Splicers - I Am Legion - IC Thread

[Psychie]

Toni nodd at the question of her being a Dreadguard. "You got it right about me being a Dreadguard. I've only seen bio constructs like your friend from a distance, unless you count the times I've been hauled around by some larger War Mount. Speaking of War Mounts," she turns to look at the third member of their small team. "You're Lance, right? Why don't you come with us to load up on some explosives and other goodies, then sit and talk for a bit to see if we can work out some strategy for our upcoming opp."

She offers up a smile and hopes that it will be the start of a good trio.

Mirgris

 

[Mirgris]

Toni nodd at the question of her being a Dreadguard. "You got it right about me being a Dreadguard. I've only seen bio constructs like your friend from a distance, unless you count the times I've been hauled around by some larger War Mount. Speaking of War Mounts," she turns to look at the third member of their small team. "You're Lance, right? Why don't you come with us to load up on some explosives and other goodies, then sit and talk for a bit to see if we can work out some strategy for our upcoming opp."

She offers up a smile and hopes that it will be the start of a good trio.

Mirgris

Lance nods.

"I am." he says as if that is all that is needed to be said. He follows along towards the armory. "As I told the chief I don't think my warmount will be sneaky even with active camouflage. So I was thinking we would get close by flying fast and low then dig the last hundred miles or so, which should take only about four hours but should be far enough away that the machine is unaware. We could go further and take longer if needed. He gives a small shrug.

"Asides from that, once you two are inside you can sneak around and me and my better half can keep the exit clear." He looks them both over with a critical eye examining what he thinks of their fighting ability. A dread guard is a dread guard but it isn't an outrider after all.

"As for gear, I have what I need but me and my better half are happy to haul explosives or whatever the two of you need. I tend not to use ranged weaponry for personal reasons." He explains.

 

[Psychie]

Toni nods at Lance, saying, "I am of the mindset that it is better to have and not need than to need and not have, so scoring a few more grenades couldn't hurt, with the sincere hope that we get in and out of our objective without a shot being fired and then report in on how well the new bio tech works. Let's all go see the Corporal and then sit and enjoy a few cups before getting into our armor."

 

[Purr]

Chaska appears to listen to Lance and Toni's every word with great intensity in his being. He closes his eyes and seems to meditate a moment. Only after this is done does he respond, his smooth voice tinged with a savage accent.

"Mmmm. Lance prefer way of sword. Chaska prefer way of shadow." He absently pets Woodstock while he ponders. "Lance-way. Chaska-way. Both important. Chaska can bend to Lance-way, but if Lance-way fail, then Chaska becomes a liar in the eyes of ChiefRybeck. Chaska told him no worry, yes?" For Chaska to have promised their proud and trusting chief victory and to have blown it is more than a failure to the savage Splicer - it would be a serious blow to his personal honor.

"But if Chaska-way fail and Lance is right, then Chaska is fool not to listen to Lance. Hmm!" His eyes go wide as he turns to the third person of their trinity. With an expression that lacks any sort of peer pressure and is completely devoid of manipulation, but instead, clarity and curiosity, Chaska asks Toni.

"Before we go CorporalStyles... Toni has preference? Way of sword? Way of shadow? Or maybe... way of Dreadguard?" That last thought makes him straighten from head to toe as he realizes he has no idea what that approach might entail. "Chaska can bend to Lance-way. Maybe Lance cannot bend to Chaska-way? Don't know."

"What Toni feel?"

 

[Psychie]

Toni stands there for a moment, trying to put her thoughts into words. She finally says, "I can see the wisdom of both of your approach ideas. If the situation calls for aggressive action, I'll dish out the hurt until the Machine is a pile of burning rubble. But in this particular mission, I am getting the impression that we are going to be outnumbered and outgunned, so direct combat, while very satisfying, is a last resort. We sneak in, place our Squealers, and see if the Kamikaze worms can track in them."

 

[Sherwood]

When you head to see Corporal Styles, he quickly takes your request for some additional explosives with a nod, saying that the extra critters will be waiting for you with your Host Armor when you suit up for your mission.

