan turns the hook side of the viper facing up and brings the blade up from his right side leg to his left side torso. The effect of which catches the dog under the arm joint of the attacking blade, severing it, before continuing through the dogs body and detaching it's head.
At the same moment another dog closes to Nathan attacking with a left side blade, which Nathan flips the sword as soon as it exits the first dog so the hook faces down and brings it down onto the new dogs head and severing it and the arm from above as opposed to below.
In this way, in the first few moments of combat, Nathan claims sixteen dogs lives.
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"My my Sierra,... You're surely know how to speak to a women's heart." Serai says sarcastically. The first time she'd spoken this, as they'd began landing she'd check her gun over lightly tapping the clip of ammo loaded at the time.
The empty shells clang to the ground after Fluer finishes her sentence, Kwartz remained in his position.
" Yeah, I've had high hopes, practiced in the shower. Clearly. Sigh, now I have to reload, bothersome. "
The heat off the barrel pointing westward.
"I brought extra ammo if you need another clip or two" Serai says while watching her target through the scope a second longer.
Kwartz tilted his head back, " Aww Foxtrot, you shouldn't have. I have to go ahead and not have an excuse now. So kind when we are competing for top score. Nathan has 16 though. "
The tone reminiscent of a historically accurate Southern Local from the bygone times.
Fluer's shot pierces through the Loricatus' skull plate, the shot doesn't slow the scorpion at all however as it continues its charge until a few meters later when the legs of the beast lock and it crashes hard into the ground, dead.
The front line of the Occams meets the dogs head on as grenade go out and supportive fires cascades over the groups.
Suddenly Bob notices a Mortemcursor leap from one of the nearby rooftops directly towards him.
He manages to intercept the creature's attack with one of his own before returning an attack back at the dog.
However the Mortemcursor also parries Bob's attack and shrieks wildly in his face as they wrest with one another.
It is then though that Bob notices the skin of the dog begin to undulate and warp quickly and only out of instinct does Bob break off from the beast as a third limb bursts from the creature's back and swipes at the location Bob's head was a moment before.
It is then the call comes from the front of the Occams, "Toad incoming!" a moment before the ground quakes with impact and a unaware Occams is vaporized by the sudden impact of the monster against his body.
"Aberrant! It's Aberrant!" cry another of the Occams.
An assessment you quickly validate, as the Toad is covered in enormous looking balloon like growths or tumors all over its body.
"Trying to surprise attack me! You f!@@ing aberrant bastard!"
Bob tries to kill the three armed dog in front of him.
Kwartz raises a brow as it seemed his plan was working.. for the most part. Aberrants were a wild card that could show up to ruin any situation, luckily this one involved grenades.
Assessing the situation quickly, the Former-Loki dropped his Longfang to the ground and swiftly retrieved his Hardline. It was more efficient, there was a plethora of ammo for it now.
" Don't loose your cool now. Take out any immediate threats, hold the line so the grenades can do their job. November Quebec, handle your pet. Mike make sure its dead. Foxtrot, work your magic on the Aberrant Loricatus. I'll try and thin the heard some more. Delta, whatever isnt dead outta those you make dead. "
Switching around as he fired to shots Northward.
Fluer nods silently drawing a bead on the toad now. After taking her shot she says over her shoulder, "5..."
Audric blows away the aberrant dog fighting Bob, leaving Quoor to put two shots into nearby dogs, while both hit however neither dog is dropped.
Kwartz first shot goes wide but the follow up hits it's target.
The Loricatus that Nathan had previously splashed with acid is singled out by the Grandmaster as he places two shots into the damaged leg of the beast, blowing it off.
He then continues his blade work with the remaining dogs nearby.
Serai levels her shot and blasts the toad with her Longfang.
The body of the toad swells instantly as the shot begins to pierce through its body and a heartbeat later it explodes in a ball of fire just in time to go off with the grenades set seconds beforehand.
The shockwave of the explosion rips through the Plaza, knocking nearly everyone to the ground; only Nathan, Audric, Serai and Kwartz manage to remain upright.
Many of the dogs who survived both the grenades, the toad, and rifle fire are swept up by the shockwave and their momentum sends them into crippling tumbles.
Soon the blast settles leaving those who survived in silence, the Plaza now still excepting the occasional twitch from the ruined body of a barely alive dog.
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Kwartz forehead was hit with extreme warmth, only slightly uncomfortable. His crouched and somewhat braced positioning likely being the reason for that.
His mind flared at the events of this situation. They had been swarmed by a horde and then two Abberants appeared. One during the drop. curiously he could find little reason why a Loricatus would specifically evolve to become a bomb, unless they had gathered material from the insect life and learned from the Blast Ant.
That being said, Kwartz looked over the area at Black Company. He gave out a slight call. " Hey, If your alive raise your hand.. or say here.. or moan.. whatever. Oh and your point total. We have to assign teams soon. That Boom will attract more. What a bother. "
He looks to his immediate team. " You all good? Foxtrot, I didn't know your shots could do that. " Commenting on Fluer's well placed kill.
Audric loads a round into his heartbreaker and shoulders it. Surveying his surroundings. "So many explosions in this pla-... Seirra would you shut up about the points system! We aren't here to compete, we are here to do our job, no games, no distractions... Good shot Foxtrot..."
