"Can't say I ever heard uh such nonsense afore. Sup to you boss. I reckon tween Whitlock an misself, we could prolly disarm any traps, and you could confiscate the lot fer the Legion. Course, that might upset this marketeer some, but that only matters if you want future bisusness wit em."
"Do you think you could keep the bomb, for our own use later?"
"Maybe let's not take our chances. We buy what we need, unless this turns into a problem. The last thing the men need is for some of our best to die in a pointless explosion."
He nods at Burgurk, though. "But we can consider the one we already disarmed "spoils of war". I think that's fair."
Whitlock is easily able to make the fusion block safe enough for travel. As he does so, he notices that it was manufactured in Ishpeming, well known as Northern Guns' home office. While you are deciding whether or not to ransack the storage, a loud echoes outside. One of the troopers peers down the hole. "Sir, I think our scout must have blown up something. I hope he makes it back."
Jingu flies back into town, looking uninjured, but his body language looking a bit fatigued. He looks for Arsenio, and seeing him poking his head out of the stairwell, lands next to him to provide his report.
•Sir. Mission completed successfully, though it probably could have gone smoother. One of the Spider Walkers is effectively destroyed. I set off the IED inside the engine room of the walker. I can't imagine any circumstances where it could be restored to working order. Seven hostiles confirmed eliminated, and I saw at least 3 infantry, 2 pilots, and 2 Sky Cycles still operating. I'm pretty wiped right now, mentally speaking, but I should be good to go in about 90 minutes if you want me to take a run at the other walker later.•
Placing a luminescent green sticker on the block to mark it is cleared Whitlock places it on the stairs.
"I will scout the shop, I'll let you know when it is clear. He proceeds into the shop
"If you catch sight of any more explosives, make note of them but don't tinker."
Later, Jingu checks in: "Good work, Specialist. We heard the explosion from here; I'll take your word nothing will be crawling out of that smoke cloud."
"Use your best discretion in regards to the other Walker. I won't tell you not to do it, but keep in mind they'll probably be on high alert. There's no way they think the other Walker just spontaneously malfunctioned and blew up."
•Agreed; they'll be on high alert. I didn't see any Psi-Stalkers, but I was them, I'd be relocating any that was attached to the unit.•
Whitlock heads further into the underground storage facility and as he does so, a generator kicks on and some lights start to flicker into existence. There is indeed a terminal, as the hologram mentioned, and it begins starting up. The floor and walls are covered with gear. Most of it looks relatively useful, if not well kept. You see bandoliers, ammo pouches, utility belts, backpacks, camping equipment and more. On the rear wall though, you see several weapons, mostly rifles and a few pistols. Some of them even look pre-Rifts. You do not see the supposed explosives that the hologram alluded to.
Jingu finds Josie, who immediately hands him one of the jelly snacks he's fond of. Jingu fills him in on everything he did while away scouting, while Josie does the same for him.
"Cap'n? You need any more help here, or you wantin' me to get back to the Antennae? Remind me, am I still puttin' it up, or are we taken it down? Either way, I'd like to barrow Buzzbee, now that 'e's back; he's better with circuits and computers than me, and I think he knows a thing or two about antennae besides!"
He puts an old gnarled finger up next to his forehead and gives a toothy smile that seems to indicate he thinks he's said something mighty funny.
"Well, we might as well see what 'e's got in inventory, even if his business model be a might unfamiliar."
Josie willows through the racks and see if there is anything that jumps out at him; heavy weapons, explosives, or techno-wizardry taking his attention the most quickly.
Burgurk also rumages thru the items, looking for anything that can provide a lot of protection.
Whitlock moves into the room, looking at things, seeing a large case with NG Plasma Ejector stenciled on the size the cyborg pulls it out and opens the case, only to find that it seems to be used to store pre-rift military helmets.
Not really needing any gear, Jingu finds himself a comfortable spot in the shade outside to rest for a few minutes.
