At the sound of the horn
Damn! Do we ever have any luck?
When Pearl shouts
Well, she should be able to talk her way out of trouble. And the others are nearby for backup. I'm gonna take advantage of the distraction.
Staying low he moves deeper into the woods. Heading toward the “lights beyond”’
"Quittin' time. Just hold up, wait a second. There are about to be a lot fewer eyes here."
Kat does not flinch at the sound of the horn and keeps her attention on the area ahead. She wants to use her flashlight, but does not as ordered. She keeps her eyes on the dark area ahead, giving her eyes time to adjust. She glances up at any trees or other structures, watching for creatures or people who might be waiting to ambush. When she steps, she focuses on what she can see at her feet before returning her gaze to the wider area.
In her mind, she plays the traditional Capoeira music that accompanies sparing bouts, mentally singing along. It helps keep her focus and gives her movements a rhythmic grace, like a cat stalking prey.
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[dice=Snoop Perception]1d20+4
Stringer shrugs and just commands Snoop to alert if anything approaches, since the little drone is already hovering 30' over Pearl's head. He jumps at the sudden truck horn. "What the frag?" he mutters.
Snoop sees that the "man" gives off little body heat and his hunkered down near a log near the middle of the woods. It looks like the man keeps glancing up at Snoop seeing if he can get a shoot off at Snoop.
Stringer gets the sense that the man was modified but by whom???
Halting near several small trees and thick brush. Salvo Kneels down. Then using his binoculars, scans both the woods and the ‘lighted area” beyond. All the while trying to make as little noise as possible
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Halting near several small trees and thick brush. Salvo Kneels down. Then using his binoculars, scans both the woods and the ‘lighted area” beyond. All the while trying to make as little noise as possible
[dice=Perception]1d20+3
[dice=Stealth]1d20+7** spoiler omitted **
Salvo here's some leaves cracking then a "Back off! Or else!"
Taking as much cover as possible from a small tree. Salvo peers into the dark woods while trying to locate the man by the sound of his voice.
Psych 101 to find the right words.
”Look buddy I just wanna talk. When someone crawls out a window, it makes me curious.”
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Taking as much cover as possible from a small tree. Salvo peers into the dark woods while trying to locate the man by the sound of his voice.
[dice=Perception]1d20+3
[dice=Know Behavior science]1d20+6 Psych 101 to find the right words.
”Look buddy I just wanna talk. When someone crawls out a window, it makes me curious.”
The man shouts back. "If you don't want to get HURT you'll back off!" He stands and starts to walk away towards the factories in the distance.
"Hey, man, if something's fragged around here maybe we could help. What's out here that would hurt us, if it ain't you?" Stringer calls out to the man.
Holding his position and looking around, Slavo spots Kat also in the woods. Giving her a ‘stop’ and ‘get down’ hand gestures. Then looking up at Snoop.
I hope Stringer is watching.
Pointing at the drone, then at his own eyes, then pointing toward the factory lights beyond the woods.
Finally he brings up the binoculars once more and takes a long look at the area.
Mick ignores everything else to focus on the immediate danger. He puts his hands up with the palms open facing the guy. "Look, pal, calm down," Mick says making sure he is in front of the others without approaching the spooked man too quickly. "We aren't looking to hurt you. We are looking for a missing friend is all. Lou, Lou Rogers? You know him? Everyone we ask gives us stories of monsters, but really, we just want to find Lou. Can you help us out?"
Kat crouches keeps low but finds a spot she can watch for developments either toward the lights or from the parking lot.
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Pearl jumps when the horn sounds. This is not gonna help them be stealthy and s!~~.
She marches back to the parking lot with the shotgun cradled in her arms.
"WHAT IN THE LIVING F!%%! KNOCK THAT S*#+ OFF, F*#+ERS!"
The men hold their arms out and up, palms forward. One man has a knife at his belt. The other's are unarmed.
"Whoa there darling, we were just trying to blow off some steam." Their eyes dart nervously towards the shotgun. One man swallows hard.
"Thing's don't need to get violent. Why don't you let us buy you a drink inside?"
They pause.
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"Hey, man, if something's fragged around here maybe we could help. What's out here that would hurt us, if it ain't you?" Stringer calls out to the man.
