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Death Otter covered the smoky end of the corridor for a second, but when it failed to disgorge security officers, she backed up towards where a dwarf was doing his best impression of a doorstop and, honestly, kind of killing it. She'd had her gear when she woke up...did dwarfo still have his? And if so, was any of it useful to her? And if so was he in a position to have an opinion about her helping herself?

Important questions. Far from the only ones though.

The Matrix was still absent. That was worrying. Not just a faraday cage around a little room then, but something bigger. It made Otter's fingertips itch. She was blind and deaf and dumb without the Matrix, or as good as. It was her home. This scrap of impure water people called a body was just...rental space. It was cool though, null sheen. There was a way out. Either someone on the inside was up to shenanigans, or the power failure had opened the doors. That failure, plus the smoke, equaled 'these guys are having problems right now.' And that would be perfect opportunity for a getaway.

As Otter patted the dwarf down, she focused her awareness though, looking for any kind of wireless signal. Maybe weak. Maybe concealed behind noise. Maybe just an echo of a reflection off the metal in the walls. Anything.

She couldn't take too long though. Had to keep moving, had to keep grooving.

Shrike drops the two 'riggers' with two controlled bursts and moves around the corner in a fluid movement. As he sees the surprise, he doesn't give them chance to react, determined to put them down before they can alert anybody.

Those looks of surprise, they weren't expecting somebody else to start shooting them. Hardly a sign that these guys know what they are doing. They are lucky that these aren't lethal rounds.



25
Shooting
8S (Gel rounds) plus additional hits, -2 to defense if struck, physical limit -2 to resist knockdown,


15

8S (Gel rounds) plus additional hits, -2 to defense if struck, physical limit -2 to resist knockdown,


5

8S (Gel rounds) plus additional hits, -2 to defense if struck, physical limit -2 to resist knockdown,



Shrike will target the two who are hitching the trailer first, trusting Stygge to deal with the drivers. If the two go down quickly, he will switch his target to a driver.

Location: Puyallup, Seattle Metroplex
Condition: Ok
Broadcasted SIN: <hidden mode, teammates have authorization to see her>

Wraith drops down through the elevator hatch after Bushwack, and after a perfect three-point superhero landing shifts to the side, using the inside wall of the elevator for cover while peering out into the room - fortunately with low-light and thermal vision, the dimmed overheads aren't an obstacle. After a quick survey, the foxelf consults the available floorplans, checking primarily to see what sort of rooms or hallways are directly attached to this particular chamber; the two bodies sprawled out on the floor don't particularly concern her, but she will note their heat levels.

With the troll out in the room (or is it a wide hallway?), Wraith re-draws the right hand SG, providing him with some cover; his attempts to interrogate them has her wincing, but she holds her tongue about that for the moment. "<Nakama, abunai>... it is ill-advised to linger - the tactical situation is critical," the she comments to her companion via direct message, the foxelf wrestling between culturally-engrained politeness and urgency.

TIME STAMP wrote: //Location: Downtown Puyallup/Seattle Metroplex/UCAS
//Time: <1147:30/2075-01-18> Combat round OVER
//Weather: <Heavy Overcast, Light Snow, 1C, Wind N 8kph, feels like -6C>
//Air Quality: <Monthly Average: Moderate (Yellow), Precipitation pH 2.6>

Situational Awareness wrote:

• Exterior:
  • Factory parking lot: two pairs of "chipheads" approaching trailers, the intention appears to be unhooking the trailers, Shrike and Stygge are in position here
  • City streets: large tractors (as in the tractor in a tractor-trailer rig) are approaching the trailers, but are currently in the street
  • Trucks: two trucks were approaching the entry to the parking lot/loading bay, but are slowing to a stop still on the street
• Interior:
  • Office Elevator shaft: Bushwack and Wraith are currently breaching the elevator.
  • Hidden basement: four of five Tir operators are visible, all unconscious. The fifth and Mulpa are no where to be seen from this vantage
  • Cell: in the hidden basement are a series of cells, the bomb knocked out the locks, some of them have been pushed open. Approximately 150m from elevator to cell area. The fifth Tir operative and Mulpa are in the cell room. Bomb/EMP fragments are in the hall by the fire door.
  • Factory: suspect five Tir operatives in this building as well.
• Trailers:
  • Trailer 1: riddled with bullet holes and other damage, full of yelling and other signs of conflict. The other is not active.
  • Trailer 2: no sign of movement inside

IN THE DARK
The dwarf is closer than the smoke filled corridor. Approaching the short meta, Death Otter can see he is breathing. The doorstop is not totally stripped, but he has been relieved of weapons and commlinks. Judging by the empty holster this guy probably had some weapons on him. Death Otter's investigations around the room combined with her background in Matrix networks, reveal a painful truth: this room is blocked off from any wireless transmissions.

As she approaches the smokey hallway, she hears a loud clang followed by heavy footsteps. That followed in turn by someone talking, a low, deep voice. Not really a pleasant one under the circumstances.

Closer to the hallway, through the smoke, she sees a body stuck between the two leaves of an automatic fire door. She can't see much past that. She realizes then, that the air was not moving at all until the loud clang, then the air started to move out down the hallway.

