After some time rigging up a device to lift the vehicle out, the refugees watch in astonishment as it comes floating out of the crevasse and steps down on the ground. From here you can see that the front end of it is completely smashed and it will take some time to put the thing back together, if enough parts can be found. That and how to haul the thing all the way back to such a location will be another endeavor altogether.
Jingu flies high above the area, searching the horizon for anything out of the ordinary, though what that actually is, on this world, is a difficult prospect. Other than more broken road down the path that Driver Casey has been taking you on, there is the remains of this shattered town, which, if anything lived here, it would be smaller than Jingu and probably nothing to worry about. Beyond that is a stretch of forested area. There is nothing here denoting any other traveling groups. In fact, it looks as if other than you and these folks, no one has been here in some time.
As for the cause of the crevasse, no one seems to know and there is little evidence left of what did.
Meanwhile, as Elias is speaking to the older man, he replies, ”That’s a right way to look at it, son. You keep up that attitude, we need more like you out here.”
Senior Legionnaire Hicks approaches Captain Deloso. ”Sir? How long do we plan on staying out here? I can take my scouts up ahead to see what’s what, but if we stay here too long, the deadheads may come back again and look for these runaways.”
Arsenio acknowledges he heard Whitlock by clicking his comms, but doesn't give a full reply at the moment.
"We'll be leaving here in a moment. I wanted to give Josaiah a chance to haul up that wreck; it'll be a good addition to our supply at the next stock." he replies to Hicks. Then, turning back to the leader of the deserters:
"Any personal effects you need to retrieve from the vehicle now that it's up? We all really should get moving, wherever we're going. We're not far out from where we're headed, so I think we could spare some supplies. Maybe an escort, if someone wants to volunteer to make sure these folks get to safety?" he petitions some of the legionnaires.
*I am about 180 meters above your current position. There is no sign of any Coalition patrols, or other hazards I can see from up here. We would appear to have some time, unless there are dangers underground.*
Hicks volunteers his squad, as they are the reserve units. ”We can get them back safely, sir. Should we attempt to rejoin you in Garnet Town or await your return to Castle Refuge?”
The fur people look around at each other. The female speaker shakes her head. ”We took what we had, which was just about the clothes on our backs and what we found in the vehicle. The Coalition didn’t exactly gives us much. We appreciate the escort to your home, I hope it will be as welcoming as you have been.”
With that, she gathers up her people and awaits Hicks to get his team together. Once accomplished, the rest of the unit works to rig up the broken vehicle so that it can be hauled along with you and you begin to get back on track.
The next day and a half is spent traveling among broken remnants of a bygone era, jagged skeletons of steel marking where, if stories were to be believed, immensely large buildings that touched the sky once stood tall and proud. The rest is mostly forested hills and open plains. You pass by a ley line, bathing in its power before moving on, noticing that some other creatures have also decided to do so, small brightly shining things, barely the size of a hand in numbers large enough to be a cloud of blues and greens.
It is late afternoon when you find the first signs of a problem.
Saturday, December 2nd, 109 PA (2395CE). 1548 hours. 33 Degrees, Cloudy. Somewhere about 27 miles from Castle Refuge and 16 miles from Garnet Town. (Blue Eye, MO)
As Hicks has taken his team back to Refuge, Senior Legionnaire Jace Bellerophon and his team have taken over scouting duties. He reports something you aren’t quite ready to hear after lunch.
”Captain, it’s a mess up here. I’ve got bodies strewn all over the field and it looks like whoever did this, well, they ate them sir. Thing is, these folk don’t look the fighting type, more like farmers and such. They didn’t have a chance. Wait one…”
A few moments later, he comes back online. ”Sir, we found a live one, she’s missing a leg, and barely conscious, but she’s breathing. I’ve got Ferrow doing First Aid now. She keeps saying something about a bee? I don’t understand, sir. Orders?”
*A bee? My people are virtually unknown this far south. Perhaps a Xiticic partol? Captain, do you think I should join the scouts at the forward position? We may be able to determine a great deal by her reaction.*
While he was skeptical a Melliferan would be this far south, he still felt a rush of excitement over the possibility. If out beyond the range of a hive, it would have to be either a female looking for a place to establish a new hive, or a rival male looking for a female. The idea of fighting a male was nearly as griping as the idea of a fertile female near at hand was terrifying.
