1755/Delving Into Port Absolon Shipwrights

Delving Into Port Absolon Shipwrights
Date of Scene:	07 March 2015
Location:	Scorched Earth
Synopsis:	Elites delve into Port Absolon Shipwrights. And then? Inbred cannibals.
Cast of Characters:	Crys Gattz, Blurr, Eryl Fairfax, 626

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Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     The instant out of the warpgate, the Elites are intimately acquainted with the dust and sand of the world. The lightest breeze kicks it up, sending it swirling, the sheer quantity of it ensuring it works its way into uncomfortable areas.

    They stand in the ruins of a town. What hasn't been buried underneath the ever-shifting sands has rotted away, become bleached under centuries of sun without maintenance. In the distance, they can hear the gentle lapping of water against shore, but it sounds a little... thicker than they might be used to.

    They were instructed to head towards the column of smoke once more, and there it is. Just a small distance away, towards the sounds of the sea.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Since Kyra's been to this world before, for her return visit she's come better prepared. She already has her goggles on to protect her eyes from the dust and sand in addition to a completely different lower facemask that keeps her from breathing in the dust. Still, if last time was any indication, she's going to be washing dust out of her clothes for the next few days.

    Strapped to her back is not the golden rifle from last time but an equally golden (and silver) much, much heavier-looking grenade launcher. Beyond that, the zipped hoodie protects the other firearms she carries on her along with her potions and ammo.

    The white mage seems a little too excited to be coming on this mission today though when she arrives, she sticks around for anyone else to show up to the mission before moving out. Always move as a group!

Blurr has posed:
    Kyra doesn't have to wait long before a bright blue beam of light appears to lance out of the sky, coming instantly down from the clouds and touching the ground in front of her.

    Once the light is gone, someone very familiar to her is standing there. Yep, it's the speedy blue Cybertronian she had met on several previous occasions. They just keep running into each other, it seems! He has been to this planet, once, but he doesn't appear to have brought any protection against the dust. Eh, yeah...it's annoying because it's getting all up in his joints, but nothing he hasn't dealt with before.

    He chuckles, peering down at Kyra upon spotting the girl. "You again? Well I'm flattered, didn't realize you liked me -that- much."

Crys Gattz has posed:
So here Crys is hot pants and all as ever she loks over to the White Mage who is really excited and she seems very amused at this really.

"You seem ready for fun, humm?"

Crys notes before she takes a look up at Blurr.

"Ah a Autobot always good to have one of you along." She loks to Kyra for a moment and then looks to the sands purring at the ruins.

"Cheerie just like home."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Not knowing if the sudden speedy descendant is friend or foe at first, Kyra quickly reaches for one of her guns-though notably not the huge one on her back. She pauses once she spies the familiar form of Blurr once the light clears. "Hey!" she protests, shaking a fist up at the Cybertonian. "I'm not here because of you! I'm here because I promised to lend a hand to the ReGenesis corporation! That we're meeting here is total conincidence! I'm not stalking you!"

    The more she talks, the more defensive she sounds, having been accused of stalking people before.

    She gives Crys an enthusiastic thumbs up. "I am so ready! So let's get going!"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Assuming the crew heads towards the smoke column, they find themselves heading towards the sea! When it comes into view, they might begin to understand why it sounds so thick. The water is similarly choked with dust and dirt, giving it a grainy, brown appearance. There's so much that the seawater is basically mud. And it seems to be the same story, even towards the horizon.

     But, the smoke is ascending from outside a nearby, enormous warehouse, built over the water. Heading towards it, through a rusted chain-link gate, the Elites meet up with their two contacts from the ReGenesis Defence Force.

     Standing next to a parked unimog is woman who seems to be just past middle-aged. Her hair is more salt than pepper and her skin is quite wrinkled and tanned. Her suit is lilac, with a white leafy branch on her right shoulder. The other is a young man, his black hair spiked and oiled, his almond-shaped eyes hinting at an Asian heritage.

