Captain Tiller is hesitant to let go of the wheel, but he's know Burgurk for some time now and trusts his judgement. "Alright, let's get her through this. We should be there soon."
Something goes "Thunk" and the craft loses some altitude. Bart feels something on his leg and sees a little spray of liquid. He touches it, sniffs it and crinkles his nose. "I just cleaned these damn boots! There's a hydraulic leak here.. i'm on it..."
He pulls more tools out and bends awkwardly down to work...
"Just a loose bolt. No worries, all better now."
Holding on to one of the security straps, Barbara tries to stay loose while the plane rocks and the pilot makes a really dangerous turn in a thunderstorm, putting huge stresses onto the frame while it's taking lightning. It's the kind of maneuver that causes a plane's wings to shear off. Being a somewhat skilled pilot herself, she's keenly aware of the risks. The regular lightning hits probably aren't doing the plane's electronics any favors, either, in addition to the chance of an engine fire.
"I just put that back together!", Tiller calls from the cockpit as Bart attempts to repair the hydraulic line. Barbara notices a few wires that had become uncoupled from their housing. She quickly places them back where they belong and reseals the access panel. There are less blinking warning lights from the control panel.
As the helicopter gets close to landing, Gummitch slips out the back cargo ramp and aided by Ounce's darksight, he scouts for an area with a level place to land without nearby trees or other obstacles.
Modifier -2 (weather)
Modifier -2 (weather)
Result = 6 + 3 - 2 = 7
He communicates via comm unit to direct the landing.
Seeing the pilot showing signs of fatigue Ounce concentrates and tries to relieve him of this problem. However, a sudden surge of wind makes her slide into a wall and disrupts her concentration.
Through the blowing snow, Gummitch spots a small valley between two hills that has an area just big enough that the Techno-wizard helicopter can fit into. Tiller nods quickly. "I see it!" The usually chipper pilot is focused now, fatigue setting in. Ounce notices this and coaxes a few healing spirits to help guide Tiller just a bit longer.
Burgurk spots a tall tree on the top of one of the hills that the pilot must have not noticed because of his fatigue. Burgurk sees that there's a chance that the helicopter might graze it during the descent.
He activates his his Mega Telekinesis :
= Success
and pushes upwards on the bottom of the helicopter with his full 1000 pounds of force, hoping he can lift it just enough to clear the tree, which he seems to do.
Barbara finishes patching the electronics and moves up toward the cockpit.
"The reciprocator's straining. Try coming in at a fifteen degree angle!" she shouts over the roar of the engines and the wind spirits. "Let the wind do the work of stabilizing the rotation!"
Tiller pulls the cyclic hard back and the control stick a hard right. Suddenly the wind shifts and soon you are above the storm. The techno-wizard helicopter comes down at an angle and then levels out in the valley that Gummitch pointed out. While the storm is still ongoing, you at least found a clear spot in the wind and land without so much as a bump.
"Another exciting landing!", Captain Tiller calls back. "I'll batten her down while you guys go and do your thing. We're about 2 klicks south of their location. Even with the weather, you should make it in less than an hour. Make sure that your armors' heaters are on." He then goes to detach Barbara's Glitter Girl from its harness.
Heading out on a possible dangerous mission after a harrowing flight, Bart feels the need to be a jokester.
"Wait. heat is an option in these armors?"
"I can give everyone the ability to see in the dark, if you don't already do that," Ounce explains. "It lasts about an hour, so hopefully long enough to get us there. I can also make any of us invisible and/or fly, if that will help, but only for about a minute. Gummitch can fly on his own and can scout. I'll renew his darksight. He's good in a fight, but not always the best at strategy, so feel free to make suggestions."
Gummitch nods, as he listens to Ounce in snow leopard form, comfortable in the cold.
You pack up your gear and prepare yourself for travel. You spot a low area that can lead you out of these hills and closer to your destination. While you know that it is only two kilometers, it is two kilometers in a blowing snow storm and with everything covered in a white blanket, navigation will be difficult at best.
Barbara claps the pilot on the shoulder and says. "Great work getting us in in one piece. Some really tricky flying."
She heads down to get the Glitter armor unhitched and unfolded as quickly as possible (since it's cold out!).
Bart grabs any extra cloth for another layer, preferably white, and heads out to check out the terrain.
Looking at the map he tries to figure out the best path but also bases it on a little scouting ahead to check possible ravines or similar features that would slow them down.
Bart trudges back to the group, swearing about the cold, wet and some horrid terrain overall...
Ounce feels the cold through her armor and decides that even if they are able to bag the mission objectives quickly, it will be much more comfortable to not have to worry about the cold. So she casts a spell to keep everyone toasty warm despite the cold.