"I am not as fast as Jingμ but I can move through rough terrain quickly, incase the hostiles return. I can have my team heading that way, if you think fire support will help,"
Elias looks torn as he considers things.
"I'll go wherever you need me Sir. I have some healing ability, but someone needs to keep the caravan covered."
"I would request to get to Jace's position as soon as possible, sir. While there might be trouble here in the future, there is trouble there now."
If anyone looks at him, you'd see a feral glint in his eyes...
Arsenio drums his fingers on his leg, little sparks flying up with every hit.
"I hate to split us up, but Elias is right. We can't leave the caravan unprotected. Burgurk, Elias, Jingu, go meet up with Jace in case they need backup. Elias can apply first aid and hopefully get the civilian in a position to be moved."
"Cover them while they bring the injured woman back here, where Whitlock and I will hold down the fort in case whatever this is is still lurking out there. This thing sounds like an opportunist, so it will likely attack when you're most vulnerable, if it comes back at all.
"I'd love to turn this into an extermination mission, but I don't think we have the time or ability to track this thing, or things through the wilderness out there right now. We can report our findings back to Castle Refuge once we get the comms relay fixed in Garnet, and they can send out a specialized tracking and elimination team to these coordinates."
"Keep me posted on any developments."
"If she is alive but unable to communicate, sir, then I will delve into her mind for more information. Just make sure the away team secures her and keeps her alive long enough for to delve into her mind." Sun Li offers. He takes up a defensive position around the caravan, his pistol raised and ready to strike.
"Roger."
Whitlock takes a look around the current position and picks a couple Spots to set up some defensive positions.
"Wolfe, Elias, get a foxhole started there, I will dig one here. Wierzbowski and Barnes cover these positions wile we dig in."
Jingu heads towards the forward scouting position at full speed, moving up to an altitude of a few hundred feet on the way in order to scout for danger along the way.
"If she is alive but unable to communicate, sir, then I will delve into her mind for more information. Just make sure the away team secures her and keeps her alive long enough for to delve into her mind." Sun Li offers. He takes up a defensive position around the caravan, his pistol raised and ready to strike.
"Perfect, that might make things a little easier if she needs to be sedated to bring her in."
Elias salutes. "Yes sir. I'll grab the gear and be on my way."
As some of the crew remains behind to protect the caravan, the rest take their units forward to scout out the battlefield. On the way, you notice that the land around you seems to open up into a bowl of some kind, where the trees run the circumference. The ground underneath is somewhat damp as you can hear the slopping of mud on your boots. Some of your men look up quizzically as you press forward.
Just ahead, in the center of the bowl, you can see Jace and his team among a large group of bodies strewn about. As you get closer, you can see that Jace was right. Some of these people look like they stepped out of a medieval reenactment movie, with tattered rags for clothes and not much else to tie them to this time frame. Their bodies are mutilated, missing limbs and having large chunks torn from them. You almost have to turn the volume down on your armor to keep out the buzzing of the flies.
Jace lets you see the woman he was speaking of. She is human, at least at first glance, her clothes look similar to the others. What’s left of them that is. Her left side is covered in a makeshift bandage, probably from Jace’s team. Her left leg, as Jace mentioned, is also gone, but that doesn’t look like a fresh wound. She seems to be fading in and out of consciousness.
Back at the caravan, you await news of what the rest of the team has found. While setting up a defensive perimeter, you think you hear something odd, maybe a low buzzing sound. You check your comms and they seem to be clear of static, but then the sound vanishes as if it were never there.
Arsenio paces around, head on a swivel. He puts some distance between himself and the caravan, and activates his flame aura in case of trouble.
"My optics seem to be glitched, I am going to reboot them."
At the battle site:
At the Caravan:
Captain Deloso activates his flame powers and the other troops ready their weapons. "Something going on, sir?"
Meanwhile, Whitlock is having trouble with his modifications. Apparently some of the humidity has gotten to them.
Sun Li waits for a few moments, the Wilk's Laser Pistol in his hand primed and ready, as he feels the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise. He was certain that they were being watched but by who, he couldn't tell. Lifting his hand to his comms, he would communicate back with the team.
"I feel like I'm being watched. Sensing hostilities now." The officer says as he takes a slow breath and begins to open his mind once more.
Sun Li's mind opens up all around him, no longer requiring a line of sight for him to pick up the minds of others. He studies the area around them again, sensing for what could be watching them.
While approaching Elias notes aloud.
"Looks like an unpleasant spot to be ambushed."