     The former beams and waves as the group approaches, looking up at Blurr with a smile as the latter simply glowers suspiciously. "Hello everyone, thanks for coming. I'm Staff Sergeant Lily Cooper," the older woman says as she gives the ReGenesis salute (left hand to temple, palm facing outwards). The young man sighs and also salutes. "Private First Class Jamie Hsu."

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr smirks. "Suuure." He teases at Kyra. "Sure it is. I'm sure it was a coincidence -last- time too!" The Autobot laughs. Or maybe -he's- the one stalking. Knowing his skillset, it actually is probably more likely. He nods toward Crys. "Thanks, but what makes you say that exactly?"

    He approaches the muddy sea and the smoke they were instructed to head toward, nodding as the humans introduce themselves but wondering what Jamie Hsu's problem is. "Blurr," he reciprocates with the introductions.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz looks to Blurr and she grins.

"A history with Autobots for over half my life. I been in the multiverse well a long time for my kind but less than a Voron, for you."

She just grins a bit more before they meet up with the locals.

"Crys Gattz, you guys called for some help?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "It was a coincidence! I never know when you're going to show up." The smoke column can consider itself followed. Along the way, Kyra does take a moment to scoop up some of the sand in this world into a tiny vial, squirreling it away in a pouch, perhaps for later study.

    She takes a similar sample of the water.

    "Hello!" she greets the two representatives. "I'm Kyra Hyral, my specialty is healing. And demolition. How can we help you today?"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Lily smiles a motherly smile at Kyra and Crys. "Davidson and Troch told me about you two. Said you were both a big help at Jefferson Airport. Glad to have you with us." Blurr, she looks up, seemingly unperturbed by how big he is. "You're a tall drink of water aren't you? We'll have to figure something out to get you inside, but we do have a demolitions expert here, so it can't be too hard!" She lets out a cherry cackle.

     "Okay. Hsu, run this place by our guests." The young man stands up straight, and with a haughty look on his face, starts rattling off information. "Our goal is to secure this building, the Port Absolon Shipwrights. If you don't know, that means they build boats in here. We have aerial power, but if we're going to clean out the seas, we need a naval force. This will be our first step."

     Lily nods. "I'll give you 17 points for that. Okay everyone, we've scouted the perimeter. A lot of entrances seem to be deliberately blocked off, but we found a garage door that seems fine. Also, all the windows are closed tight, so it's gonna be pitch black in here. Grab a torch if you can't make your own light." She gestures to a briefcase filled with flashlights.

     The two soldiers quickly gear up, body armour put on top of their suits and helmets on their heads. Lily carries a handgun similar to a Red 9 in one hand, with a curious combat knife in the other. The hand-guard is much wider, and the side facing the blade seems to be transparent plastic. Jamie packs what looks to be a futuristic AA-12 shotgun with a box magazine.

     They lead the party around the side of the mammoth warehouse to a garage door. Jamie bends down to open it up while Lily takes point, resting her gun-wielding hand on the wrist of her knife-wielding hand. With the push of a button, the guard of the knife starts giving off light like a torch.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "For what 'seas' you guys have. No offense but your sea looks like a giant mud puddle. How is it that none of the sediment has settled? Does it not get deep enough?" As she asks her question, Kyra pulls a flexible flashlight from under her hoodie, which she drapes around her shoulders and turns on. She doesn't take point but instead brings up the rear unless someone requests her demo abilities.

    "Psst." she speaks up suddenly, "What are we securing this building from? Are there more security drones? Should we leave them intact for salvage?"

Blurr has posed:
"...A tall drink of water?" Blurr looks confused at these words. "I'm not wet?" The Autobot glances down at himself as if to check. Is this another one of those weird human sayings? At any rate, he nods as the two humans prepare to take the building by force.