The next few hours seem to both drag on and at the same time race by as the pre-mission jitters start to hit. By the time you head to the changing rooms to don your armor you are all feeling the stress of being deployed on your first important assignment.

Chief Rybeck is waiting for you once you have all changed, saying, "Come with me." He leads you to a lower deck where Lance's Griffin is already waiting with a set of saddlebags that have the Trailblazers and Squealers already packed away inside. He gives each of you a small watertight map case. "This is as accurate of a map as we have been able to to make, especially with the changes that are constantly being made to the landscape. It is two hundred miles as the crow flies, but you may not be able to travel by a straight line, so I have enough Trailblazers packed go be able to handle up to a three hundred mile long path to the industrial center to give you some flexibility on your approach. Remember you'll have seven days to get the Squealers placed and to back away to a safe observation point before we start to launch the Kamikaze worms."

Rybeck takes one of the map cases in hand and says, "These maps also contain three rendezvous points and times that you'll be able to contact the Kraken for recovery. Because of this, I have taken precautions to keep these maps from falling into the claws of the Machine. There is a tiny explosive charge in each case that will destroy the map if the tube is not opened just right. This is not powerful enough to do any sizable damage (not am MDC charge) but it will keep the maps from being taken to try and level enough firepower to destroy the Kraken. Here is how you open the case safely."

He takes some time to make sure each of you are able to master the trick of getting the cases open before loading in the maps. "Your initial deployment will be made from underwater to reduce the risk of detection by a random spark plug from spotting us. There is a small sewer line that is large enough for your giant chicken to get into that will allow you passage into the passages below ground to bypass the defenses on the beach. You then have complete autonomy as to how you get there to place the Squealers. Just remember that a Trailblazer needs to be placed every ten miles at most, with six to seven miles being optimal from the data we were able to see from our static test shots."

He pauses and looks each of you in the eye before continuing. "In my youth, I heard of an ancient legend of a mythical hound that had three heads named Cerberus. It was one of the guards of the land of the dead, or something like that. Since there are three of you as my pack of Gorehounds, I bestow upon you the name Team Cerberus. Now, we have about thirty minutes before we load you into the launch tubes and send you on your way. Do you have any questions that I can address in that time?"

Purr Mirgris Psychie

 

[Psychie]

Toni is both excited and tense at the thought of going out to perform this experiment. She's been in combat before, but this will be the first time with this level of responsibility on her shoulders. She listens intently to Chief Rybeck as he talks, making sure to commit the map details to memory as best as possible.

"Sir, I don't want to pretend that this is going to be a cake walk, but you picked some good operators to get this job done, and we won't let you down. Team Cerberus is going to accomplish our assignment and dish out some hurt on the Machine and get back in one piece."

 

[Mirgris]

When you head to see Corporal Styles, he quickly takes your request for some additional explosives with a nod, saying that the extra critters will be waiting for you with your Host Armor when you suit up for your mission.

The next few hours seem to both drag on and at the same time race by as the pre-mission jitters start to hit. By the time you head to the changing rooms to don your armor you are all feeling the stress of being deployed on your first important assignment.

Chief Rybeck is waiting for you once you have all changed, saying, "Come with me." He leads you to a lower deck where Lance's Griffin is already waiting with a set of saddlebags that have the Trailblazers and Squealers already packed away inside. He gives each of you a small watertight map case. "This is as accurate of a map as we have been able to to make, especially with the changes that are constantly being made to the landscape. It is two hundred miles as the crow flies, but you may not be able to travel by a straight line, so I have enough Trailblazers packed go be able to handle up to a three hundred mile long path to the industrial center to give you some flexibility on your approach. Remember you'll have seven days to get the Squealers placed and to back away to a safe observation point before we start to launch the Kamikaze worms."

Rybeck takes one of the map cases in hand and says, "These maps also contain three rendezvous points and times that you'll be able to contact the Kraken for recovery. Because of this, I have taken precautions to keep these maps from falling into the claws of the Machine. There is a tiny explosive charge in each case that will destroy the map if the tube is not opened just right. This is not powerful enough to do any sizable damage (not am MDC charge) but it will keep the maps from being taken to try and level enough firepower to destroy the Kraken. Here is how you open the case safely."

