Boomer thinks to himself "Vampires...why did it have to be vampires?"
Jace hovers in and out of consciousness. Various faces going by, but difficult to tell if he is dreaming or awake. One voice stands out and though it keeps him calm, he has a hard time determining if it is real or a dream..
Androva rubs her head at the mention of vampires. They always gave her a headache. She'd get past it. She always did. Best to sleep on it for now. Let tomorrow come and worry about it when it does.
"Poor kid doesn't even realize he's not at home any more yet." Arsenio notes.
Coming out of a bit of a snooze, K-842 perks up at the mention of vampires. He pulls his collapsing vampire crossbow and begins to fiddle with it. "Don't be sad Boomer! Vampires are one of the few foes that explode on their own when you kill them. And mechs, sometimes."
Upon completion of his debriefing interview, Captain Fairbarne sits down with Hyperkineric to brief him on the reality of his new situation. He is no longer in his old world, but in a different dimension. She explains that this happens from time to time, as this world is known for its interdimensional Rifts. She also explains that it is rare for people to ever find their way back to their home dimension. She gives him a quick rundown on what he might see, that this world belongs to a timeline potentially a few hundred years in the future. She explains the coming of the rifts, the apocalypse (as well as it is understood) and the basics of the political landscape. Castle Refuge and the Tomorrow Legion, the Coalition, the Federation of Magic, and the Vampire States of Mexico. She let's him know the girl that came through with him still appears to be in her magically induced coma. Their Mystics are looking at her, but no one has yet figured out how to affect her present condition.
Jace comes to later in the day, his bio-comp accelerating his recovery. He is informed that his limb was unfortunately irricoverable. As an injury in the line of duty, he is offered a free replacement. They can install a bio-synthetic limb, which should match the capabilities of the original, or a bionic limb that could be upgraded over time, should he wish. They offer the choice as while Bionic limbs have some advantages, they dont interact as well with Juicers, and can lead to accelerated burnout (it would add a point of Burn).
Jace looks at the doctor incredulously. "Look, I have enough wires and the like running through me and a piece of machinery attached directly to my heart. If my arm can work as good as it did, a bio replacement is just fine, thanks." He didn't want to seem angry, but the vision of that rather cocky barbarian taunting him was at the forefront of his mind. He kept imagining cutting every single piece of that armor off until all that was left was that smug smile that he would happily remove for him.. "Oh.. sorry.. doc. Meds must still be working. Kind of checked out for a bit."
Later he rejoins the others. "Miss me yet?
"Jace, it is good to see you all in one piece. Harder to fix you than me, ha! Listen Jace, there are apparently some vampires out there, and these folks are dragging their feet blasting them. And the new fellow is very fast and comes from a world full of vampires. I fracking hate vampire. And I hate that guy who took your arm off. We should go frag all of them."
"Jace, it is good to see you all in one piece."
Arsenio raises an eyebrow and stifles a laugh at K8's questionable choice of words, and responds to Jace.
"Good to see you back on your feet. I was worried about you."
Hyperkinetic doesn't say anything, but waits for his moment, then bolts through a door that doesn't close quite fast enough. Pouring on the speed, he makes for Little Rock, which is nearby.
He skids to a standstill when he sees a leyline for the first time, tears streaking down his face. He stays there for a short period of time, just crying, before turning and running back to the Fort.
He finds the interrogator and offers his services, a new zeal in his eyes.
Thumper Smiles to see Jace in his feet. "I feel better hunting Vampires knowing you are with us." He looks over at Hyperkinetic for a moment before walking over.
"Is this cloth bullet resistant? he points at the Jump suit. "I know you come from a place full of vampires, but mostly what we have here is people with bad attitudes and guns" he motions over to where K8 and Jace calmly joke about missing body parts. "I bet we can find something that will fit without showing your down too much"
The team is called back together for a briefing that evening, at 2100, as scheduled. Major Grimjack is apparently working with another team at the moment, so Captain Fairbarne, the redheaded burster, handles the briefing. Jace is back, his new arm attached, but the connection points still red and angry looking. The kid Hyperkinetic is present as well. With the destruction of her team, and seemingly working well with yours, Androva has been assigned to your team as well. The dragons are not present, as apparently they declined any interest in working with Castle Refuge at this time.
