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Thanks for the update Bart. Have fun!
Before Bart goes on his solo reconnaissance mission, Ounce communes with the local spirits. They show her a vision of a woman dressed in what appears to be clothes made from the hides of several creatures. She has bones and twigs and other materials tied on and around the clothes. Though she seems older than most of you, her eyes betray a power you have never felt before. From what you can tell, this field is definitely magical in nature. There are no emitters, wires, or other telltale signs of high technology and even if there were, this would be way above the Coalition's current technology level. You can not get close enough to see anyone through the barrier, but getting close to it sends a jolt of electricity through you, and that is standing a few meters from the edge. You feel if you get any closer, the jolt will be far more than just a tickle. You are able to see the vehicle and it is inside the barrier, near the warehouses. From what you can tell, other than this barrier, there are no other defenses. So far.
Thanks for posting that. Basically everything is souped up, for you and for the bad guys. There is no nexus here, but the one a few hundred miles from here is too far away to affect the area.
Bart searches the vehicle up and down in between pit stops on the way to the warehouses, but finds nothing in thew way of tracking devices or listening devices. Either they are very well hidden or there were none to begin with. Friday, December 29th, 109 PA (2395CE). 0842 hours. 28 Degrees F (-2 Degrees C), Light Wind (6 mph (9 Kph), Cold). CS Missouri Territory, Along Illinois River (Near Clarksville, MO) You listen to Ounce and Barbara's stories, perhaps pondering your own stories of redemption and loss as you travel the route to the warehouses, taking you through forests, swamps and following a river bank for a few miles. A few times you have to dodge CS river boat and SAMAS patrols, but you get within half a klick (500 meters) before you notice that this set of warehouses is more than well protected. A ley line runs along the waterline, sending static into the minds of the psychically and magically sensitive members of your team. There is a glowing field of force that seems to surround the warehouses and it is feeding off of the ley line, judging by the bolts of power that keep jumping between them. Now, you know magic when you see it, but that doesn't explain why a Coalition vehicle is parked right out front of the warehouses. You would have to get closer to see more, but the barrier seems to extend about two hundred meters from the center of the facility. Whoever set this up must be powerful indeed. The question remains, how to get inside?
You call Captain Tiller on the comms and he tells you that "...the new blues are safe at home and I can bring your reds in, but that's my last run for a bit. Gotta fix up the old girl a bit before she can go out again." When you mention you have other transport, he says "Roger that. A good find that one, but I'd recommend making sure it don't have any trackers or nothing. Never know these days. See you in an hour or two." It is almost three hours before Tiller gets back to pick up the prisoners. As the last of them are loaded, he gives you a salute and whistles at the Mammoth. "Nice ride. Still don't beat my girl here. In the sky, you are free." He winks, most notably at the women, and then takes off with the prisoners. You are left alone with your new vehicle and coordinates to the warehouses.
Welcome back!
Burgurk looks at the timer while Bart tries to figure out where to go. The clock appears to have one day, 3 hours and a few minutes on it. According to the map, those coordinates will lead you to a collection of warehouses along the river. Traveling there by foot would take several days, but using the Mammoth would take about half a day. Assuming you didn't run into a snag on the way.
While there are few magical auras in the area, Ounce picks up a faint trace of one having been attached to the device some time ago, as if they touched it and then gave it to this man. Barbara tells you that the device is a locator beacon, probably either telling someone where they are or telling them where they should be going. As Burgurk handles it, he notes that a set of coordinates and a timer are counting down on it.
The leader looks up at Burgurk coming towards him. "Y.. You don't get it. If we fail, we're dead anyway. Dead men tell no tales and all that. I ain't got nothing against you all, it's just a job see, and the Coalition, they pay real good for them blue ones. Like, ten-thousand a head. I see like maybe a quarter of that, but, I can..." He stops when Ounce points out a device to Burgurk that has been pinging in the leader's belt. "Th..that's nothing. Just a timer. We're late and all..." He trails off, knowing the lie is not working.
