|
Within Mount Weather |
In scenesets |
54 Days After Landing |
The computer beeps under Richael's attentions, and a slow progress bar reading 'Fueling' begins to creep upward. It will take time… and there is the first bullet ricocheting off the concrete outside the door… and Luther pulls the door shut, closing them into the fuel room… although there are two other doors out of this room (besides the room that is about to be flooded with mixing fuel).
The battered but resolute team of Trikru and Skaikru are scattered around a large room filled with tubes, pipes, and vats, with Pontus, Luther, Grimm, and Khesu near the door to the stairwell, which they have just closed in the face of oncoming Security forces. Richael is at the control panel, trying to mix fuel, Lionel is in the launch room, staring up at the long, finned cylinder of a cruise missile and looking for some pipes to break, and the rest of the team is somewhere in between control panel and launch room. Time is certainly not on their side, not with Security forces rushing up from below. Hopefully one of the other two doors out of the room leads to somewhere beside another launch tube.
Richael finishes setting the control panel to do what she wants it to do and begins to prepare the bomb for it's one and only use as she pulls it from the backpack she was given to carry it in. "Bar that door with something. If they come in here shooting, we'll all die." She brings it close to the missile tube and begins to set the timer for it.
Lionel is staring at the long missile. He leans slightly aside, staring at the door opposite of him, which is marked with the exact same sign as the door that gave him access to here. He then looks back at the missile again, and furrows his bushy brows thoughtfully. Gotta figure out how to vent the fuel. Hmm. If he was Hector, he would find some kind of pipe, or vent, or gasket, or some other very brainy solution. But he's Lionel. He shrugs, steps back and brings up his rifle. "If it works for Han Solo," he says plainly. "I'm venting the fuel now!" He announces back behind him where the others are crowding. He immediately opens fire, sweeping his rifle left and right. He peppers the pipes, tubes, and other this-thats-and-whatevers with bullets. He's backing up while he does this, aiming to just step back out into the control room. Once done, he casually shuts the door. "Hey… hey… Wood… I did it." He offers her a thumbs up, and the broadest, most boyish smile that face can hold.
Khesu did not dare let himself slide down and rest on the floor for fear he may not be able to get back up again. Leaning against the wall seems to have done him some good to recover his breath and ease dizziness. Steadier, he watches them close the door and pushes himself carefully off from the wall. Without now requiring assistance, this Trikru warrior begins to make his way through to see what the other two doors hold for them. And yet, Khesu will let others take point. He simply doesn't wish to hold them all up with his lagging behind.
He does look back to check on Pontus to see if his friend needs help.
If the bad guys come in shooting, we all die, but somehow Lionel shooting the place up is helpful? Color Britt confused. She gives the pair of Skaikru an odd look, then motions to Amp and Tuan. "Go see if one of those other doors leads anywhere better than the hallway." She hasn't noticed Khesu doing the same. She, meanwhile, looks around for something that might be shoved in front of the door to slow the security force.
Pontus sat just inside the door like a bloody paperweight trying to keep his second wind going. He could hear the rat-a-tat-tat of bullets hitting the security door. He waited and was trying to keep himself awake and chose to pass the time waiting by knocking on the back side of the door idly. His good eye that was not shot red and bloodstained looked at Khesu as if he was clearly thinking, »hey, are they doe monkeying around with that thing yet?» His fingers snapped and he pointed to Lionel trusting someone would grab his attention. Pontus was a patient scout.
Luther looks around for something to bar the door with… and ends up with 'grab the handle, pull back' until someone can find something more useful. "They're going to come through…" he pauses at the burst of rifle-fire from the fuel room, but relaxes a little as Lionel comes back out of the room. No enemies, just… insane allies? "A long metal bar or pipe or something would help here."
Richael snaps her head up at the sound of gunfire and her eyes go wide as she realizes what Lionel is doing. One can almost cut the tension in the Skaiwoman as she stares at the tube for a few seconds, even as Lionel comes out and shuts it, giving her that grin in the process. When they are very much -not- dead she musters up the biggest glare for Lionel. "Never. Do. That. Again. I could swear my heart stopped when you did that!" She sighs before she finishes setting the timer for the bomb and says, "Ok, anyone found a way back downstairs? Because once I let go of this, it's time to run."
Lionel's smile falters at Richael's chiding, and he slings his rifle back. He clears his throat, nods, and then offers a sheepish shrug. "I usually like making hearts stop in other ways…" Then he offers another grin, but it lacks the full force, even if his brows are arched meaningfully over those too-blue eyes. "But I'll take what I can get." Then he starts to look around the room, and then he looks at the floor. "Unless someone has figured out how to make holes in the floor…" He then digs out the Lip Map (TM) from his pocket, turning it over to see if there's anything that pops out at him.
Britt scans around for something to bar the door. Long metal bar or pipe. Then Lionel walks back out and she calls. "Leo -" Yeah, blame Kai for that nickname sticking. "Jam one of your Mountain rifles in the door." She watches Richael with a detached curiosity, and gets her bow ready just in case the security troops break in.
Amp is here. Quiet as he should be considering that he's all about the Stealth with his Scoutness. His bloody blade is sheathed again and he pays somewhat close attention to those that are doing what they are doing in terms of dealing with the Object of Death that is nearest to them all. His eyes and ears are open in case of interlopers or something else. Occasionally, though, his eyes move over to Britt in case orders are thrown around. He looks ready to run, draw his sword and stab or even just leap onto the ceiling all at the same time. His foot taps with petulant impatience as he has nothing to fight at this exact moment.
"As you wish, Britt kom Trikru," Lionel says, bowing slightly to her. Then he unshoulders one of his many guns. He looks over it, and then promptly ejects the magazine and pockets it. No point in putting ammo to waste. He steps up, and promptly jams the rifle into place to ensure that the door becomes… no longer a door, but just an interesting wall decoration.
Pontus clapped his hands twice and pointed to Britt, and pulled himself up to a crouch. He muttered to Khesu, one eye going faintly slack. He mutters something to him and sighed leaning back against the wall. It hurt to breathe and he wasn't sure what was hit other than he was angry about it.
Khesu stops to listen to Pontus, trying to make out the Scout's nearly indecipherable mumble. Then says something very low in response. His primary concern is finding the way out. Claustrophobia for the win - let's GTFO of here, yes please. Even if he's not moving very fast.
BUT HARK! One does not stand still for long because AMP KOM TRIKRU's ears have finally caught up with the orders that were given before the commercial break. "Oh, /now/?" It's a quip used to give himself the space needed to look pretty badass and cool. And also to show his teenage rebellious nature even though he is no longer of the age of teens. He grins and reaches up to run a hand through his Trihawk. "If there is not a way out, I will make one." Amp's grin is completely mischievous before he heads for the door that's opposite the Stairs of Doom? Is everything of Doom in this place? He's not as cautious as he should be probably but he's /really/ hoping there's something to stab in there. Or kick. He can kick things too. Skunk Ninja.
Khesu says, "Pontus says … to give him a grenade and he can set it off." Khesu rumbles low but more clearly than Pontus can speak with his gunshot jaw. This wounded Trikru looks to Richael and speaks slowly with care before he checks the passage out that he's nearest to. Funny how he's quieter than at least one of their scouts, "He says he can run. Unless you have a timer you have set.""
Luther leans back on the handle to keep the door in place for Lionel to jam it… and just in time, apparently. The rifle is in place, and it rattles immediately, and then hands begin to hammer on the door. Luther warily releases the handle, and it turns immediately, but the door remains jammed… for now. The rifle is going to rattle loose at some point. Luther frowns at Pontus' words and Khesu's repetition of them, "<In Trigedasleng> No. The Mountain will not claim more of us. I will help you."
And the progress bar on the screen in front of Rachel begins to climb ever-so-slowly. When Khesu uses a keycard to open the door opposite the missile room, it reveals more machinery, tanks, and vats. Probably not a way out. When Amp use a keycard to open the doorway opposite the stairwell, it reveals a small room of concrete, with another flight of stairs leading up to a -giant- door. And off to the left is a small pair of metal doors.
Richael watches Amp and hopefully the other scouts leave to check the other rooms and she says, "Grenades are not necessary, this timer that I'm holding to stop from moving will work, but once I let go of it, I can't stop it. So once we find a way back down or out, we need to move out of here."
