Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 15, 2016 2:45:03 GMT -6
The captain replied slowly, and there was a pause of at least 5 minutes between every few lines. Perhaps he was talking it out with the crew? In any case the answers came back in this order:
"Ah geeze, bounty hunters? Welp, Oi done expected someone'd come and try to collect sooner or later. My bloody luck it's now. Now Oi know you're not going to be a tart and sell me to the locals, yeah? They're regular maneaters they are, sometimes literally! But fine, chap, I gots somethin to grease your palms. A man after my own heart, truly. Listen."
"Well for one you can take whatever's left in this tub that Oi won't need to make it back to town. Some stuff Oi collected but it oughta be worth a fair bit of coin or wotever you wants to do with it. Holds are at the back, have a good toime digging it out since you wanted to play abominable snowman. Roight clever, by the by. And Oi mean it."
"Wots better is, Oi gots a secret for you. That dig site down the mountain? Old-era vault of some kind. Dunno wots in it but Oi reckon it's worth a good few hundred clusters if the trend holds. Which Oi'd bet it does. Oi'll give you the password on my way outta here. Try and pull any fast ones and you won't be getting nothing. Hold to it and you can have the bloody thing, it didn't do me no favors."
Then finally what wrecked up his ship. "And finally, you want to know wott messed my boat here up? Muties, vault's full of em. Somehow a couple of em slipped into here and started causing trouble while down at the dig. Your problem now."
That about covered everything James wanted to know, so he and his men started to file their way out. There were about 18 non slaves left, and 6 slaves. Supposing they came in with 50 or so, they must have suffered some heavy losses in trying to deal with that treasure they're talking about. The medics can patch up 3 of the ones that got shot, so 11 indentured servants in total.
McCoy comes out with his 5 men already picked. There seems to be quite a bit of discontent over this arrangement amongst the rest, but that doesn't seem to bother their leader. Infact he seems pretty happy he's getting out of this at oll. As was agreed they come out with no weapons and hands raised. Their heavy coats looked bloodied and torn, detailing the intense combat they had apparently had since they got down here. McCoy included, though he did hold a cylinder in his hand, also raised.
"Don't got a weapon, guv, but hope you don't mind I brought the trigger with me? Wouldn't want any double-deals would we? Probably a good 500 clusters worth of goods back there, so let's pll just go our own ways and profit, yeah?" Blackjack said with a wide smile. He clearly thought himself clever. James could see him face to face now that he had left with the rest of his men. He had a pinched sort of face, like he was constantly glaring, and speaking of that his eyes were beady like a bird's. But the look in his eye marked him as a killer despite the fact he looked more like a money lender than a pirate. This guy was dangerous, there was no mistaking that.
"Now, soon as Oi'm over that hill yonder, Oi got Skippy back there set to give you the passcode Oi was talking back. Wot you do from there ain't my problem, but know we ain't been in the part it opens. Outside alone is fulla mutants. And Oi don't mean like the fine fellows over in Duar, who you can kick back and have a pint with while grilling up some lemmings. Oi mean the 'rip your face off and eat you raw' type. So. Oll in order, Captain Gransela?"
Apparently he expected a double cross.
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"She's a mutie too, normie. We got guilders here too. Been around long as the city as, far as I know. If you ask around you find we're not much different than everyone else. Good luck getting them to agree though. They look at us with our tumors and extra limbs and such and start saying we're monsters." Radcliff said.
"Very rude." The other chimed in.
"It is. But you'll find the usual types here, if you really look for them."
The question to the origin of this place made four arms, the far more talkative one, pause. "Alright, this is gonna be a long one. Sec."
Having said that he crunched the lollipop in his fanged maw with several loud crunches, and then tossed the stick into the trash. His elongated tongue smacked his lips in a display that was only somewhat unsettling.
"Right. Well normie, everyone has their own story. Prevailing one that us urbanites dug up from old records and data files is that this was a big colony ages ago. Real nice. Water, real seasons. You know, not cold enough to kill you on a sunny day. Well one day it all broke down, all of it. Government breaking down into feuding successors states is the prevailing theory. Some horrible weapons got deployed, wrecked up everything. Most cities you dig up are already in ruins, and not just from the ice. Some science-y types say we're still living in the nuclear winter."
"Nomads say that mismanagement of the world brought on some kind of awful, unending summer. Yeah, according to them this place used to be an endless desert and not an endless tundra. Well in their rush to fix it, they claim Old Age scientists devised some kinda way to lower the temperature overall. But they overshot, fucked it up, and now we're living in the other extreme. Then they all died before they could fix it. So now here we are dealing with it."
Radcliff shrugged and leaned against the wall of a nearby building. "And then some other folks say a big old meteor smacked into the planet and caused it. No one really knows or agrees. Except for the fact that it's awful. But it's home, and it's better than most other places out there, if you ask me."
"Because we'd be shot on sight anywhere else." Alfrick added in jest, which made his friend laugh.
"Sour grapes, man. Anyway normie, don't worry about it. All first timers ask that. Doubt you'll find anyone who actually knows for sure, but everyone will claim to. Far as I'm concerned, it was like this when my granddad was born, it'll probably still be like this when I die. What came before won't help us to carry on now, know what I mean?"
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Jan 15, 2016 3:25:52 GMT -6
Trying to understand this guy's dialect was not an easy job, but they managed to get all the information they were looking for. James was a bit suspicious of the password that they have received, wondering if it's a real thing or a trap to screw them over in the future. Nevertheless he nod and took it, it was better than not having anything to start with.
James didn't say anything about the mutant attack, as they seems out of strange. These damages on the ship were caused by explosives, and James is pretty sure regular humans aren't going to fly up into the air and plant bombs, and it wasn't too common for mutants to take up heavy weapons to specifically shoot at random ships passing by. He could of course point out the problem with this to the man in front of him, but he did not. Instead he treated it as McCoy breaking his part of the bargain, which means he'll be dealing with that pretty soon.