The leader shakes his head. ”Fair trial? That’s a good one. On whose authority? The Coalition has our back and the Federation doesn’t care. We got people everywhere and you can’t find us all.” Notice Success:
Despite his bindings, the leader seems to be fidgeting quite a bit. Notice Raise: The leader seems to be trying to get at something on the utility belt attached to his armor.
Ounce tries to summon the spirits she spoke with before, but whatever is driving this storm seems too strong. You create as much shelter in the cave as you can, trying to prevent the cold from getting to the slaves awaiting rescue while the first group is taken back to Captain Tiller. Tiller makes room in the ship for all the slaves, but sadly, a few from the second group are unable to handle the cold and when it comes time for them to be picked up, you find a few of them have passed away. The elder speaks to you on the way back. ”Perhaps it is not such a bad thing. They died as they wanted to be, free.” Tiller takes off with the remaining slaves. When you get back, your prisoners are neatly huddled together next to the fire. The blizzard starts to let up as you discuss what to do with them. Their leader keeps looking back and forth between you and his soldiers. ”What do you plan on doing with us?”, he says.
The team works to put up a barrier to keep the wind and snow out, with Terry building a fire and Burgurk helping with the small trees for the makeshift wall against the wind. Ounce begins to cast a spell as Gummitch tries to gather insulating materials.
You attempt to call Tiller on comms, but only receive static in return.
The team notes that the cave will provide some shelter for a while, at least from the wind and the vehicle in the cave can hold them all in the back, but the cage is open to the elements, so there would need to be some way to protect all of them from the cold as you traveled back to the Captain Tiller and his flying machine. It could hold all of the slaves, but none of you would be able to fit in with them. You lament at the reassignment of Josie and Bertha, but these goons won't be using this truck any time soon. You briefly ponder simply calling Tiller on comms, but do not see a suitable landing zone nearby. Gummitch paws at the various crates stacked in the cave near the truck. Most of them appear to be full of food packets and binders. He does find one that contains several thick pieces of cloth that could be used for blankets.
There is a long pause and then a sigh that crackles through the man's helmet. The wind almost drowns out what he says. "You've disrupted an important shipment. Something that is going to change the world and bring back the age of mankind. When my boss figures out who you are, she will come after you." Meanwhile, the slaves mill about, trying to huddle near the truck for warmth as the blizzard swirls around them.
The leader is no match for Bart at this point, with a broken ankle and smashed armor. He simply grunts under the weight of the warrior. "You.. you don't know what.. what you've done.."
The two men look past the Glitter Girl in the direction of where Ounce had summoned an image of a giant creature made of lighting. As they point, ”Th..that one!”, the image suddenly blurs and shifts and a horde of young canines and felines swarm out of the area before disappearing into the surrounding area. ”Umm.. nevermind.”, one of them says as Barbara puts them into the back of the truck. Meanwhile, the elder Faelerin says, ”If you know where more of our kind are, we would be in your debt further if you take us to them.” He then looks at the younger firebrand. ”We can trust these people. They will not harm us.” As Bart is tying up the living slavers. He notes that the leader is slowly starting to crawl away.
The slaves recoil as Barbara's Glitter Girl rips off the top of the truck and pulls the two men out. The slaves begin to panic, but luckily Ounce's honeyed words and the presence of a cyber-knight quickly calms them down. A handful of them step forward, mostly Faelerin. The one who looks more elderly, with a hunched back and faded blue skin, speaks first. "We thank you for your rescue of our people. If not for you, we would have been given over to our deaths. We.." "Hold on there, Elder. We don't know if these people are any more worse than the ones who captured us. Maybe these are slavers too." A younger Faelerin, bright blue-skinned with darker blue stripes and a black mane of hair in a topknot steps forward. He looks at each of you warily. "Ever since we came here, all we have met have lied to us." he then looks at Terry. "You look like one of those cyber-knights we have heard some things about. We have heard that they are all forthright, honest and brave. If that is the case, tell me Cyber-Knight, are we safe now?" Meanwhile, the two men in Barbara's grasp struggle and squirm. Their speakers on their helmets crackling with the fear in their voices. "Please don't feed us to the creature!"
