I'm still kicking
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"Well, there WERE children down here. Not much here but their leavings, to be honest. Probably a half dozen, if my guess is correct. As for ID, the only thing I've found is a tag half-ripped off a blue shirt collar. It says "Zahcary", misspelled and in a child's handwriting. That's a slim lead, but maybe if one of the missing kids is a Zachary or Zack, that could give us something to work on."
"Hmm...child sized materials down here? I wonder if the ET's are impersonating children, or something else a bit more esoteric? Bears looking around, at least, maybe we can find a bit more clues in the stuff itself?" Naomi inspects the found materials closely, looking for signs of use, ownership, or the like. notice ACE! ACE x2! Total of 24?!?
Naomi rings up Makeba, outside the sewer exit for the moment. "Nothing down here but smelly water and cold stone, so far. No intrusions or suspicious activity detected. I've secured an entrance and have some provisions, so whenever you're here, you're good." She squats by the side of the concrete drainage outflow pipe she's 'secured', cracks open a protein bar, and keeps a quiet watch for anything untoward.
Once she has secured her food, bottles, and a handful of useful camping supplies (tarp, poncho, flashlight & batteries, some rope, some paracord, fire making stuff, cheap mess kit), Naomi heads down into the sewer entrance area with Jacob. Notice
"So, Jacob, what do you make of all this craziness? These purple alien things, are they really here to conquer? To colonize? What in the world do they want?" She continues to make small talk as they head underground.
"I'm gonna blend for a bit, listen in and try to pick up some ground level intel. I'll also grab some food and supplies. I don't suppose there's a convenient hunting, fishing, camping store in this burg, somewhere we can score some more outdoors equipment without raising an eyebrow."
Seems good to me. Naomi is gonna hit up a grocery and liquor store on the way to the pharmacy, snagging some power bars, a few bottles (jugs) of water, a few bottles of strong booze (like 151 or everclear) and some booze. Those aren't to drink so much as to give us some improvised molotovs if needed. Also, beer to drink.
"Sewers? Ugh, looks like I'm gonna need a week of baths after this mission. Seems prudent, though." Naomi stows her pistol after topping off the magazine, then secures her carry-on bag. "Split up, rendezvous at the closest pharmacy and then we hit the underground? Or should our team Beta disembark together, just to keep more eyes open at once?"
Merry Christmas for those who celebrate, and a warm and happy winter's Monday for those who don't!
"Yeah, no sweat. Recon, disappear, exfil. You good, big man? Ready to roll?" Naomi calls out over the comm while looking for tracks of the purple headed alien's passage.
Yeah, my thought was to keep the bugger in sight long enough to spot it's conveyance, or maybe drill it in the back of its head with a 9mm round. As for the blood/bodies...questions and weird stains are one thing. Whole bodies of aliens are quite another. So long as we get the corpses out of sight and give folks some halfway reasonable answer for the damages, they won't really look twice.
"On it. Makeba, watch your corners, I'll take point." Naomi holsters her pistol and moves for the hole in the wall, ready to jump through, tuck and roll from the train.
Yeah this site goes through fits and spurts sometimes...no worries here.
Naomi looks around in stunned silence, checking for more targets and keeping her pistol low and close to her body out of habit. "Sitrep? Are we clear, hostile down?" she stage-whispers to her companions nearby.
Smarts
Benny time! (3 remaining) Smarts
Seeing such creatures in the flesh, and experiencing the weird pulse of psionic energy, Naomi grits her teeth and adjusts her grip on her pistol. "What in the hell are they? I read the reports, but, for real?" Despite the sweat beading on her brow, she remains resolute against the mental assault.
Yes, rolled out new code for aomething, and it seems to have broken the log-in features somewhat. Tech folks are working to repair, no eta for completion last i checked (Fri afternoon).
After taking aim, Naomi double taps the Grey on the left, the target she was provided. Take Aim, Double-Tap Shooting:
Damage:
Sorry, been busy prepping for baby's baptism on sunday. Naomi wants to drop the closest one with two to the chest and one to the head, not sure how to account for that in the dice numbers, though
Naomi draws a bead on her assigned target, ready to double-tap it in its big oversized dome. "Ready on your mark. Target in sights."
"Two aliens spotted. Ones got a big swollen head, and some purple energy wavy things all around him. The other two look similar, squat bodies and big heads, but not as swollen, and no weird purple stuff. They haven't spotted us, yet, what's the play?" Naomi whispers over her comm, looking at the door handle and trying to guess if it's locked or not. She eases her pistol out, fingers squeezing tightly along the grip.
Sneaking
"Some kind of purple glow, and chanting. Cults, or something stupid like that? They don't seem to have noticed us as of yet." Naomi slides his pistol out and ensures the suppressor is attached correctly. "Any suggestions?"
Naomi takes the hint and dons her own undercover vest. "No sweat, big man, I'm not the kind to go prodding in other people's secrets like that."
Lockpick:
Naomi moves to the locked doors, shaking out her Lockpick set as she goes. Kneeling at the lock, she applies her skill smoothly, feeling the tumblers fall and click as she goes. "Way's open. Ready to move."