Britt catches Pontus' eye and gives him a reassuring nod. She watches the door with a well-concealed anxiety. "Anything?" she yells back to the scouts, prepared to fight their way back through the hallway. Pontus' words relayed by Khesu get a narrowed frown. "<In Trigedasleng> He's right. We will not leave you unless we must."
Pontus eyed Khesu and gave him a slow nod in response to the question at hand and took a deep breath that felt like his right lung was just on fire, and pushed himself to his feet. Rest time was over. He looked to Khesu's translation and nodded. It'd do. He was a shitshow right now, but the human hamburger meat was still moving and more so, still willing. He glanced over and watched Spider Amp(tm) check the doors. He looked to Richael and made a gesture. It as quizzical and curiously made his two fingers run like a pari of legs. Ah how fast could she run when she let go? At Britt's words he blinked and pointed to himself and made a feew gestures. Oh he was planning to throw and run like hell That was completely in plan.
Lionel looks at Richael as they all start to brainstorm. He steps up to her, dropping his voice low. "Hey… Ri… those bombs?" He looks down at her. "We could make an exit…" He flashes her a quick smile. "The rooms are all concrete lined, right? Can't we just… go a room over, put the bomb against the wall, and… let it boom?" Might be a dumb idea, but Lionel has seen a lot of movies… he knows this works… or at least, it could work.
Luther chuckles at Pontus' further gestures, "<In Trigedasleng> Ahh. Sorry then. I won't help you." Apparently, even here in the Mountain, Luther can make a joke, if a grim one. He eyes the rattling door and its assault rifle doorstop a moment longer, then begins to back up, toward the center of the room. He peers around Khesu into the second machine room, shaking his head, then looks to the last door, "I hope there is a way out that way. Or we have to go through the Maunon."
<FS3> Britt rolls Alertness: Good Success. (7 2 1 1 8 4 8 4)
Richael replies to Pontus's gestures. "Fast enough, but not if there are doors and such in my way. We need to be down at least two levels or hell if we can go up and outside the mountain, that'd work well, but I doubt we're getting back in if we do that."
Amp's door reveals more promising than the other. Khesu leaves off his after a brief look and goes with others to see what Amp has found. He'd surely prefer not to loiter any longer than necessary.
"I got stairs!" Amp says this as he slides back in through the door he just checked out because checking out doors is the Scouty thing to do. "They go up. All the way up." Amp leaves it at that as he moves to just inside the door and gives a nod to Britt. See? He has Scouted. Now can he stab something else?
Britt lets out a brief snort upon realizing the mis-translation, and smirks at Pontus. "<In Trigedasleng> Good. I knew there was fight left in you still." Thinking ahead to the possibility of exiting out one of the other doors, Britt suddenly looks around. Spying one of those 'in case of fire' boxes with a hose and an axe, she smashes the glass with the handle of her sword and grabs both. "Let's go then. Anywhere is better than here." She gives Richael a nod. "Make the timer short. Better we die than they get in here and stop it going off."
"He's got stairs!" Lionel repeats. He then grasps onto Richael's shoulder. "We're ready to blow, kid." Then he looks toward Britt, nodding. He starts forward, but takes up the rear guard again to make sure that no one comes in behind them before it can explode. He brings up the rifle, butting it into his shoulder, finger resting along the trigger. He be ready.
"We are not leaving yet, Richael kom Skaikru. There are still Trikru inside the Mountain." Luther seems dead set on that, although he could probably be convinced. There are other teams in the Mountain, after all. He nods sharply at Britt's order to Richael, agreeing with her in an entirely unnecessary way — she's in charge, after all. He follows after Amp, looking up and up the stairs to the giant door, then looking to the left, "We should see what is in there?" He does not recognize shiny elevator doors as such.
Richael nods to Britt and says, "We'll have about ninety seconds to move." And with that, she removes her hand from the timer switch. Tic tic tic. Richael is promptly up and running for the door, leaving her bomb behind. Godspeed big bomb… make her proud!
Khesu wants to go and see where those stairs lead before they go running blindly and assume they go somewhere useful. He may not be too able to run anyway, especially on stairs. So he goes to join Amp and investigate that option before he suddenly gets left as the last one trailing behind. He rumbles low, "We need to get back down to free our people, not leave by way of the mountain's top."
Pontus cracked a shadow of a grin to Britt with a wry humor and anguish. With his good eye he winked to her. Nope. Not done yet. Never done. He rubbed at his neck just below the bandage tying his jaw up and the wound. Holy shit it hurt but there were things to do before he worried about that. With his better hand he grabbed one knife to keep it ready in case that riffle jamming the door gave out. It only had to open enough to get a gun barrel in after all. To Khesu he held up three fingers and some … Trikru gang signs? Apparently they were more territorial than the Skaikru thought perhaps? He was signaling that team three was going down. He considered and winces murmuring, "<In Trigedasleng> reach… teams…talk?"
Ninety seconds. Hopefully Leo's rifle will hold that long. Britt doesn't necessarily like it, but such is life. She hurries after the others into the rear exit, "We can't go out that way and escape the bomb." Not with security forces shooting at them. "If the only way is up, we have no choice. Where's this go?" Britt wonders, staring at the weird elevator doors in puzzlement. Where's the doorknob? WTF? Pontus gets a curious look, but she doesn't quite understand or stop to ask.
"Elevator," Lionel says helpfully when they get to the elevator doors. He looks over it, then back behind him, then he nods. "Fastest way. Let's go." He then flashes the keycard he stole across the keypad so he can get access to the elevator. "Everyone in, keep close to the walls. We're going to… ah… what level again?" He looks around to see if anyone remembers what level the Infirmary is on. His brain is just moving too quickly.
Luther shrugs at Pontus, "Not unless Lionel kom Skaikru's ray-dee-oh," it's not a word that he knows, "works for them too." 'Elevator' is a word he knows, and he follows Lionel over to it, "Will the workers be fast enough?" Because the Polis elevator is man-powered. "…to get us to Level 3."
The doors ding open almost immediately, lucky that, since there is an angry Security Detail squad trying to get through a door and a bomb ticking down rather close to fuel being pumped into a missile bay rather close behind them.
Pontus ran catching up keeping his eye on that door first and foremost. Hitting the tiny room with no knobs he flipped inside the doors and around the wall. Operation:Big Damn Heroes was still a go… unless the explosion clipped the cables holding the elevator and sent a plume of flame and death down upon them. That was a cheery thought. He held up five fingers indicating what was explained on the map. He didn't look at it again and his reading wasn't spectacular, but he could remember like a pro.
Khesu rumbles, "Level 3." Yes, they have a map. He's so not going to like cramming tightly into an elevator like a bunch of sardines with everyone else but he does so. Let's hope the explosion doesn't sever cables and drop them like a rock at the bottom of the mountain. Thankfully this Trikru warrior doesn't know how things work well enough to worry about that. The tight space is bad enough if he has to cram in. Gods help him if he has to try to run on stairs - he almost certainly wouldn't make it.
Britt tries to use either the axe and/or fire hose (wedging it or tying it - whichever looks like it'd work better) to discourage the security detail from pursuing them out the door they just exited. When Lionel explains it's an elevator, she aaahs softly. Still perplexed, but at least having a frame of reference. "Everyone in then. Hurry." The big ol' giant door gets a curious look. REALLY wondering what's on the other side of it. But alas, they don't have time for exploring with the small matter of the bomb about to go off. She makes sure everyone else is in the elevator and then brings up the rear.
"Huh?" The guard says to Luther, but then the door dings and Lionel is getting inside to make sure he's got the Level 3 activated and his thumb pressing down hard on the 'keep this door open' button so everyone can get it. He'll then start desperately smacking the 'shut this door now' button, because it is rational that the more times you hit it, the faster it complies. "Machines," Lionel says helpfully. "No workers needed. Ask Hector how it works… something about gears and pulleys, and churning…"
Amp totally got on the elevator with speed that was unheard of. In fact, he might've been on there before the doors finished opening. Because that's just how Amp do when he doesn't want to get blown to Groundereens.