INSIDE OF A SUSPICIOUS SCONE FACTORY WITH DANGER WRITTEN ALL OVER IT
Wraith drops down into the corridor behind Bushwack. The area is relatively quiet. The smell is acrid, masking even the troll's cigar. But it is clear that the air was still and is now -- not rushing -- definitely moving up the elevator shaft, carrying much of the smoke with it. The room will probably clear out soon.

Her sensitive ears do pick up some movement down the hall though, like someone walking slowly.

Bushwack is focused on the unconscious elves. They are truly out. Stripping them of gear doesn't wake them. Finally, blowing smoke up the nose of one of the pointy ears, or maybe the stank of a size 32 troll foot, seems to rouse her a bit. Enough to say "ugh". She jerks around a bit, but does not get much more conscious yet. Clearly it will take time for her to fully wake up.

Side note keeping with a theme, they do have really nice gear.

When Wraith tries to message Bushwack, she notices considerable lag and interference: instead of going over the normal Matrix networks, it was forced to use the small radio on the commlink itself. There is hardly and signal available, and none a few steps from the elevator car.


OUTSIDE OF A SUSPICIOUS SCONE FACTORY WITH DANGER WRITTEN ALL OVER IT
Combat for Stygge and Shrike: No need for more initiative passes, you guys have knocked out everyone worth knocking out.
The sound of weapons fire is distinct, even suppressed. Combined with bodies dropping to the ground -- the typical bystander can't tell dead from knocked out -- starts to cause some inkling of a commotion as passersby try to understand a rapidly developing situation.

It has developed rapidly into four trucker-riggers hitting the ground. The struggle inside the nearest trailer continues, but no additional gunfire.

The approaching trucks slows down, the face of the truckers visible in the windows, faces filled with confusion. They appears to be slowing to a stop, the brakes of the truck sound that way at least!

Both Stygge and Shrike have seen the look of surprise on the pedestrian-truckers, it is mirrored in the truck driving-truckers right now. It's is the look of someone waking up and not knowing where they are or how they got there. Utter confusion.

---

INFO:
What the frag are you going to do now?

On hearing footsteps and someone talking, Death Otter swore under her breath and glanced up and down the corridor. Bare walls, bare floor, bare ceiling. All the doors were closed, even to her old cell. All except the one propped open by the dwarf.

She moved, her footsteps muffled by the padded soles of her chameleon stealth suit. As she went, Otter stripped her overcoat off and activated the suit's optical systems. By the time she was ducking into the dwarf's room most of her body was a distorted blur of the corridor behind her. Once she was in the cell Death Otter pulled the suit's hood up and over her face, and that vanished too. The coat she coiled around her left arm and tucked it behind her. Then with her other hand she drew her gun and held it behind her too, so the suit would block those easily visible elements from view.

Then Death Otter waited, backed up against the wall where the door would give her a little cover if they pushed into the room. And close enough that if they just pushed the dwarf inside and let the door swing shut, she'd be close enough to get a foot in the way before it closed. That was a little uncomfortably close...if they did a visual sweep of the room, even with the optics on and Otter sitting still, there was a chance they'd see a bit of visual churn where she was.

That's what the gun was for.

Heart hammering, adrenaline singing a savage song in her blood, she waited to see which way the dice would turn up.

As Shrike and Stygge put down the other truckers, he feels a moment of unease.

Either we are really good or this is going way too easy he thinks, something is not right here. Moving back the way they came, he grabs one of the unconscious truckers he had put down.

"Grab the other two we put down and get them out of sight quickly," he tells Stygge, dragging one in.

"Area outside is secure, but things are getting a little strange."

Muppet Man wrote: ↑Mon Nov 15, 2021 11:48 pm Both Stygge and Shrike have seen the look of surprise on the pedestrian-truckers, it is mirrored in the truck driving-truckers right now. It's is the look of someone waking up and not knowing where they are or how they got there. Utter confusion.

This may have been the wrong approach or at least the wrong one to keep doing.
He makes a show of slinging his rifle over his back and beckoning the drivers in

If they drive away, Shrike mentally shrugs

Can't say I blame them. Will have to wait until these guys wake up to get some answers

If they drive in, he waves them to stop

"Are you okay in there?" he asks politely and in a friendly manner, hands out to make it clear he isn't planning to shoot them, "do you know where you are, why you are here and what you are doing?"



"Now we need to find out what is going on in that trailer," he says to Stygge, pointing to the trailer where there is banging coming from.

"We only just got here ourselves he explains to the other truckers, so we are going to find out what is going on. I'd say your trucks were to pull those trailers, so lets find out why!"

With that, he moves over to the trailer where the noise is coming from and checks the doors to see if they can be opened.