"You and I both know you're not going to go too far with that trigger, I'll mark my words and none of us here will shoot you. Tell you what, I'll lend you this portable shield, you should feel safe with it. Unless you think us here in full armor can outrun you with nothing, I think you have nothing to worry about, just drop it near the top and I'll pick it up. If you run with it then I promise you that you won't be returning back with your life."
He hands the man the spare shield in exchange for the trigger, he didn't want to risk to see if it was real or fake, besides the shield would remain safely in the hands of his crew. After that he calls for the quartermaster, or anyone behind that could double as that role, so he could check the goods and supplies in the ship. They also claim all the slaves, while the remaining crews are recruited into the Cosmic Terror.
"You all saw how McCoy was like, and I'm sure you guys aren't too happy about it. Leaving you all here would certainly spell death for yourselves, so I'll give you the chance to join my team. I don't expect much, but for you to finish your assignments, and watch the back of your comrades. I pay fair, and I pay on time, ask the rest of them if you're not sure. Now give me a reply before we're ready to go, any freemen that wishes to leave are welcome to do so, but I won't ensure your safety in the mountains without a weapon."
He turn and watches McCoy leaves... and how the team that he left on top of the mountain springs out to attack him with melee weapons. After all, he did say they won't 'shoot' him. They only attack McCoy, and leaves the rest of the group alone. Even if McCoy is a decent warrior he's not going to fair well against five armed and trained men, but James watches the battle in case anything happens. If McCoy manages to fight his way out, then James will treat him as a brave warrior and would actually leave him alone. After they're done, they knock him out and put a slave collar on his neck, then proceed to bring him back down the mountain.
"As for him, you guys might already understand why I took him back. He didn't tell the truth did he? What hit you guys, someone give me the truth. And the password, how accurate is it?"
McCoy are then locked inside a crate with his limbs tied, ready to be taken back after they're done with everything. Several of the other men begin to search out the ship for any traps or danger, and proceed to get more qualified personnel to deal with such problems if any were found.
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Post by Pitman on Jan 15, 2016 22:46:34 GMT -6
Hearing the way they talked about guilder's very rude, Shikoto soon understood what is with these two and why it began to calm down.
"Rude? Guilder's are rude to everyone you know, even regular folks as well.", Shikoto soon admitted.
Shikoto listened intently on the story with a nodding at all points and when they were finished Shikoto soon got a couple of points.
"I see, with radiation and nuclear winter, I can see why this world was brought into like this. From the way you both talk and why mutants are born there is a high chance nuclear warfare probably occurred here that or something unknown like your meteor idea or even something else.", Shikoto soon progressed such information.
Of course he could be completely wrong and it was something so simple, never the less the more he learned the more he wished he could knew the truth in the matter. Though a slave he did have some adventurous inside himself. Regardless with now knowing what locals thought it put his him a bit felt like he learned something. Though he began to notice the others behind were looking a bit impatient now, which meant he had to hurry up and end this now. It was bad enough your on bad side of the crew worse if they begin to dislike you even further.
"That is true, though I can understand. Uhh Sorry for ragging on with questions to you two gentlemen. But so far I seen you act and talk like normal people. So if its not too bad, uhh I misunderstood your kind but now I know better!", Shikoto soon stated as he bowed before both men in what he remember from his childhood to do when giving respect to others. Though it has been a life time he at least remember something from back from his childhood.
With that he turned again to notice the others were more annoyed then says, "Anyways thank you for your information on much help, more then others so far. My group here is getting impatient so I better head off to that Ms. Kaelyn then. Mr. Radcliff, Mr. Alfick thank you and I do hope you both have a good day."
With that he would soon begin to head off to that store front to see what could be done with the battery.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 15, 2016 23:45:04 GMT -6
Today, one of James's men earns his stripes. McCoy puts up a pretty good fight against the soldiers waiting to ambush him, but not as well as would be expected. The choice in descriptors was purposeful, he was a killer, not a warrior. Big distinction. While good at orchestrating death he wasn't so good at handling it in straight up engagements, though he did manage to shank one of them with a knife that he had managed to hide on his person. It'd put the crewman in question out of his duties for a few days, but the wound wasn't fatal. The man got stabbed because he didn't trust McCoy one bit and he threw himself at the pirate to grab that detonator as soon as they moved. It left him open, but it turned out to be for a good cause.
It was a dead man switch. McCoy had fully intended to comply with James's request to drop the device once over the horizon, and blow up their loot and likely a few of them along with it. True scum. But now they could do with him what they wanted, after some hasty work is done to defuse the bombs.
As far as joining, the 5 men that Blackjack picked chose to go their own way, along with 1 other freeman from the crew. But even so, none of them were loyal enough to raise a hand to defend their boss. Seems that he had worn his welcome thin amongst the crew, but some of them still chose to make their own destinies now rather than throw in with another. The rest are all pretty fast to sign on with Gransela, and even the slaves don't seem to be in too bad of spirits about changing owner. This would just about leave him with a full compliment back on the Diamond II when all was said and done, assuming more losses didn't happen in the field. If he was willing to trust them in a fight so soon after defection was up to him, however.
He'd soon find out why they were so ambivalent. No one was too fast to speak up about what actually happened, but eventually the one he referred to as "Skippy" would offer up the information.
"He was partially right. Was a mutant attack, at first." Skippy began. It was hard to tell under the coat but it appeared that "Skippy" here was a woman, or so the voice would entail.
"When the dig went bad, cap'n decided he'd try to bag a couple of them, maybe sell them off to recoup some clusters. Some scientists study that stuff I guess? Dunno, beyond me." She shrugged before keeping at it. "He charged the slaves with wrangling them. They got loose and ran amok in the ship. Had the slaves involved executed. Slaves revolted, some of the crew threw in with them and it turned into a mutiny. That'd be where the explosives came into it."