    Regarding his size, his body suddenly appears to fold up on itself, panels shifting until he's no longer a biped but a slick-looking hovercraft. "Will this help? But uh..." He has the same question Kyra does. "But yeah, who exactly are we up against here?"

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz says "Glad to be of help here, the pay ain't bad either right?"

She grins a little bit and now falls in to get with the others.

"Someone sealed it off maybe there were surivors at one point that claimed it ither way be ready given the civ that made this place made drones that can work after 200 years with no maintance we need to be on our toes. Or woes ethere could be native wildlife."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     "The whole reason we hire you is because we don't know what we are up against. Could be nothing, could be security drones, could be humans." Jamie says curtly as the party enters the garage. Lily grins at Blurr transforms. "Well now! More than meets the eye, aren't you? That should help a little."

     As Lily said, it is absolutely dark in here, the sunlight from outside not penetrating far in. The torch lights help, thankfully. As they slip past large trucks, the floor quite dusty, the air heavy with the stench of ages... they reach the back wall.

     There is a message crudely carved into it, worn away by time but still legible.

     "IF YOU CAME IN FROM OUTSIDE, LEAVE. THE PEOPLE INSIDE MIGHT PROMISE MUCH, BUT THE LEADER IS A TYRANT AND A DEVIANT. YOU ARE SAFER OUT THERE THAN IN HERE."

     Lily scans the message with her knife-light, reading it aloud. "Hm. Stay on your toes people." Her motherly voice is all business now. She pans her light over, to another garage door. As she nods towards it, Jamie goes over and tries to open it. This only makes it rattle, and refuse to lift from the ground. Lily seems to listen intently. "Hm... sounds like it's locked from the other side. And not with a lock build into the door. A padlock. Hold on..."

     She walks over to the door and puts her ear to it as she gives it another rattle. "There it is..." Lifting her gun above her head, the barrel angled down towards the door, she squeezes the trigger. With the telltale hiss of a coilgun, it fires a round through the door! It hits something on the other side, making it shatter from the sounds of things. When she goes to open the door again, it slides up easily. "That'll be on the test Hsu," she says, a cheeky edge to her voice as she waves everyone through.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Um, yeah, last time we were here they did have an idea of what we're up against so I'm going to ask /anyway/." Kyra says back at Jamie, equally curt. She lifts her head just slightly, shifting so she can see ahead with the flashlight. Her light falls upon the message and she reads it.

    Slowly, Kyra unshoulders the grenade-launcher looking device from her back, carefully holding it, though straining a little as she does so.

    Again, she's the last to follow through the door-or second to last if Lily decides to bring up the rear as they sweep the room. From her back position, she still turns, providing light as she looks at the inside.

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr follows Kyra inside, his headlights providing ample lighting for the group. "Alright so we don't know what we're up against, got that. I'll work on fixing that." He immediately starts scanning the area, searching for any clue of what might be in here, if anything.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz is now looking at this wanring she doesn't like the sound odf this. She seems to be on edge at this point as she moves in along with the others. She humms for a moment and mutters something. The others might hear it.

"Don't let it in, whatever you do don't let it in, keep it out."

She then follows.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Jamie stares daggers at Kyra, but keeps his own mouth shut. As Blurr scans the area... yeah, it's just as big as it looked on the outside. Big enough for Blurr to stand up in too, thankfully. They stand in the workshop, where they built the boats. It seems that they were halfway through a project when the world ended, as a partially complete boat hangs overhead, taking up much of the room they stand in.

     The air hangs heavy with age, but other smells too. Body odour, bodily wastes, and the sickly sweet stench of rotting meat. "This place was definitely inhabited. Might still b-did you hear that?" Lily starts scanning the area with the light from her knife. It might take some conscious effort, but there is a faint crackling noise. She shines the light at the source... an intercom, one that has been heavily vandalized, to the point that it can only give off the tinniest little whistles.