Fairbarne storms in, activating the viewscreen with a wave of her hand, and gets right to business, without much in the way of preamble. "First things first, I'm sure you're eager to find out what happened at the Vampire cave this morning. Our team was assembled and reached the site at 10:34. They found the remains of the battle, including the bodies of our fallen, as well as several of the dragon hunters you terminated in the encounter. The cave itself contained several dead dragon hatchlings, most unhatched. There was no sign of the Vampire."
"We dont know how he could have left as the site was under continual surveillance, as well as being full daylight. We've not yet seen a vampire that can move about in daylight, and we're hoping we havent now. Regardless, there was no sign of him, and so we are left trying to track down a cold trail. This Vampire seems a different breed than the type we are used to, so we'll be keeping a close eye out. All field teams have been order to report any unusual or unexplained phenomena."
"With no leads on that file, we're talking you with tracking down that swordsman. The one leading the team of dragon hunters. We've cross referenced all the descriptions of him and his fighting capabilities, and found the most likely explanation is that he is a Dragon Juicer. If you are not familiar with them, think of them as a Techno-Wizardry based Juicer fueled by Dragon blood. They are similar in capabilities to a traditional Juicer, but perhaps a bit more resistant to damage, and often capable of channeling mystical energies. They cant work magic of their own, but they can use techno-wizardry devices. Once converted, they need to continually replenish their dragon blood supply, lest they go into withdrawal. We suspect he was trying to take the dragon nest not only to replenish his supply, but gain enough resources to potentially allow him to create more of his kind."
"The Tomorrow Legion does not accept or condone Dragon Juicers, unless they can demonstrated their supplies are donated, which as you can imagine is pretty rare, and hasn't happened yet, to my knowledge. Politically, they are in more of a grey area. They are generally considered legal in the Federation of Magic, but illegal anywhere magic or Juicers are outlawed."
”The process was invented in Kingsdale, and later sold to the Federation of Magic. Since the Federation is so politically fragmented, some cities will perform the procedure, while in others (more dragon friendly cities), even having such a conversion can get you killed on sight. As Kingsdale is so close to here, we suggest you start there. If he harvested enough blood, it would be the closest place you could have the procedure done.”
”The Tomorrow Legion considers his actions morally reprehensible, and would like to see him answer for the killing of unborn dragons, as well as for the deaths of the TL team that tried to stop him. We would also like to learn more about the process and prerequisite requirements for undergoing such a conversion, in order to figure out how to stop such hints from occurring in the future. These points make him a person of extreme interest. Since his actions are likely considered legal in Kingsdale, you will have to be cautious in your approach to apprehending him. Saying you are from the Tomorrow Legion is not likely to get you any cooperation. There is also the possibility that he knows something about the Vampire and his appearance, so we would like to see him taken alive if at all possible. If there is any special equipment you think might aid you in this assignment, see the Supply Chief and make a request. Reasonable and essential gear requests will likely be granted. You’ll depart at Captain Deloso’s discretion. Any questions?”
Hyperkinetic listens to the briefing, Like most people with superspeed, he has trouble sitting still. When the part of the briefing about the vampire is finished, he adds "Ya'll need ta listen when I tell ya that was a Masta Skurge. They can do things normal ones can't."
After the briefing, Hyperkinetic raises his hand and says when called upon "So given that there is a teknomage involved, do we have anyone who can control sound?"
"It would help if you were more specific." Arsenio says, beginning to grow a little annoyed with the kid repeating himself without elaborating.
Jace takes all the well wishes in stride, joking with his teammates, happy to be among them again. When the briefing starts, his mood changes. At the end he notes, "Does he have to be completely intact? Like would it be okay if he were missing say, an arm?"
"Captain Fairbarne, since you said we should not announce ourselves as Tomorrow Legion, what about my suit?"
"There is nothing distinctly Tomorrow Legion about Glitter Boy armour. Their pilots are known to champion righteous causes, so like Cyber-Knights, we may have more than our fair share as our ideologies line up well. You dont have to conceal that you are Tomorrow Legion, I just dont think announcing it would be helpful. It would possibly lead to more resistance than cooperation."
"Hyperkinetic, we take you at your word that this is not one of 'our' vampires, and seems likely capable of doing things outside what we associate with their abilities. We are dedicating every available resource to investigating this threat. Every bit of plant life, every animal, every mouse in its burrow and snake in its den is dead, with in a circle miles across. We are not going to underestimate the threat, especially this close to Castle Refuge. As for anyone who can 'control sound,' you might ask your new teammate Thumper. He is very talented at designing equipment for specific tasks."