As everyone finishes looking around the warehouse and deciding what they may or may not want, Legionnaire Drake comes down. "We've finished setting up a perimeter and put up as many defenses as we could. We made it so that we can make a fighting withdrawal if they come back and overwhelm us.", he pauses, as if gathering his thoughts. " We found a series of shipping containers. When we opened one up, it contained bodies. All of them burned. From the looks of it, they were in the containers when it happened. Someone opened up on them with plasma fire." He gulps down, as if preparing you for the next part. "The worst part is that they were unarmored and there were much smaller victims. Child size. Fire Team Leader Bellerophon thought it best you saw for yourselves before contacting command. I'll show you where."
He leads you up the hill towards the radio tower. Along the side road, where you had seen the numerous containers, a couple of them now lie open. For those of you with filtered air, you feel luckier than those without. As described, numerous charred remains fill the two open containers and one can only guess what the other three unopened ones contain. Jace then approaches, shaking his head and twirling his ever present knife in his hands.
"I'll get straight to the point. As much as I would like to believe so, this was not a Coalition hit. It was made to look like one, but they usually clean up when they're done. That and the plasma burns are not standard CS. These left a strange residue behind. Something green and smelly. The only evidence I found, other than that, was this." He holds out a black card that looks like a credchip, but it has a stylized White Hand on it's front face and nothing else.
Jingu has no idea what the significance of the card might be, but he questioned why someone wishing to have their crime attributed to another would leave their own calling card.
Looking at the burnt bodies, he darted a surreptitious glance at the Captain. Having read his profile when he was assigned, Jingu was aware the man had the ability to read the psychometric history of fires. He didn't voice the thought though; even if he could see it, he wasn't sure he would have wanted to. Better let that idea come from the captain on his own.
Josie takes a long, grim look at the carnage, and spits on the ground.
All he says is, "That ain't right."
With that he heads back to Elsie, and opening one of the storage compartments starts breaking out entrenching tools. He hands one to Jingu, gives a long significant glance to the troops and the remaining pile of tools, and moves off to a flat level spot and starts digging graves.
After a minute, Jingu joins him.
"Weird. Do we have the tools to do a chemical analysis on site? Maybe learn what this stuff is and where it came from?"
"I ain't reckonin' so. There is a kit like that you can set up, but they declined my request for a an extra trailer, so we wouldna had the space regardless."
"It is not anything I have seen Cap. I'd Like to help Josiah if you can spare me on the perimeter."
Sunday, December 3rd, 109 PA (2395CE). 1926 hours. 18 Degrees F, Overcast. Garnet Town Ruins (Emerald Ridge, MO)
While everyone is pondering the fate of the burned corpses and the calling card left behind, the rest of the soldiers continue to explore the perimeter of what is left of Garnet Town. As the sun goes down, the night starts to cool even more and those of you in environmental armor feel your heaters kick in to compensate. The eerie blue glow of the distant ley line lights up the sky, shadowing the trees. The sight would be beautiful, if not for the ruins around you and the knowledge that someone maliciously burned several people to death. Signs point to Coalition, but they don't usually hide their crimes, at least not out here beyond their cities. After taking evening meal, one of the Legionnaires points to the glow. "Is it me, or is it getting brighter?" Looking over to the north of the destroyed town, you can see that there is definitely a bright flash of blue light in the distance, towards where the nexus is. Those of you with mystic sense start to feel a strong presence in the area and your hackles begin to raise...
•Something is happening. There is an energy in the air, and the glow from the ley line is getting brighter. It's possible a surge is coming, and whether that means a ley line storm or a rift opening, we should probably be ready. Captain Deloso, permission to scout it out?•
"Scout it. Everyone else, get prepared to hunker down."
Just as Jingu gets ready to take off, Josiah flags him down.
"Eh, Buzzbee, if your plannin' on headin' out again, let me whip you up some favours."
"Thissin will bleed off any excess supernatural energies, and give you bit o' protection."
"And thissin is just... wait a sec, thissin," pop, fizz, "Thissin..."
Josie tosses a steaming, hissing, device in the ditch, where it starts to smolder.
"Yup, that one I gave you should work just fine."
The discarded device in the ditch lights on fire, and starts burning away.
Jingu takes the device and launches into the air, looking to keep an eye for for Coalition, but also to get a better look at whatever is happening with the ley line.