Richael slips into the elevator and she looks to the doors and she is saying something very quietly… "28, 29…" Oh yes, she's providing the very helpful countdown to the point at which they all very likely might die.
The elevator is… not pleasant. Nearly everyone is hurt to some degree or another, and it just wasn't designed to cram ten warriors and their gear in. At least Richael isn't carrying the big bomb anymore. The '3' button lights helpfully when Lionel presses it. The doors hang open a moment, and then shut somewhere between '30' and '31.' Then the elevator swoops downward, downward, and stops, doors opening again with a 'bing' (at around '83') to reveal the sterile concrete hallways of Level 3. Opposite the elevator is a helpful sign listing directions to the Infirmary (their escape route) the quarantine area, supply storage, and more.
Between the sign and the now-open elevator doors are a cluster of Mountain Men. Or rather, a Mountain Woman and eight Mountain Children. The kids appear to be between eight and eleven, and wear blue smocks over their clothes. Each one also has a backpack slung on their little backs.
The woman, a redhead who moves with gentle grace, is holding the hand of a little girl, who is babbling excitedly about their play rehearsal. "And then I'll get to sing the song, and I'll have a dog? But it won't be a real dog, it'll be Geoffrey in a dog costume, but that's pretty good because he's little and kind of looks like—" The woman stops short, gripping the girl's hand tightly when she sees the door open, full of heavily armed and angry people. "Kids… remember the drill?" the woman says, with an eerie calm, releasing the girl's hand and standing between the children and the invaders. "Go. Now."
Britt would happily (well, okay, maybe not happily) plummet to her death in the elevator if that meant blowing the top off the Mountain. Her lip-chewing anxiety is more focused on whether the Mountain Men will bust the door down and stop the explosion short of it going off. She listens, hopes even, for an earth-shattering kaboom. (She can dream, anyway, even if the resulting explosion probably won't be nearly that big.) Being the last one in, Britt is closest to the doors. As soon as they open, she's stepping out and raising up her bow - ready to face another security detail. And instead, faces - little kids. Whoa. She blinks, surprised, and then immediately lowers the bow. Still knocked and ready in case the Maunon woman pulls a gun or something, but not aimed at them. She does move away from the door so everyone else can get out.
Khesu's momentary coherency fades as he leans against the elevator wall and waits to see if they live through the next minute or two. Thank the Flame that the thing descends and opens the doors because he'll get out of it as fast as he reasonably can. As soon as he has room to move he slips off his bow and reaches back to draw an arrow which he nocks to the string as he's stepping into the hallway with the others. Half his face is a bloody mess, blood marking his torso beneath and over the armor of his chest. His head is starting to kill him with the pressure and he can only see out of one eye, but he's moving. Until he sees the woman with the children.
"Everybody, out!" Lionel instructs. He has not been counting — well, he has, but he forgot to use the one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand method, so he is pretty sure he passed 90 seconds about 3 seconds ago. He grinds to a halt when he spots the Mountain Woman… and the Mountain Children. He holds up his rifle sharply, making sure the nose is pointed at the ceiling. "Fuck," he says under his breath. He intakes a deep breath, holding up a hand almost immediately, his other hand still wrapped around the thick body of the assault rifle. "You need to let us pass, Miss," he says, voice remaining calm — a policeman's kind of calm. The calm voice he's probably used in a hostage situation, or trying to talk down a stupid kid from doing something stupid.
Luther tumbles out of the elevator with the other Trikru, his left arm a wash of blood, although not nearly so bad as some of his fellows. His sword, however, is certainly bloody enough. And held out in his hand as he exits the too-shiny closet-elevator. He skids to a stop at the sight of the children, hesitates, then crouches down a little and murmurs, "Boo."
Pontus actually looked to Britt like 'Where is our Earth shattering ka-boom?' and just squeezed his eyes shut. He was a nightmare to look at in his leathers and then he got his face half blown off. Joy. The bloody scout winced and pushed forward. After this he vowed that he and Khesu were taking time off. His hand gripped the daggers and he muttered to Britt through gritted teeth. trying to keep his remaining good eye on the ensemble. There were kids. He was a parent… this situation just got exceptionally not okay.
Richael has her rifle ready once the door opens and when she steps out she looks to the woman and the kids. Lionel expresses the sentiment well, as Richael glances out the corner of her eye at the Trikru with them. Given that they have expressed a desire to kill everyone on this Mountain and have done so to everyone they've met so far… She looks to the woman and the kids and quietly stares at them, letting Lionel do the talking. Luther's boo to the kids is given a frown but she says nothing.
Sarah raises her hands slowly, but doesn't move. "I can't let you near the childen," she says. "I can't let you anywhere near them, even if you weren't armed. Their bodies can't handle the radiation. I can't let you pass." She is trying very hard to be brave, and is mostly succeding, even if her hands are trembling.
Except of course, the countdown, which she reaches 90 right about now…
The children have scattered down the hallway, running into empty rooms and closets.
87… 88… 89… despite Sarah and Lionel's calm words, the children scream. Most of them scatter. One little girl squeezes her hands into fists and starts forward as if to protect Sarah and the others and one boy… he buckles over, gasping for breath as his asthma kicks in.
Oh yes… and KAMBOOM. The mountain shakes, and dust trickles down from the ceiling.
Those of the mountain have probably killed his wife and child, but Khesu has stopped, bow held ready but not drawn taunt. He's no murder of children. This Trikru warrior looks a mess and glances to Britt and Lionel before he looks back to the woman as the children scatter to hide. Khesu manages to speak, "We do not kill children. Step aside." Because if he must, he will kill her and raises his bow. Just as the world above them explodes! Everything shakes and he keeps his balance only by staggering a step to lean against the wall, trying to keep his bow ready. Nope, not going to shoot the little girl who so fiercely comes forward to defend.
Britt gives a quick shake of her head to whatever Pontus said. "We are going past," she tells Sarah flatly. She points down the hallway in the direction that the kids fled to. "Take them and go to another level. Now." Yes, it's allowing Sarah to give away their position, but the alternative is a line that Britt won't cross. She holds up a hand to the other teammates, urging them to hold back. She flinches a little when the explosion goes off, looking up at the ceiling and letting out a satisfied sigh.
Richael frowns at Sarah's words and she sighs, lowering her rifle and holds up a hand. "Ok, full stop. They can't handle the radiation? Is this all of you? None of you can?" That would probably explain why they are always seen in suits. And given that this is the first Mountain Woman they've found actually willing to talk, Richael's going to take it. "Who is your leader and why have you all been kidnapping people from the outside?" She looks to the little girl wanting to defend Sarah and she says, "Sweetheart, I understand, but run away. This is not a fight you can win."
Amp is on the wall when the explosion happens. Or he's coming down from the wall by the time it finishes. Terrified eyes are there too but he's soon making peace with the fact that the entire Mountain just moved. Which is not normal. Because it's a damn Mountain. And Mountains are not supposed to move. He takes a moment to look in the direction of the woman they are letting go and adds a 'YEAH!' glare to the rest of the words being given.
Sarah grabs the little girl who is trying to run face-first into the group of Outsiders, fumbling around in her pockets for the little boy's inhaler with her free hand. "Chloe," she says, trying to catch the little girl's gaze. "You're very brave, but you don't want to get sick. Go." This makes the little girl change her mind… slightly. She backs up and presses herself against the wall. Real stealthy, kid. Sarah crouches down and tends to the little boy. "Breathe in on three… and hold… no, no, come on Ollie. Come on…" She looks up pleadingly. "No, they can't handle it. Please, if you don't want to hurt them, leave."
"Richael, we don't have time for 20 Questions." Lionel looks seriously at her, and then to Sarah. "Go, now… you need to get to another level. You need to find a place, and you need to stay there." He advances a step, drawing his rifle back into his hands. He maintains a calm poise through his shoulders, though his expression is a bit dire. "Miss, take the kids, and go… you guys need to find a place to hide. Grab food, grab water, do not leave your hiding spot. If anyone else like us comes upon you, you surrender to them. You tell them you can't go outside, but you surrender." Beat pause. "Okay?" He nods to Britt, letting her know that he's got this, and it is okay to keep going.
Pontus stood resolute watching not Sara, but that defiant tot in front of her. he had one good grey eye locked on her for a while before giving her a nod of recognition. Whatever he said to Britt was let dropped. He was hurting to much to argue.
