After the Dawn (IC)

[Elyrin]

Infiltration Team
March 9th - 2:22 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


That little metal spike flew like a shooting star. It pierced through fleshy slug and solid floor alike with a horrid grinding sound, spraying bits of slug and concrete fragments everywhere. What remained of the slug didn't stay intact for long, as what passed for an abdomen burst not a moment later to spread the mess even further. Vitro, Asura, and Muelsyse found themselves lightly splattered in slug remains, but it probably didn't stain, right?

"W-why me..."

Combat Results

The Infused Glacial Slug suffers 30 damage and is killed. It explodes upon death, but all operators are safely out of range.

[Plue]

GraveMoss
March 9 – 2:45 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

The meal bars disappear at a pace that has more relationship to inhalation than chewing by the towering Pilosa.

Her expression said that a follow up nap would be the appropriate chaser for said snack.

With this morose thought her helmet is resecured.

"Shops after mission~" She taps lightly on the car, "Finds things for the snow tea party too~"

"Contact forward in... 15, if they nots calling back before then~"

[Elyrin]

Assault Team
March 9 – 2:45 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Contact forward in... 15, if they nots calling back before then~

As if on cue, Santonia's radio came to life not ten seconds later, releasing a brief burst of static followed by the voice of the Secure Team's vanguard.

"Copy, assault team, this is secure team. Eight hostiles subdued topside without much resistance. No casualties on our side. Do you copy?"

"Oh, thank God. Time to get outta here." Dust rolled off her perch and began collecting her things. Leaving the garbage behind, of course. "Big lady, tell 'em I'm headin' up, will ya? Don't wanna get shot surprisin' my new pals."

[pinetree]

Operator Santonia
March 9 – 2:45 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

"Copy that. Did you guys get a fucker with a purple sword and goo all over his armor?" The less people knew about her arts, the better.

"Oh, thank God. Time to get outta here." Dust rolled off her perch and began collecting her things. Leaving the garbage behind, of course. "Big lady, tell 'em I'm headin' up, will ya? Don't wanna get shot surprisin' my new pals."

"Wait a sec girly, I just thought of something. Hey Moss-boss, since we don't got a any kind of map shouldn't we go along with her? Mu-whatever said the lab dealt with oripathy on kids so it might be in the infected district."

[Plue]

GraveMoss
March 9 – 2:45 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

"Wait bit a sec girly, I just thought of something. Hey Moss-boss, since we don't got a any kind of map shouldn't we go along with her? Mu-whatever said the lab dealt with oriphaty on kids so it might be in the infected district."

"Would rather nots be going door to door~~~" There is a distinct slump in the shoulders of the defender at the thought of canvassing the city one block at a time. "Wills see whats mappings Tours mights haves~"

Raising her voice the defender called out to the rest of the squad, "Ready~ Ready~?"

"Oh, thank God. Time to get outta here." Dust rolled off her perch and began collecting her things. Leaving the garbage behind, of course. "Big lady, tell 'em I'm headin' up, will ya? Don't wanna get shot surprisin' my new pals."

"Sticky Tail, call ahead and be lettings them know~"

[SleepMode]

Operator Vitro
March 9 - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Vitro flicked specks of Slug bits from his lens. Whether a product of its self-detonation or the Sniper's handiwork was unclear; what was certain was another sample tap gone, savaged beyond use. The Liberi was aware of their current situation, but the academic within grimaced at the carnage. Still, there is enough semi-intact to extract at least a vial of its frigid venom, so he supposes it was no use crying over spilled milk.

Surveying the fight itself, the Supporter's teammates had been making strides in dispatching their assailants. Even their client proved capable of self-defense, even in unfavorable weather. Excellent. Less time in combat means less risk of injuries and less chance of him engaging in close quarters. His atrocious scores in close combat were no secret, so hopefully it need not be demonstrated here.

Though lacking in viable attacks, there was still something that the Liberi could do.

Swapping his Arts Unit for a less red-tinted one, Vitro jabbed its needle-like opening into a plughole on his suit's left side. Breathing through his nose, the Support Operator twists the Unit with a grunt. A dull itch throbs at his side, like a scratch from an ivy's thorn. Breathe in… And out…

Vitro unplugged the Unit from his side; its contents a greenish-gray smoke. Turning its opening towards Nuriel, the smoke swirled out in a curve before surrounding her.

Taking a short breath, Vitro gave the Squad Leader a quick nod. Though with his stature it was more of a half-bow.