No one would meet James's eyes in that moment. Primarily because it put in question their loyalty, right after he had just proved he could and would put down the lot of them. Which wasn't wrong or unexpected, they were fighters, but coming on the cusp of almost getting out? That made it really sting.
"That little 'go away or I blow us all up' shtick, you think he put that together just for you? Nah, boss used it to bring the mutineers back in line. Just so happened you showed up after the fact before he felt safe disarming it."
"As for the code? No idea. We didn't try to go deeper, that was true. Where he got it, I sure didn't get told."
The woman here was the only one really willing to talk and risk their own skins, but it was hard to blame them. Apparently they had been through a hell of a shitty deal, which might remind James of his own situation before he took command. Guess McCoy was smarter than his old boss, though; he didn't get deposed. The other problem was if he could trust her now. It wouldn't escape his notice that Blackjack considered her trustworthy enough to not cough up the code until he had gone over the hill. Which she did, but that was before the guys hiding up there had ambushed him.
Where her loyalties lied now was unclear, but she volunteered to join for better or worse.
As for traps, they wouldn't find any in there other than the dead man bomb. Luckily a couple of his guys knew their way around explosives from being miners back on Terminus, so dealing with that isn't too difficult of a task. Just nerve wracking. Beyond that they brought him the news that the ship was pretty much dead in the water. Massive damage everywhere, not entirely caused by explosives. Acid burns also seemed pretty abundant, which was strange. One of the new recruits would mention that some of those mutants bleed and spit acid. Ick. Another truth that Blackjack had seen fit to tell was about his cargo. Busting open the crates revealed electronic components primarily. Motherboards, capacitors, that kind of thing. Not super useful for James, but there are definitely people would buy this stuff.
They'd have to keep it out of the cold though, the delicate components could warp and crack in this temperature.
Of less monetary value, but higher importance, was that there were a few crates of preserved rations and fuel to be burned back there. A decent amount. Along with several casks of some kind of thick, strong-scented resin whose purpose wasn't immediately apparent. Skippy would once again chime in here and note that it made excellent thermal insulation, tapped from the local trees that use it to stay warm themselves. It also tasted like a slightly more leafy brown sugar, popular for local candies and incenses.
All in all it was probably worth about 300 clusters, or so his quartermaster estimated. The captain had talked up his goods to sweeten the deal, but it wasn't a bad haul by any rights. Probably salvaged from the dig site and surrounding city.
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"Oh, you misunderstand. She's not bad, its normies who are the rude type. I'm saying you types don't like us. I can't imagine why." Radcliff said with obvious sarcasm in his voice.
"Must be jealousy."
"Must be. Don't know how they live with only 2 arms. What an awful life."
After joking between themselves he cleared his throat to resume talking to Shikoto, who was now working on leaving. They didn't move to stop him, his business was his own as long as no trouble was started.
"Yep, see you later normie. Call us if you get into trouble, and try not to stare when you're at the warehouse!"
The pair waved as the slave and entourage move deeper in the city. Foot traffic gets more heavy as they do, to the point where they're rubbing elbows with the mutant population. But despite the throngs of people it isn't hard to find the guild's office. Primarily because it's built like a fortification in its own right. Stone. Metal door. Tiny, slitted windows. The works. Despite the imposing outward appear a sign above the door in stenciled letters, in the Basic language even, invited those whom saw it inside for business. Another row of script in smaller text ran below it in a parallel line, but those characters he did not recognize. Just the same.
The door slid open and immediately it was as if Shikoto had stepped into another world. Warm air practically rolled over the threshold and onto him like a wave, dispelling the cold that wracked his body. The sweet smell of incense drifted out on the air, making his nose tingle pleasantly. Stepping in further would allow him to look around. The majority of the room was taken up by a counter that hosted a number of items behind glass displays. Mostly industrial goods. Guilder shops like this didn't usually cater to individuals, but rather wholesale purchases. Typically they contracted out to merchants who did the work of getting the goods to the lower castes, or nobles in societies that wanted to curtail the power of the middle class. A pair of guards stood in the blindspots of anyone coming in the door, seated in the left and right corners respectively. Like the two men he had just seen, Shikoto would note that they were also mutants. They were without hair on their heads and sported tumors and scars both on what skin he could see. They sat with heavy looking clubs on their laps and pistols holstered in belts.
Much more welcoming was the woman behind the counter, Kaelyn the mechanic would presume. She looked vaguely familiar.
"Oh hello there, come in from you cold, you lot. And close the door! Heating is expensive." She called out, and quickly waved them in with the whole of her arm. It seemed the people here weren't too bad off, they had heated buildings at least. Made living here a little more bearable. The guilder sized up the lot of them as they walked in, and seemed to recognize Shikoto.
"Oh! I remember you from earlier! Hi again. Hope you're enjoying our city." Kaelyn hoped. She looked completely normal...until she blinked, the lids sliding across her green eyes from the sides. Ah, he might recall seeing her on the streets earlier today. In addition to that she wore a coat of her own, but it was opened at the front so that only her shoulders and arms were covered. Beneath that was a tight fitting tunic of leather that was probably also stuffed with insulated padding. It did interesting things for her form when she learned forward to rest her elbows on the countertop, which was polished to a mirror shine. Making things all the more suggestive as it gave a second view.
Maybe Radcliff wasn't talking about staring at her weird eyes.
"So what brings this nice band of normal folks to my clique's little holding, hmm? Looking to buy, sell? I also accept trades." The proprietor's voice was rich and regal, filled with more warmth than the air being piped in through the vents.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Jan 16, 2016 1:47:08 GMT -6
"Welcome aboard everyone, let me formally introduce myself. I am James Gransela, the leader of the Cosmic Terror that you all are now a part of. I've led my men up from the ashes in the hands of a similar scumbag of a boss so I know how you all must feel, no worries, you can feel right at home. After this operation is over, you can join in the rounds of celebration along with the rest of my men."