Hey look, the children are no longer in their way. At least, most of them aren't. And then there's the explosion up above, and Luther grabs hold of the wall to steady himself. Wow. A hooded glance is sent Richael's way, the Warrior actually looking a little impressed. The feisty little girl gets a nod as well, "<In Trigedasleng> She would make a good Second." She probably thinks he's saying he wants to eat her liver with a nice Chianti. He nods to Britt, then looks down the hallway in the direction that (the thinks) they have to go. "<In Trigedasleng> We need to keep moving, don't we?"
Richael looks somewhat sick… given that she probably just let a shitton of radiation into the Mountain with that explosion. "Ok, note to self, no more bombs in Mount Weather." She nods to Lionel and says, "No we don't, but we need a name. Someone to negotiate with and whoever that person can give the order for these people to surrender. So we don't -have- to come back in here and kill everyone, either on accident or on purpose." She looks back to Sarah. "Come on, who's the leader? What's their name?" She's not moving past Britt, since she has that hand up and she doesn't want to hurt these kids.
Khesu rumbles, "We are trying to leave. But we must pass." And Sarah non-with-standing or no, he's going to start down the hall in the direction they need to go and Gods help her if she intends to try to stop them. Children or no. "<In Trigedasleng> We have no time for this." He's hurting but he can move and tries with his one good eye to be watchful. Time to go.
"Goddammit, this little boy can't breathe, can you give me a minute?" Sarah is starting to lose her cool, even as she slowly rubs the little boy's back. "I'm a doctor, not a robot or a magician. Our president is named Cage Wallace. He's in charge of the Mountain." She remains silent on the issue of the people that have been taken and why.
"Khesu, hold," Britt says sharply when the other warrior starts to move forward. "Keep back," she orders with a glance back at the others. "Listen to me, Maunon," she says to Sarah, the threat apparent in her voice. "You have one minute to clear this hallway. Pick the damn boy up and carry him if you have to, but fucking go. Now."
Luther gestures down the now-empty hallway with his sword, "<In Trigedasleng> If our people die because of her, I'll…" He trails off. He's not going to kill an unarmed woman and a child because they cost the lives of Trikru already thought long-dead. Probably. He's almost certain. And so he sighs, huffing a little. It sounds decidedly unmartial, despite the ash and oil spread across his face at eye-level in a neat horizontal bar.
Richael nods to Sarah and says, "Thank you. Now do what they say, pick the kid up, and get out of here. She reaches for the earbud's mic that's in her ear before she glances to Britt. "Now we know their leader's name… we could try seeing if the man will actually talk to us?"
"Come on Ollie… up we go," Sarah says, picking up the little boy and balancing him on her hip. She eyes the Outsiders carefully, before grabbing Chloe by the hand and dragging her down the hallway, trying to gather hidden children as she goes.
<FS3> Richael rolls Warcraft: Success. (5 4 7)
Luther waits, waits, waits, and once the Maunon and the children are out of the way, he ducks down the hall and starts off, pulling one of his throwing axes out of his belt again and grimacing as the motion tugs at the bullet wound on his left arm.
Britt lets out a breath when the Maunon woman starts to move. "<In Trigedasleng> I know," she mumbles to Luther, sharing his sentiments exactly. "We'll move as soon as they're gone." Then, quieter, "Be ready in case she was delaying us for a trap." She shifts the grip on her bow, wincing at the pain in her hand, and then moves forward with Luther.
Lionel's eyes follow after Sarah, and his expression has gone serious. His eyes cut to Britt, and his mouth thins as his brows lower a bit. "I don't know why that surprised me… where else do Mountain Men come from except from babies and children?" He grimaces before he moves forward, nodding soberly when she mentions the possibility of a trap. He takes up the rear again, watching their six while they continue to move forward toward where Lip says the infirmary is.
Pontus looked to Lionel and nodded in agreement. Hell in many respects in that one act that kid reminded him a great deal of his own. Rain would stand defiant no matter how much it scared her if Peake, Oriole, or Starling were threatened. He couldn't turn his head well anymore but placed one bloody hand on Khesu's shoulder and gave it a faint squeeze. He waited and started the move forward letting Amp and Tuan take point hanging slightly back to cover their rear in this case. Resource management.
Richael lifts her hand from the radio mic to the earbud, listening with a frown before she looks to Lionel. "Chaos. Pure and utter chaos. But I think…" She listens a little more closely as she follows along with the group. "Someone… is helping us. There's no way they could be this disorganized. I think someone is keeping them from figuring out where we all are or concentrating their forces on us." She looks rather puzzled at that, but she shakes her head and says, "At least we got some good information for our leaders." Right because knowing that radiation will kill your enemies and their leader's name is always a bonus.
Britt shrugs at Lionel. Apparently it didn't surprise her so much, but then - she had conversations about precisely this eventuality. Once the group is moving, she finally responds to Richael. "What would you say? Surrender?" She gives a soft pfft to that, thinking that's not terribly likely. "And no, that seems unlikely." About the Maunon helping them. "I doubt they have many soldiers, given the size of people the skaiboy described. They are probably occupied with the other teams." Which causes a momentary frown to crease her face in worry. Still moving though!
"Evil eggs." That's Luther's answer to Lionel, and he's sticking to it. Richael's news draws an interested grunt from the Warrior. "Smart." Given that it's probably one of the Skaikru team (he can't imagine anyone from the Mountain doing something like that), it's a wary compliment.
The doors to the infirmary yield to the purloined keycards wielded by the scouts, and then the long, open room lies before them. Pipes line the walls, and neat beds sit at precise angles down either side of the room. It is, however, empty, and it only takes a few minutes to traverse that room to the lone door at the far end.
The room on the other side is a horror show. A Trikru woman hangs from her ankles close by the door, her veins standing out under the blue light from behind the grated ceiling. Cages made for large dogs are stacked two-high in two rows off to the right, between the hanging Trikru and a large door. There are more Trikru within the cages, around two dozen of them. There are two other doors in the room, both on the opposite wall. The one halfway down opens to a small alcove with a yellow square on the floor — the exit chute described by Lip — while the door directly opposite the one the team is entering from… shuts quickly, the card-reader beside it going from green to red.
In the narrow gap during which that door was open, a strange drilling sound echoes through the Harvest chamber. An armed security guard steps just outside, assessing the Trikru-led raiding party invading the Mountain, before he gives a look of alarm and runs back inside, hitching his rifle as he alerts those within to the intrusion. The sickening mechanical sound dissipates behind the soundproofed door when it shuts.
Richael shrugs to Britt and says, "Give him something to think about. And a chance to stop anyone else from dying. I'd tell him to pull his people back to Levels 4 through 6 and we won't kill anyone else. At least if he's talking to us, he's not giving orders to his people. And it might help when the Commander brings the Coalition up here to put a final end to this place's madness. Talking to him might convince him to surrender when that comes." When they enter the horror show room, Richael's face squigs up in disgust. "Ok… someone needs to die for this." And then when the door closes on the far side, she frowns and says, "I think they're doing something they don't want us to interrupt."
<FS3> Pontus rolls Resolve: Good Success. (7 5 6 7 4 3)
<FS3> Luther rolls Resolve: Good Success. (3 2 8 7 4 5 7 2 5)
<FS3> Lionel rolls Resolve: Good Success. (1 3 5 5 7 8 3 2 8)
<FS3> Richael rolls Resolve: Amazing Success. (8 8 8 7 2 3 7 1 7 4)
<FS3> Amp rolls Resolve: Good Success. (6 6 2 7 8)
Lionel does not look terribly impressed by Luther's helpful addition to his thoughts. He nods soberly, and continues forward. His eyes cut across the hallway, checking each corner. There is something that is bothering him… something that troubles him about the lack of response to their creeping around. Don't people know where they are by now? He glances up to a camera, frowning at it. But he doesn't let himself get bogged down by this, and continues forward with the others… through the infirmary, through to the so-called Creepy Chamber of Horror. He stomach seizes almost the moment he rationalizes what he sees. He feels his entire body try to retch, almost as if he is about to double-over. His gaze then cuts over to where Richael mentions the interruption, and he is thankful for the distraction. His jaw sets, and he glances to Britt, nodding questioningly to the door.