"I'm with you, Makeba. There might be a few locks in between us and the engineer, and I'm your girl to get through them." Naomi scoops up her backpack and makes sure her lockpick set is easily accessible in her jacket, confident with her pistol and switchblade in position already.
smarts
"Something strange just happened. My vision went fuzzy for a second, and, I dunno, time slowed down? No-one else seems to have reacted, though. That does not bode well, I think." Remarkably calm, Naomi breathes a few times to get her heart rate back under control, then slides her switchblade to her front pocket, ready to grab. She quietly racks the slide on her Glock, ensuring it's ready to fire and easy to grab. Looping the straps of her knapsack around her left forearm, she looks around and tries to assess any threats coming their way. "Anyone else feel the train start to slow? I don't think we're that close to our destination, are we?"
"Agreed. We pair off, maybe one of us goes solo for a bit, and we roll with deep cover protocols as best we can. The longer we can stay under the radar, the better."
Naomi is packing her pistol, some ammo, her knife, lockpicks, and whatever super awesome spy gear we get from XCOM. NVGs, laser pens, what have you. Also dressing like a complete civilian.
Just an FYI: I'll be heading for vacation from the 12th-20th. I'll have my phone and will try to post but if necessary, please bot me. Thanks!
"Sounds good to me. I would suggest we include a handful of frag and concussion grenades in our underground weapon stash. Nothing says 'thick of it' than some man-portable bang-bang. I'll grab my rifle, you can include it in the gear down there, as well as my combat vest." Turning to Rosa: "So, Doctors without Borders, UN Medical Assistance, the Red Cross, or something a little more 'exotic'? I can play your assistant and driver, keep an eye on your six, along with the good Doctor Stein."
"Good point. I was thinking about having us there but not directly 'attached' to the investigation. Dr. Stein and you, Vasquez, can be a mobile aid team, perhaps a grief counselor or something and emergency medical tech? If we establish a rapport that way, we might be able to get some good intel without tipping our hands."
"Not for nothing, but some of you lads practically scream military. Maybe we can engineer a way to use that? Escorts and assistants to the good doctor, fabricate some line about infection or chemical toxicity, or what. That way, the folks will be more likely to talk with us, and we don't spook them with ET talk. Of course, we could try a completely clandestine insertion. I dunno how successful that might go, but we can certainly try it." Naomi looks down at her outfit, evaluating it's fit into the civilian sector. "New shirt, swap my boots for some trainers, and I should be ready to roll covert. Anyone need some fashion tips, or wanna brush up on tradecraft?"
"Any pattern to the missing kids, sir? Age, gender, racial background, socioeconomic status, geographical? It's a bit different if someone's nabbing all the Lebanese children than if they grab everyone within 1km radius." Naomi seems entirely unconcerned about packing concealed, civilian style. "Primary objective is find the kids, secondary is put a stop to the baddies? Or do I have those flipped, sir?"
At the Pub: Naomi quickly downs her first pint and pours another, she is obviously a woman who gets right into her task, whatever that may be. Wearing a light windbreaker over her t-shirt and cargo pants, if you hadn't just seen her in full-on "covert warrior" mode, you'd take her for any other local college girl slumming it for the night. "So, there were these fellows back in Tel Aviv, big talkers and BS artists like you wouldn't believe. You gotta remember, in the IDF, we're all together, men, women, you get the picture. So these two guys start bragging on how many girls they've "slain" and how all over Israel girls are just throwing themselves at them in their uniforms. You get the picture, yeah?" Naomi takes a pull on her beer, wrinkling her nose up at the memory. "I didn't care one way or the other, let them blow hot air and seem like big men in camp, whatever. Another girl in my platoon, though, she took it a bit personal. Started getting upset and griping to me and a couple others, even said she was gonna go up the chain to lodge formal complaints. Luckily, I managed to talk her outta that nonsense; she didn't realize just how bad her career woulda tanked with that kind of noise getting around." A wry grin crosses her tanned face as she continues, "So, I figured it was time to shut the blowhards up, take 'em down a peg and make 'em feel just a bit more humble. So I did what any sly little sneaky girl would've done; I flirted and played along and led them on a merry goose chase thinking I was into both of them. Finally culminated in a night they thought I was gonna sleep with the pair of them, only I told them to meet in an "empty" barracks around midnight. They popped in, naked as jaybirds and ready to roll, only to scramble away like roaches in the light when my whole platoon started hooting and hollering from the bunks as I flipped the switch. Neither of them boasted much, least not so publicly, after that!"
Yeah I'm good, just been a bit busy. Working up a little story now, should have up later today.
Naomi smiles crookedly at Jacob as he suggests the pub. "That's precisely what I meant, Farrell. Team building, and exercising with those 12 ounce curls. Or 1/4 kilo or whatever they call them here. Cold beer, swapping war stories, maybe throw some darts? That's what we did back home, at least. When we weren't humping gear all over the place, that is."
"Pleased to meet you, General. I'm looking forward to working with this organization and doing good work for the world." Naomi remains relaxed and decidedly un-military as she addresses the general. She doesn't stand at attention or salute, despite her overall bearing. "So, we're a team now, should we go out and do some team building exercises?" She cracks a smile at the last comment, her Israeli accented English inflecting upwards at the end.
As if she were waiting for the introduction, Naomi steps into the room. Dressed in olive drab fatigues with a worn grey vest hung open around her shoulder and a black and white shemagh at her neck. Her English is textbook perfect, with just a hint of an Israel accent. "Hello, I'm Naomi. If rank matters, I used to be a Specialist, but I'm out of the IDF for a bit now. Pleased to meet you all, I'm looking forward to working with you."
<Tosses duffle bag out of Skyranger mid flight> Sure, syre, I'll carry your gear for you...
Greetings all, happy to be playing with you soon. Naomi is an infiltrator and sharpshooter, and with a bit of equipment, quite a nasty |