He listened to Skippy talk, nodding as he hear things that he was already expecting, he just needed someone to confirm his guesses. Looks like that Captain in a Boss is not really all that brilliant with his plans, after all what's the use of a band that were forced into battle? Trying to trick multiple factions wasn't a smart move either, especially when you don't have the ability to back these petty tricks.
But now before they could continue, they got to get a few things done. First, they need to resupply, so James had some of his men radio their ship to perform an orbit drop for supplies, both for the original team and the new members.
"McKie, crack open the backstabber's jaws, I want to get as much truth from him as possible. As long as he's not dead then I'm fine with whatever you want to do to him, take a few guys with you if you need assistants. Don't go soft on him, I don't appreciate people trying to lie to me."
Mumbling about the sudden drop in wealth inside the ship, he tries to tell himself that it'll be better than nothing, and quite a bit more payment would be in his hands after McCoy gets sold off to the highest bidder that wants his head. The resin sounds pretty handy, using them to keep warm would be waste, he see a better property in them that could be used for emergency damage control to his ships. Something that doesn't seem to be done even on this planet, and he could perhaps be the first to do so. At least that will be a decent reward for this journey deep in the mountains. The fuel would keep them warm for this trip, and the extra food won't hurt. To bring the new men into the group, he orders a small feast for everyone, keeping a full belly is essential to mountain survival or so James believes.
He also sent a message back to Shikoto, they need a hacker when they go into the vault, and the parts inside might interest the mechanic.
After they finish having fun, he had most of the men stay behind to take cover in or near the ship until supplies arrive. He himself leads a small group and Skippy to take a look at that nearby vault, and to see what are the mutants that they have talked about. If bad comes to worse, he'll be the one with highest chance of survival and can even support his men to retreat away from the location. He's also the one that plans, so having direct information with his own eyes would be a lot more handy than being told of the information.
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Post by Pitman on Jan 16, 2016 4:39:16 GMT -6
"Alright!! See you two around!!", Shikoto yells back as he went off to the store he needed to go.
When arriving to the place he was directed he noticed wording he never seen before. When entering he was soon came with an intense smell of incense as he looked around. He took off his googles and his bandanna that was covering his face to take a look around. The others also took off their face coverings and the door was shut behind them.
"Wow, look they even got things we never hope to have working back on the ship here!", Shikoto soon commented as he was like a kid who just entered a dream store.
When he noticed the guards, he soon expected it but he began to get used to it now. Mutants, were still new to him but he was managing to adapt but noticed their weapons and understood not to mess with them at all.
When hearing a voice he soon saw someone he recognized when he was walking in the streets and for a second felt duped. First off it wasn't a mutant but looked like a normal girl to him, he was expected a shock of some ugly thing but it wasn't. 'Go Figure, they say mutant but she doesn't look like one to me.', Shikto mentally thought.
"Ah... your from the street.", Shikoto soon managed to say then noticed her blink, then understood she wasn't normal.
'Of course, so she is a mutant sort of.', Shikoto mentally though once more.
When she gave another question he was about to answer until he noticed the way she bent down which completely caught his attention and suggestiveness. Well if this was another situation entirely and he wasn't a slave he would- wait don't go there!! So that is what they meant do not stare!! LOOK AT FACE LOOK FACE!, Shikoto yelled at himself internally.
"Ah yes, uhh I was asking around but I got a question then anything. I heard that you dealt with recharging nuclear batteries here, from a pair of local guards Alick and Ridcliff. They recommended to come here, so that is what brings me here mostly. Yes mostly.", Shikoto soon managed to say well trying to not to stare in all intents and purposes using his business face.
To make it easier he soon took out the battery from his pocket then says, "Here this is the battery in question."
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 16, 2016 5:12:57 GMT -6
The radio is laden with static from the weather, but whoever James left in charge affirms that they'll get some fresh gear down there as soon as possible. They also mention that they'll swing down and pick up Shikoto and his team and bring them by along the way to reinforce, assuming that if the boss needed the techie, he'd probably need some more muscle to go with it.
According to what he's been hearing, they might not be wrong.
As for Tiny, he'd crack his knuckles in a most intimidating matter when James gave him the order to perform an old fashioned interrogation.
"Gee, boss. I haven't had to do this in quite awhile. Let me get the rust off and I'll make sure our friend here coughs up everything he knows. Maybe a few teeth too. We'll see how I feel." McKie agreed. Hiring this guy wasn't such a bad idea, he had a lot of skills and wasn't shy when it came to wet work.
He gathers up a couple of the crewmen, friends of the guy Blackjack stabbed, and they drag him off to a secluded deck to get to work. A thorough job would take a little while.
As for the new crew, splicing of the metaphorical main brace reinforces their spirits. Not that it was particularly low amongst James's old guard, but the rest certainly needed the boost. More importantly it got the two groups integrating with each other. Having worked a lot on New Prospect the latest bunch have some useful tips for surviving out here that they share with the rest. Every little bit helps.
When James moves to go investigate the vault he finds that the going isn't nearly as difficult as he had thought it would be. The path down the plateau to the dig site is wide, and it was well worked on by McCoy's crew to facilitate their own movements back and forth. Steps are carved into the packed snow to turn it from a ramp into a long, but manageable, foot path. Pitons are nailed to the rock walls at either side at 10ft intervals with rope strung between them to act as makeshift guard rails; useful because the footing is still rather slick. Chemical lights are shoved into crevices every so often as well, not strictly necessary but it probably made repeat trips easier.
It takes them about 20 minutes of walking to get the dig site, the path twists around and at one point overlooks it, giving James and the men took with him a good vantage point to stare down at it from.
There's about a 30 yard space of totally cleared ground radiating out from an otherwise ordinary cliff-face, the one they're standing on now as it were. A makeshift wall of stacked stones and concrete rubble blocks this off from the rest of the area, which is a large bowl shaped depression where four mountains meet, including the plateau McCoy's ship was parked on. Likely snow had buried this place rapidly in ages past because of the geography. If this planet truly was ever temperate as the stories say, it was probably very nice in those times. But for now the only benefit they had was that it was shielded from the winds, but the same peaks that protected it from the breezes worked to create sharp, wailing whistles that reverberated off the rock and through the cold air. It was extremely unsettling.