Britt shrugs to Richael. "I will not stop you if you want to chat, but we make no promises." She gasps when they enter the Creepy Chamber of Horrors (TM Lip), her eyes widening then narrowing into rage-filled slits. A string of Treeslang words that would make a sailor blush is muttered under her breath. "Watch the door," to one of the here-but-not-really-here people, trusting them to make sure nobody surprises them from the infirmary entrance. Seeing the back door, she nods to Richael. "Leo and Richael - keep that back door covered. The rest - open a few cages, and then we'll deal with them." She figures once a few cages are open, the freed ones can start opening the rest. With that thought in mind, she marches up to the nearest one and tries to bash the lock with the butt of her sword. "<In Trigedasleng> The heda has sent us to free you."
"Skaikids are on level five," Luther reminds Richael as they cross the infirmary. And then the door opens into the Chamber of Horrors, and he stops, looking around with wide, horrified eyes. He should rush to the nearest Trikru to help them, but for a long moment, he just stares. He'd heard the rumors. He'd dismissed them, for the most part. No one does that. And then the whine of the drill and the movement from the security man catches his attention, and he hefts up his throwing axe, ready to… and the door shuts. Luther's expression takes on a cast of thunderous fury, and he starts across the room, only to stop at Britt's orders. He snarls under his breath, but obeys, sheathing his sword and stepping to the nearest cage to bash at the lock with the back of his throwing axe.
Pontus waded into the room and leaned on the door frame. Yup. These people were going down. It was as simple as the Scout making that decision for himself and nodded. He went over and didn't ask, He cut the upside down woman down. He didn't have a lot of strength in him, but he'd find it for the dignity of his people trusting anyone else would do the same were it him. He turned and looked to Britt & Co and what sounded like an angry growl, and it may or may not be through gritted teeth. "<In Trigedasleng> Where…are…the rest…of ours?" Provided he could catch the falling woman with a wince and set her on the ground. He looked around for a key.
With one of the cages is a woman, or one is to assume, as the "clothing" she wears as strips of bandages around her breasts, does little to hold anything into place. Tho the diaper like wrap around her waist as been tucked in at the edges so it doesn't look as horrible as it could. But who are we kidding, the chamber was named well, scaring wounds have been closed but linger as Sage kom Trikru crouches low in a cage no bigger than what her hound might have fit in. Her face has dried blood, but those silvery grey eyes are haunted and dazed and can only blink when the others appear, she blinks again as they get near and licks her lips as she calls out harshly, "<In Trigedasleng> Get the others first, at least 100…" It's hard to think but she is pointing towards where the other crap is going down.
The hanging woman, when released from her ankle cuffs, drops down into Pontus' arms bonelessly. She has tubes running from her wrists and neck into a machine, pumping red blood through them. But when she groans at the tumble, it is clear that she is actually alive.
The other Trikru in cages begin to murmur hopefully at the words from their would-be rescuers, several shuffling forward awkwardly to rattle the doors of their cages.
"Someone went back there, Britt," Lionel says softly, looking at Britt. He frowns slightly. Then he glances back at the door, but offers a quick nod. He will go stand guard, but he hates not knowing what might be back there. His shoulders tense up, body language showing discomfort. And a deep desire to get the fuck outta here.
Richael nods to Britt as she was about to start over to the door with the drilling men. "-Hurry-." She knows that drilling noise is not anything good. She looks back to the open door before she rolls her eyes and then swipes a keycard over the lock to shut it once everyone is in the room. Luther's reminder is also taken as well before she lifts the radio mic to her mouth and clicks it on. "President Cage Wallace. Given the amount of dying that's gone on today, you want to give diplomacy a shot?" Her voice is strangely cheery, like all that's gone on today doesn't bother her a bit."
The immediate response on the channel is, "Who is this? What's your operating number?"
Amp just stares. It's a long stare that he can't exactly do anything with. He usually can move but this time it's a bit difficult for him to actually move. He doesn't shed a tear or show any real emotion at this moment because he can't. What he's seeing before him is something that is unheard of. The fact that he's not even bouncing that heel of his should prove that he's not taking this too well… but he's not completely crippled either. It's just not a good thing. His voice is quiet as he reaches up to place a hand on the sword peeking up over his shoulder. "I will return. I must go back and kill every one in this mountain." From Scout to Killer in .2 seconds.
Britt hears Sage call out, and does a double take. Wait… what? Her sword actually drops limply to her side for a moment and she just stares. The odd 'clothing', the blood, the darkness. Is it? "Sage?!" She heads to that cage immediately, and starts smashing the lock there. "<In Trigedasleng> I will get you out. There are others? Through that door?" Lionel gets a distracted nod.
The girl with the radio replies back, "I'm the girl that blew up your missiles. And I've got one more bomb to use and I'm debating where to use it, so maybe your President wants to talk to me to dissuade me from doing so? Can't hurt for him to talk."
<FS3> Richael rolls Persuasion: Good Success. (8 6 8 6 5 3 4 7) (DRAW with Cage's Resolve)
Luther works his way down the row until someone strong enough comes out of the cages, and then hands off the throwing axe to work on the other locks. Amp's declaration causes him to shake his dreadlocked head, "Amp. There are one hundred of our people there." He points down the room to the wide cargo door, "You have a…" the word is odd, so he settles for, "card. Then we must get them out," and he points to the chute room.
Sage blinks once more when Britt appears in front of her, those grey eyes stares at the other woman and then the slightest of half smiles touches her lips, it's there and gone but shows the woman is inside there somewhere, but then it drops and she is back into warrior mode. As the door is being open she explains. "They.. go in there and don't return. They, I need a sword.." The warrior growls this out as she starts to crawl out of the cage, on all fours for half a moment before she pushes her very long body up, and the pop of bones and joints can be heard as she stands up slower than she really would like, stumbling as her head swims and her legs area not sure they want to hold her weight.
Lionel looks at Richael, and dramatically mouths, 'You. Better. Know. What. You're. Doing." Then he moves with Amp so that he can help with back-up in what may be an even worse room than they are in now.
Orders continue to flash back and forth on the channel, and then a stronger voice with more than a hint of petulance hidden beneath its tones comes on, "Miss Missiles. I would very much like to talk to you in person. Why don't you let me know where you are and I'll come speak with you myself."
Britt is not a hugger. This moment proves that as much as any, because even as overjoyed as she is to see Sage there, she does not embrace the woman. She will, however, offer a hand to the younger warrior as she climbs out of the cage. And then, once she's out, Britt gives her a dagger. "Best I can do," she says. She only has one sword, and needs it to kill whoever's on the other side of that door. To the Trikru prisoners, she calls, "<In Trigedasleng> That is our way out - the chute there. Others are waiting. Go as soon as you are free." She glances to the rest of the fighters then. "They will be ready for us when we open the door. Get in position, and then Leo will open the door." There's a glance back to Amp to make sure he's with them and not charging off to take the Mountain single-handed.
Pontus moved to the door they came in to step in front of Amp. In a throwdown fight between the two of them right now? Amp would likely win, but it didn't stop the bloody puzzle from trying to intercede. It killed him but he said through his broken jaw, "<In Trigedasleng> Amp, not… the order… no civs. No kids… Get. Ours. Out."
The Sword of Amp is slid back to where it belongs before it can be fully removed. He breathes a sigh that would fog up the camera if this were a close up shot but as it is he lets those shoulders slump enough to show that he will be following orders. "We come back. I kill everything that moves." That is said as a compromise to those gathered in here and a promise to himself to come back and let his blade taste MOUNTAIN FLESH!
Luther nods slowly at Amp's response, perhaps not in perfect agreement, but agreement enough. He steps forward at Britt's order, standing alongside the doorway where he can dart in once bullets stop spraying through it (because he assumes they'll start spraying through it). Wincing a little, he reaches across his body with his left hand to pull out his second throwing axe, his first still in the hands of one of the prisoners, working to free the others.
Sage raise a hand and touches Britt's shoulder, just enough to make sure she is real, for like Britt, hugging while in the middle of a war? Doesn't happen, later, who the hell knows for Sage is not thinking very well at the moment. The dagger is taken, her fingers slowly slide around the hilt, seeing how well they close. While there are probably many non warriors in the group kept here, she is not among those who follow Britt's orders and take the chute. No her mostly naked form moves in behind the other warriors, and unless ordered seems about to head into what might be a massive of bullets with the rest.