"Bellaraphon, no he does not have to be whole... merely well enough to withstand interrogation. That being said, the Tomorrow Legion does not tolerate deliberate malicious wounding, particularly of prisoners. If such a thing were to occur during his capture, it would be best if we were convinced it was just happenstance, and a byproduct of a confrontation leading to his arrest."
'Thumper' looks up from where he is connecting a Lightning rod that has obviously been struck at least once to the stock of an old Winchester '94 with intricate knots of copper wire
"What sort of trick are you Thinking? I am pretty adaptable, do you have a nickname or anything? Hyperkenetic is a bit of a mouthful."
"Oh, and I wasn't kidding, well not Just kidding, we need to get your some armor if you are going into the field"
"But we can kill all of the other Frackers with him, right? I'm happy to beat him unconscious."
K8 punches his fists into his opposite hands, clearly excited to be back into actions.
At Arsenio's question, Hyperkinetic would explain "So you know them regular Skurges, right? Wild eyed and ferrl-like. Masters is smart tho, and they can not only control dem ferrl ones, but also summon animals like wulves n bats, turn into mist and animals. Dey don't cross water, so tha helps. If'n the sun hits em, they burn up like any other Skurge, but they gots powers to stop that from happinen. Oh, and mosta them can they can powalift trucks. No joke."
At Thumper's question, Hyperkinetic would say "I dunno bout my name. I didn't pick it. You can juss call me HK ifn that works fer ya. As far as tricks go, I tink we need something that can stop music, or noise, what with Teknomage running around; He hates anything with base, which is downright odd given his name."
"Ahma would only slow me down, which would get me shot. When you can run at the speed of sound, you tell me how much ahma you wanna wear."
"Light speed projectiles aren't unheard of around here," Arsenio warns "And Juicers and the like might have the reflexes and perception to predict your movement to hit with them if you're not careful. But you know you capabilities better than we do. If you think it's more a hindrance than a help, it's your call."
Jace begrudglingly nods his head. "We'll try not to let any accidents befall him."
Thinking about what he might need, Jace says, "You know, my blade here is sharp, but I heard a silver one might be better against vampires or their ilk. Magic ones even better, but I'm not sure the Legion has many of those to spare."
Turning to Hyperkinetic, Boomer says "What do you think of the nickname 'Hyper'? It kind of suits you..."
'Thumper' sets the "Rifle" down and leans in to whisper to the Spirit of lightning trapped in the rod. "Time to strike again"
He sets the device aside and opens a satchel at his side and begins to pull out potatoes, oddly uniform in size, he examines them looking for soft spots setting most to his left but a few to the right.
He looks up at the talk of vampire killing, "If you find me some rocks that have been sitting in the sun for a long time I might be able to remind the sunlight stored in them how to shine. Maybe?"
Androva listens to the briefing intently, as well as the chatter amongst her friends and allies. She says little, but her face betrays her concerns about the mission. "Any chance of getting some water guns and holy water?" she asks finally.
at Ace's comment, Hyperkinetic says "Why do folk keep sayin that bout me?" as he speaks, he unconsciously begins shaking his leg.
"I think if we're going to be dealing with vampires, we should have the Legion's mechanics switch out our APC's main gun with a Riot Water Cannon. While it would only be good against vampires, my Boom gun can take care of the rest."
"That's a viable option. Those kinds of water cannons are not hard to make. The main drawbacks tend to be of course very short range, and the weight of carrying all the water. If you want to do it, I'll authorize the shop time. If you think that's going to be a longer term option you'd like to have, I'd speak with a Techno-Mage called "Glitch," he may be able to set you up with a TW Water Cannon. All the advantages of a Riot Cannon, but it summons water instead of needing to carry around a heavy reservoir. Building it would probably take time though, and I doubt even he has something that specific just lying around."
'Thumper' squirms a little at the thought of another TW touching his ATV, "Your the boss Arsenio, if you think the Water Cannon is the right call that is the way we will go. But I am fond of the Plasma Cannon"
"Captain Fairbarne, seeing as vampires are a constant threat in general, any chance you have some TW water 'pistols' in stock? That way, we could stay 'armed' away from the vehicle."
"And, Thumper, it's my understanding that short of silver, water, and magic, *nothing* can kill a vampire - not even my Boom gun!"