     "Hm. Something must be playing on a loop... alright boys and girls, first task: find where the message is being played from. Hsu?" Jamie lets his shotgun hang from his shoulder as he types away at his wrist, a hologram being projected from his palm as he accesses the building's blueprints. "Communications room is upstairs. I'll take point," he says, a bit of a tremor in his voice. He starts to lead the group to a thin set of metal stairs heading up to the catwalks above. Hopefully Blurr can fly, because there's no way they would support him.

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr watches as the group heads up a thin flight of stairs. Bleh, they are -definitely- too small to support him. Unfortunately he can't fly, but he does have a holomatter avatar that he can shrink down to size and project up onto the catwalks with the rest of the group. It resembles a blond-haired teen boy.

    Since the ceiling is high enough for him to stand up in here, he does so, and starts scanning the upper levels, searching for the comms room to see if he can pinpoint where the signal is coming from, or what it was supposed to mean.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Tough cookies for Jamie-Kyra's more than happy to glare back. It looks like this guy is rubbing her the wrong way an order of magnitude more than what Blurr does. The glare is a brief one before she returns to scanning the inside of the much larger, boat-building room. She looks upward to view the partially-completed boat.

    Kyra tenses at the faint sound of static, she too finding the crushed intercom. "..I'll be at the rear." she mutters quietly, of course, being the last to follow up the metal stairs.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz snaps out of her little flash back what was that all about. She looks at Kyra for a moment. She titls her head a bit and moves in she doesn't summon any weapons just yet as she pauses rfor a moment.

"The question is is anyone still here. You may want to let me take point I'm close combat."

She notes to the trooper as she follows and will do so if he allows her to.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     "Hang tight Tall, Chrome and Handsome, we'll be right down! Keep an eye out for us, okay?" Lily calls down at Blurr, apparently not unfamiliar with holograms. The Transformer's scans find that the message is being transmitted over wires. No wireless signal to connect to. Also, the speakers are too badly damaged to get anything coherent out of them. Jamie nods at Kyra as she takes up the rear, but glowers at Crys when she offers to take point. "In narrow areas, a shotgun is more reliable. Nowhere to hide unless you're willing to plunge to the ground. I'll take point," he says in a tone that demands no argument.

     It's a tense walk along the catwalks. They tend to creak ominously with each step, and they are slick with a worryingly dark crimson stain at points. But they hold it together as the group reaches the communication room. Jamie pushes the door open and rushes in, covering the corners. But, nothing living occupies the room.

     Only a human skeleton on the ground.

     Lily immediately knees to examine it. "Hmm... male. Quite old... suicide. Look." She indicates a neat pair of holes in the skull, then a gun on the floor next to the skeleton. "But... the meat didn't rot off him. There are teeth marks all over. After he died, something... no, quite a few somethings came along and ate him."

    Jamie looks a little nauseous as he examines the equipment. "Uhh... ah, here it is. The speakers in here are still working, we should be able to play back the message." Lily gives him a nod, and he pushes a button. A man's voice from ages past comes from the speaker.

     "Hello everyone! Just a daily reminder to the men to make your donations in Room 309. Remember, those who are extra-generous get extra rations! For all we know, we are the last living humans, so it falls to us to ensure the survival of the human species!" The message ends there.

     Lily's weathered face looks a little sickened. "Ugh... Adam and Eve scenario huh? And this guy doesn't sound too cut up about it. I guess he's the 'deviant' that carved message was talking about."

Blurr has posed:
    Hmm. Blurr attempts to locate the wires transmitting the signal, to see if he can link up to it and get into the system to salvage any data that might still be there. Meanwhile, the avatar follows them into the comms room. "Who's Adam and Eve?" He asks, wondering what that was about. "What kind of donations is he talking about?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Likewise, Kyra's also quick to advance and examine the skeleton, able to confirm much of what Lily has said due to her own medical training. She'll also pay special attention to the bitemarks to make an assessment of the size and type of creature that ate the human. She knows the size and shape of human bitemarks, for example, because the first thing she fears when coming upon a corpse that has been consumed is 'zombies.'