The slaves barely register that Bart is speaking to them, as they have been given over to their rage at being enslaved and are attempting to kill every last one of the slavers. If they figure out how to get into the truck, there will be few left to question.
Burgurk focuses his psycho kinetic might at the truck and its occupants, the blast should have vaporized most of the people there, but Burgurk’s control of his abilities is without peer. The slaves are unharmed, but the henchman accosting them is not so lucky. The one fighting trying to fight Bart is also grabbed by the blast. Both of their armor is shattered into pieces and what was inside is unrecognizable. The remaining two guards in the truck seeing the carnage around them and the massive Glitter Girl standing right in front of their them, along with a massive Rift beast, decide that this is fight they can not win, truck or not. Their hands reach for the roof of the cab and they call out, ”We’re done! We surrender!” The slaves still attempt to open the truck’s doors and get to them. Now you have to decide to either let them, stop them, or something in between.
No sooner the henchman under the truck gets up, Gummitch is already on his case. Try as he might, the man cannot hold off a dragon. His armor, however, can. Gummitch tears great gouges into the man’s green Bushman armor, making a terrible rending sound, it takes some time for the man to realize he is in over his head. He cowers as the great beast floats above him.
As Gummitch deals with one of the henchman, Bart is in a fight with another one. The man draws a bigger blade and its vibrating field hums to life. He flips it around in his hand a couple of times before making a swing at Bart, but he telegraphed his intentions too much and Bart is able to easily move out of the way.
The slaves prove to be empowered with their recent reversal of fortune and the goons are unable to get them to do anything but fight back against their captors.
A sudden burst of light and sound occupies the cab of the truck, but the soldiers quickly look away and cover their eyes as it passes. It seems they are used to magic and its effects. The vehicle starts to pull out of the cave and towards Barbara’s freshly fixed Glitter Girl as the three remaining soldiers on the ground fight their way out of the crowd of slaves. Gummitch notices one of them is starting to get out from underneath the truck, another is fighting with Bart and the last is trying to get as many slaves as he can into the truck before it leaves.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 worries, Terry, I work at a school, so I usually post more from there too. Bart, enjoy the beach, we will bot if needed.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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."
Captain Tiller looks back quickly, yelling over the wind. It seems to die down as he speaks when Ounce begins her communion. "I see it! I'll dip down and then hang a hard portside turn. Everyone hang on!" The winter spirits that Ounce connect with seem angry. "Someone has brought us here against our will. We wish only to return to our realm."
Captain Tiller appreciates the newfound ability to see better through the snow and the winds buffeting the craft die down a but as Gummitch attempts to negotiate with the spirits of winter. The next 20 minutes are a bit calmer, but as you get closer to your destination, the winds pick up again.
They can help, I would say they can offset the penalties to vision by a small amount. The light refracting off the snow and amplified by the NVGs would make your vision seem blurry. Still better than nothing in the dark!
After some percussive maintenance, Bart gets the navigation system going again. The cold, despite Captain Tiller's assurance, is messing with the aircrafts systems. Some of the gear inside the cargo area shifts a bit, but Burgurk's quick reaction and powerful psychokinetic strength keeps it from hitting anyone. Tiller calls back over the howl of the wind outside. "Yeah, I've flown your team before. They had a Glitter Boy pilot back then too. She was as sweet as could be. Jonis Witta, her name was. The reports say she was killed in action defending the team from a horde of nasty things from a Rift. They never found her body though. We still miss her around the castle." He changes his tune though, realizing that you are in a dangerous situation now. "We got this though! You guys are doing great back there!"
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