"Yes, we have some water pistols, as well as some TW weapons. The challenge with TW weapons is that only people that can manifest supernatural effects can use them; mages, psychics, some deebees, I dont know how Techno-Wizards do it, but they do too. TW water guns summon water from no where, so they won't work for mundanes."
"Vampires are an infrequent threat, and most water guns are pre-rifts tech. That makes them somewhat hard to come by. We might be able to spare one or two, but your mission isn't even specifically to track down this skurge. The team we have on that, as well as another out investigating a vampire nest a few days south, account for most of our supply. Is we issue you one, you are on the hook to bring it back in working order. Understood?"
Androva frowns. She didn't like the idea of taking gear from those who really needed it. "I'll forego the water guns, then," she says at length.
"Water works on em. Don't let them get ahold've ya, and ya'll should be fine. Some of dem can hyp-no-tize ya, so ya'll will wanna keep moving, and don't look em in the eyes. Get you some water balloons wit' paint innem. Throw em at thar face. That works pretty good. Or, get you some skunk juice and hit em with it. I's hard to fight straight when you can't really see."
"We should take one as a just in case, but no need to outfit the truck for bear. This isn't a hunt, but we do need something for self defense."
"About half of us can use a TW weapon, if you are signing the requisition I would lean that direction. If it comes to needing to use it I think the Knight is probably the best shot"
Captain Fairbarne signs off on a requisition to allow the team to sing out both a TW Water Rifle, and a Water pistol to be distributed to team members that can use them.
When Deloso decides the team is ready, you head out. Kingsdale is actually one of Castle Refuge's closest neighbors lying a mere 100 miles away. However, there are no well developed roads along the route, it in most places resembling an expanded game trail, cut back wide enough that no trees will block the movement of the APC. However, most of the ground is covered by chest height brush growth, which hides the underlying terrain, such as boulders and streams, and keeping travel fairly slow. You estimate tra el time at around 4 hours.
While traveling, those that wish are able to review the basic briefing available on Kingsdale.
As it stands today, Kingsdale is a city with a population of between 11000 and 120000. About 45% of the population is human, or close enough for statisticians, while the majority of the remaining population are other humanoid D-bees. The largest subsets are Elves at 15%, dwarves at 10%, 5% wolfen, and 5% various goblinoids. Most of the common D-bees of North America can also be found, such as Symvan, Psi-Stalkers, D'Norr, and even some dragons.
The city has a large population of magic users, and some estimates put the percentage of magic users among the adult population as high as 30%.
Politically, the city is a Dictatorship, with the Dictator being elected by a ruling oligarcical Senate from among their own number. The Dicator serves a fixed term before standing for another election by the Senate. The Senate also elects it's own members, meaning the general population has no political representation.
The city is economically successful, with the most rich and powerful typically ascending to the Senate. However, there is no protections for the poor, and a significant number of extreme poor live in slums around the city's periphery. Dregtown is the most notorious of these slums.
The city keeps a standing military with four distinct branches. An early adopter of Juicer Technology, Juicers make up a significant portion of their military. Volunteers can obtain a Juicer conversion for free in exchange for two years of service in the military. All variations of Juicer technology are used and available, though the traditional Juicer conversion is by far the most popular.
Due to the strong non-human component in their population, the city has had a long standing anamocity with their near neighbour Whykin, though the tension has never broken out into open conflict.
Laws of conduct are typical of most North American cities, and fairly logical, outlawing murder, theft, etc, though punishments are often more severe, often including the death penalty.
Tomorrow Legion should note that carrying Heavy Weapons within the city proper is prohibited, and will result in immediate confiscation of the offending ordinance and expulsion from the city. Misusing such weapons in the city would likely result in maximum possible penalties for the specific crime.
"Ya'll want me to go see whats goin down?" asks Hyperkinetic of the group.
Jace nods. "Let's go find that SOB before he decides to cause more problems." Flexing his new arm, he looks at Hyper. "Race ya to the gate?" Before Hyper can agree, Jace takes off at a full run...
"How much a head staht ya'll think I should give em?"
Thumper looks at the strange kid, "The man is a living weapon, pumped full of combat drugs. Maybe you should let him win.
"But he's sooooo slllloooowwwwww."
"Ummmm, what parts of me will be able to enter this place. I mean, I'm pretty heavy, and definitely a weapon!."
Hyperkinetic decides to give Jace a half mile head start, then explodes out after him, catching him in about 18 seconds.
"So, mista combat weapon, is this ya'll's fastest speed?"