--
"Eh, nasty looking wounds. Let me give them a look."
After providing a little bit of medical care Elias looks at the immediate results and decides to apply a little Psionic healing to encourage her wounds to heal more.
Jingu flies on over the site, as though he has seen nothing, and is continuing a scouting pattern. He sends a telepathic burst to all his allies at the battle site, including Cpt. Deloso back with the vehicles.
*There is something hiding in the woods near your position; I can see the sun glinting off metal. Prepare yourselves for a potential ambush, I will overfly the target and move into a flanking position. Keep in mind there may be other targets better concealed than this one, and attackers could still approach from other directions.*
He gives the bearing of the target(s) relative to the scouting party's position as well, so they know at least one direction enemy's might be approaching from.
He flies a predictable flight pattern over the site, right until his shadow approaches the location of the target,indicating anyone watching would have to be looking almost directly into the sun to keep an eye on him, and then starts moving towards the target, and drops below the treeline some 50 yards behind them. Once on or near the ground, he starts stalking towards the source of the reflection he made out from above.
Once in position, he activates his Psi-Blade and brings up his shield.
= 3, Fail
I don't know if I should *also* roll a Notice, or if that was *instead* of a Notice :
= 5, Success
Ignore this if needed.
Burgurk looks at the woman and feels he should recognize her, but he just can’t recall her name. Shaking his head, he watches as Elias attempts to heal her wounds. The one on her side, though patched up well, was bleeding quite a bit. It seems that he caught her in time to get her stable, at the least. Her lower left leg is gone and the wound there looks old, as if it happened quite a while ago. She passes into unconsciousness however.
Sun Li opens his mind to the presence of others and he does his best to filter out his comrades. Somewhere, in the trees where Jingu was attempting to point out, Sun Li finds a single mind. While not psychically strong, it is disciplined, and patient.
Jingu flies past the sighting and attempts to drop below their view. As he does so, he notices that there is more than just one thing in the forest here. Several CS Skelebots wait motionlessly, standing close enough to the trees so as to not be seen from the air. It is difficult to tell how many from here, but at least, so far, they haven’t noticed the Melliferan’s presence.
*I am approaching the position of the objects I mentioned. I can see several Skelebots. I cannot see how many, but they appear to be deliberately using the trees for cover. If they wait in a bush here, I would expect at least one other group in position to set up a crossfire on anyone aiding the civilians.*
The mind shines in his thoughts for a few moments, its discipline and patience radiating outwards to him. He calmly presses his communicator after hearing Jingμ report in about several skelebots using the brush and trees as cover.
"There is a sentient mind there as well. I do not detect any psionic, magical, or otherwise unusual effects. They radiate a steel resolve for being set up for an ambush." Sun Li communicates with the others, his voice echoing usual soft calmness. "We should strike while we have surprise and take advantageous positions, mission parameters allow for such hostility. On your word, Captain."
"Cap, Skelebots are usually used in overwhelming numbers, there may be more than one group of them."
"Damn, don't know how we missed that. Permission granted, let's hit them before they have a chance to get set up."
Afterward, he directs the enlisted members of the group.
"Take a defensive position around the caravan. You have permission to open fire on any hostiles."
The breathy voice of Josie crackles in over the coms.
"Uh, El capitan? Won't Shooting at the first Coalition troops we've come across make it kinda hard to maintain our neutral status as peaceful merchants when we get to town? I mean, if they shot at us first, then sure, but as it stands... not to second guess you there, boss!"
Sun Li moves in closer towards his comrades and quietly confers with the rest where he exactly detected the sentient mind. Josie's words play in his ear but he pays them little mind at the moment; only the captain's orders mattered. Standing beside the intimidating figure of the combat cyborg, he would give Whitlock a supporting nod as his mind refocused from sensing minds to instead developing a wall of fluctuating kinetic force.
"Ready when you are, Whitlock." Sun Li murmurs, the pistol in both hands primed and ready to fire.
Damn it, why'd the old man have to open his mouth.
*Hold you fire for the moment, the old badger might be onto something. Let me provide them with a Target of Opportunity, and we can see how they react. If they spring the ambush, they reveal their positions and we can immediately counter. Captain, I suggest you bring the convoy forward, but stay back from the clearing till the shooting starts; we don't want any real targets getting mixed in with the fake ones.*
A Mountaineer ATV rumbles into the clearing, a few merchant guards visible in the cab, and a suit of Sampson power Armour hanging off the back, one foot on the back bumper. It pulls up about 20 meters short of where the scout party are tending the wounded and the dead. As soon as it stops, the Sampson hops off the back, and moves about 5 meters diagonally to the back to observe the woods and he checks and readies his weapons.