    She makes another face at the message, "I hope those domantions are not what I think they are either." Kyra switches her weapons at this point, returning the grenade launcher to her back and pulling out some kind of ornate-looking pistol. She holds the gun firmly with a two-handed grip.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz nods and she looks to Jamuie and make sna all right face. She's had issues with soldiers but these people are not choder heards likw WORKs are so she's going to let it slide. She's no ranger and jamies got a point about shotguns. So she summons a pistol and follows keeping her one eye alert for things.

"Lets be careful all right? I seen things, horrible things left burried in long forgotton places...we should take it slow."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     As Blurr goes in through the wires, he finds something at the same time Jamie does. "There's another message." Lily sighs and rolls her eyes. "More gross nonsense I suppose. May as well play it," she says, pointedly avoiding answering Blurr's question.

     As Jamie does, Kyra's examination would find that the bite marks are very much like a person's. But there's something... off about them. There's way too much variance between them. If human mouths did this, they must have been very deformed ones.

     Soon, that second message is playing. It sounds like the same man, but much older, and more tired too. "I just... wanted to ensure humanity survived. But those... /things./ Is this God's punishment on us? That those who survive cannot bear proper fruit?" He goes quiet for a full thirty seconds. "I'll admit. I was a real shitty person. The whole breeding programme wasn't me thinking ahead... but there's no food left. Synthesizer's broken down. And I won't do what those things did." There's another long silence, followed by the hiss of a coilgun being fired. The message keeps going for a while in total silence before turning itself off due to lack of input.

     "Well... at least he repented. Okay people, let's be on our way." Lily says as she turns off the intercom entirely. The warbling message ceases now all throughout the facility. As she steps out onto the catwalk, something tackles her from the side, drawing a scream from her!

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr is left still wondering who or what 'Adam and Eve' are. He frowns, still not really understanding what happened here despite the recordings. Aside from the fact that they were trying to survive and resorted to some gruesome measures. But he doesn't have much time to contemplate that, because something jumps out and attacks Lily! The holomatter moves quickly, attempting to grab whatever it is and pull it off so he can shoot at it without hurting her.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "...humanoid." Kyra's eyes widen, "Whatever ate this man was humanoid or human-sized. Dental impressions aren't strictly...human though. Mutants, maybe? Mutant cannibal zombies...?" That's a thing, Kyra's pretty sure.

    She cocks her head, listening to the other message. Her gaze turns back to the older skeleton. Hm, male. "...that could be her speaker." she gestures, "Not that I want to jump to conclusions." She follows, again, keeping towards the rear but keeping her weapon lowered.

    Then Lily screams as she's tackled. Kyra swings her flashlight in her direction, trying to get a sight of her attacker. She doesn't fire yet, the close quarters making a shot too unsafe, leaving Blurr's avatar to address the danger directly.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz is moving carefully at this point, she wonders about this as she looks about for a moment. She liustens to the message and she's got a very bad idea She shakes her head and keep moving she's on edge now and she pauses looking at Blurr.

"In three of the major relgions on a number of earths, Adam and Eve are the first humans."

She notes she has no idea how true it is as she's nto fromt hat worlds she looks to them for a moment.

"Maybe I seen some nasty mutagens in my time. Stuff that could subvert entire ecosystems."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     As Blurr pulls on the thing latches on to Lily, he may realize something concerning. He is latched on tight to her throat. Her armour has helped to slow the bite, but it is still a fierce grip! But, the old woman stabs her knife deep into the things leg, causing it to release her and back off, shrieking an inhuman shriek!

     Which is a little concerning, as it appears to be a human. But there is something clearly off about it. Its proportions are all wrong, with long thick arms and short legs. Its spine is visible through its skin, and it's all gnarled and twisted. Its eyes are milky, clearly unused to the bright lights. And there are lumps all over that seem to be indicative of subcutaneous tumors.

