Futuristic VANA [ Atticus ]

[Lord Bradorian]

As Atticus looks around, he finds pride in himself for having taken out his comms device; that could have just saved all three of their lives.

Atticus searches the man's armor, specifically his arms, for any kind of insignia that might hint at his allegiance; one thing was for sure, that there was going to have to be some dramatic measures if this guy had a lot of buddies. And judging by his radio-esque thing, he probably did.

Noticing how Ellen had been knocked out, Atticus himself attempts to feign unconsciousness at any point when he notices the "man" at the pond looking at him, wanting to avoid being actually knocked out which seemed to be this guy's modus operandi.

Atticus figured that, with his comms device broken, this guy would either be forced to kill the three of them outright, leave to try and find his buddies, or try and transport the three of them while outnumbered back to whatever kind of prison he might have set up for them.

Two out of three of these options gave Atticus some optimism.

Meanwhile, Atticus will slowly try to wiggle free from his bonds, persisting even if there is no good results. He will try to do this as inconspiciously as possible, and if he is caught, try to make it look like an involuntary movement during his bout of unconsciousness.

 

[cl0ud]

A familiar birdsong emits from the trees.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus continues to try and squirm, before looking around and trying to identify exactly what he was bound with while doing this, simultaneously keeping an eye on his captor and the two other captives.

Atticus also tries to decipher whether or not he could feel his pistol in the holster on his right hip. Maybe the guy wasn't very observant and hadn't perceived the sidearm?

Either way, Atticus continues to be mostly passive apart from trying to get his hands and feet free, making sure to try to seem passed out whenever the asshole looks his way.

 

[cl0ud]

The volume of the birdsong increases.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus pauses for a moment as it gets louder, becoming worried that somehow this was going to alert his captor of his mischeviousness.

It also makes him think that the Barbs or whatever other birds were spooked by something, perhaps something oncoming? Had they made the same noise when Elliot had approached the ship? Atticus tried to remember as he continued.

He grit his teeth and sweat began to drop down his forehead faster as the "birds" got louder, and he continued to try and wiggle ever so slightly.

 

[cl0ud]

A loud thud and the sound of a crashing tree nearby echoes throughout the forest. The birdsong is increasingly louder, starting to become painful to listen to. Your captor puts on his helmet, grabs his weapons and hides, probably setting up an ambush.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

"Oh, shit!" Atticus says under his breath as the guy suddenly hides, and he begins to try and slouch to be as small as possible against the tree, holding his breath and trying to hide to the best of his ability or at least seem to be deceased. Whatever this thing was, hopefully it would just kill this guy, eat him and then go away and leave Atticus and his two comrades alone. But this didn't seem right now to be the perfect world in which all those things would happen in such perfect alignment.

 

[cl0ud]

The sounds of hydraulics become louder and louder until finally it stops, with the sound of rustling leaves and a crashing tree right booming right next to you. Without another second, the deafening sound machine gun lets loose a volley of rounds in rapid succession. All you hear is a groan. Are you dead? After a few seconds and a slight breath through your nostrils, you determine you aren't. A few, tense, moments pass. The hydraulics move and the loud thud of the machine moves into the distance until the sound fades. The birdsong has faded with it.

You open your eyes. Destruction surrounds you. But, you, Ellen, nor Adam are dead. You think. You didn't get to observe the mechanical beast, so you have no idea of who it belonged to or what it looked like.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus opens his eyes and stares wide-eyed at the chaos around him. What the hell had just hit that guy!?

Whatever it was, Atticus was grateful. There was no way he survived that if whatever machine gun barrage had been accurate; just to be sure, Atticus does take a few moments to observe the pond area, to see whether or not he can spot any movement. He also looks to see if he can find his backpack and guns amongst the ruins.

If within a few seconds there isn't any, Atticus will, with all his might, tear at his restraints, trying everything he can to desperately free himself.

 

[cl0ud]

There's no bullet holes around you. Your stuff is still by the pond. You manage to free yourself, but no you have some rope burns on your limbs. You untie your feet and stretch.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus quickly finishes this stretch and sprints to his backpack, snatching up his belongings and then sprinting back to the tree, taking cover behind it and raising his PDW, scanning the area where he last saw the captor.

He wasn't convinced that he was alone quite yet.

Atticus will have left Adam and Ellen's things by the pond. He was more focused on himself.

 

[cl0ud]

As you scan around the area, you see nothing. Especially nothing from your captor's position.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus takes a deep breath, and slowly approaches the bush where the guy had hid.