The tops of buildings poked up through the crust of snow and ice, only a few feet at first, but gradually more as one looked closer to the stockade. Most of the structures were in extreme disrepair from erosion caused by the weather and water both. Other damage would reveal that men had busted into a couple with picks to access the interiors, probably to search for loot. The bowl sloped downwards gently as you approached the stockade as well, and it continued to slope downwards on the other side as well. The impression given here is that the entrance to the vault was below the current 'ground level', and a lot of digging had to be done to even get at it. More chemical lights illuminate the wall and the area inside of it, but even so they couldn't see much due to the snow storm piling fresh debris on top of them and obscuring vision. With what little they could make out, they saw a tunnel big enough to fit a tank leading into the cliff itself.
As for mutants, no sign of anything so far. But what he could see is that the site would be very hard to defend from the outside, and it'd be similarly hard to retreat out of it since it was at the bottom of, what amounted to, two big holes.
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In addition, whenever the Captain and his team return from the mission he'd get Tiny's intelligence. The passcode, and the knowledge of the facility in general, came into his possession as a kind of payment. It's well known amongst those he associates with that McCoy was something of a collector, harkening back to his guilder roots. Well the payment for this one goes back to the double cross he had with Eisen. Dep-Duar had sent an expedition out in the deep tundra and found themselves a bunker with some extremely potent weaponry in it. Even McCoy wasn't sure of the exact nature because he wasn't stupid enough to open the containers it came in to find out. But both of the city-states wanted it in the hopes that it'd lead them to be the dominant power in the region.
The cities weren't really at war but there were tensions sometimes, with the faction split primarily drawn on the north/south line. Dep-Duar was something of an outlier, but their rivalry with Eisen goes back for quite some time. In reaction they'd been buddying up with Nordenberg and the other vault-city at the north pole, and the way McCoy figured it, those weapons would finally get the pair to align themselves with the mutants. Or even if not make their rivals back off.
Anyway McCoy got wind of that by pure chance and brought it up to Eisen, trying to play both sides against each other. At first he had intended to follow through but another party actually found him and made a better offer. How he actually knew McCoy had them in his possession wasn't clear even to him, but between the code and a fat stack of coins he'd have had to be nuts to turn it down. The operative makes sure to note here that Blackjack was extremely reluctant to spill who that third party was, but he eventually managed. Apparently it was someone named 'Valdez'. A guy by that name had been up on the bounty board for years, but he was big leagues, and there wasn't a lot of info on him either.
Apparently he was a real rough customer.
Curiously, Tiny mentions that Dalkor had recently acquired a bunch of weaponry from an unknown, to him, source just before he went rogue. He wonders if there's a correlation?
By way of contacts he mostly dealt with corrupt guilders and the usual types. Lately he had attempted to keep a lot of his business legitimate, buying over proper channels here on New Prospect and such, to tighten up his game after leaving Terminus. Some of the people he dealt with had got busted and that's what lead to that bounty in the first place and his coming back here to try and turn his fortune around with the vault while keeping on the down low. Bad idea. It may interest James to know that he apparently knows one of the other bounties on the list, the smuggler Ms. Ray. Turns out the nobility on Araelia will pay top dollar for a lot of the useless but shiny junk that one can find in these ruins, and she was one of his inroads. Mostly disowned him after the bounty, though. Didn't help her much considering she got her own not long after.
---
The woman chuckled in a way that suggested she knew where Shikoto was looking. She didn't immediately chastise him for it, but did give him a smirk that looked mirthful and predatory in equal parts. She didn't move to correct her posture while speaking, either.
"Oh, you know Radcliff? That old snake. Good guy, likes to run his mouth about me though. What'd he tell you this time, that I'd demand your kidneys as a down-payment. Harump." She said at first, and then struck a thoughtful pose while considering his question. A single finger pressed against Kaelyn's cheek while she eyed the ceiling contemplatively. "Well we have stuff for some of those, yes. Sell the batteries too. Depends on the type, what fuel they take."
Luckily he brought the battery with him, and she finally stood up straight and gave him some relief so that she could take it and examine it. Her hands ran all along its surface and essentially mimicked him to a T when he was first given it to examine by Briggs. Also like him, she frowned at the faded writing when she got to it.
"Looks like an N-32 type nuclear battery. Hmm...they're not bad. One of the safer ones, for you normal folks. Here we tend to use the tritium based T-20. It's older, more reliable. Easier to reproduce from the old schematics. The radiation doesn't bother us as much, for obvious reasons," she paused long enough to give him a wink with a single odd eye, "and it's easier to acquire fuel for."
The guilder got so caught up in the nerd talk that she forgot to tell him what his one ran off of. She covered her face in embarrassment. "Oops, sorry! Got carried away. Yours here uses a radioactive isotope of nickle. It's...not rare rare but you kind of have to look for it to find it. I can probably get my hands on some."
Kaelyn placed the battery on the countertop and folded her arms on top of it, basically putting her at face level with Shikoto once she rested her chin on the laced digits. "For about 50 regions, or so?" She smiled widely. Classic guilder, wind them up and then hit them with the price after making sure they know that you have no other options.
She probably guessed he didn't have that much cash, because she went on with another offer. Her eyes scanned his form, and particularly the collar. "But luckily, I accept trade. You stay, and I'll fix this right up and give it to those gentlemen over there to take back to whoever owns you. What do you say?"
This was said with such a straight face that Shikoto couldn't be sure if it was serious or a joke. Around this point both he and his entourage would hear the call from James that they were wanted back at his current camp to help on a mission. Saved by the bell, maybe?
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Post by Pitman on Jan 16, 2016 5:46:38 GMT -6
Shikoto soon heard about the item as the guider before him continued to act like a predator. 'Glump, she knows!! She knows!!', Shikoto mentally screamed at himself hoping his hands stay in tact.