Pontus stared Amp down with one grey eye and one red one, the grey only just visible in it. The mess spoke, "<In Trigedasleng> NO Civs. NO kids." They had a code and he would enforce that code. Hearing the soldiers he nodded and acquiesced. Those guys though? Totally fair game. He moved to try to assist in the evacuation using what strength he hand in reserves.
Luther glances over to Sage as she enters the group around the door, shrugging a little to himself and then flipping the hand-axe around to offer out the butt end to her. A little better than a dagger, if not much.
Richael laughs at the reply she gets and clicks the radio on again, "Ahh, Cage Wallace I presume? You won't mind if we just chat over the radio. Given the evidence at hand that everyone that winds up in your custody never leaves this place. You see… now that your ability to hit far from this mountain is gone… how long do you think before the word spreads and the fear you've managed to create over the last forty years is gone? That's a lot of people that don't like you and yours very much. Hell, right now you've got a lot of people in here that don't like you very much. That and given that we bring radiation with us… well you might want to start thinking about your people, Mister President. The more you talk to me, the more likely this ends in a diplomatic solution, and not a military one." Richael pauses a moment before she says, "The kidnappings, of both the Grounder people and my people… why don't we start with that? The whole reason all of us don't like you very much? Explain it please?"
The first batch of half a dozen Trikru gather over the hatch, and one of those likewise from the cages pushes the button outside the hatch-door. A section of metal closes off the alcove, there is a hiss, a thump, and then it opens again, and the Trikru are gone, down the chute.
<FS3> Richael rolls Persuasion: Failure. (6 2 2 4 2 3 4 5)
Richael spends 1 luck points on Reroll.
<FS3> Richael rolls Persuasion: Good Success. (6 3 7 5 6 3 6 7) - DRAW with Cage's Resolve
Britt notes Sage moving into position behind her, and gives a silent nod of approval. It was the reason she got a dagger. Britt wishes she had some clothes to give her too, but alas - even if she could spare some layers, taking off the armor would take too damn long. They're on borrowed time as it is. "<In Trigedasleng> There will be shooting through this door," she warns the other non-war-party Trikru. "<In Trigedasleng> Keep down as best you can as you go." Britt herself takes up a position on the side of the door opposite Lionel. Once it looks like the team is ready, she gives him a brisk nod.
The Unlikely Guard intakes a deep breath, and he nods to Amp. He then takes out his keycard, brandishing it to Britt, and then he swipes it across the keypad with a sharp little beep. The door unlocks, Lionel grabs the handle, and he pulls it open so that he can sweep in, rifle up, and prepared to shoot the first thing that moves… that isn't a Grounder… okay, isn't a Trikru… because, really, if you get right down to definitions, Mountain Men are Grounders, they are on the ground, so logically… Stop thinking Lionel.
And right as Lionel opens the door, there is another explosion from somewhere within the Mountain, and more dust filters down from the ceiling. Here inside the Creepy Chamber of Horrors, chains dance from the ceiling, cage doors clatter and rattle, and two of the newly-freed Trikru fall down, struggling back to their feet again.
The guard is ready when Lionel opens the door, holding his assault rifle threateningly at those beyond. There is only one of her, unfortunately, and her shoulders aren't that broad, though she's trying to muscle her padded armour to block the view of the Trikru-led raid from what lies behind her. "Get the hell back!" she yells. There are more dog-cages within, but far fewer: twenty-three, to be specific, stacked carelessly atop each other. All are empty, but there is one prisoner lying in plain sight, upon a slab. Dennis Rawlins has a glazed look in his open eyes, while a mop of black hair tries to duck out of view, operating a loud drill into the delinquent's side.
<FS3> Luther rolls Resolve-3: Good Success. (8 1 8 6 1 2)
<FS3> Lionel rolls Resolve: Success. (5 5 7 5 4 3 1 4 1)
"Noooooo-pe," Lionel says in response to the guard shouting at him. "Don't think I will. But you could put down your weapon, I can put you in binders, and you can watch us let all these Trikru go. Or you could even help… redeem yourself… might be a good idea, if you think about it." He cuts his gaze over her shoulder, and his eyes land on Rawlins. His jaw sets. Fuck, he knows that kid. Fuck, fuck, fuck. His eyes look back at the guard. "Do the right fucking thing," he snarls then, the first sign of his carefully contained rage.
There was no ear-shattering rattle of assault rifle fire, just shouting. And so Luther ducks through the door half a step behind Lionel, moving immediately off to the right… and stopping. That sound is… horrible. It screeches into his brain and flays his emotions raw. He hefts his sword, watching the Maunon facing off with the Guardsman, and the… procedure… beyond in rapt horror.
<FS3> Amp rolls Resolve: Failure. (6 2 3 5 5)
Britt is right behind Lionel and Luther through the door. Her eyes sweep the room, assessing threats, and then she immediately looses her arrow into the guard with the upraised gun. 'The right fucking thing' has slightly different meaning for the angry Trikru archer.
<FS3> Pontus rolls Resolve: Failure. (6 3 6 3 5 1)
Cage Wallace responds on the radio once Richael is done, "I think you've gone a long ways beyond diplomacy when you come into our sanctuary, the last redoubt of culture on the Earth, and try to blow it up. I'm afraid that our brave Security Detail will be on you in the Harvest Room momentarily." The sound of a drill over the radio is… distinctive.
<FS3> Sage rolls Resolve: Success. (3 5 4 6 6 4 7)
<COMBAT> Britt attacks Security1 with Bow but MISSES!
Sage places the dagger in one hand and takes the axe from Luther, she nods once, her eyes are dead at this moment, nothing seems to be truly alive after the horrors she has watched. Even with the Ice wars, nothing compared to this… horror of humanity gone wrong. But hearing the sounds is much different than seeing them and her those grey eyes turn even more pale and narrow till there is no light at all as she takes a shaken breath, followed by a growl that starts deep in her chest and is raising slowly.
<FS3> Salvador rolls Resolve: Failure. (2 6)
Richael grimaces and then replies over the radio, "Clever Cage. Very clever. But consider that I've likely set this bomb to blow the door if your security opens it. But ask yourself this… how could we have tried diplomacy when -none- of your people have been willing to talk to us? Plus you've been jamming the radio communications outside this mountain. Not very friendly or diplomatic if you ask me." Her gaze peeks around the door into the Harvest room and then frowns when she sees the horror within, as much as she can past the wall of bodies in the way. "Harvest Room huh? What on this Earth do you need with this room and why are you bleeding these people? I'd like to understand, Mister Wallace, but you're making it very difficult to do that." Her tone is a little tense, given that a fight is likely starting in the other room.
<FS3> Richael rolls Persuasion: Good Success. (7 6 6 7 1 8 5 3) - Marginal Victory vs Cage's Resolve
The frightened guard yells for them to get back, and one can almost see the gears turning in her head when she sees the red-haired archer leveling a bow at her. Oh, shit, they're not getting back! She ducks aside, and Britt's arrow narrowly zips by her helmet. Britt frowns. Shit. Wellp, everyone has a bad day. Especially when both your hands are bandaged. With the range so close and others jamming into the fray, she draws her sword and charges the guard instead.
<FS3> Amp rolls Athletics: Good Success. (2 3 7 3 8 4 2 4 1 5 2)
<COMBAT> Lionel suppresses Salvador with Assault Rifle. <successful>
<COMBAT> FakeKai has joined the combat as a observer.
<COMBAT> Security1 fires fullauto!
<COMBAT> Security1 attacks Luther with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Security1 attacks Luther with Assault Rifle - Light wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Security1 attacks Britt with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Security1 attacks Sage with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Sage attacks Security1 with Axe - Serious wound to Right Leg.
<COMBAT> Pontus attacks Security1 with Thrown Knife - Light wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Luther attacks Security1 with Sword - Moderate wound to Head (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Amp attacks Salvador with Sword - Serious wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Salvador has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Salvador spends a luck point to keep fighting!