Atticus will do his best to scavenge what he can from the combatant if he can find him. That includes his armor, his rifle, any sidearm or additional ammunition, and anything else he finds useful but not his helmet; his helmet Atticus was staying the hell away from. Atticus will also try to find an identifier on the guy. He will do all of this quickly; he didn't want to risk the thing that had struck his enemy down coming back to finish the job.

Atticus, either after scavenging the enemy humanoid or not finding him, will then bring Adam and Ellen's belongings from the pond over to them and then surgically cut them free either with the alloy machete, or if he can't locate it, the universal wand, and then do his best to wake both of them up, if they are not already conscious. Again, he rushes this; but not enough to risk cutting either of his allies.

As soon as the three of them are ready to move, Atticus will do so; straight back to the ship.

 

[cl0ud]

As you walk over to the bush where the captor was, a gruesome scene unfolds. What was the person who incarcerated you and your comrades was now pile of flesh with gaping holes in it and blood. The bullets had severed parts of his body from the others. His left arm was only attached to the rest of his body by a few muscle fibers. His entire body, his armor, and anything else on his person was completely annihilated. Also destroying any sign of allegiance with it.

However, you do pick up the assault rifle that he had. You cut the ropes that bind Adam and Ellen. Ellen regains consciousness, but Adam is still knocked out. You both carry Adam back to the ship, where Elliot and Ethel rush to meet you, Elliot's weapons already drawn.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus tries not to think too much about the massacred human-like organism that had suddenly been turned into a pile of mush. At least he was dead and Atticus was alive.

"Ethel, get some kind of bedding together, kick Matthew out of my bed if you have to, he's gonna need somewhere to rest. But I don't think we can stay here much longer. Elliot, I need you on the hill scanning our surrounds, we are not safe here," Atticus said breathlessly as he and Ellen carried Adam toward the cockpit.

Despite probably being less knowledgeable about what just happened than the Wento refugees, Atticus was keen to start handing out orders. He wasn't in the mood to get argued with right now, either.

A big part of him was pissed off at these newcomers for dragging him into this situation where he was now a criminal in the eyes of the stronger military on this moon, although it did seem that whoever had assaulted him and his allies by the pond wasn't with the Republicans; Atticus assumed that such firepower could only be wielded by the tyrannical government that Elliot and his group claimed they were fighting, and since it was used to kill the other guy, his first idea was that the guy wasn't with that government.

 

[cl0ud]

Ethel puts together a makeshift bed from leaves and puts a blanket over it. You lay Adam, who is still unconscious, down gently on the bedding. Matthew continues to rest on your bed, unaware of the whole situation.

Elliot scrambles back to the top of the hill, grabbing the assault rifle you have on his way. He goes prone immediately and gazed at the treeline through the iron sight on the rifle, hoping that the wouldn't have to shoot.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus calls up to Elliot from within the ship; "If you see anything, for fucks sake DON'T shoot at it immediately! Let us know first! Hey, how much ammo is in that thing, anyway?" he says, before pulling his PDW from his bag and turning toward Ellen.

"Please, tell us everything that happened from the moment you two went out to set those mines. Including anything from when I was knocked out if you were awake at any point during that time," Atticus asked. Us being him and Ethel, who were next to her in the ship while Adam and Matthew were unconscious.

 

[cl0ud]

"There's a full magazine in here," Elliot reports.

"Well, we set down most of the mines. The pond was the last spot. It was running smoothly when I heard some rustling in the bushes. Then whoever that was lunged at Adam and hit them with the butt of the rifle. I followed up with a downward slash with the machete when he blocked it with the armor plating on his forearm. Then he played the same noise he played when you surprised him and knocked me out. I woke up shortly before you arrived. Then he captured you, too. I spat at him and he knocked me out once more. I awoke with you again the third time," Ellen reports.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

"Why didn't you warn me of the noise his helmet made?" Atticus asked her. "You were conscious when I was sticking him up. I should've known better; should've blasted his ass when I saw him," Atticus said, scolding both himself and the woman.

"That thing, that came outta nowhere and tore everything up, killed the guy. That was a Walker, right? I thought only the Republicans had those? So why is he dead, and we're not? And what the fuck happened to them not sending more than just some drones into these parts!?" Atticus said, his voice getting louder and louder as he spoke, his voice raising loud enough for Elliot to hear.

"And where are those damn mines? I'm not getting myself blown up because I took the wrong step around here."