"Uhh, maybe a limb or two?", Shikoto soon stated about how many body parts he needed to trade.
Of course he didn't want to sell parts of himself either. Or more likely he couldn't even if he wanted to for sole fact he was slave unless his master allowed it. 'Knowing him, most likely', Shikoto mentally thought about his boss.
"N32? I see, I guess that is good.", Shikoto soon stated when she revealed his battery type.
In his own mind he began to think of the model itself. It was serialized N32 meaning it but be the 32nd battery version of its own branch. Knowing that might he deduced on his own just by that but then the next part he too was completely enthralled at the energetic talk of nerding out on the other battery model.
"T-20.. so I see cheaper to produce and the eay you describe makes sense. But if that was the case wouldn't that cause more problems then good? Ya it works with mutants as you stated, but everyone who designed these things would of had cause concern. Unless, unless they advanced medically that didn't require as much stafety?! Fancinating...", Shikoto soon added his own input which itself showed that Shikoto understood more then an average slave, almost too smart to be a slave at all.
When Kaelyn finished her rant which Shikoto as well joined in for a brief moment she soon gave her apology.
"Oh no that is perfectly fine. In fact you going off on that gave me valuable lesson.", Shikoto soon replied with a nod.
Now here was the moment he should've saw coming a mile away. But he was taken in both at the woman's knowledge and looks that he fell into the usual guilder trap line and sinker which made himself berate himself mentally. 'God damn it Shikoto!! You went and fell for the usual guider trap!! Your smarter then this damn it!'
"50... 50 regions?!!", Shikoto soon managed to shockingly reply.
Of course the next part almost got him off his own feet when hearing the trade part. 'Trade?! Me for the battery!! I.. I... can't tell if that is a serious statement, a joke. Or flattering. Gah this woman is dangerous!! So dangerous I am scared and glad at the same time!!, Shikoto soon screamed at himself mentally.
"You know... as a slave I ca-", Shikoto was about to respond until his communicator went off*.
Picking it up he was both relieved and angry at the interruption. What would make the situation awkward or more funny the ring tone it had played a little catchy tune. The other guards looked at Shikoto then at themselves at the noise that was playing. All of them had the same thought on their minds, 'Really?'
"Yes boss? Uh huh, I see... a vault you say? Go figure you need me to Crack a vault. Well Well I could always scream open sesame and hopefully it opens but that wouldn't work it's a frozen tundra not a hot desert. Alright alright heading over now.", Shikoto finished which he looked at the others.
"What? It's catchy as hell", Shikoto soon stated.
Turning to Kaelyn he soon points at her with his finger,"Do not move, when I am back I will have something that I can trade with you. You will see!"
Shikoto soon put his hat back on then turned towards the door only to turn right back and soon says,"Forgot about this."
Which he promptly got the nuclear battery then turned right back then points again, "I will be back"
He then put on his bandana and googles then opened the door into the cold with the other guards turned to each other then laughed as they left the store.
__________________________________________
When they finally got to the destination to meet up with the others Shikoto soon waved over, "Boss I am here. So where is this Vault you spoke of I need to crack?"
*
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Jan 16, 2016 14:43:39 GMT -6
After Tiny had his fun with McCoy, the information gets brought over to James for analysis. However James was a warrior, a commander, but not really all that skilled in terms of ploys and underhand tactics. He gave it some thoughts, wondering about these connections, and the possibility of a spy among the new members. He could leave them behind, but that extra bunch of guns could be really helpful in battle. And he took these people in, so he should place trust in them too, or else he won't be able to use them in the future either. Eventually he decided if there is rat they would find out in the future, they're still a small team, nothing that important for others to find out anyways.
"Excellent work, McKie. I'm really glad to have someone like you on our team, if it's up to me I'd like slowly break his limbs until he talks, pretty sure that might get him killed. Take a break, we might need you later too."
The information of the smuggler is a pretty good news, brings them to their next target. But the name Valdez raised an eyebrow, wondering if this might attract unwanted attention to the group, they know little of him too so it'll be hard to prepare for anything. But it's a little too late now, they did the hit already, may as well see where they'll end up at.
After Shikoto and the new extra men arrives with him, James goes up to them to find out how they did. The squad leader nods to their boss, showing that all went well... except that the parts would be expensive if we buy it.
"50? Hm, but looks like she's interested in you, maybe if I rent you out to her for a few days... I'll get my part, she'll get her man for a bit, you'll get laid, hah."
That price was too high, not something James would be willing to pay. It was enough to feed everyone in the team for weeks, so he's definitely not going to spend it for that one battery that they won't be able to make use of yet. He points at the city before the vault, and to the crate of parts they found in the ship.
"You see those? See if you find anything useful in it, and I'll think about if you get to use some or not. We're going to infiltrate that city, and the vault near it. I got a password that may or maybe not be real, either way, take it and crack it. Hopefully we'll find something in the place, maybe you'll get a share too. Also, your joke suck, work on it."
Several of the other crews laughed at Shitoko in agreement, it wasn't that funny, in fact it made everyone felt a few degrees colder in this storm. But it wasn't something important so they left it at that.
"Alright, move out!! That vault's not going to crack itself on its own you know! Prepare for urban combat, try to keep yourself in cover! We got no info that the enemies are using ranged weapons, so stick together and watch each other's backs! Remember to keep your eyes for any hidden enemies in ambush, and be sure to stay with your group. Scouts, get to a high point, I want visuals and warnings for anything that you spot! We'll split the city into parts, and slowly advance after we got some idea of the next. Don't slip and fall down the hole, alright?! If we're clear then split into five teams and move! Shikoto, McKie, Skippy, you three will come with me."
A small team is left to guard the ship, well, more to warn the rest of the team for new enemies rather than able to defend the ship themselves. But they're also there to keep watch on McCoy inside the box, and to prevent him from dying.