Ounce concentrates for a moment and there is a faint image of a bonfire in the middle of the group and the light from the bonfire then focuses on each person receiving the benefit and fades as the protection begins. She give the effect to herself, Bart, Burgurk, and Terry.
Ounce's mystic training has prepared her for such situations and the harsh conditions are not as limiting for her senses as for most. She focuses on watching for signs of a path or of trouble.
Modifier: +2 (Alertness) - 2 (weather)
Result = 6 + 6 + 2 + 2 - 2 = 14
Gummitch takes his dragon form once outside and flies slightly above and ahead of the group as a scout. By nature, however, he has some trouble keeping focused and tends to get distracted by things. His sense of common knowledge is also diminished as the doesn't always pay attention when there is something useful to be learned from a situation.
Modifier: -1 (Clueless)
The novel experience of flying in a snowstorm is unlike anything he has ever experienced, so he knows nothing that could help him anticipate trouble.
Ounce's powerful communion with the winter spirits allow her to create a space of relative warmth for her and her team, despite Gummitch's playful antics in the blowing snow. During brief glimpses through the blizzard, Ounce can make out what appears to be a dark shape, boxy and with large wheels. It is very far away however, so it is difficult to determine what type of vehicle it is or who it belongs to. She knows they are on the right track, the spirits of the wind confirm to her.
Bart is busy focusing on keeping his feet in front of him and following the terrain, matching it with the map of the area. In this world, maps can be changed in a matter of minutes by Rift activity, but he is sure-footed and knows his way around the wilderness.
"Thanks, Ounce, for that magical protection."
Burgurk uses his goggles to help steer the group thru the blizzard :
But still manages to lose his direction.
While Ounce’s spell helps you keep relatively warm, being able to see through the blowing snow is another story entirely. Hills become just large drifts of snow that you drop through and what appears to be an open plain is in fact a frozen pond. The going is tough, but you know you are getting closer because over the wind you can hear the unmistakeable sound of a fusion engined vehicle.
=10
=20 4 raises
Thinking back on his training, Terry seems to start leading a direct path to locations that can be used to break the wind and warm up slightly.
Seeing his companions having so much difficulty with navigating the whiteout conditions, Terry recalls a time he spent in the Allegheny Mountains, learning how to survive with next to nothing and get back to civilization. Soon, you find better footing and a path that leads you to where the vehicle is located. They are in a too small for the vehicle cave to protect themselves and their cargo from the wind and cold. The vehicle is a Northern Gun model, AT46 Mammoth, There are several people around it, all armed and armored and the main gun on top is manned as well. It is too difficult to see into the cave and what might be in the cargo bay, but your guess is that it is more slaves. There is one person who seems to be their leader barking orders, judging by his gestures. His armor looks better kept than the others and the sidearm on his hip looks rather fancy. So far, due to the blizzard, they have not noticed you.
Ounce will use her innate ability to detect supernatural, evil, ethereal, and energy beings, and any beings using invisibility within line of sight.
One of her ideas for how to proceed is for her to create an illusion of something that will draw part of the force off away from the vehicle and cave, either something threatening, like some rift monster, or an illusion of slaves escaping the cave. Or someone could set off some explosives in one direction and then she can do an illusion of something that might have caused the explosion.
Very quietly on comms, "This weather can help us out. Shouldn't hinder us trying to sneak past as much as it will hinder them from seeing us. Especially with a little ounce of help!"
"If I can connect to someone else as a forward observer, I can do support fire from outside of their visual range. Anyone got a recon feed?"
Very quietly on comms, "This weather can help us out. Shouldn't hinder us trying to sneak past as much as it will hinder them from seeing us. Especially with a little ounce of help!"
"Better to set one person up to sneak in for recon and then report back. I'd hate for all of us to get in and then have to fight our way out."
"Makes sense. I got it."
He gathers up his white outers to make sure he's well covered and disappears into the snow...
Bart moves up through the blowing snow, the rest of the team staying behind in wait. Barbara sets up her GG far enough back to provide long ranged artillery, if needed. Meanwhile, Ounce settles into a trance, listening for signs of the supernatural, but other than Gummitch and herself, she doesn’t sense the mages that command mentioned, only the ambient power of the energy that permeates this world. There does seem to be a concentration of that power coming from the cave, but not from any particular person.
As Bart uses the small hills and outcroppings for cover, he makes his way to the outside of the cave, He does indeed count about twenty men, all in armor. The markings on them are disparate. Nothing that ties them as a particular unit. He cannot hear what they are saying to each other, as they have their helmets on. While there are a lot of them, they don’t appear to have much in the way of military training. They gaggle about, most of them not really paying much attention.