 

[cl0ud]

"Watch your tone," Elliot warns sternly as he hears your voice become louder from atop the hill.

"It happened too quickly. I hadn't seen you approach him with enough time to warn you," Ellen says, regret in her voice. "I... I don't know. I can't explain it. Maybe the man who captured us wasn't a Republican? Maybe he was a rebel who didn't recognize us. Maybe he's from a different system. A foreign invasion? I don't have all the answers, dammit," Ellen retaliates. She takes a deep breath. "The mines are where you suggested to put them," she finishes.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Agonized by both Elliot and Ellen, the veins in Atticus' head bulged as he held his tongue, before simply walking away from the two women.

He walked up the hill to Elliot. "That rifle needs to stay on this hill. It's our longest-distance weapon, and whoever is pulling lookout needs that distance. Okay?" Atticus asked, trying to reach a logical compromise over the subject matter of this newly acquired hardwire.

"And hey, I risked my life for those two out there. And for you yesterday, with those wolf things. I highly doubt Ellen could have carried Adam back herself, too. Just remember that," Atticus said.

 

[cl0ud]

Elliot doesn't respond, instead he continues to look down the sights into the treeline.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus takes a deep breath. "We should dig some kind of foxhole on this hill, maybe as shallow as a shellscrape. Whoever is on this hill is too exposed," he added to his list of things to say to Elliot, before heading back down to the ship.

"Ellen, I understand. I apologize for losing my temper," Atticus said to her, although this apology was more just to make it so she was easier to work with to get his home more safe, and it's possible she could have heard the insincerity in his apology, despite his best efforts to make it convincing.

On some level, Atticus understood her regret, but overall his feelings on these people had changed dramatically. But they were all he had right now, and he needed to try and make the most of it. And the sooner he was perceived as one of them, instead of just their host, the better; and hostilities were not helping anyone.

"I'm worried about sleeping space. Ethel, you've demonstrated that you can put together a makeshift bed pretty well, but it's not bedding I'm worried about. There's not enough space for everybody in the cockpit unless you wanna get uncomfortably cuddly in there, and anyone else sleeping anywhere else is a danger to them."

"We should always have someone on the hill keeping an eye out, so that means we need space for five people in places where they won't be endangered by the outside world."

"This makes the completion of the corridor in between the ship halves really important, as well as boarding up the breaches in the other half, so we can make the ship one large interior that we'll have enough room in to accommodate half a dozen people."

"I think it would be easy enough to fashion some axes out of the metal and wood I have stockpiled. Ethel, I know your arm is kinda fucked, but unless you wanna go take watch and bet on your aim and let Elliot step in to help out the construction, two people isn't gonna be enough to get this done as quickly as I would, and as I would hope that you would, like it to be done. So if you could chip in, I would appreciate it."

"And, whenever Adam wakes up, I'm sure he could help, too."

With that, Atticus, and hopefully Ellen and either Ethel or Elliot will begin the process of crafting axes out of the metal and wood Atticus has, collecting the wood for the two projects Atticus has planned, and then constructing those projects. Whatever they get done is whatever they get done before they cannot work any longer, or the lookout reports a disturbance.

One thing is for certain; Atticus will ask Matthew to get out of his bed when he decides he is too tired to work any longer. This includes if his arm begins to give out at any point.

 

[cl0ud]

Ellen doesn't respond to your apology. Although, she and Ethel get to work on fashioning some axes to cut down some trees. After some spent hours, metal, and wood, you and the other two foreigners start to work on cutting down trees. As a trio, you collect around 60 wood before you're all too tired and need a break. After about an hour break, with Elliot still supervising the diminishing treeline, you collect the rest of the wood that you need. It's nighttime now and as a group you decide it'd be best to actually start working on the project the next day.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus is glad that he was able to gather all of the wood needed for the completion of the corridor, feeling the benefit of having those allies at his base, even if their relationship is sturdy.

He is also relieved that there had been no baddies spotted in the trees near the ship, but knowing that he had been on watch for several hours, he heads to the base of the hill before heading towards bed. "Elliot! You need some rest!?" he asked. Atticus was tired himself, but he could pull a shift if he really needed to.

If Elliot said yes, Atticus would assume the top of the hills position, hopefully with the rifle if Elliot honors their previous agreement, which was really just Atticus speaking and Elliot hearing him.

If he said no, Atticus would just go into the cockpit and sleep. Whether or not it was in his own bed he didn't care; if Matthew was in it, he wasn't going to disturb him, in the spirit if him getting better as soon as possible.