A calm, detached cold settles over Gig as he sees the newest horror coming hurtling out of the sewage.
And that's why you don't go on a stroll down waste lane...
He giggles a bit about his own thought, then tries to determine the kind of horror the crew got sprung upon.
"Drek!"
As Luna scrambles out of the way of the 'thing' her first thought is that of a threedeo she saw... at some point... about some flamboyant guys fighting a bull. Her second thought is about the straight and narrow path and how avoiding a charging bull-thing on it is going to be a little... difficult. Especially since there haven't been any briges in what now feels like forever
Ain't not dodging that thing. Then better put it to sleep FAST
And with no time to wonder whether or not this thing is actually the target or not she draws her baby with the sleeping pills
Cheddy shouts in surprise and almost falls over himself as he makes space between himself and whatever that was. His hand instinctively goes for his tranq gun.
It's hard to say, maybe it only takes a few seconds, but it feels a lot longer to you.
The time it takes for you to fully register what just happened that is...
It's a giant albino Crocodile (alligator?), only...
It's just the front half, from the middle down it's just gone, torn apart.
Then you realize, it was just a feint, a giant explosive feint as you note something moving behind you.
Rising out of the muck is a nightmare made flesh.
It's easily as big as a troll, if not bigger, not helped by the fact that it's less, bent backwards as they are, makes it obvious that if it stood to it's full height, it would tower even more over you.
It's long, spindly arms hangs low, the three clawed hands scraping along the floor as it moves.
It's eyeless face turns towards you so you can truly appreciate the mouth.
No lips to speak off, so you can REALLY pay attention to it's slasher smile full of fangs.
Then it's jaws open and it roars, sending spittle everywhere.
Well, if you insist...
with the troll thing roaring at them Lunas mouth contorts. One side is trying to wrinkle in disgust. The other is trying to smile. The big baddy with the tough hide is opening its more squishy insides to them nice and wide. Just asking for a bullet inside.
And so she aims her Ares V with the tranquilizer ammo to fire into the things mouth
The beast is quick, as Luna fires at it, it NEARLY manages to snap it's jaws shut and dodge out of the way, but while the round "pings" against a fang, it does go into it's maw.
Clearly, this serves to enrage it further, and also to focus on Luna with a malevolent "glare".
Moving quickly, it takes a large step forward and swings one of it's arm towards her, the claws raking along the wall, sending sparks through the air.
Seeing that massive thing swing at her is not something Luna really enjoys seeing and so sways backwards, just out of reach
Cheddy backs away steadily and starts carefully firing tranq rounds at the monster
1 hit
The creature have been hit twice now. Once in the mouth even, and the tranq round from Cheddy is lodged firmly in it's shoulder.
It's lack of any real facial expression makes it difficult to tell if it is having any effect as of yet.
Either way, it's clearly not in the mood to roll over and go to sleep like a good little...large monster...thingy.
Gig finds himself in a very difficult situation which feels all too familiar from some he witnessed back in the "Omega" days.
How often was he forced to watch a secret operative being uncovered and either unceremoniously executed or captured for prolonged "interrogation"...
How often was he forced to watch a squad of elite commandos being cut down by a enemy deploying superior number or tech he was unable to hack...
Dammit, that is not haw this was supposed to go!
Focus.
Focus, you fool!
The virtual, amorphous cog shape is hitting its suddenly formed head with a suddenly formed fist to emphasise the point.
Then a couple times more for good measure and because it not really hurts to do so.
His mind racing ahead of everyone else in the tunnel, he curses himself for following the group in the unarmed, tiny Buzz fly drone instead of scuddling alongside the others as Webber. Who IS armed and would be able to do a whole lot more to support the crazy people wandering around the underworld of Seattle...
Another round of virtual fist-to-head later, he activates Buzz's trid capture and instructs the drone to keep focus on the big target.
Regardless of how this ends, he would have at least a live trid-feed for the Doc after this and the fools the would send in ne-
More fisting required.
Several nanoseconds realtime later, Gig sends a message to Cheddy:
<< Put down Webber if you can but don't risk your fine head. >>
After a moments consideration, he grasps for the slowly moving message stream and appends:
<< Cheers from Comfy-Space. Try not to die, you're on record. >>
Giggling despite the situation, the Doc - wait, that was getting confusing... - Carlyle once told him that laughing was a valid coping mechanisms of the body to different kinds of situation, not only inherently comical ones, alongside tearing up.