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+10
"Leave me be and leave it alone. That's your 1st warning. You only get ONE! Don't stick your nose in other peoples business! Especially powerful people!"
The man keeps his gun out and keeps walking. Stringer glimpsed one of his eyes which defiantly seems metallic.
"Eat a dick," replies Pearl before returning to join the others in her group.
Pearl catches up with the group. "What's with this f+$%in' guy? Who the f*#+ are you? Seriously, dude, what are you doing creepin' around in the bushes at night with a gun raving about powerful people? Put that f$@@in' gun away before we shoot you."
Stringer, who is watching, tells Snoop to go take a lap around the factory's perimeter. To Mick, he says "For a guy about to walk off into the dark, this motherfragger really doesn't seem to want to make any friends."
To the guy, Stringer says "Come on, man. We're not tryin' ta hassle ya. You know our choomba Lou?"
Kat whispers, "Maybe we let him go and focus on where he's going."
After placing the SMG and the Binoculars back in the duffel bag. Salvo returns to the group.
”I think Kat is right. We’ve learned some very important information. We should go somewhere and compare notes. I will tell you we are definitely on the right track though.”
When the others give him a quizzical look.
”We’ve been threatened. Which means the bad guys are worried about us. But they are not sure how much we know. Or more importantly who we might be working for. If they were sure about us. They would have simply sent someone to eliminate us. Yep, this is a big success. So who's hungry?
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Pearl catches up with the group. "What's with this f*%+in' guy? Who the f$$$ are you? Seriously, dude, what are you doing creepin' around in the bushes at night with a gun raving about powerful people? Put that f@*#in' gun away before we shoot you."
The "man" points his Desert Eagle towards Pearl.
"I was sent to stop you from investigating. But I'm giving you a warning. Stop the investigation, let me go and we'll call it even lady!"
He turns to Stringer.
"What I know about Lou or don't know..I don't want to say."
- -
Snoops does a lap around the factory. It sees a cement plant with 2 trucks near it. A few workers on site and 2 security guards. The video feeds shows that it looks like the workers are working late and finishing things up.
Stringer holds up his hands to indicate he has no beef with the man with the gun. "You do you, chummer. I'm happy to turn around and walk the frag away."
Later on, he frowns as he considers Snoop's feed. "Weird. Net said this factory was buttoned up tighter than a corpmil facility but I don't see anything but 2 guards and a few chooms working late. I'm gonna say concealed, maybe automated security somewhere based on what I found online and what I don't see on cam."
"Still don't see any sign of dumping nearby. We might need to have Snoop trail those trucks once the night shift's done loading them."
Kat looks over Stringer's shoulder at the video of the plant. "This isn't necessarily anything to do with the corporation. Or maybe it is, but it's not the corporate headquarters. We could follow any trucks that leave and see where they go. Might be using cement mixers to make industrial scale doses of poison which they can then just dump where its needed."
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Stringer holds up his hands to indicate he has no beef with the man with the gun. "You do you, chummer. I'm happy to turn around and walk the frag away."
Later on, he frowns as he considers Snoop's feed. "Weird. Net said this factory was buttoned up tighter than a corpmil facility but I don't see anything but 2 guards and a few chooms working late. I'm gonna say concealed, maybe automated security somewhere based on what I found online and what I don't see on cam."
Stringer gets the feeling from Snoop and the "mans" demeanor that he isn't fully human and maybe has some "second thoughts"
Stringer nods at Kat. "And I feel like the borg out there is having second thoughts. Let's get the frag outta here." He starts moving away from the weird man in the dark and back toward the parking lot.
"Sounds like we ought to stake out where the loaded trucks exit and follow one of them", Kat says as they get out of earshot of the anti-social guy with the gun.
"Keep an eye out for the tin man," says Mick eyeing the retreating creepy. "He just told us a ton, and I think the next time we see him he will be firing that hog at us, not just flashing it."
Once the group is together and the ‘Man’ is gone.
”Yes we are really upsetting someone with our investigation. This is real progress. Avoiding conflict with that ‘Man’ is important. Unless it’s on our terms. Stringer, Mick. You notice his DARPA level augments? That was some bleeding edge tech.”
Looking around at the others.
”Okay, let's go over the info from the bar. We need to follow up on the bunch of kids missing. We need to confirm the story. Although with what I saw on the video from the sewer. I’d say we found some of them already.”