He takes some time to make sure each of you are able to master the trick of getting the cases open before loading in the maps. "Your initial deployment will be made from underwater to reduce the risk of detection by a random spark plug from spotting us. There is a small sewer line that is large enough for your giant chicken to get into that will allow you passage into the passages below ground to bypass the defenses on the beach. You then have complete autonomy as to how you get there to place the Squealers. Just remember that a Trailblazer needs to be placed every ten miles at most, with six to seven miles being optimal from the data we were able to see from our static test shots."

He pauses and looks each of you in the eye before continuing. "In my youth, I heard of an ancient legend of a mythical hound that had three heads named Cerberus. It was one of the guards of the land of the dead, or something like that. Since there are three of you as my pack of Gorehounds, I bestow upon you the name Team Cerberus. Now, we have about thirty minutes before we load you into the launch tubes and send you on your way. Do you have any questions that I can address in that time?"

Purr Mirgris Psychie

Lance looks around visibly confused at the mention that the team only has three members, since it clearly has four maybe five if we are counting really small birds.
He thinks for a moment on questions he could have.

Expected resistance? It's the machine infinite resistance
Back up? Never.
Friendlies in the area? Unlikely.
Tactical advice? Situations are too fluid.
Romantic advice? Virginity is lances greatest power it kept him in the gym and dojo.

He knows that career advice would say to ask an insightful question to impress the boss. All things are politics after all.
However he hates being out of his armor, and away from his bird. In both senses he feels naked and half a man without (more) weapons at his side.
He just wants to get this and every other meeting over with so he can be doing the good work of destroying machines for our alien overlords.

"No questions Sir."

It's a generic response but in his defense he feels like a generic person outside of the fight.

 

[Purr]

"Since there are three of you as my pack of Gorehounds, I bestow upon you the name Team Cerberus."

(quotation marks mine)

Chaska's eyebrow raises up probably at the same instance Lance starts looking around in confusion and largely for the same reason.

In his mind, he thinks. "We iz five. Not three. ChiefRybeck no count bio-animals? Maybe ChiefRybeck no have animals himself? If so, iz pity!"

Otherwise, Chaska busies himself mentally trying to record the chief's every word as he studies the map case.

"ChiefRybeck. We Team Cerberus now." Slowly and reverently, Chaska bows to Chief Rybeck at this honor of being named by the mightiest warrior Chaska knows aboard the Kraken. "Mission understood. Only one question." Chaska looks the veteran in the eye and wonders for a moment just how much the chief has seen - and what Team Cerberus might learn from a warrior like him.

"ChiefRybeck is strong. Afta we return, you show us how be stronger like you? Then Machine have more to fear. Yes?" With a rare smile, Chaska glances to Lance and Toni to see how they feel about the idea of learning a few lessons from the Kraken's best - should he take them up on this.

 

[Sherwood]

The Chief raises up an eyebrow at Chaska's question, clearly taken by surprise by it. A slight twitch of his lip hints at a smile, and the big man finally says, "You make it back from this mission in one piece, and it won't matter if the Trailblazers and Squealers do the trick or not. I'll take you on as a workout and sparring partner. Just be careful what you wish for; it might just come true."

He look over at Lance and Toni and adds, "That offer is good for all three of you, if you are so inclined to join in. I guarantee that it will be hard training, but it will certainly put some muscle on your bones and maybe teach you a few more tricks to use against the Machine. Do me proud, Team Cerberus. You now have twenty five minutes before deployment. If you have any religion, the padre is over there to offer up any prayers you might wish to ask for. If not, enjoy a few minutes of quiet time. If there is nothing else, I'll leave you on your own to prepare yourselves in the way that best suits you. May the Saint guide you and protect you."

 

[Psychie]

Toni nods, and steps back to take a moment to go over her gear. Once she is confident that everything is ready to go, she looks around to see if the Chief is still in the room. If he is there, she'll head over and in a quiet voice, she asks, "Sir? Who do you turn to in times like this? Who is the Saint?"