Hey, Lionel tried. Luckily, he sure isn't going to stomp his foot about it. He didn't really expect the Maunon guard to live, but sometimes dying suddenly is a lot better than dying in fear. He advances quickly forward when the arrow looses. He is opening up, sending a burst of bullets. But, he isn't aiming at the security guard. He is trying to shoot at the bit of cement just above Salvador's head "She's all yours. I got bigger fish to fry…" Then he narrows his sights on Rawlins and the good doctor. "Drop. It."
<FS3> Sage rolls Resolve: Success. (5 5 1 4 8 2 4)
The worst thing about this gonzo with the drill is that he's just not stopping. The whirring machinery keeps burrowing into the delinquent's side, and it's not until Lionel shoots the concrete above his head that he finally pulls out his drill and ducks away. The crumbling stone peppers his jet-black hair with salty hues, and he lets out a decidedly unmanly yell as he rolls behind a corner. A sanguine streak of spraying blood can be seen as the drill is prised from Rawlins' flesh, and finally he switches the damned thing off.
"Stop! I'm just a doctor!" the man yells. A doctor who has apparently never heard of the Hippocratic Oath. The flap of his white lab-coat can be seen at the edge of a stack of cages, as he clasps the drill to his turned front. But before he knows it, Amp's there with a sword in his chest, and all he can do is stare in horror, the device tumbling from his latex-gloved hands. He stares up at the Outsider with bright blue eyes. "I have a family." The man's name can now be seen on his front pocket: a shiny gold label with Gonasleng script, reading Dr. S. C. Montgomery.
Well, there weren't bullets flying when Luther rushed in the door, but as soon as the arrow is loosed, so is he… and so are the bullets. He takes two of them, one punching between a pair of ribs on his left side, getting all meat, but getting a good deal of meat, and then the other hitting a touch lower, grazing his left side below his ribs. The twin blows half-spin him around, and he stumbles. Instead of the massive overhead blow he intended, Luther is restricted to a backhanded swipe upward that clips the bottom of the security woman's helmet and then cuts across her temple, much of the power robbed, but still enough to cause a rather massive bleeder. Headwounds, man.
There will be tales to have nightmares over at night about the Trikru woman known as Sage sliding past the door in a wild rage of flying black braids, pale naked skin and an axe that is looking for blood. Either on purpose or because her legs simply will not hold her for the quick movement, Sage does the low ground and slides under those going for the guard. Her axe slices up along the right leg of the woman, slides deeply into flesh and then bone before she pulls the weapon back just as she takes a bullet to the chest. Shock crosses her face, the /sound/ of that gun on autofire so close would bring a sound from her throat alone, but the pain, the drugs and everyone simply has her sounding more animal than human as she let's out a long growling howl and moves to swing again.
Pontus hopped through the door behind the more ample grounded Trikru and let one wicked blade fly at the security guard burying itself in his abdomen. He wasn't stopping for the guard though following Amp (though on the ground) over to the man in the funny and most unuseful coat. Seriously lacking as armour, I mean it didn't stop Amp's axe for shit or even slow it down. As the "doctor" protested that he had a family the scouts eyes grew hard and said through broken jaw in the plain tongue so he didn't miss a word., "Do did we. So… did they." He gestured to the kid on teh table and the people used as 'parts'. Man it hurt to talk and he was done wasting words on the man in the coat.
"So did Rawlins," Lionel says coldly. He does not lower the rifle, keeping it aimed at Salvador. He has stepped around the fracas, so that his focus is entirely on Salvador. "Kid was a fucking bully, little punk… but I want to know what the fuck you're doing to him, because it sure don't look like a regular check-up." He nods to Pontus's words, his jaw tight. He looks at Amp, giving the trihawked guy a slight nod, too. "Where are the others? Where are the rest of the kids?"
Britt is a little distracted by Dr. Frankenstein over there pleading for his life, and the security guard easily ducks under her sword swipe. There's a sharp gasp as Sage gets shot, and then seeing the woman's reaction, Britt makes a decision: This kill is hers. She tries to grab the guard, intent on making her an easier target for the newly-freed Trikru woman.
Amp's movements took him up and over everyone in the way and the table of Delinquency. He's already on the other side by the time he pulls his sword from its sheath on his back and when he lands that sword of his comes down in the chest of this Doctor. Amp's eyes are narrowed and he takes a step backwards, removing the sword with a fluid motion. He does not look anywhere but at the cruel bastard with a doctorate in Pleading. "Never again." Amp raises the sword up to peer around the bloodstained golden blade almost as a cue for Pontus to make this Doctor go away.
There is a long delay on the radio, and then Cage Wallace simply says, "To survive. To keep culture alive on this Earth. To keep humanity alive on this Earth. Goodbye, Miss Missile. We'll make sure to see you and your friends again soon."
<COMBAT> Security1 attacks Sage with Brawling but Sage DODGES!
<COMBAT> Luther tries to subdue Security1 but fails.
<COMBAT> Sage attacks Security1 with Axe - Critical wound to Right Hand.
<COMBAT> Britt subdues Security1!
Richael looks concerned towards the room where gunfire and everything else is going down and she clicks the radio back on for one last remark. "Goodbye, Mister Wallace. Know that we had the same goals, us alive in Space and you here in this Mountain. But we never forgot what makes us human, even if we had to do horrible things to survive. But I get you. This place is not your home, it's not a refuge… its a prison. Just as much as the Ark was. But that doesn't excuse the things that you've done. And may very well get all your people killed." Her tone is sad, disappointed, but she stops talking on the radio and goes to the door, beginning to rig up her last bomb to the door itself. "Oh hey folks! We're gonna have company soon!"
Through the fight, another two chute-loads of captured Trikru have gone down to their escape, and a few of those in the best shape have opened the big door into a cavernous room filled with cages, and have begun freeing those inside as well.
Richael looks concerned towards the room where gunfire and everything else is going down and she clicks the radio back on for one last remark. "Goodbye, Mister Wallace. Know that we had the same goals, us alive in Space and you here in this Mountain. But we never forgot what makes us human, even if we had to do horrible things to survive. But I get you. This place is not your home, it's not a refuge… its a prison. Just as much as the Ark was. But that doesn't excuse the things that you've done. And may very well get all your people killed." Her tone is sad, disappointed, but she stops talking on the radio and goes to the door where everyone is busy killing the guard and Salvador. "We need to leave, now!" And with that, she moves to keep an eye on the door again.
A fun fact about Rawlins is that he begged for his life. The boy was a bully, but a coward. Another less fun fact: the boy is dead. His eyes are open, but they don't blink, they're dry, and they just stare emptily at the ceiling as Lionel approaches. His burly shoulders lie slack on the slab, with multiple bloody holes drilled through his limbs and torso. The one in his side that the good doctor was adding was surely the last to come, and fortunately, Rawlins could no longer feel it.
Salvador didn't much care about Rawlins' begging, though he did anesthetize the poor bastard. He might have thought he'd have done better himself in the same situation, but clearly… he doesn't. As Amp and Pontus close in on him, the doctor trembles, wide-eyed. His unsunned, ash-white skin looks even paler than usual, clammy, his veins visibly in panic throbbing underneath.
"You have to understand, the window for extraction after death is incredibly short!" Dr. Montgomery explains, as to why he did not stop drilling when the group came in. Science before sense. "The Twenty-three are on Level Five! Safe! They're all safe!" Apart from Rawlins, apparently.
Bloody from the spray of the first cut into the Security Guard, blood flowing down her side from the bullet in her chest, pale white dirty bands that do nothing at all to stay in place and a bloody axe that comes up and slashes down hard. The sound of bone breaking, blood spraying and the two holding the guard are covered with the blood of Sage's actions. The warrior is not thinking, simply trying to kill the deliverer of pain in the most basic of ways: by cutting off one part at a time.
<FS3> Salvador rolls Deception-2: Success. (1 4 7 2 4 3)
<FS3> Lionel rolls Resolve: Good Success. (4 7 8 8 1 5 3 2 6)
With a glance over to Britt, Luther forebears the sword and tries to grasp the Security Detail woman's left arm to prevent her from avoiding Sage's vengeance, but his left side really isn't working too well, and she slips his grasp, leaving him grabbing at air and wincing in pain.