James leads his team into the city, where they travel slowly, being careful in this new terrain where they have little clear visuals of. Scouts are being directed towards high points to provide better intel for the rest of the unit, but even so everyone is ready to deal with anything that jumps out of the shadows. Shikoto and the other men are allowed to look for useful goods, where they would be marked down to be retrieved by another team, or to be retrieved after the operation is over.
"Skippy, tell me a bit about yourself, there must be a reason why McCoy chose to sacrifice you."
He wants to learn more about these new members, and the woman would be a great place to start from. He does however remains alert in case he need to cut down anyone with his sword, won't want to get molten down by some acid spitting beast.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 16, 2016 15:25:43 GMT -6
Shikoto had almost forgot that he was on a frozen ball of misery and death for those few moments he was in the guild hall. Suffice to say, he remembered pretty damn fast when he left. Kaelyn waved good by in a suitably feminine fashion, waggling her fingers at him as he retrieved his gear.
"I do so hope you come back with something useful. Or at all. Good luck!"
---
The ruined city looks a lot more intimidating from the ground than it did up on the cliff. The decayed husks of buildings cast eerie shadows in the silvery light of midnight, and the whistling of the wind was made the worse by passing through the streets and gaps in the masonry. The going was also treacherous once again, no path was carved to make the going any easier here. They'd have to go carefully.
The teams hit the outskirts and split up as ordered.
It didn't take long before the teams lost visual contact with one another, the houses and complexes gradually rising higher and higher out of the ground. At first only going up to one story, but then easily surpassing three. The alleys that would normally connect the streets they were using were never excavated and were thus still filled with rubble caked together with frozen slush. Much like the walls of Dep-Duar, and those certainly looked very sturdy. It'd be hard to link back up in a hurry.
At his side Skippy advanced carefully with one of those steel crossbows that McCoy's crew had seemed fond off. Her eyes glared at every corner, alcove, and nook with well deserved paranoia. "Watch out, there's nests of creatures all this city. Diggers, wargs, you name it."
At the other flank, Edric checked that tube like weapon of his to make sure it was operational. He had explained sometime after joining that its real name was the 'iron cobra', and the visceral image that brought to mind was already bad enough without having to have ever seen what it really did to someone hit by it. The man was perky and on high alert, seemingly not bothered in the least by the adverse conditions. Probably because he had taken one of his 'pick me ups' in preparation for this mission. It must have been crazy-good stuff. "Wouldn't be an adventure without a little sport, would it?"
None of the buildings around here looked particularly interesting to James, but Shikoto might think otherwise. It looked to the mechanic like a lot of these were buried rapidly, with the insides suffering comparatively little damage. Similar to how fossils are formed, actually. Peering through a frosted over window would show the slave an ideal-looking dining room; wooden furniture sat around a table with a floral vase centerpiece. The skeletons of the old occupants still sat around it. Chilling in a way that the cold was not. Still, maybe he could find something useful in them? It'd require a dedicated search, but the boss did give his go ahead to do so.
While he looked, Skippy went on about herself.
"To start, my real name is Skylia Rodari. The old boss could never remember it and thus made up the nickname. It stuck. Can keep using it if you want." The woman recounted. Now that Gransela had more time, and had got to see her during the dinner without the face mask on, he could tell that she was relatively young. Probably newly an adult, meaning she'd likely been at this kind of thing for a long time. Which she indirectly confirmed. "Come from Red Rock, don't remember much of it though. Was an urchin in the capital. McCoy had picked me up after I made off with his coin purse after a job. Had been casing him for the better part of a week. Saw it as my big break. Didn't work out so hot, but he was impressed enough to take me on board. It beat the streets, or working on some farm."
A sharp howl made her pause and scan the immediate vicinity with her bow before continuing.
"And he left me because he knew I was stupid enough to do what he wanted regardless. He saved my life so I owed him mine. How it works isn't it?" It was hard to miss the bitterness in her tone. There was more to it as well that wasn't as clear.
Gunshots and cries of alarm from one of James's other teams cut her off, that'd have to be enough for now.
McKie reacted first. "Above!" He cried out, and whipped a knife upwards just in time to catch a large wolf-looking creature in the chest. They'd realize too late that those eerie noises weren't all coming from the environment.
A pack of wolves the size of small horses and with coats the color of dirty snow leaped down upon James's team with fangs and claws bared, two for each of them with a spare that prowled around looking for an opening. The claws looked particularly nasty, they were slightly curving implements that looked like they could sink into flesh and tear it with ease. They had taken up ambush points in a couple of the upper floors of these buildings, the ones that it looks like looters had already hit and thus provided access into. Since James was specifically keeping an eye out for attackers he'd also be able to react immediately.
Shikoto, however, would find one trying to pounce directly onto him and rip his throat out with teeth that would make a raptor envious.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Jan 16, 2016 18:46:47 GMT -6
"Hm, you got honor, I'll say that. But now that you returned the favor, you won't owe him anything anymore. But let me tell you, a deal is a two side thing. In other words, if he did anymore than that, you would be free to do more on your part in return. Just like the conversation I had with McCoy before, he failed to hold up his deal, I won't have to follow my part either. As such that costed him his freedom, and likely his life, a very foolish man. You seem like a promising member to have in the team, growing up in that kind of condition is certain not a welcoming experience. But now that you're out of there, you have a new life ahead of you. Don't throw it away, fight and survive, perhaps you'll be able to better enjoy life with my team."
He didn't press on about what Skylia said, instead he gave a few words of his own about how he does things. He have a very high emphasis on having a fair exchange, but if the other party fails to deliver, that means he won't have to do anything that he promised himself. It's already better than what most people are doing, trying to cheat each other out of deals, for him he'll wait to see if his opponent would do it first. He did try to rally her spirits, just like when his other crews feel down for different reasons. His other choices are the chef's cooking and the doc's green and purple mysterious liquid. He was told the liquid works, just that most members won't even want to try it, and in the battlefield he'll lack both of their help so it'll come down to his own words. Good thing he's fairly fine with working up morale, so it tends to end up alright.