 

[Purr]

Chaska takes a silent breath to ask the same question - "who is The Saint?"

But seeing that Toni just asked, Chaska sighs in relief with a smile. He didn't have to ask!

 

[Sherwood]

The Chief looks critically at Toni, trying to see if she is trying to make fun of him, but after a moment of reflection, he says, "Saint Kallen. One of the first Dreadguard of House Artemis. She is a legend in our House, as she was a near cripple before she bonded with her armor. The early leaders were desperate enough that the Saint's strength of will to succeed and fight the Machine was enough to convince the elders to allow her the chance to show what she could do in a suit of Host Armor. Saint Kallen fought for many years before she met her end in a titanic battle, where she stood her ground against an overwhelming force of robots that were advancing on a small community of tunnel dwellers. Families. Women and children. The Machine didn't care; it wants us all dead. But despite orders to retreat with the bulk of the escapees, Kallen and her fellow Dreadguard Elias and Martin decided to stay behind and try to buy some time for the youngsters to get away."

He is silent for a moment, then continues with, "We have some information on what happened that day in the underground thanks to the bio-recorders on two of the Host Armor suits that were later recovered. The three were the rock upon which the waves of robots broke on. In the end, nearly a thousand souls were able to be saved by the sacrifice of Martin, Elias and Kallen, and out of those survivors, many went onto volunteer for service on the fighting lines against the Machine, bringing the dedication and spirit of service with them to make great advances against our enemy."

"Since that day, Dreadguard that have never even seen Saint Kallen in person have reported that when they were in their darkest times, when all hope seemed to be lost, some have reported seeing . . . a vision . . . of a woman in blasted and ruined Host Armor, a woman with flaming red hair and a smile that lights up a room, offering them hope in their struggles, hope that has bolstered their courage and resolve to do the impossible. These visions are all of the same woman, and those that have seen the Saint say that the recipients of these visions are all of Saint Kallen. It was at that time that there was a recovery mission sent out to recover not only Kallen's remains, but also those of Elias and Martin. To this day, there have been Dreadguard that go on an annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Kallen, kneeling before her in humble supplication, aspiring to the greatest levels of honor of all Dreadguard. Only a few every year are admitted into the Order, and it is considered a great honor to be chosen." He looks down at the much smaller Toni and says, "Perhaps, someday, you, too, will be able to stand before the Shrine of Saint and take the vows and become one of the few. But only if you are worthy. But do not despair, for I have a feeling that there is greatness in you. In all of you. That is why I picked the three of you. I can see the same fire, the same dedication in you that the Three had."

 

[Psychie]

Toni listens carefully to the Chief as he relates information about the Saint, wondering if he is one of the chosen few that have taken these oaths himself before the Shrine. She finally says, "Thank you, Chief Rybeck. Once we get back from this, I would really like to learn more about the Saint. Would it be possible for you to . . . share more about her?" She looks up at Chief Rybeck with a hopeful feeling in her heart that he will say yes.

 

[Sherwood]

Toni listens carefully to the Chief as he relates information about the Saint, wondering if he is one of the chosen few that have taken these oaths himself before the Shrine. She finally says, "Thank you, Chief Rybeck. Once we get back from this, I would really like to learn more about the Saint. Would it be possible for you to . . . share more about her?" She looks up at Chief Rybeck with a hopeful feeling in her heart that he will say yes.

He looks down at Toni, and finally gives her a nod. "I am hardly worthy of such a responsibility, but I would be a poor instructor if I cannot share what I know about the Order. It would be my honor to guide you in the opening steps of the Order. I warn you, though, that supplicants to the Order are often held to a very high level of expectations." He places a beefy hand on her shoulder and gives a slight squeeze. "Just focus on the here and now, soldier, and let tomorrow take care of itself."

You now have about fifteen minutes before deployment time.