     But, as it lunges for the group again, it takes a bullet in the head from Lily, who gets back to her feet. Her neck is bleeding a little, but she stands strong, as more of them start swarming onto the catwalks from their positions, perched on the walls and roof. "Get ready for a fight boys and girls!"

     She starts picking off the attackers from an impressive distance, considering that she only wields a handgun. When they get close or flank the group from above or below, they take her knife to a vital area.

     As for Jamie, he seems to have frozen up when Lily got taken down. But when she recovers and orders an attack, he gets to work with his shotgun. It actually has quite an impressive range, as he picks off the hideous ghouls at mid-range, his shots opening several wounds.

Blurr has posed:
    "Yeesh," Blurr comments at the lurid appearance of the gnarled and mutated organic that looks kind of like a human but not quite. "Talk about ugly." Thankfully Lily is able to defend herself, though, suddenly hordes of them are upon the group! He does observe that they are not accustomed to bright lighting--after all it would make sense, if they were living in this pitch dark building.

    "Shield your eyes!" He calls out. "I'm gonna see if I can stun them!" Suddenly the Autobot's headlights glare even brighter than before as he redirects some extra power to them and points them in the direction of their attackers. The lights on his joints and limbs also increase in intensity, causing him to suddenly look sort of like a massive blue, white and red lightshow.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Examiniing the bites does, turn out, give Kyra a small preview of the creatures that would be attacking them shortly. It's good, because this one off with Lily gives her a moment to study their new adversary, which CLEARLY was not human judging by the look of it as it scrambed to try and eat the soldier.

    Even in the darkness, Kyra can see that the attack has left Lily injured. With little preamble, Kyra swaps out her weapon to the one on her back. Set to its lowest settting, the Cure-All fires concentrated spheres of MP that explode upon impact, healing anything it touches. It was overkill for the wound but Kyra was excited to test out the new equiment. She moves the group in shortly afterwards, giving her a new position where she could easily view incoming attackers and her fellow mercenaries.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz is now looking what's hed she looks at them for a moment she notices the mutating and she stares at it for a long moment. She doesn't make a moment to stikle untilk it attacks she got her pistol out, she summons another wrapon her right arm is encased in a terrible looking mechanical claw and she's now moving to get in close she's not afraid of geting hit and she's attack with the claw or about to until the wanring from Blurr's attack.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Blurr's gambit pays off! In response to the bright, strobing lights, the creatures bury their faces in her hands to try and block it out! Some of them tumble from the walls as a result, hitting the ground with worrying splats and crunches. As for Kyra, her MP shot startles Lily for a moment, but as her skin knits back together, she nods her thanks and gets back to shooting down the humanoids. As for Crys, her claw cleaves through the creature's skin, muscle and bone quite easily.

     Eventually, they all lie wounded and dead at the party's feet. Lily sighs and finishes one off with a shot to the eye. "Hmm... years of inbreeding and improper nourishment, I believe. In conjunction with... whatever happened when their ancestors will born."

     Jamie opens the visor of his helmet so he can throw up off the edge of the catwalk. Lily rubs his back and looks to the others. "We have to sweep the rest of the building for these things. Let's go."

     When the party does move, checking all the rooms and the inside of the half-completed boat, they don't find any more. "Well... that's a relief I guess. Thank you for the help everyone," Lily says, her matronly tone creeping back in now that everything is all-clear.

Blurr has posed:
    "Sure thing." Blurr smiles in response to the show of appreciation. As soon as they are clear, he transforms once again, his body folding back down into his vehicle form. "Anyone need a fast ride out of here?" he offers.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz looks to their employers and nods a little bit.

"Ya this seems like still keep an head up for lucid ones you never know given multiveral medicines you never know tither way I like fast Cars, so sure blurr lets see how fast you can go."