A simvan male steps out of the cab wearing a suit of expensive looking new armour. A previously unseen member of the scouts runs up to the simvan, stands at attention and gives the simvan a sharp salute. As soon as the salute is returned, the scout starts speaking quietly with the apparent officer, gesturing around the battlefield. Since this is a merchant convoy, there are no symbols or insignia on the troops or vehicles.
*That should do it. A vehicle, a scout with intelligence, a heavy trooper, and an obviously d-bee commander. If that doesn't draw fire, nothing will.*
Jingu smiles internally, the illusion is perfect, and he feels a swell of satisfaction at the level of detail he achieved.
Arsenio thinks for a moment.
"Solid idea. From the previous description I assumed we'd already seen sign of hostile action."
To the extras: "Belay the previous order, the situation has changed. Get ready to roll out, but stay alert. If they attack the fake transport, we'll hit them hard and brutal."
"Move ahead slow, and stop before you hit the clearing."
Jingu plants such a solid illusion that even some of your own men believe it to be real. They look around, a bit confused, but with their leaders around, they manage to maintain their bearing. The convoy takes a few minutes to gear up and get going again. As they rumble through the woods, it is tough going, but eventually they come to a halt just inside the perimeter of trees across from where the Skelebots and their elusive leader are. About that time, all of you pick up the whine of high powered engines in your helmet speakers. They seem to be coming from the East.
Sun Li keeps his head on a swivel and stay in close proximity of the more combat capable members of the group. The whine of high powered engines begins to come in from the East. Moving to take cover from both the hidden Skelebots and the approaching entities from the east, the mind melter will continue to focus on his telekinetic shielding.
Whitlock tries to pickout the wine, 'Are they the all to familiar jets of a SAMAS? Many times in the past SAM pilots came just in time to help when I was on their side.'
As Jingu starts his illusion, Burgurk suggests to everyone with him in the bowl of the combat zone that they head toward the edge of the woods with the skelebots. Since they are closer than the caravan, he figures they should arrive at the edge right around the time the caravan parks in their new location. "We should move partway up the hill of the bowl to be close enough to attack quickly, but low enough that they can't see us. Keep your heads down."
"Cap, that sounds like a SAMAS flight, high speed Rail gun platforms, bad news."
*Orders Captain? Do we stick to Rules of Engagement?*
"Stick to the plan but move to high alert. If those platforms even look like they're spinning up to fire on 'our scouts', take them first."
As Deloso gives his orders, four Coalition SAMAS units fly over the Eastern edge of the forest and begin to move to surround the area, each one taking a cardinal direction. They do not open fire, but their railguns are in hand. At first, they take no actions, other than to stand there. The Skelebots stay motionless from Jingu’s point of view.
Meanwhile, back at the caravan, one of the soldiers on the edge of the defensive perimeter yells back to the Captain. ”Sir! We’ve got a vehicle approaching from the South, looks Coalition sir. They aren’t opening fire though. The commander is out of the hatch.”
Sure enough, you can see a CS Mark V come rolling into the area. The officer is indeed out of the hatch, looking around at the array of soldiers and vehicles. His voice comes over a loudspeaker and also comes from the speakers in the SAMASes at the bowl. ”You are trespassing on a Coalition training area. This area is a free fire zone, and as such, your caravan is in danger of being destroyed. Gather your people and leave immediately. This is your only warning.”
"Cap, requesting permission to attempt to compromise their comms."
"They don't suspect we're Legion, and they've offered us a peaceful exit plan. I say we apologize for not knowing about the training area and leave without *any* offensive actions, even minor ones like compromising their comms. Why would simple traders have jamming equipment?"
*Sir, leaving without the wounded is not acceptable. I suspect this Training Exercise is actually the execution of these survivors. Whether a total farce, or training only in the sense that unblooded new troops are being pitted against a defenseless target, it is murder either way.*
*If Witlock is able to jam coms, it becomes only a matter of making sure none of them escape, and that the hard drives of the Droid are thoroughly destroyed.*
"They haven't really seen any of us yet. Any chance you could veil yourselves with another illusion and get out with the civilian without being spotted?"