Jingu flies as fast as he can towards the disturbance. As he gets closer, he reports back that indeed, a Rift has opened at the Nexus and something is coming out of it. A sort of flying barge with a large slimy reptilian creature sitting atop it. There are multiple eyes that float around it and there appear to be some humanoids chained to the sides as well. No sooner it leaves the Rift, a second one appears behind it.
Jingu relays what he sees back tot he team. If he knows what Splugorth are, he'll add the name to the description.
>Splugorth slavers emerging from a rift. At least two barges. If you are not familiar woth Splugorth, they are not to be underestimated. They are large, fast, ruthless, and use both sophisticated magic and advanced technology. Their barges are shielded, and while the shields can be overwhelmed, they regenerate quickly.<
"Are they all hostile to other forms of life, or traders, or what? I've never heard of them - how do you know so much about them?"
Jingu hangs well back from the Rifts and the barges, though he waits to see if it stops at two, or if any others continue to emerge behind the first two.
He transmits a set of thoughts to his core companions, but being a bit stressed by what he has seen, he reverts to the instinctive style of communication among his people; more images, memories, sensations, and emotion, and very little in the way distinct words.
First you see Jingu as a young warrior, leaving the hive. He is wearing Armour crafted from chitinous plates, which any who had dealt with Xiticix would recognize as being crafted from their exoskeleton. He also bears a long spear and a shield. He moves into a vast, unexplored wilderness, full of monsters.
A short time later, he is seen hunting and killing a group of Brodkil, using illusions to separate them, and killing them off one by one.
Another time jump, and Jingu can be seen again, now with distinctive bits of human crafted items in his gear. He has followed a blood trail to the body of a very tall human man, blonde haired and covered in small distinctive tattoos. As he leans close, the man draws a ragged breath, but does not wake.
Jingu is sitting by a fire in the hollow of a Gargantuan tree. The blonde man is bundled to one side, warming by the fire with his wounds bandaged, but still unconscious. Lighting and rumbling suddenly appears from outside, and Jingu moves to investigate. He's sees a large floating barge surmounted by a giant reptilian looking creature, surrounded by a squadron of human females. They are heading directly towards Jingu's hiding spot.
Jingu dodges another explosion, catching a glimpse of his pursuers. behind him. His illusions fooled the creature, and got them chasing his diversion, but the warrior women had not fallen for a single one. Jingu glances down at an oozing wound, ichor leaking from a crack in his thorax. A sense of exhaustion rolls through the image. He can't go much further. A sense of satisfaction nestles in that feeling though; at least these hunters will not find the man they were chasing. He is well hidden. Whoever he was.
Jingu sits in a pit with no light. He is shivering with the cold, and is still bleeding from his wounds. He is disappointed that they did not kill him. The images in their mind revealed a purpose, though it was difficult to grasp, their thoughts being so foreign. They need resources. They take others and force them to work, like the Xiticix did. Or they eat them, like the Xiticix did. Or, they do something worse. They pull the limbs from one creature and graft them to another, or the eyes from their head, the plates from their exoskeleton, or the essence from their meat, and they graft that onto their inventions. Whether this pains either donor or recipient means less than nothing to them; the utility of the resulting creature is all that matters. If you are not useful enough, you go to the vats. If you are too useful, it makes them wonder what they can do with your parts, and you go to the vats. Survival meant walking a razors edge between.
He dropped his weapons and sank down on the bench, surprised he had survived another round. The colosseum was not the worst fate in Atlantis, but it was a sure and certain path to death. Fight poorly, and you would die, fight too well and they would decide to improve you. Even if your body survived that process, the mind never did. The human woman came over and tended his wounds, using the power of her mind, much as he did, though if anything, she was better at it. She was teaching him to communicate in her manner, Concentrating his thoughts into words. She told him of herself, and an order of warriors like her, who's minds were focused beyond what any but a mind melter could achieve. She was a friend. A mentor.