Shaking his head and smacking his right fist into his left palm.
”I think following the trucks is our best bet.”
As the group discusses options, Kat frowns and says, "If the chemicals are the corp's attempt to kill the monsters that appear to have been created by someone, then maybe we send them an anonymous tip about the monster in the sewer near Lou's house. Maybe they send a team to deal with it. Following a truck seems more prudent to me. If the guy vanished, he probably has some high tech camo device. In any case, he seems like bad news best left alone, unless you want to eliminate him so he can't squeal about us to his bosses."
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As the group discusses options, Kat frowns and says, "If the chemicals are the corp's attempt to kill the monsters that appear to have been created by someone, then maybe we send them an anonymous tip about the monster in the sewer near Lou's house. Maybe they send a team to deal with it. Following a truck seems more prudent to me. If the guy vanished, he probably has some high tech camo device. In any case, he seems like bad news best left alone, unless you want to eliminate him so he can't squeal about us to his bosses."
Stringer shakes his head. "I don't ever want to see that motherfragger again. Moves like a ninja, more armor than a tank. I didn't think BioChem was the kind of company who fielded mercs like that." He nods at Kat. "I'll get Snoop up on one of the trucks and we can follow at a safe distance."
"Sure, let's go find one of them trucks. Where do we start?"
”The chemical factory is over that way”. Nodding with his head. ”Should be able to tail a truck as it leaves.” Salvo says as he loads rounds into the sniper rifle.”Want to be ready in case Cyborg shows up again. These AP rounds should ruin his day.”
Glancing up at Snoop. “So what’s its range? Just need to plan for engagement distance.”
"I can live monitor and control up to 3 miles but it'll run autonomous following a target and just send back a live camera feed up to twice that," Stringer said as he programmed Snoop to go find a chemical-hauling truck and follow it from a safe height of a hundred feet.
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Following the truck, it heads northwest towards Baton Rouge, then turns off of what used to be Interstate 55 towards Lake Maurepas. The roads
haven't been maintained and you hit potholes along the way. Abandoned cars liter the side of the old Interstate.
Near on area, you see a large encampment of old tents. An old woman wearing a dirty pink raincoat and worn boots pushes a
shopping cart near here. About an hour later you see the truck has pulled into an area where a big sign hangs nearby. It says "
Lake Maurepas Pumping Station." As you get closer, you see a limousine pull in behind the tanker truck.
Stringer pulls the truck off the road, the plain white work truck much more noticeable outside of the city proper. "What the frag is a limo doing meeting with a chemical truck," he says to everyone.
With his display goggles plugged into the truck's info port, everyone can see on the dash screen and hear over the speakers what Snoop is picking up.
"Let's see who's in the limo. If we think we can take them, I'd say let's engage and question those we can subdue, preferably before any drek gets put into the water system."
"Be very careful with that limo. That means an executive, and an exec in the field will absolutely have some muscle with them." Mick draws his Krait and checks it before shoving some gear into a backpack. "But I agree, if someone is in-the-know, they're it. I'm with you Kat."
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Snoop sees about six people inside with a telescopic lens.
It hears three different voices inside.
# 1: "Things seems okay now. We haven't seen anything so far."
# 2: "Yeah, but you never know. We should have brought more guards."
# 3: 'More? I agree with Bob. We have enough already. Besides, the first drivers were only spooked by something. They're suffering from hysteria. After all, how many of them have even been outside
the metro area? Hell, they'd freak out over seeing a lump of seaweed."
Watching the feed from snoop intently, giving the impression of a predator waiting to pounce.
”Have Snoop get us an overview of the site. Need to get a rough count on opposition numbers.”
Picking up the M16 and removing the magazine. Then rummaging through his duffel bag he pulls out another magazine with an orange stripe on the bottom and slaps it into the weapon. ”Tracer rounds.”
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Watching the feed from snoop intently, giving the impression of a predator waiting to pounce.
”Have Snoop get us an overview of the site. Need to get a rough count on opposition numbers.”
Picking up the M16 and removing the magazine. Then rummaging through his duffel bag he pulls out another magazine with an orange stripe on the bottom and slaps it into the weapon. ”Tracer rounds.”
As Salvo picks up his M16 the air is hot and the plant is eerily quiet. No birds or insects chirping. Clouds move across the moon.