“Inhale it in a single bout… And there, this will mend the worst of it. It should not be long now.”

Perhaps that was a bit excessive on his end, tending to what amounts to Class 2 injuries. Seeing that the Sankta is clearly a frontline combatant, however, he supposes it was better to keep her in able condition — leadership or no.

Action

Vitro casts Neutralize on Nuriel.

Wise UP

Neutralize: 4 SP - Medium Range
Healing Arts using a fusion of all-reacting toxins. The Arts, taking the form of vapor, can enter the subject’s body through skin contact or inhalation. The resulting reaction cancels each other out, nullifying the negative effect of said poisons and leaving the recipient's internal system incenced to repair itself.

(Restores 10 HP, removes the Stunned and Withered status effect.)

[Elyrin]

Infiltration Team
March 9 - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


Vitro's unusual gas was used on Nuriel this time, once again sticking to its target rather more than gas should. Still, he was the medical expert, he certainly wouldn't be using anything on his teammates he might deem unsafe for human consumption.

Having been freed from immediate danger, Muelsyse turned to the operators holding the front line. Using one hand to wipe some of the slug goo off her jacket, she darted closer to Nuriel and pointed her other hand towards the glacial slug, imitating some Sankta firearm. A jet of water burst forth from the tip of her mitten, striking with the force to match the usual Originium-based beam Arts. Which, coincidentally, was far more force than the usual originium slug's flimsy shell could handle. The final slug was sawed cleanly in half, leaving the swollen infused slug as the only survivor.

Her work done, Muelsyse gave Nuriel a thumbs up and began backing away slowly.

Combat Results

Nuriel regains 10 HP.
Infused Glacial Slug B suffers 20 damage and is killed.

Muelsyse

High Pressure
Short Range, 3 5 SP
A spell that fires a blast of extremely high pressure water from the fingertips, comparable to an industrial water cutter. Loses effectiveness outside melee range, but able to cut clean through metal.

Turn Order: Slug Beta, Sting, Asura, Glacial Slug A, Vitro, Muelsyse, Glacial Slug B, Nuriel, Glacial Slug Alpha, Infused Slug, Infused Slug Alpha

[Egophobia]

Operator Grapevine
March 9 – 2:46 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Grapevine hefted the triage kit she'd set aside while preparing the gauze back onto her shoulder.

“Ready enough,” she replied simply.

Tailing Dust to the Infected quarter made sense enough- Rhodes Island offices tended not to be in the parts of town where an Infected might not be able to reach on foot and in broad daylight. The crippling lack of intel from any party involved aside, it wasn't too different to the sorts of skulking around she'd done prior to joining the company. Besides, this suited her just fine. Visiting the Infected quarter and locating the Rhodes Island office had both been on her agenda regardless.

[Ayakashi]

Infiltration Team - Nuriel
March 9 - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

"Huh?"

The rush of gas surrounding her came as a bit of a surprise, but Vitro's instructions which followed reassured Nuriel in knowing that this was supposedly something benign for her. Hearing her squadmate's instructions, Nuriel did her best to follow his instructions, and surely as she did so the pain that the slug had inflicted upon her went away.

"Thank you."

She can give him a sign of gratitude at the very least, though to ponder on how exactly the gas is healing her, Nuriel does not have the time. At best, she can presume it's some sort of painkiller.

However, now is the time to deal with more pressing matters, and act, rather than think. Nuriel extends her open hand towards the remaining slug, and as she does so, the countless crystals on her body, may it be the highly visible ones encrusted into her skin outside or the granules floating about inside, all begin to glow in a dark-blueish hue. In an instant, a massive formation of ice appears as temperatures drop and all of the H20 in the air crystalizes, forming a large wall which would prevent the slug from advancing any further. However, Nuriel knows that while most people would be blocked by that wall and even worst, freeze should they try to scale it -- Ice Originium slugs would be immune to such an effect. However, that does not stop the wall from fulfilling its purpose here... the time the slug will spend climbing it should give ample time for everyone to ready a ranged attack to shoot it, and on top of that Sting can fall back and not be caught in the explosion.

As usual however, to use her Arts, even if she isn't using her oripathy to fuel it, is a painful experience. Nuriel has since long been used to it, but that does not mean she is not unfeeling of the sharp and cold discomfort that grasps her body all the time. To her however, this is nothing, and it is not an ailment she, someone with medication, even has the right to complain about. Every single man, woman and child who suffers from Oripathy has to deal with that on a daily basis, and for the unlucky, they die an agonizing death as their crystals impale them from the inside out.

