1056/Digging Up Troubles

Digging Up Troubles
Date of Scene:	30 November 2014
Location:	Desert Mountains
Synopsis:	Hero poking nose in Tesla's business as usual
Cast of Characters:	368, 631

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Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
It was not a quiet night in the desert tonight. The trundle of machinery and labor was a constant sensory scar across the clear evening skies. A section around one of the oases had been abruptly fenced off one day, keeping prying eyes away from the heavy industry going on. And it didn't let up at night, either. Floodlights keep the area illuminated, and considering much of the working labor appeared to be either robots or other constructs, sleep was an unnecessity.

The point of the matter was the sudden invasion of fences and digging had cut off local settlements from one of their scarce sources of water. Considering there had been no demands made of subjegation or proclivity for return of access, there was only one other reason they could be here. But what could possibly be buried beneath those endless sands for someone to go to that much effort and seperate a vital resource...

Reker (631) has posed:
Locals cut off from their source of water? That sounds like a quest! Or a mission in GGO terms. Reker approaches the coordinates that were given to him in his LTV, pulling it to a stop far enough away where he can hide it behind a dune and then make his way to the top.

Going prone, he pulls his binoculars out of his inventory and scans across at the construction site, "What on earth are they excavating from there?" He wonders aloud to himself, as he tries to get a good view of what's going on. He may have to get closer, though.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Lots of heavy machinery and rigging, but it's clearly in the process of digging down rather than building anything up. Supposedly there's a lot of possible forgotten military tech buried beneath those dunes, but that does little to clarify just what could be the intended purpose of this dig. The fenses and tents make it hard to see for sure what might be at the bottom of those holes, though.

Occasionally a patrol of armored humanoid wolves pass his field of vision along the perimeter, spacing and interval suggestion there's actually two or three different cluster roaming the exterior of the site.

Reker (631) has posed:
"Okay.." Reker says to himself, as he decides to move a bit closer. He opens up his inventory again with a swipe of his left hand and he adds a supressor to his pistol. It won't make it totally silent but at least it might not give him away entirely. He has to just cross the sandy area between himself and the excavation site. Simple enough.

Rolling right up to the edge of one of the fences, he glances around for any hostiles before moving to rapidly climb it. He moves like a trained professional when it comes to climbing.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
In some contrived convenience there's a stack of crates on the other side of the fence for him to climb down again. As if there was any doubt several of them bear the markings of Confederate Research and Zero Point. But that's just like reading the end of the mystery when you already looked in the back of the book, hardly a surprise any more.

Heavy machinery and robots with digging impliments continue their work, paying little attention to anything other than what they've been programmed to do. Labor that doesn't complain and talk back, always a plus. The armored wolves are scattered about the area as well, though these are just standing in place scanning their vicinity so they don't get in the way of the work.

Lights are on in one of the buildings raised on scaffolding structures over one end of the site. Presumably whoever is in charge is up there.

Reker (631) has posed:
Well thankfully (maybe?) Reker doesn't know anything about Zero Point or Confederate Research yet. He just uses his skills to try to evade them. Also...Well, being a digital construct, he probably doesn't have a scent. Or he might smell like ozone. Either way it's not a human scent which will make things easier for him when evading lupine senses.

Spotting the light on inside of the scaffolding structure, Reker makes his way towards the scaffolding, ever so carefully creeping up the ladder and then pressing himself against the wall so he can try to peer around the corner at whoever is inside.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
The first thing to see is one of those lupine guards standing right on the other side of the windows! .. Fortunately, not looking outside. Though this one is clearly wearing more elaborate armor, more heavily armed, and for whatever reason more clearly female for whatever purpose that may serve.

"I just don't get it." Like any real canine the obvious indicator that she's aggitated is the way her tail keeps swatching back and forth. "You could easily build something twice as complex and -working- as anything they'll dig up out here."

Tesla held up a hand to quiet the complaining without actually looking up from the holo-table display. "You're missing the point Lunessa... though I wouldn't be surprised, you're made to be a war machine after all. It's not about complexity." One of the stations on the display beeped and she reached over to tap it, expanding a projection to display one of the digs, and some of the robot labor hauling what appear to be mid-twentieth century explosives out of the bunker they uncovered. "It's a matter of finding the potential hazards before someone else does... and then uses them against us."

Lunessa chuffs out the start of a sigh, but then pauses, turning her head a bit to one side. Her senses are a lot more elaborate than the troopers, but she's not yet pinpointed whatever digital signal that was briefly that set off one of her proximity sensors. "... I think we might have company soon."

"Well of course we will." Tesla takes this with a suprising amount of unreaction as she puts palms to the tabletop to stand up, shutting off the display. "It was inevitable some heroic idiot comes snooping around. You know how these things work."

Reker (631) has posed:
Still pressed up against the wall, he frowns a bit as they seem to have figured out he was here. But they don't know where yet. So for now he keeps himself low, and then looks around. Maybe he can set some demolitions charges on the equipment. Delay them enough to get some real backup out here.