As they pass the buildings there seems to be some valuable goods accord to how Shikoto looks, so he had him record down the location and description of the goods, they can come back later to grab them. If not then they could still be useful in battles if something happens to appear nearby. After that he turns towards McKie at the mention of sports.
"How about a little hunting, sounds like we got some big mutts coming out way, I could use a new trophy in the captain's room. I trust that you all can defend yourself, if not then survive until the rest of us are done."
As the large beasts appear, he slowly draws his sword, ready to deal with them before they even begin their attack. With a threatening warcry, he swings his sword side way to meet one of the lunging wolves, aiming right at where the mouth is in order to smash it away or even slice it in half with their combined force. The other one he follows the momentum of the swing, and delivers a powerful punch at the jaws of the second wolf, combining with his new spike gauntlet to do as much damage as possible or at least knock it away from him.
"That looks like some fine fur we got there, excellent to add to my coat, if not we can sell them for a decent price! Don't let them run, slaughter them!"
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Post by Pitman on Jan 16, 2016 19:01:28 GMT -6
"Right right, next time a better joke.", Shikoto soon shrugged as the others began to laugh about his remarks.
Still he was freezing his balls off again what he fully remembered this was not a paradise but a frozen hell on earth. Now hearing the joke about it part of them expected James' own ideas on the situation and simply ignored it, it has gotten old he never been laid before as a joke. Regardless he followed the group and orders as they headed off to the direction they required. As they walked Shikoto began to notice the various buildings about which were perfect preserved. It completely intrigued him as soon as the order to search was given he looked at the nearby building. Inside he saw perfectly preserve items inside but also noticed the skeleton as well sitting casually.
"Poor guy, probably instantly died without knowing. Though that throws more questions then answers on how this happened here.", Shikoto commented as he continue to look around.
Shikoto soon came up to another building and notice the door itself was somewhat broken, and he managed to push it open to get inside. When looking he noticed the roof had partially caved in well the rest of the place was dark. He soon quickly turned on a flashlight to see inside and began to look to see if he saw anything useful. As he looked through the place he didn't notice the unrecognizable sound from above and shrugged.
As he soon found nothing here is was about to leave then comments, "Nothing, what is next giant monster comes out of no-"
Just as he saw he soon saw movement and quickly took out of revolver as large teeth that were razer sharp suddenly tried to bite his face off. Luckily he had good reaction time and then which scrams, "What the fuck?! What kind of ugly ass monster are you?!"
He didn't even think he simply took out his revolver and began firing directly in the face of the giant warg that came from above.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 16, 2016 19:21:44 GMT -6
The first wolf that strikes at James takes the brunt of his blade full-on. The flat of the blade catches it on the cheek and sends the beast flying to the side with a splatter of blood staining both the sword and its wielder. It doesn't move when it lands. On the plus side, that meant the pelt for that one would be almost perfectly preserved.
The second bounds to the side to avoid his spiked fist and returns favor by snapping its jaws at his elbow as it flashes by, and then it throws its weight into James. The second half probably wouldn't work, but one has to figure they usually don't tackle prey as buff as the captain is. That said if it did manage to unbalance him at a critical moment, it could be very bad news very fast, particularly because the one that remained in reserve wheeled around to swipe at his legs while he had to deal with the one in front of him. They were definitely more dangerous that lupines on nicer planets.
As for Shikoto, his panicked fire fails to down his selected target. The shots rip through the meat of its flank, but none of the rounds bury themselves in deep enough to cause any appreciable wounds. What it did do is break its attack run, however. It landed heavily next to him and resorted to just tearing at his stomach with its claws before leaping away. As soon as it did its friend came at Shikoto from the right and attempted to grab his leg at the calf and drag him to the ground.
Around them, Tiny quickly dispatched one of the wolves with the iron cobra, that one making a gurgling sound as the monofilament wire rebounded off of its ribcage and tore its insides to pieces. Skippy had drawn some kind of boarding axe and was circling with her own pair and exchanging quick slashes in a decidedly more defensive style.
At the corners of his vision, Gransela could see some of his men up on the rooftops engaged by some kind of nasty flying bugs the size of a basketball, those looked to be a few of the scouts that had been sent ahead. A coordinated strike by animals?
There was definitely something wrong here.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Jan 16, 2016 19:34:34 GMT -6
A bit annoyed that the animal managed to avoid his punch, he uses his cloak to protect him from the sharp fangs, and maintains his balance. As the last one comes towards him, he waves and uses the blades that are sewed to the edges of his cloak to force away the beast, before proceeding to slam the second wolf at the third. Now that there's enough space, he can use his free arm to swing his sword back down on the two animals, hopefully to end his problems quickly so he can move on to help the others.
Next he pulled out his sidearm Shot Revolver and provides support to his allies, looks like McKie's doing fine on his own, so he move to help Skylia. He shoots at these wolves while slowly approaching to change some of their targeting towards him, she should do a lot better if she is only dealing one or two of them.
He also saw those new targets, pretty big bugs they got up there, so he directs the scouts to take cover and get off the buildings. If they have to engage flying creatures it might be better if they do it in more narrow areas rather than the open top. By now he's pretty sure this is not a coincident, something is controlling or leading these creatures towards them so they'll have to either find that thing or wipe out all these mutant animals that they see.
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Post by Pitman on Jan 16, 2016 19:50:06 GMT -6
Shikoto cursed at the claw attack but luckily his thick clothing protected him from taking any real damage. Regardless it hurt like hell and shikoto quickly took out his speedloader as he reloaded his magnum. As soon as he did that he suddenly notice another warg come about and tried to drag him away.
"NO YOU FUCKING DON'T!", Shikoto shouted as he used his other leg to kick the beast in the eye then took aim with his magnum and fired into the face of the beast trying to take him away.
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