Kwartz makes a handpuppet mimicking Audric's speech pattern. " I dunno about you but I've looked up how Black Company has been run. It's not exactly conducive to troop survival rates. Must be doing somethin' wrong. Morale is kinda a factor in these things Delta. "
He began emptying a Hardline from one of the previously slain occams as well as a clip. Spinning the barrel before loading again. He does the same with his Longfang.
" Besides, I see no reason why not to. Change won't happen unless you do somethin' "
"There's a difference between keeping up morale and acting like a child. But whatever I say isn't going to matter, your always gonna have to have the first and last word and times ticking on our mission." Audric walks away looking for a particular route to take to gather what they came for.
Kwartz gave a deadpan stare to Audric, in the back of his mind a long suppressed flare shoots off but he somehow couldn't be arsed to identify it. He works the puppet until Audric turns around.
" Oh the Hypocrisy. Doesn't even know where to go. "
Bob prepares to kill the aberrant dog in front of him, when out of the corner of his eye he sees Audric fire a round. The dog in front of Bob dies. "Damn! That bastard was mine."
Bob fires and hurts two other dogs.
"Aren't the grenades to go off soon?" Bob gets blasted off his feet just as he finishes that thought.
A couple seconds later Bob hears Kwartz ask for a roll call.
"Damnit! Delta stole my kill! By the way Sierra, abberants should be worth more than one point."
Bob stands up and gets ready to move out.
"Delta, I fail to see the issue. If acting like a child keeps Sierra's morale up, all the better. He will do better and be more effective. I also see no problem with his point system. We have to kill these things anyway. Might as well do it with a morale boosting bonus in the process.
Bob says this as we start moving out, so as not to waste time talking and not walking.
Seria shrugs, "must be the ammo" she says sarcastically. A short lived smirk becomes etched in her face.
"So did I only get ten points,... or?..." Fleur admits out loud. Giving a look over her shoulder to Audric(Delta) and Kwarts(Sierra). She'd bring her gun up looking through the scope and scout out in the distance and immediately alerting the others. "That aside now, let's continue our mission. The explosions will only bring more of them over time."
Kwartz seems to make a different facial expression for once, one of deep recollection. As if he was contemplating some profound mystery or information.
He looks to Serai, " Your right. Aberrants should be worth double. "
The thought based and his face returned to normal.
Nathan looks around the clearing and shrugs, "Eh, better than usual."
"What do you want to call that thing? An Expltoad?"
"Because, like, it's a toad. But it explodes. I'm on to something there, someone else work on it."
-----
"Anyways. Once we track down the scavengers it may be pretty easy, not all are aggressive. I've done retrieval like this before. Most scavengers fear us or avoid us however they can, but some revere us. If we're lucky they're who found the equipment and they'll be more than happy to hand it back over."
"...Nevermind." says Nathan after a moment before pulling a shot into the air which is immediately followed by a large explosion in the sky.
Another half second later and Nathan scoops up a nearby Wyvern and fires off a burst at a building around 700ish meters away, striking a pinpoint figure standing out on the roof.
"So much for that idea. There's a Deliverance up there, why don't you all go retrieve it. " he says the the group of Bob and the others, "I'm going to have the men sweep the closer buildings and I'm going to go explore the buildings surrounding the one the fire came from."
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"Extoader?... Splode Toad? Hop N' Pop?" Audric looks up to the building that the deliverance was shot from.
"Alright let's move."
" I like the sound of Boomers "
Kwartz held his Hardline aloft.
" Roger Roger November. First quest is up an ready. "
Grabbing a 3rd reload on his Hardline.
" Don't go talkin' to them, remember what happened to Johnstone. "
The group of you enter into the building alone.
From outside you could tell it stretches several stories into the sky.
Immediately upon entering you see a ruined antechamber of sorts.
A portion of the ceiling is lower than the rest and seemed to at one point be used for displaying a logo or sign of some sort.
Now however, a large crude drawing of a bright red looking figure with four arms occupies it's space. The silhouette of the creature surrounded by a luminous golden aura.
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Kwartz looked at the picture with amusement and quickly disdain. Just his luck.
' Of course we wouldnt find the friendly scavengers. No No, we find the OPPOSITE. Longshanks worshiping kind. Demon cultists if you will. Oh boy this is gunna be so much work. I hate work. '
Kwartz furrowed his brow as he scanned the area with his Hardline.
He made motion his his gun for the frontline to go in. Speaking was less than wanted here. The scavengers had their equipment and last he knew one of the dead Titus had a Titanslayer. He covered their entrance.
Bob tenses up upon seeing such a distasteful image.
"F!#$! These guys are messed up. This is going to suck."
Bob constantly looks around and listens for any sounds from these sick bastards.
Audric looks to the rest of the group. Signals he will take point and begins heading deeper into this screwed up s@&%storm of a building.
Entering deeper into the building the first real room the group enters is filled with ceiling hanging chains, many of which end in large hooks. Some of which still hold various unidentifiable chunks of meat.
The red concrete floors and walls seem to have had the walls doused in bleach hap-haphazardly perhaps, as seemingly random splotches of wall are free of their paint.
Walking around the room the floor cracks noisily as tiny bits of white and pink osseous matter crunches under foot.
Kwartz looked at the ground and sighed, knowing the situation would at best give away their presence. Looking about the ceiling and the floor he noted the walls did not have any particular obstacle.
With more action than words or signals, Kwartz used the Spurs upon his armor and supernatural speed to run along the inner wall instead. His Hardline Ready, before landing along the side of the next area and motioning the rest of the group to come forth.
He peeked around the side quickly before getting situation.