 

[Mirgris]

"I am going to tend to my better half" lance responds. The other two wish to discuss ghosts and mystic orders and training but lance cares about the fight he can already feel it. His blood growing warmer, that cold ball where emotion is supposed to be, is warming up. His fingers twitch wanting to reach out for his weapons. He takes a breath to steady himself, half the battle is in the mind. Calm is a weapon as sharp as any sword.

Besides he knows his better half can feel his emotions and if someone thought he was a battle maniac they would not believe his bird.

 

[Psychie]

Taking her cue from the Chief, Toni steps back to make her final checks on her gear. The weapon techs on the Kraken have done an expert job in keeping everything in top shape, but she still takes her time to check every aspect of her Host Armor and the external weapons. After all, if there is a problem, it won't be the techs with their asses on the line, it will be hers, and she damn well needs to make sure that everything is at 100%.

Toni then takes a moment to put her mind at ease with a silent prayer to this Saint Kallen. I ask not for my own safety, but for that of my comrades. Please, guide us and help us.

 

[Sherwood]

With everything set, a number of support technicians guide you through the process of getting loaded into the launch tubes for your underwater deployment. It is a tight fit for Pretty Bird, but it won't be for too long, so the Griffin won't be getting claustrophobic in the launch tube. The Griffin has a swimming speed of only 30mph, but it has been given a specialized disposable organic thruster that it can hold in its front claws that will increase its speed to 60mph. Lance and Chaska can ride on Pretty Bird's back while Toni can jet along-side with her own jet thrusters once you are all deployed into the water.

The Kraken slowly ascends up to a depth of one hundred and eighty feet, keeping to near the Griffin's maximum depth of two hundred feet for maximum coverage from the off chance of being spotted by a random flight of some robot hunter passing overhead, even with the dark of night providing cover.

Finally, the signal comes in your organic communicators to prepare for launch. The launch tubes flood with water, then the outer doors open wide to offer you your way out into the open sea. From your launch point, it will take you about forty minutes of travel time to get to the hidden sewer line entrance underwater. This is set to coincide with the Kraken moving north to bombard areas of the shoreline and hit various Machine fortifications to draw attention away from where you are at the sewer line intake. Once you are out of the tubes, the Kraken turns and accelerates away and is soon out of sight, leaving you alone in the water.

Keeping submerged, the group sets off towards the intake pipe. It is a long, quiet trip through the water towards the intake pipe, with the only noise being the rush of the water as you jet along and the conversation between the three of you with your communicators. Time passes along without any encounters from hostile life forms or robot combat units, and soon you come up to the shoreline where the pipe comes out into the water. The pipe is located about fifty feet underwater, so you can hopefully get into the pipe without ever drawing notice of the shore emplacements.

It takes you a few minutes to locate the sewer line under the various camouflage nets that the Resistance has put up over it to conceal the comings and goings of various infiltration teams, but once you find it, it is easy enough to open the cover grate to get access to the pipe. It is a large enough pipe that the Griffin will not be squeezed in like a sardine in a can as it traverses the length of the pipe, but it will not have much room to maneuver. Hopefully the Machine will not have discovered this inlet and have placed a few nasty surprises for you to stumble into.

Who goes first into the pipe?

 

[Purr]

Who goes first into the pipe?

Chaska quietly and eagerly steps forward to be the eyes and ears of the squad. Patting the camouflaged Woodstock on his shoulder, Chaska readies his Stealth Field, looking to Lance and Toni to see their reactions at his willingness to take point for the team.

 

[Psychie]

Toni nods at Chaska and gives him a thumbs-up, then says over the bio-coms, "Go for it. I'll take up the rear and watch our backs until we get out of the tunnel and into the underground system. Remember that the Machine can't tap our comms, so keep us informed as to what you see up ahead."

 

[Mirgris]

"That puts me and my better half right in the middle. I'll let them go first since their wings can be used as a shield and trail right behind. If anything happens our scout can fall back to the two of us." I gesture and the warmount climbs in ahead of me and I follow.

"Just a boring tunnel climb away from open skies."

 

[Purr]

Chaska nods with the smallest hint of an excited grin under his ghostly-gray eyes.

Over the bio-comms comes but two words - "For ChiefRybeck."