    He opts to stay close to the window for now, however, to keep listening in on what's going on. He has a feeling he's only gotten the tail end of the plan. Something big and dangerous in the desert that he has to stop them from getting their hands on.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Lunessa just lets out an exasperated growl. "I don't know what's more infuriating, that you EXPECT these things, or that you just go about like they don't matter."

"There's little point in wasting energy on the inevitable. Better to be ready for when it comes... and that's what I have you for, now isn't it?" Tesla pauses as she depresses on the side of the holo-table and slides a data-cartridge out of the drive. "Doesn't matter, once they find the 'big one' out here, it will be a moot point if anyone butts in." She tucks the cartridge into a pocket. "But if it makes you feel better, go out and take a look around."

"You know my feelings are irrelivant to keeping you and your work safe." Pause. "But I -am- bored." The armored wolftress turns and walks to the door, leaving Reder a few scant moments to duck out of view from the windows before she opens it and steps outside onto the flatform. And pauses again. There's that electronic anomalty again, but something about it doesn't want to pinpoint. With a growl she reachs up with one hand to pull her battle goggles down over her face.

Reker (631) has posed:
And duck out of the way he does as soon as she starts to head for the door. He drops off the edge of the scaffold and hangs there while she sniffs around. Once she's cleared away, he climbs down the platform and begins to skirt along the edge.

Moving from cover to cover, he looks for anything that might have a strategic value out here. Generators, equipment, vehicles. Ammo caches or an armory would be a good target for his demolitions charges. He didn't bring too many because he was trying to keep his inventory weight down, so he'll have to pick the best ones. All while steering clear of that angry looking wolfess and the armadillo lady who's ordering her around.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
All those floodlights need to run off something, right?.. Except a closer look reveals they all have solar panels on the back, allowing them to charge during the hot desert day and run throughout the night. Damn, this lady -was- good at planning.

There's munitions being moved about and stored, but considering they're coming out of the smaller digs, no telling what they are. Setting them off might do worse to the precious oasis and scant sources of ground water than the digging does.

Best bet might be the large digging machinery at the center of the compound, if the 'big one' was any indication of what they might be looking for. Big buried target needs a big machine to dredge it up, after all. If nothing else it would likely be a crippling setback to the operation.

There's something here, but she can't pinpoint it. Either they're stealthed, not 'normal' humanoid, or possibly both. Muttering under her breath Lunessa tinkers with the settings on her visor, trying to find a scan that will pick up what her passives are only pinging the general presence of.

Reker (631) has posed:
Even moving as quick as he is, Reker might still get picked up once she tweaks her sensors a bit. He's headed right for the center of the dig site, and there's probably a lot of personel there. It won't be easy getting a satchel charge onto that machine when there's personel around.

He gets as close as he can, staying out of the light, and he moves to the edge of one of the sets of boxes. He thinks he could get it over there with a solid throw, but he might reveal himself with the bag flying through the air.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Infrared... ultrasonic... ultraviolent... electromagnetic... And there in the very alien view of 'seeing' something other than physical forms the strange signal stands out cross the area. Could almost be mistaken for the electronics of one of the robots, if it wasn't for the way it was moving. Leaving the question of just what th hell it was, but asking such questions wasn't in Lunessa's field of operation.

<<Some kind of... free roaming electronic signal entity.>> Not -quite- as weird when you consider the existance of things like Porygons and Digimon, but still very low on the commonality meter.

Mechanics shift as the armor housings of her right arm open up and expand, locking into the form of a large assault weapon partially over Lunessa's arm. Reker scoots up alongside the crates, hunkers down.. and a trio of shots punch through the side of the crates, knocking the one atop the stack over the other side. It's really hard to tell if that was a warning shot, or just his 'signal' wasn't clear enough to aim at from a distance. That might not matter much as the alpha wolfess leaps down from the building and starts sprinting across the sand, shoving some robo-workers out of her way.

To make matters worse, the previously passive wolf guards start snapping to attention and moving as well. Pack mentality meets wi-fi.

"And she thought she wasn't serious about it being inevitable." Though all Tesla does is stand on the platform and sip from her coffee mug. Experienced evil mastermind here, no need to flip out over anything.

Reker (631) has posed:
The shots impacting the box where he was hiding behind and knocking the one above him over makes him dive out of the way. Of course out of the way means out into the open, as he rolls out of the way of the box. But now he's looking right at Lunessa, and he blinks, "Well shit." He supposes there's no point in trying to hide now because his presence is visible. He holsters his pistol and grabs his rifle off his back, "Don't suppose that was a negligent discharge..?" He knows it wasn't..

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Lips curl back to show some rather mean fangs and lots of metallic sharp teeth in general. Not to mention there's a few small sparks arcing between them. "The only discharge is going to be whatever passes for your brains painting the dunes," Lunessa retorts as she levels her rifle, starts to pull the trigger.... And then abruptly yanks it back as some Gremlynx come marching through with several of the dug up bombs at the worst time possible. "Augh, you damn little runts! The hell you doing!?"