At any rate... she should inform her team on what is about to happen.

"Sting, fall back. Asura, Vitro, Miss Muelsyse, please get ready to shoot that slug when it crests the wall."

Action

Nuriel casts Frost Barricade to wall off Infused Slug Alpha

Wiseup

[Elyrin]

Assault Team
March 9 – 2:46 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


"Yeah, I don't think you guys are really equipped for sneakin' with me. I guess I wouldn't have to if you all came along? We could just power through whatever dumbfuck gets in the way..." Dust had a long look over Grave Moss's bulky powered armour. "I s'pose I can wait around a couple extra minutes, see if you can figure out where this lab is first? I really can't stay much longer though."

---

Infiltration Team
March 9 - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


It hardly took a moment for Nuriel's Arts to take effect, and a thick wall of ice spawned out of think air to interrupt the red slug's ponderous movement. The slug, however, was either too determined or too stupid to consider halting its advance, and after a few moments pulled itself into view at the top of the wall. But the wall was too high for it to attack Sting, and it seemed like the poor thing wasn't going to get a chance to reach its prey.



Turn Order: Slug Beta, Sting, Asura, Glacial Slug A, Vitro, Muelsyse, Glacial Slug B, Nuriel, Glacial Slug Alpha, Infused Slug, Infused Slug Alpha

[Zagrin]

Infiltration Team - Sting
March 9 - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Tch, why is it the exploding one that had to be left for last?

Sting mentally grumbled as he watched the engorged slug approach them. He didn't doubt that he could take it out with a single, well placed strike, the issue was what would happen right after. Quick though he was, it was doubtful that he would be able to get out of that thing's blast radius in time. He didn't have anything on him that he could throw at it to finish it off either...well other than his arts armament, but risking it getting potentially damaged from the slug's explosion didn't seem like a particularly smart idea either. Well there was something that he could try, although...

"Sting, fall back. Asura, Vitro, Miss Muelsyse, please get ready to shoot that slug when it crests the wall."

Tactical retreat? Well that was certainly an idea, but not one that he was too fond of. Something about turning tail and retreating to the back lines and leaving behind those two ladies just didn't quite sit right with him. But then again, if he was now a part of a military organization so his job was to follow orders, much as he might disagree with them...then again, it's not like Nuriel said he couldn't try to take out the slug before retreating, right?

"I get what you're saying boss, but you know I can take this thing out as well, right?"

With that said, Sting took a couple steps back and readied his blade as if he were going to throw it at the slug. However he didn't release his grip on it as he swept it towards and slug and pointed at it, rather a globule of acid formed at its tip and show towards his target like a bullet.

Action

Movement: 1 down, Action: Basic arts attack via arts armament on remaining enemy

[Elyrin]

Infiltration Team
March 9 - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


Sting swung his blade, and a glob of acid flew through the air at the hapless slug. Swollen as it was, it had no hope of dodging even if it realized it was being attacked. The acid struck its target dead on and the slug flailed its front limbs, making a feeble attempt at cleaning itself.

Combat Results

The Infused Glacial Slug Alpha suffers 12 damage.

Turn Order: Sting, Asura, Vitro, Muelsyse, Nuriel, Infused Slug Alpha

[Plue]

GraveMoss
March 9 – 2:47 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

The sound of a yawn escapes the heavy armor.

"Mnn~ Then~ Moving out~ Finding maps time~"

With little cerimony the Pilosa defender stomps towards the gap between the vans.

"Diag... Doc left~ Birdy right~ Squishy rear~"

Defining the marching formation as she moves.

[RacingeR]

Infiltration Team - Asura
March 9th - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

Asura hummed, undisturbed by the gory result of her attack, merely flicking off some of the monster’s remains from her suit. The nice thing about camo suits was that by definition they were made to not stain, at least not easily: hard to be stealthy if the filth stuck to it.

Now, one last slug to deal with.

Asura pulled from another string, bringing up the first stake she had shot at the same time she used her other hand to pull from the string of the second stake she had used. Stepping around Vitro, she eyed her objective.

There it was. The wall of ice would’ve made it hard for any other Sniper to get at the creature, but she had the advantage when it came to firing angles. The first stake, undamaged as it was, served perfectly for it. It floated up towards the ceiling, then shot towards the slug at breakneck speeds, aimed directly at its head.