Turning away silently, he fades from sight as he activates his Stealth Field. With all of the skill he can muster while maintaining a practical speed, the young Deliveryman and his trusty birb attempts to become one with his surroundings - listening and learning these surroundings with his every careful step.

Taking note, Chaska begins to record the distance traveled so he know when to begin dropping Trailblazers (preferably at about 6.5 miles each).

 

[Sherwood]

It is pitch black in the tunnel, with the only light being what you have brought with you in order to see. The water in the tunnel is a bit murky, with visibility being rather low at only forty feet. Fish swim along around you, paying you little attention as you make your way down the passage. The tunnel is long, stretching out over 1,500 feet before you come to a rise in the tunnel, bringing you out of the water and into an underground cavern that looks like it was once a pumping station before the Resistance did their work on it to open the place up to make room for the covert insertion teams to rally and prepare to exit the underground.

Under the watch of Chaska's keen eyes, you can tell that this place has seen some foot traffic come through here in the recent past. Steps are carved in the rough stone to make climbing out of the water that much easier. Looking around, you see no signs of danger or robots waiting to strike, with the only other thing in here being a few rats that have made this place their home.

At this point, Chaska can see two different ways out of here. First, there is a tunnel leading off to your right that heads inland while staying underground. The second path angles upwards and looks to make its way out from the underground passages, giving you the option of how to proceed to your objective. Right now, Lance and his Griffon are waiting for the all clear before making their way out of the water.

From her position at the end of the line, Toni sees nothing to indicate that there is any threat down here, and there is nothing that you can see following you that is larger than a fish.
What does Chaska signal to his fellows?

 

[Purr]

What does Chaska signal to his fellows?

Not a thing. Yet.

Infrared, thermographic, passive night-vision, ultraviolet - he filters through them all while listening in with echo-location and getting used to the new sensitive whiskers he had grown onto WyldKat. More importantly, Chaska finds himself looking for what he never tires of.

Information.

The foot traffic. Chaska takes one look at it and realizes he wants clues. This wasn't anyone in the Kraken's crew, was it? If not, then whom? Who else was out here so recently?

Details like these made differences. Not to most people; just to people like Chaska. It wasn't just the learning; it was the challenge of putting any pieces together, this maybe being the first. If he finds out now, without Toni, Lance, and Pretty Bird around to make the job harder just by being there. Evidence changes the more people get involved, just like they tracks they would leave for the next humans to come by. Chaska's tracks, Lance's, Toni's, they might wonder about.

But Chaska realizes he would love to see the reaction of the folks who first caught sight of Pretty Bird's tracks.

No, the only creature off the hook here was Woodstock. There, perched on Chaska's shoulder, he left no clues - he only helped find them.

So Chaska gets back to looking. How many people were here? Were they in or out of armor? Any Host Armors present? Animals? Bio-animals? What stories did their evidence tell? Where did they leave - to the deeper underground or up towards the fresh air?

Once Chaska has this sorted out, then it's off to the Bio-comms to inform the others. But not before. The world was vast and full of surprises.

And the less surprises they had either here or down the road, the better.

 

[Sherwood]

Purr

Taking a few minutes of motionless observation gives Chaska plenty of information. First off, the room temperature is a cool 65 degrees, with the only temperature changes that you can see are the handful of blind rats that have adapted to living in the total dark of the tunnel. No heat blooms of an active power source of a robot in here at all. This initial slow look takes you a full minute before you are confident enough in the fact that you are alone in this chamber before stealthily starting to explore a bit, with the intent to find out more about the tracks and who made them.

The tracks are hard to read, indicating that they are not recent but are rather old, with the newer tracks over the old dating back at least four weeks ago. Any older tracks in here have been wiped out over time. From what you can tell, the tracks are mostly human-sized with a few that are probably a War Mount or two that have come through the tunnel in the same way that you have.

Moving slowly into the room, you don't see any concealed devices or tripwires around the pool or around the two passage openings, and things look all clear for the moment. The only thing moving about in here (besides you, of course) are the handful of rats that are scurrying about.