And Britt is there to help. One arm loops around the guard's neck, the other around her right arm, getting her into a hold so that Sage can kill her. "<In Trigedasleng> Finish it," she urges. "<In Trigedasleng> We are on borrowed time." So, alas, no hacking off teensy bits at a time.
Lionel stares at Salvador, blinking once and then twice. He looks at Rawlins, looks at Salvador. "Nooooo-pe," he says, though the delivery is done with the kind of chill best associated with a brisk, arctic wind. "I don't understand… what I see is some lizard-looking dude — " Vaguely attractive lizard-looking dude, let's give props where there's props. " — drilling into an eighteen-year-old kid." He looks at Pontus and Amp. "Hey guys, the kids are on Level Five." They knew that, but there's something in his tone. "We don't need the good doctor anymore." And then he's advancing, face a cold mask as he drops his gun… and goes for his shock baton. Guns are too kind.
Pontus is about to bring the length of his dagger right down into the doctor's clavicle to rupture everything inside; leave him unable to shout out and drown internally in his own blood when Lionel called a halt. That blade stopped maybe an inch from the battle beaten Scout's target. Talk about a last minute save. He let the cowering man talk to Luther and then just finished what he was there to do. That man had kids, and he could still cut into one? As a parent he wouldn't let such a creature walk lest Rain was next.
"Wait wait!" Salvador chimes in. "I'll make you a deal! I'll tell you everything if you spare my family. I have three kids! A wife!" He begs for his life. He begs for his life just like Rawlins did, but none of these kind fellows seem apt to offer him anesthetic. "We had no choice! If we didn't do it we would die!" He stares up at the scarred-up monster that is the Outsider called Pontus, seeking more sympathetic faces with that lizard-like, pleading expression of his, gloved palms held up. This might be more effective were those hands not also literally covered in Rawlins blood. "I wanted a better future… a better future for my…"
Amp sheathes his sword again and turns to walk away. Not because he doesn't want to see people like the Doctor of Death die but because there are other things that must be done to make sure that everyone makes it out. The /Trikru/ make it out. Amp has moved along to making sure that THE TRIKRU that are being rescued are getting to where they must be. He has done his part. Now it is time to leave. To prepare to return with more violence another time.
Lionel looks at those hands, then looks at Salvador. "Children are innocents… your wife, if she's also innocent, might be spared… but… you, Monty… don't think so." He then activates the shock baton with a crackle. Look at how the Skaikru and Trikru work together. Bonding, guys, bonding.
Sage is breathing hard and if it is possible to be bloody and pale at the same time, then she is as she stares at the axe, then the guard and finally Britt, a touch of reason seeps into her eyes, she is a soldier and Britt is and is not giving orders but it snaps the woman's attention to the here and now. A shudder breath and then she leans over and slits the guards throat with the dagger than she was given earlier, a pause of maybe one breath and then she is pulling back, trying to get to her feet again, slipping in blood a few times before she is able to get up. When she speaks her voice is harsh. "<In Trigedasleng> Blood must have Blood.." The sound vibrates her body before she turns and glances around, looking to where she knows others are being kept. A hand reaches for Britt, to pull the other warrior up or just to feel something solid, whatever the reason if she gets to touch her she relaxes and nods towards the other room, Everything else is ignored for now.
Lionel is the last to get to Monty as Pontus attacks. His shock baton sparks as he misses, letting his anger fuel his attack instead of rational. He doesn't seem to notice that he just smacked the wall, because he is too focused on bringing up his arm so he can prepare to strike again.
Luther finally gets a hand-hold on the writhing Security woman, helping Britt hold her down for Sage to finish the job. The wash of Maunon blood over his left arm causes him to grimace and draw back a little, as if it were infected, but he shakes it off, wiping his arm and sword on the woman's pants.
Khesu has been busy trying to open cages. He looks like hell with the left side of his face a bloody mess from the gun shot wound to his head. His left eye might be a ruin but the wound is close enough to it, no one can tell. He's also been shot in the chest, his torso and armour bloody but the big Trikru warrior is still on his feet. His bow is back in his bowcase to free up his hands, axe in his right. This he uses to whack at the cage latches if he can't get the door to open.
Richael has been watching the hallway that leads down to this horror show carefully, preparing to call out an alert to the other committing murderdom in the Harvest room as the others free the Trikru. She still listens over the radio for any word of movements towards this room, not that she's expecting anything with the Mountain fully aware that someone not them is listening in.
Pontus watched Montgomery. Kids? His kid is why he was there. The last thing Salvador was getting to see was the Puzzle Man's eye, one entirely bloodshot turning the scalara dark, jsut watching him passively. The blade instead slid up under the jaw and into the doctor's skull. He mutters quietly to him, "<In Trigedasleng> Our children are safe." Maybe his? Definiately Rain. For certain the Skaikids. Sadly not Khesu's. But it was all he could do. He pulled his blade back out and wiped it on the dead man's shoulder, and grabbed his other from the security guard as if the guard was doing him a courtesy by holding onto it. They were moving. So was he.
Britt is sprayed with blood, adding to the already-impressive collection she wears so un-fashionably. Some hers, most other peoples'. She lets the dead guard's body drop to the ground, and then gives Sage an approving nod and a gentle clap on the arm. Then she picks up the bow that she dropped while trying to subdue the girl. She spares the dead boy on the table a frown, and then turns it to Lionel and Pontus. Trusting them to finish off the helpless doctor, she moves back to the harvest chamber. "I need some to stay with me to guard the exit. The other teams will be coming out this way too. We will hold off the Maunon until they get her or until we die. The rest, escort the prisoners to safety." She doesn't seem to care much who does what, letting the team sort it out. As long as someone at least stays with her to guard.
Luther straightens up, studies the death in the room, then nods to Britt and walks out, moving gingerly toward the door where Richael waits to keep watch alongside her. From behind his blood-spattered, oil and ash-streaked face, he flashes a bright smile at her, then looks back to the infirmary.
As the blade slides into his throat, Salvador gurgles, and his head lolls to his front, drenching his pristine white lab coat in blood. The name on his golden label is still readable, resisting the stain. The last word he utters is, "…children," finishing his earlier, stammering plea. His death may be grisly, but it's quick; perhaps better than he deserves. His clear blue eyes dim, peppered black hair falling over his pale, sweaty forehead.
Sage shudders again, really being naked in this room is not her idea of fun but she seems to ignore it for now as she moves just to the left of Britt's side, she has the knife held in one hand and the hand axe in the other. A nod once to Britt's orders and she is moving slowly but moving into a position to guard. Well she will as long as she sees enough people getting the others out of the cages, they will have nightmares enough without staying in them a moment longer.
Richael looks to Luther as he approaches, nodding to him and returning the smile before she looks back to the hallway. "The Maunon's kruheda…. is an asshole." Is all she observes about her conversation with Cage.
Pontus walked over to Britt and staggered to her side. Doors. Check. Sage got a look checking for damages. At Richael's assessment there was a quiet "Heh." noted. There were no arguments form him. The steadfast scout moved to position by that last doorway they were at to see if anyone was upon them yet.
Luther chuckles at Richael's words, "Does this surprise you?" There's a moment of pause, and then he adds, "Call him mamiheda." 'Dickhead,' basically. Or 'Cock Commander' if you want to get a little more vulgar.
There is no more chatter on the radios, the Maunon evidently having switched channels. However, the next people to come into the infirmary are not the Mount Weather Security Detail, but rather, four or five minutes later, the battered remnants of the second Trikru-led team, including a hulking warrior from Tondc known for his bad temper and rather prickly pride. They are scorched, burned, and only five of them survive (not including the Skaikru that were with them), but they still march into the room in good order. "Go. We will take over the rescue from here." At some point between the death of Salvador and the arrival of the Skaikru, the door to the Secured Medical Lab with the three bodies is closed.
Each batch of escapees has the door closed in front of them, and then a hatch in the floor — helpfully outlined in yellow paint marred with old red stains — opens beneath them and they tumble out into a mining cart that someone thoughtfully padded with a foam mattress from the Ark. And they're greeted by a small team there, including Lip and Nathaniel.
From the mining cart, it's about fifteen minutes' walk out to the slopes of Mount Weather, and then another five or ten down to the treeline, and then almost a day to the nearest branch of the Potomac.