All the while, Asura was inspecting the second stake for damages, the combat high slowly dissipating as her mind whirled towards the group’s next task and encounter.

[Egophobia]

Operator Grapevine
March 9 – 2:47 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

If the military personnel weren’t going to object outright, then she as Rhodes Island’s liaison should probably play middleman.

“The decision is ultimately Blacksteel’s, and while companies like Rhine Lab have often housed their test sites in out of the way or marginalized communities, I cannot say with confidence that waiting on us will be to the benefit of you or your comrade.”

She exhaled. This was going to sound an awful like towing the company line, something that Director Warfarin would have laughed herself into stitches to hear, but whatever. It didn’t matter. Better to play the necessary number of words than to muddle about things on her own and waste her own time. She turned to face the Blacksteel Operators moving into position.

“I must stress, however, that Rhodes Island as an organization is dedicated to the plight of the Infected. If the experiments described by Director Muelsyse are true, then the branch office and the population of the Infected Quarter may be able to expand upon the insufficient intel we were provided. I favor hastening our investigation to know if we should accompany her.”

She looked back to Dust.

“Should we be separating, I would ask you describe the patrols to me in brief. I have some small measure of experience evading the authorities. If need be, I will head to your office myself when I have the chance.”

[Elyrin]

Infiltration Team
March 9th - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


One final blow, and the battle was over. Asura's stake pierced the last slug's head, pinning it to the top of Nuriel's ice wall for just a moment before exploded messily, showering Sting, Nuriel, and Muelsyse in cold, wet, sticky slug bits. There was no chance for the team to take a breather, though. The front line hardly had the time to wipe goo out of their eyes or off their goggles before more of the webbed slug nests began twitching and wriggling more actively.

"T-time to g-go? There was a d-door over there somewhere."

Muelsyse didn't sound overly worried about slug reinforcements. If anything, she was more concerned about her soiled clothes, and seemed to be using her Arts for some impromptu steam cleaning.

---

Assault Team
March 9 – 2:47 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


"Well, it can't take that long to find a map at Tours. They gotta be sittin' out on display, right?" Dust wasn't entirely sure. Unfortunately, there was no one else around to confirm or deny. "Gotta say, though, I am not filled with confidence by the sentence an a half ya told me about this lab. What sorta experiments are they supposed to be runnin'? Do I even wanna know?"

Dust followed along after the squad suited up and got back into formation. Squeeze past the vans, up the ramp, around the corner, up to the next ramp, around another corner...

"This is the first time I've been further away from the office than down the road. Don't have patrol patterns, or schedules, or any of that shit. Patrols back there were just a couple guys walkin' down the street. Bigger groups further away. Four, five, maybe six goons, sometimes a jeep. One of my boys says he saw a tank once, but he's an idiot, so I ignored him. Do they even have tanks in Bolivar?" The vulpo leaned towards Santonia, the closest person to her in the lineup, and "whispered" a followup more than loud enough for the rest to hear. "Just between you an' me, I don't think these assholes have the numbers for this. I ain't military, but I thought sneakin' down here was way too easy. Not enough goons, and not enough real soldiers mixed in with the goons."

Upon their arrival at the top floor of the garage, the squad was waved over to the exit by one of Jessica's defenders, a towering Forte man with curled horns.

"Hey. Be careful poking around buildings. We bagged all the guys we caught, but we haven't done a full sweep yet. If you wanted to talk to the captain, she's setting up shop across the street."

The defender jerked his thumb at the building - Rocky Mountain Tourism Center. It had clearly been built or renovated recently, and was all about sleek, unnecessary curves, bright lights, a nigh-unreadable font for the equally-bright sign above the door, and it was just about all white, the only exception being the heavy metal shutters drawn down over what were presumably the windows. Making a rather stark contrast were the two smaller buildings flanking it, which had gone for the complete opposite look. Rocky Roads Chocolate and Rocky Mountain Treasures, smaller wooden buildings with snow-capped rooftops, hand-carved signs and candles in the windows.

Down the street to the left of the parking garage, the road lead directly into the rolling steel doors of a warehouse labelled Rocky Road Transport. In the other direction lied the city itself, the road leading past a random assortment of businesses including restaurants, car rentals, a "rustic" themed hotel, and a clothing store. Several buildings had a smashed window or kicked-in door, and the Tourism Center was the only one with the lights on.