When Bart arrives at the cave entrance, where the large vehicle is parked, he sees that there are three men herding what appears to be another thirty individuals around a fusion furnace, in the pretense of keeping them warm, as they do not have the luxury of environmental armor. Several of the prisoners are blue skinned Faelerin.
Bart is hiding behind a stack of crates when he realizes that the men are starting to load the prisoners into the vehicle.
"No mojo in the lot out front," Ounce whispers into her comm. "Some inside the cave but I'm not sure what. Let me know if you want an illusion to distract these grunts."
Bart quietly reports in.
"About 20 of them total, not professionals. no cohesive uniform. They are pretty lax. Bored even. About thirty prisoners, some the blue skinned ones in there, huddled around a furnace. None have enviro protection. We should be able to put a plan together to handle these bozos fast. We'll need to keep the transport in one piece for the prisoners though... wait.. hold on... ah crap, they're starting to move the prisoners towards the transport. It's going to have to be a quick plan. An illusion might help, these seem like idiots."
"One bad-a$$ illusion coming right up," Ounce whispers into her comm and then starts concentrating.
Out of the darkness, a hulking monster appears, with sparks of electricity coursing over its dark form, illuminating various spikes and jagged edges. Its eyes glow violet-blue and sparks and jagged teeth fill its maw that is easily big enough to swallow a person. It roars to get everyone's attention as it slowly advances. The crackle of electricity hums around it. It is 24 feet tall and about as wide with unusually long arms.
Ounce concentrates on the illusion, planning to try to make the illusion appear to be hit as bullets are fired at it, although only really big ordinance will appear to do it much harm.
Gummitch prepares for action, first by going invisible. His plan is to move close to the illusion and then spit lightning to make it look like the bolts are coming out of the illusion's mouth.
At the moment Ounce activates her illusion, Bugurk targets the group with a mental bolt, centered on the leader :
= 34 damage
[ooc]We are 10" away from them, my max range is 16", and my Blast extends 3" from there - I'll place it for maximum effect among the bad guys I can see (weird - for some reason I can't "close" this ooc).
Suddenly, as if a Rift opened in the middle of the blizzard, a creature out of someone’s nightmare appears and starts roaring at the gathered men. They start to panic and grab for their weapons as the leader starts trying to organize a defense.
The creatures bellows and terrorizes the guards while Gummitch moves unseen to a space behind it, ready to fire his lightning powers.
-
Meanwhile, Burgurk targets the leader with his psychic blasts, sending him and several of his men flying about. None of them get back up.
How many are with the captives now?
Taking a quick peek over the crate, Bart notes that there are two men commanding ten other men to corral the slaves while the rest try to fight off the monster.
Too many to charge into thinks Bart. While they are concentrating on moving bodies, Bart will try to stealthily toss one of his lovely new frag grenades into a clump of the defenders.
After getting a premonition of disaster Bart Bennies that...
Bart tosses in a frag grenade just right, setting it in the middle of a group of soldiers. As it goes off, several of them hit the deck, the hyper speed fragments shredding armor and flesh alike with ease. Unfortunately, one of the slaves is hit, but eight of the soldiers are now down, another one trying to get back to his feet after diving under the truck.
Some of the slaves are quick enough to rush the henchman trying to get back up. Even with their bound hands, they are able to kick at the downed figure, but their feet are no much for his armor.
He fights back, trying to take push them away, but he is unable to make any ground as he is too dazed from the explosion.
The slaves continue to harass the remaining soldiers, even climbing on the truck and trying to get to the men inside. This is making it near impossible to get a shot in without hitting one of the slaves.
"Team, I don't have a clear shot without risking the prisoners," comes Barbara over comms.
"Only a few left, come in and join the fun!"
He pills his vibro blade and takes a slash at one of the goons on his way to the vehicle.
He's secretly glad no one else on the team saw that...
After what happened last time, Barbara is leery of getting into a position where enemies can target her, but she advances anyway into the fray, ready to use the power armor's fists and kicks.
The Glitter Boy armor looms out of the snow over the truck, coming up behind the D-Bees as they swarm the truck's cabin, and reaches down to grab the roof of the truck.
As Barbara’s Glitter Girl looms out of the blinding snow, panic begins to set in with the remaining soldiers. One of them is taken by surprise by Bart, but his skill in hand to hand is evident as he easily blocks Bart’s strike with his armored arm. Terry rushes in to defend the slaves from any retaliatory attacks, not that many are coming.
Ounce draws some power and directs it at the two goons in the cab of the vehicle.
The cab suddenly is filled with a bright light accompanied by a loud blast of sound of a choir singing at maximum volume, designed to leave the two goons stunned.
She while she does this, she lets the illusion just continue to make threatening gestures and noises, since no one is shooting at it.