Another memory, seemingly years latter. The woman lies dead, killed in a match where Jingu could not save her. He is burying her in the combatants dormitory, sealing her into a wall bit by bit with the wax he was slowly regurgitating. If the splugorth realized she had not survived, she would go to the kitchens, or worse, the vats. That would not happen to a friend and teacher. A few of the other fighters kept watch while he worked, but only he could do this, chewing, spitting, smearing. He had done this for others, but not recently; the risk of discovery was too great. The psi-blade she had tought him allowed him to cut out a notch in the stone, and his wax to seal it back up again. It would also preserve her, until perhaps one day she might be laid to rest in the ground, as her kind preferred. Not that that would ever happen.
The old man talked non-stop, and seemed to have a story for everything. Jingu was learning a great deal about him and his homeland. There were in fact vast swaths of the world where the Spluggorth did not roam. The man was not a prisoner here, or a slave. He was a visitor. With a group Called the Tomorrow Legion, trying to assess how much risk the splugorth posed his people. Jingu had escaped the pits a few months back, but had no way to leave the island. This man might be the key. Communication was difficult though. He did not respond to the mindlink. He seemed to understand what was being told to him, but never seemed to realize it was Jingu giving him the information. It was infuriating.
Jingu, Josiah, and the big Grackle Tooth called Dutch continued to move through the rainforest. They'd made it off the island, and into the swamps and near jungle of something Josiah called Florda. He spoke of a creature there they needed to watch for, one that stalked these flats, the Florda-man. He'd seen no sign, and what he had seen behind them bad enough. The splugorth had pursued them till yesterday, and of the twelve that made landfall, only the three of them still lived. Most had fallen to the splugorth, but they had lost several to those human blood drinkers; the ones that were dead and yet still lived.
Jingu sat sipping a sweet nectar, saying goodbye to Josiah. They had been rescued by a group of humans that were hunting the blood drinkers. They had brought them back to their settlement on the other side of the Great River. After some initial reluctance, they had been welcomed warmly by these fighters. Josiah spun his tales, most bizarre distortions of events that Jingu barely recognized, but with effort he could relate to things they had seen and done. He and Dutch were continuing on to their home, a place called Castle Refuge. Jingu would like to stay on here a bit longer. These people were far from the splugorth, and the xiticix were a vague rumor to them. And Jingu wished to repay their help by helping them fight the blood drinkers, at least for a time. He had a debt to pay to Josiah as well, and would need to pay that as well. He would find him again when he was done here. He took another sip of the nectar. It was very sweet, with just a bit of an alcoholic kick. If he could have smiled, he would have.
Jingu watches as the second barge comes through. No others follow behind. Instead, the Rift closes. The barges start to separate and a few of the people attached to it jump off to the ground and start to fan out, as if in a search pattern. He feels a wave of psychic static, as if there is some communication going on, but nothing he can understand.
"These guys are slavers, they just round up innocent people and sell them to others. We should take them out before they get too far away."
Text to voice, "I have the splugorth in sight. Two hover barges. Be advised, barges are protected by regenerative shields, and have 360 vision due to those synthetic eyes. Many of their weapons are Plasma based. Sealed environmental armour recommended as a result."
"The female warriors are technically blind, and see by a form or radar. It is said to be easily fouled by dust and debris. I suggest asking WO Oates if he can rig up something that might disrupt them.
He will try to get an exact count of the Altara to include in his scout report.
Text to speech, "twelve altara total; three with each platform, three acting as rear guard, three scouting in advance of their position."
"Ya, I could woop somethin' up to blind 'em, but it would have to be targeted at 'em. Might as well use a weapon, unless ye be wanten to take 'em alive?"
"These guys are slavers, they just round up innocent people and sell them to others. We should take them out before they get too far away."
"Slaving seem to be the least of what these creatures do. The less of them there are in the world the better."
The Altaran women continue to move in a sweeping pattern, one group headed directly south towards the ruins of Garnet Town and the other skirting the edge of the forest, but also in a southerly direction. The barges follow the scouts from a short distance, easily able to join into any trouble they might get into. Jingu estimates that it will take approximately twenty minutes for them to reach the town's edge at the rate they are proceeding. It will only take them a few minutes to be in sight of him.
Meanwhile, as the rest of the platoon prepares for the inevitable assault, one of the Coalition prisoners you took starts getting worried. "You have to let us go! Those things will kill us all! Or worse!"