TIME STAMP wrote: //Location: Downtown Puyallup/Seattle Metroplex/UCAS
//Time: <1147:32/2075-01-18> Combat round OVER
//Weather: <Heavy Overcast, Light Snow, 1C, Wind N 8kph, feels like -6C>
//Air Quality: <Monthly Average: Moderate (Yellow), Precipitation pH 2.6>

Situational Awareness wrote:

• Exterior:
  • Factory parking lot: two pairs of "chipheads" approaching trailers, the intention appears to be unhooking the trailers, Shrike and Stygge are in position here
  • City streets: large tractors (as in the tractor in a tractor-trailer rig) are approaching the trailers, but are currently in the street
  • Trucks: two trucks were approaching the entry to the parking lot/loading bay, but are slowing to a stop still on the street
• Interior:
  • Office Elevator shaft: Bushwack and Wraith are currently breaching the elevator.
  • Hidden basement: four of five Tir operators are visible, all unconscious. The fifth and Mulpa are no where to be seen from this vantage
  • Cell: in the hidden basement are a series of cells, the bomb knocked out the locks, some of them have been pushed open. Approximately 150m from elevator to cell area. The fifth Tir operative and Mulpa are in the cell room. Bomb/EMP fragments are in the hall by the fire door.
  • Factory: suspect five Tir operatives in this building as well.
• Trailers:
  • Trailer 1: riddled with bullet holes and other damage, full of yelling and other signs of conflict. The other is not active.
  • Trailer 2: no sign of movement inside

INSIDE OF A SUSPICIOUS SCONE FACTORY WITH DANGER WRITTEN ALL OVER IT OR IN THE DARK

Death Otter can hear movement and conversation, in English mostly with snippets of Japanese thrown in. Sounds like two people, one sounds large.

For Wraith and Bushwack, they make it to the smoking doorway, where they find the fifth elf either dead or unconscious. More importantly though, they see Mulpa lying on the floor acting as a doorstop for some kind of small dark room. As far as the two of them can see, or hear, or smell, they are alone in this room. And except for the six doors (only one of which is at all open) this place is a dead end.


OUTSIDE OF A SUSPICIOUS SCONE FACTORY WITH DANGER WRITTEN ALL OVER IT

Combat for Stygge and Shrike: No need for more initiative passes, you guys have knocked out everyone worth knocking out.
The truck slows down, signal on. Then there's a burst of gunfire from the trailer and the "hell no" look passes across his face and he guns the truck and heads post haste away from the scene. There's another truck behind the first, and it too slows down: just rubbernecking. It follows the first and drives away.

There are some scraggly bushes that the knocked out truckers can be tossed into for some degree of concealment. Not much, but better than nothing.

Looking that the trailers, there are no doors or hatches on the sides or bottom. Their might be on top, but Shrike can't see up there at the moment. A drone probably could no problem....

However, the trailer with all the commotion has been knocked to the side enough he could stick is head inside to see. Maybe better yet a mirror or a drone...

---

INFO:
What the frag are you going to do now?

Next time my brother can't make it to one of these things, I'm 'borrowing' a couple of his toys.

The firefight goes in Stygge and Shrike's favour way more than the elf was expecting. She drags the unconscious truckers towards the nearby bushes and sees the conscious ones quite understandably drive away from the scone factory. Unfortunately, she needs those trucks. She mutters some curses in Sperethiel under her breath.

"You cool with doing the detective work here?" Stygge asks Shrike. "I'll go after those truckers and see if I can't borrow a rig." She climbs into her van and gets ready to jack in. "Ping me if we ain't taking no trailers."

With that, the elf rigger connects to her vehicle's interface and becomes one with Meggy, feeling like she's transformed into some kind of ox-camel hybrid. She figures the fleeing truckers are heading back to the cement factory and simply tailing them will just take her there. But perhaps she can find an alternative route and cut them off?

Bushwack looks around for Tir commando with the best gear.

He read the instructions "Apply evenly to large skin surface for optimal results. He was no Doctor how hard could it be really ?" He turned the commando on his belly used his spur to cut out a big square of his pants around the commandos ass." What else did he know really ? The where called stim and slap patches? That probably meant they needed slapping to release their mojo stimulate blood flow and the like ? Sounded legit"

He put two patches on the commando's ass, one on each cheek. And kept slapping the ass of the commandos until he woke up and told him to stop. Hard enough so he would be sure the stuff worked. Not hard enough to do actually more damage than the commando had suffered already. "That Tir guy better acted grateful or they would find one cheesed of troll", he thought chomping on a fresh cigar.

What the hell is going on out there?

The acoustics weren't GREAT in what was effectively a big metal box full of smaller metal boxes, but it sounded like someone reading instructions off a bottle of hemorrhoid cream. Given the state of the other body she'd glimpsed in the smoke, that was just creepy. She had to take a look.

Moving slowly and carefully, she leaned over to the side of the doorframe over the doomed dwarf and with a barely-visible finger pressed one of her sensor tags onto the frame facing towards the door with the fallen soldier, then retreated to her hiding spot again. The tiny camera wasn't much bigger than a grain of sand but standing as close as she was, its signal was clear. In the signal was the image.

Having any kind of wireless contact at all helped a little...but it wasn't the Matrix, and couldn't compete. Even so, it showed her an image of the hallway, with the smoke ever so slowly thinning from around the fallen man. Something shadowy moved around on the far side, nattering about cheese in a bass rumble. Something big.

Great, she thought with a sinking heart. They brought a troll.