Still giggling, he draws up several "monitors" bisecting the trid stream into several angles and zooming levels, analysing the brute thing in depth.
How it moves.
How it attacks.
Which body parts it tries to instinctively protect from harm.
Anything which might provide the dirtfeet with an edge in staying in one piece - preferably intact - piece.
Huh... interesting....
He then sends AR objects to both Cheddy's and Luna's gear, overlaying several areas of the monster with red cog crosshairs.
Specifically, the shoulder, elbow, knee and hip joints.
Tiny targets indeed and on a moving target to boot.
Well, 2 hits with the super troll tranq. Better give it a little time to take effect. We don't want to put it to sleep like the bad bad doggy it is... Still, better give it some pause with the whole swinging at me...
Luna draws her other Ares, the one not loaded with tranq rounds, and aims for the glowing symbol on its hip as she pulls the trigger.
As the round hits, the glowing red rune pulsates once and tiny virtual coins come flying out of it before disappearing a second later.
Luna does hit the troll "thing" right where she aimed at, despite it nearly dodging out of the way.
There is a small spray of blood, or something like it at least, indicating it made it through it's tough looking skin.
It's not happy about it, probably? It's hard to tell when it's face is so very...nonexistent.
Cheddy continues backpedaling and firing in the hopes that the thing won't see him as the easier snack and turn to get him instead!
= 2 hits!
Another bullet slams into the thing, drawing a little...ichor from the creature.
It doesn't shrug or flinch however, which makes it hard to tell just how serious the wound is.
Either way, it's still on it's clawed feet, still focused on the two of you.
And it certainly still looks like it's ready to continue the scrap.
After quickly checking for any incoming police activity, Gig continues to analyse the movements of the beast.
Searching for discernable patterns which may be exploitable.
The drug probably needs some time to reach full effectiveness and until then, Luna and Cheddy needs to stay alive after all.
It would suck big time if they managed to stun the beast - but have no one with muscles left alive to get it out of there and back to the Doc....
"Takes more to make you sleepy uh?"
Luna fires another round from the tranq pistol, aiming for the glowing 'weak spot' on its right knee
Obviously, a split second reaction is needed to try and dodge an attack, and clearly the creature is not capable of discerning just how accurate Luna's attack is, thus it tries to dodge nonetheless.
It doesn't succeed.
A small amount of blood leaks from it's abused knee and it does NOT look happy about it.
Gig takes a trid-pic snapshot of the moment it registers the hit and stores it for later.
Cheddy is normally not uncomfortable around strangers, but this was certainly an exception. As the monster gets waaaay too close for comfort, Cheddy just jumps as hard as he can across the water! He should have landed in the sewage, but for some reason his body just... defies gravity and he manages to not fall as fast as he should! He lands easily on the other side!
Luna, now alone with the beast, finds herself the target of it's undivided attention, and wrath.
It's clearly a bit groggy now, but it's increasing rage seems to be fighting the drugs in it's system, to some success.
Suddenly the beast moves in a flurry of violence.
Luna absolutly falls for the monsters feint. She tries to get out of the way anyway but fails miserably, getting absolutly smashed by its fists? claws? she's not sure which it is. In fact the only thing she knows right now is that the world suddenly started spinning in a not so funny way.
The creature, having ripped it's claws along Luna's abdomen with such force it had also hit the wall and ripped a large chunk of masonry out of it, now stumbles yet a little more.
It may become more dangerous the further it is wounded, but it is clearly feeling the effects of the drugs now.
You get a mmessage.
In fact the entire edge of your augmented vision file with scrolling and pulsating text reading:
DropWebberDropWebberDropWebberDropWebberDropWebberDropWebber
Just as he lands, Cheddy drops the drone from his back onto the walkway.
Seeing Luna getting hit, Gigs matrix form convulses and shivers.
Oooouch.
DammitDammitDammit.
Too late. Again...
NO!
Its only too late when they are dead.
Focus.
Focus!
A stream of AR data is coming into your vision again, highlighting muscle strands of the monster.
When it attempts its next attack, a warning indicator flash into existence and maps out the likely attack vector of the claws.
Let's hope this is enough of an edge to keep them alive for another couple seconds...
And with that, he starts the transformation sequence to become the spider drone...