[Plue]

GraveMoss
March 9 – 2:47 PM
City Entrance Parking Garage
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

The armored Pilosa's helmet dips at the other defenders words, not bothering with more of a reply than a change in her direction as she angles towards the shuttered tour center. Heavy plodding steps echo sharply as the suit tests the quality of the Columbian infrastructure. Not quite as sturdy as the entrance itself, but a few extra hard steps against the ground proved she could gain more traction well enough if she needed to.

A tank would be interesting~ Ears catching Dusts ongoing ramblings. It might be awfullys hard to take something like that back with her though, maybe a piece of it? Souvenirs are an important part of any successful mission. And so far this one is going nappingly well, no one is even dead yet. Maybe it will even stay like that through the entire mission~

Bouyed by that promising thought she sets her shield on the ground, and leaning her lance against it. A somewhat precariously looking balance of the heavy objects. "Smalls Captains~" She calls out into the open doorway, frowning at the size of it before hunching in on herself and squeezing through the doorframe, only 'lightly' scraping against the metal with her suit. She was fairly certain it wouldn't leave any scuffs, on her armor.

[Zagrin]

Infiltration Team - Sting
March 9th - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

"Ugh..."

Sting grumbled as he began to wipe the slug goo off his glasses. Of all the things he had expected to happen during this mission, being drenched in originium slug gore certainly wasn't on his list. It didn't even seem like he would get a chance to wipe himself clean of the stuff either now that the entire nest had woken up thanks to their little skirmish.

"T-time to g-go? There was a d-door over there somewhere."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me."

Even Sting could tell that getting out of here was the only logical course of action in the current situation. Even assuming that they were capable of taking out every one of the critters that were now coming for them, there didn't really seem much benefit to expending so much time and resources on such a task when running away would serve them just as well.

"Hey boss, I'm gonna go ahead again. I'll let you know if I run into anything, although you may want to keep up with me this time, at least until we're out of this place."

With that Sting dashed off, easily scaling over and past the ice wall and sending himself on a direct path to the exit.

[Elyrin]

Assault Team
March 9 – 2:52 PM
Rocky Mountain Tourism Center
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


With some effort, Grave Moss managed to wriggle her powered armour through the regular-size door to the Tourism building. Inside were a few smooth white benches lined up before a similarly white front desk, with a few armchairs and tables off to the sides of the room. Most of the expensive-looking furniture was, however, completely ruined, riddled with arrows and crossbow bolts or just smashed outright. There was no sign of any Bolivarian soldiers, but one of the Secure Squad's Casters was lying in a relatively intact armchair, hood pulled down over their eyes, while a dark blue Feline tail was visible behind the front desk as its owner dug through some drawers.

---

Infiltration Team
March 9th - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia


There was no need for Sting to wait for his team, or even his orders. He was the infiltration specialist, after all. Running ahead of the squad was right there in his job description.

The door on the far side of the room was fairly webby, which offered some resistance, but it wasn't locked. A solid push unstuck it from the mess on the walls and floor-



-allowing Sting access to the innards of the Rocky Mountain undercity. Though, strangely, this wide open area was quite well lit. A far cry from the emergency lighting the team had been dealing with so far. And besides that, he could hear an unmistakable noise from the stairs leading down not far ahead. The rapid clunking of footsteps on metal as someone hightailed it as fast as their legs could carry them.

[Ayakashi]

Infiltration Team
March 9th - 2:23 PM
In the Belly of the Beast
Rocky Mountain, Columbia

"T-time to g-go? There was a d-door over there somewhere."

"Yes, let's not waste our time in here. More slugs might be on their way if we linger too long."

Nuriel strikes the ground with her cleaver-sword and the ice wall she had summoned is dispelled.

''Good job everyone. Don't let their appearances as slugs fool you, I've seen a lot of people die to these because of carelessness.''

The Sankta turns around and gives a nod of approval to her squad, perhaps in a manner she is giving them a little bit of encouragement after they've survived their first encounter together, no matter who the enemy was. Well, the encounter technically still wasn't over, so as Muelsyse had said, they should hurry out of here. Of course, as usual...

"Hey boss, I'm gonna go ahead again. I'll let you know if I run into anything, although you may want to keep up with me this time, at least until we're out of this place."

And whoosh.

Before she could give him a reply Sting had vanished. He was technically doing his job, so what was there to say? Hopefully he didn't try to poke everything he found. That isn't a very safe method of operations. Ah well, they should get going too.

"Let's go after him."

She signals the rest of the team to follow and leads the way, ushering Muelsyse to stay right behind her.