The one not carrying explosives stops and shakes a gloved fist at her in return, spitting back in the mostly uncipherable mewling and growling they speak in. Then one of the others nudges him, points at the warhead he's carrying, then points at Lunessa. More specifically, at her chest. Cue a chorus of juvenille snickering from the lot. Until the first smacks him on the head with his clipboard and yells something about getting back to work.

Which is cut short when the first detonates into a splatter of biomatter goo from the rifle. The others shriek in response and quickly huff it away with their volatile payload... though a few are still snickering at the joke afterwards.

It's all given Reker a precious few moments to try and put some distance between them though.

Reker (631) has posed:
And distance he shall put as he dives for cover, getting away from her and the gremlynx as he does. He's not gonna stay here and fight when he's this far outnumbered. Then he gets an idea. He stops and presses his back against the crate he's behind, swiping his left hand downwards to open his menu.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Possibly the only reason Lunessa doesn't splatter them all is because of the dredged explosives they're carrying. She does adjust her armor slightly afterwards and mutter under her breath to the effect of 'why the hell she's even designed like that' before returning to the chase. At least now that she knows which strange signal is the intruder's she can pick it out a bit more easily. Unfortunately she still can't pinpoint him directly, he keeps moving and then hiding behind things. The less individualized guards end up defaulting back to preprogrammed paths when they don't spot anything, though there's a lot more of them congesting the same area now.

<<I don't know if he's Union or some idiot freelancer, but we've got a snoop and possible saboture down here. Like's to hide. Some kind of digital lifeform.>>
Tesla actually pauses in her coffee sipping at that. <<Pokemon? Digimon?>>
<<Looked more human. Whatever he is, my EM tracker can't entirely lock in. Also, I had to shoot one of your minions for.. obstructing.>>
"Hmmm." Idly Tesla clicks on a personal recorder. "Note to self, gremlynx clones need a subgenetic modifier to know to stay out of Lunessa's way." Then sighs softly as she puts it away. "This is why I hate work zone battles."

Reker (631) has posed:
Navigating through the menu, Reker shifts to inventory, and then vehicles, and then hits a button. The air in front of him shimmers as his light armored vehicle spawns into existance. He hops into the driver's seat and then cranks the engine over.

Most likely Lunessa would sense the shift in the electromagnetic field where Reker is. She would also hear the engine rev up as the LTV comes tearing around the corner from behind the crates.

"YEEHAW!"

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
If he was expecting a 'deer in headlights' reaction he's going to be sadly disappointed though. Lunessa swings down her weapon as she leaps and fires a blast out of it that sends a splay of sand flying through the air. While flipping her over the roaring vehicle.

Rocket jumps, they're not just for video games anymore.

She lands with a bit of a skid thanks to the loose sandy soil, but it's not enough to stop her from whipping her weapon back up, and letting loose a volley of lasers from the dual secondary guns mounted underneath the main barrel.

Reker (631) has posed:
Wow, she's awful fast. Those shots blast against the back of the vehicle. He turns hard in the sand and kicks up a bunch of it as he turns. He was going to blow this machine up, but after seeing those little guys hauling explosives, he's pretty sure 'the big one' might be a nuke or something and the last thing he wants to do is set that off.

He shifts his position on the vehicle and slides up into the turret, racking a round into it and then angling it at Lunessa. The heavy machine gun begins to rattle off fire in response to her own, as he hopes the momentum he has already will carry him towards the exit of the excavation zone

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
The difference being that when a gun is pointed at her Lunessa doesn't run or dive out of the way, partially due to being in one-track(ing) mindset now. Hit flash? What do you think this is a ga.. err, nevermind. It probably -is- in a way to him still. There's probably a fair amount of flash all the same, but it's not without the more realistic impact jerking motion and leaving damage points in her armor. One shot even tears a chunk out of her upper arm, revealing that despite the organic looking fur and covering there's biomechanical construction underneath.

Then Lunessa finally stops. It's not from damage though, as she braces herself on one leg forward into a crouch, and the cannons slide up from her back to lock into place over her shoulders. "And stay out!" Recoil compensators fan open vents in the back, sending a plume of exhaust fumes billowing behind her as two high velocity kinetic rounds are fired after the armored craft.

Reker (631) has posed:
Two bright red lines appear in Reker's field of view at those cannons come to bear, and he dives back into the driver's seat and jerks the wheel to the left. He pulls out of the way of the blasts a moment before they impact, kicking up sand and crysalizing it instantly as they go off. Hey, he knows when he's outmatched and needs to come back with a party.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
There's still the fence, but seriously, that's just steel pipe and chain link. That armored vehicle is going to just plow through that without a problem.

Steam is still hissing from the cannons as they slide back into storage. Not the biggest ordinance Lunessa carries, but there's too much dangerous stuff here for her to cut loose with the possible collateral damage. "At least he's -leaving-."

Tesla is watching the vehicle depart from the platform as well, before sliding the visor away from her glasses and reclaiming her mug. "We'll have to ramp up work to try and be done before he comes back. With friends."

Reker (631) has posed:
As he drives off into the desert, Reker marks the location on his GPS. He'll head back here as soon as he gathers up somebody or two else to go with him. It's just a matter of finding the right team.