Lunas head is ringing like crazy. And the only remaining thought is to make the thing kneel before it takes her out. She fires the Ares with live ammo against its knee once more
The beast, clearly unsteady on it's feet, suddenly swivels to one side, with the deadly grace of a ballet dancer with a sword.
Despite it's bulk and ungainly appearance, it manages to completely dodge Luna's burst of fire.
Cheddy, now being at a right angle to it compared to Luna, also tries to shoot it in the knee, but the shot is clearly difficult and he can't quite land the shot.
The beast throws back it's head as if to roar again.
However, instead of the mighty sound it had made before, now only a pathetic mewling squeak comes out of it's maw.
It looks slightly baffled, in as much as a face so lacking in features can, and then, like a mighty tree, it topples forward and lands in front of Luna's feet with a big "thud".
Cheddy gulps and starts to breathe heavily from the sheer amount of adrenaline coursing through his system. Is it still alive? He calls to Luna.
Just as Webbig boots up its targeting sub-systems and cycles in a load of slug rounds to finally join the fight in earnest, the beast squeaks and drops.
If you always wondered how a drone looks like when it is surprised and a little bit ... let down, then the spider drone with jumped in Gig is probably a good bet right now.
With a sight of both relief and a tiny bit of annoyance, Gig drops out of Webber and momentarily returns to the presence of Big Mom to once again check the proximity systems, Sauron's watching bird eye and the local matrix to ensure the returning mudfeet are not running into any trouble the moment they leave the tunnels.
He then gets up and produces a couple square meters of plastic film and spreads it over the back of the van. No foul sewer monster is going to soil big mom - no f+*%ing way...
Then he returns to his op-chair and re-enters the matrix to accompany the return party in the form of a watchful webber. He makes sure to give Luna a once over though.
It's not easy to get the creature on top of the loader, it requires quite a lot of straining, and it WOULD have helped to have at least one more person to help out.
Luna is the one who has it worst, since straining under the weight to get it aboard aggravates her wounds somewhat.
Eventually however, you succeed, and soon you are on your way back to the surface.
Luna grumbles all the way from the thing keeling over to having heaved it up onto the loader. Also there is no sign of stopping anytime soon. Most of it is just random curses but you do hear something about "appointment" with a lot of verbal air quotes and "crazy eyes" a lot
Gig continues to prepare for the arrival of the (quite literally) mudfeet party.
First, he programs the autopilot of Big Mom for a not-quite-direct-but-also-not-much-of-a-detour return route to the doctor's place. He also pre-programs the autopilot for "cozy drive mode" and rigs proximity alerts to be sent to him.
Then he spreads another plastec foil over his favorite control chair and brings it into a comfortable half lying position before unpacking and spreading out the high-quality medkit which is usually packed away under the control chair - for exactly such an opportunity.
If he has time left, he does a very quick matrix search for a refresh-trid on treating animal wounds. He is fairly certain what the most important points are, but it never hurts to double check if you have the time...
When Cheddy and Luna emerges from the sewers, precious cargo in tow, the sudden shift from a narrow walkway and confined space into so much open space is quite jarring.
And while the stink of the sewers is now in your clothes, once most of it has left your nostrils, it's a massive relief to be sure.
The double door of Big Mom opens invitingly and Gig waves them in with a signature giggle, while the spider drone takes up a covering position, gun rotating slowly back and forth.
"You, ehm, okay Luna?
Hujuck, that hit looked terrifying.
I'd be so dead if I were in your place, hoh-boy!
Lets get this ugly frakker inside and then I'll see to what's left of you. I'm quite decent at it, yeah.
First aid course: best part of basic training, really.
Enjoyed the sticking needles in puppets and applying lots of pressure and... ohhh, ehm, yeah.
I'm not gonna do a lot of that of course.
See, state of the art medkit and all."
And he points at the command chair, now covered in a plastec foil and a mobile workdesk with a spread out docwagon brand medkit, which does indeed look pricey and high quality.
Luna grins a little weakly
"Nah. Most certainly not okay. But no time to visit crazy eyes now... Ohhh"
Lunas eyes light up a little seeing the medkit
"That does look like good stuff. Well let's put big guy mc ugly face inside so you can do that needle stuff then!"
Gig actually helps to load in the monster into the back of the van - which goes down a considerable amount once everyone and everything is on board.
As soon as the back doors are shut, the van slowly starts to move and Gig leads Luna to the chair and the prepared, improvised first aid station, quickly nudging Cheddy towards the monster with a very serious expression on his face, murmuring:
"Keep that thing under careful watch.
If it wakes up in here we're dead.
Either because it kills everyone of us, or I will when it hurts Big Mom."
Then he douses his hands in disinfectant and boots up the high-tech medkit and connects to it.
Immediately, AR information starts to stream over his glasses.
"Oh boy, that looks freaking bad..."
He looks up at Luna with an expression of someone realizing he messed up something.
"Ehhh, but don't worry, we'll get all the pieces back to where they belong eventually.
Medicine has come a long way since bloodletting and simple bandages and bodies are surprisingly sturdy considering they are made of such squishy matter...
Yah, I'm just starting to patch you up then I guess..."
And he does.
Pretty quickly and deftly actually.
Quite a lot of bandages and quick injections (mostly pain killers and antibiotics and anti-virus) are used up in rapid succession.
After about a minute or two of frantic work, Gig leans back, wiping actual (and probably a bit of imaginative) sweat of his brow.
"Yeah, best I can do.
Never got round to actually treat a in-the-flesh - gigig - wound before.
I could really do with some more training..."
Meanwhile, Big Mom's autopilot drives through the most speed-limited streets of Seattle on a somewhat indirect route back towards the museum-of-grotesque where Dr. Beauregard works and is about to get a very special delivery.
For Luna, "Best I can do" means that her pain goes from "excruciating" down to "bearable".
Sure, it's still throbbing and aching mightily, but it's possible to function more or less normally now.
And Luna has been hurt often enough before to know that even if the wounds won't heal overnight, the pain will drop quickly over the next few days.
Plus, hey, there are painkillers that can help further.
Meanwhile, there is a reply from the Doctor, while she doesn't come out and say so outright, there is an undercurrent of surprise, and perhaps, excitement there.
Gig gets directed towards the back of the Museum, where there is a loading bay.
It seems the Doctor will be waiting for you there.
Cheddy does as he's told and watches the monster with a pistol over it's head and Tranq rounds loaded. The smell of blood and disinfectant makes him want to gag, but he holds it down.
While Luna is too distracted to notice, Cheddy can feel that the route back to the Museum seems a bit longer than before, but then again, it's Gig plotting the route, and it is driving on auto at the moment so...
Either way, you eventually pull in at the back of the Museum, next to the loading bay, where the Doctor stands waiting for you, in all the paradoxical glory.
Once (nearly) convinced that no one is following them, Gig parks the Van with the rear towards the loading bay then opens the rear doors, revealing the rather odd sight of a plastic foil covered interior, covered in lots of different metahuman blood, discarded pieces of medicial equipment, packages and other equipment used from the raid.
Oh, and an unconcious troll-vampire-whatever monster taking up the majority of available space and (probably) the source of most of the blood.
Gig looks at the Doctor and waves oddly.
"Parcel delivery for you ma'am."
It's hard to read the doctor's face, but a mixture of elation and horror might be a good guess.
It certainly fits her duality of nature at any rate.
But she manages to compose herself for a moment after taking a deep breath.
Seeing the state of Luna NEARLY manages to catch her off guard again, but she rallies quicker this time.
"Oh dear, it is quite a big brute isn't it?
We best get it secured away as quickly as possible. Come with me, I have an area prepared for this..."
She waves for you to follow and begins to take a brisk stride through the loading bay cargo doors.
While they begin the process of unloading the monster from the van and back onto the motor-carriage, Gig addresses the doctor.
"Say, doc, is there anything we can do slot'n'run about Luna's injuries?
I got some training in treating normal injuries.
You know, stabbings, shrapnel, bullets - the usual drek.
But I know nothing about claw wounds from a HMVV monster..."
Luna groans
"Stop. I dun want no more needles. Need sleep. Just gimme something against the maybe vampire gunk on its claws. Turning into that thing doesn't sound fun."
"Do not worry, as soon as the brute is secured, I shall give you an examination.
Were you bitten or clawed, or both?
Did you take more than one wound? Did you get sprayed with saliva or blood?"
The doctor keeps up a steady stream of questions as she proceeds to guide you down into the bowels of the Museum.
To be fair, she does give Luna time to think and answer between each one, but as soon as she gets an answer, the next question comes rapidly.