2570/Hot Rock Highway

Hot Rock Highway
Date of Scene:	03 July 2015
Location:	Desert Mountains
Synopsis:	The Union attempt to move some supplies through scavenger terrorist, Max max style shenanigans ensue.
Cast of Characters:	123, 631, Corona Arclite, 781, 805

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Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    The Union has a problem.

    They need ot move some supplies, machine parts, weaponey, including at least a few expermental weapons, from thier production facalities out to a base set near an oasis in the Desert Mountains, to do that they're sending a convy though Hot Rock Highway. The highway itself is uninteresting, an empty stretch of road winding through the dunes and wrecked equipment that makes up a lot of the region.

    The road isn't the problem. The Real issues is what's on it. lately there's been sightings of Red Union scavengers along the roadside, and there's rumors going around that say they've claimed the area as part of their terrority.

    With that rumor in mind, the Union has sent a request for some Elite assistence, just incase the rumors are true. They've sent a convoy of 5 large trucks out along the highway, hopefully too small to get the Red Union's attention, and if not, maybe the presence of elites will make them think twice before attacking.

Corona Arclite has posed:
Supplies and machinery parts was the primary reason Corona Arclite was here. A portion of those goods came out of the work contracts the Union established with Loadstar's industries, and the Cassavhan family doesn't take ensuring the safety of their clients' goods lightly. They probably would of offered one of the supply mega-locomotives from Brimsteel, if it wasn't for the fact that there wasn't any suitable railways going to where the stuff needed to get to.

So instead they provided a specialist along with their share of the materials. May actually be in the Union's favor, as it was hardly the first time Corona has had to accompany a supply convoy across extreme and potentially hazardous enviroments potentially boistered with bandits. Every bit of time in the last two weeks she could get the machinist squeezed into rebuilding her ride -- previously demolished in the fight against Behemoth -- for the mission.

Now the new and improved steampunk 'bike', more like a strange tripodal buggy by this point (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-upRyQ8WcGqSk1zRHo0S0d2NW8/view?usp=sharing), was cruising alongside the convoy as escort. So far, so good, but Corona had her trusty shotgun and a few other surprises at hand for when this going possibly got tough.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Rocket and Groot answered the call from the Union for Elites, because the price was right. They've found themselves a surplus military dunebuggy and are rolling along beside the caravan guarding one of the flanks. Groot -- sized so that he is just humorously shoved in with his knees almost at chest level and holding the steering wheel with both hands between them -- is driving the four wheeled vehicle and is ready to man the smaller of the two machine guns mounted on the vehicle. Meanwhile, Rocket is in the rear, upper turret -- surrounded by additional weapons -- manning the fifty calliber gun mounted so that it extends over the driver's roll cage and the engine block.

Rocket yells out in pleasure as the dune buggy its a small rise and takes to the air for a moment. Yeah, between his yell and the reving of the engine, the pair aren't going for stealth right now, because while it may just be a job there's no reason not to have fun doing it also!

(OOC: Rocket and Groot are in a surpluss US Army Desert Patrol Vehicle (or Fast Attack Vehicle) circa 1991 Operation Desert Storm as can be seen in the two following links: and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Patrol_Vehicle

Reker (631) has posed:
    Pulling up the very rear of the convoy is Reker, driving his JLTV. The armored vehicle seems to be equipped with an automated turret that can be controlled by the driver from inside of the vehicle, and instead of the usual .50 caliber M2, this one is equipped with an M134 'Minigun'. The turret is swivling around from point to point, watching the sides of the road where it can.

    Inside of the vehicle, Reker is kitted out with his best loadout from Gun Gale Online, the Marine ready to engage targets without the vehicle if need be. He's had to do it before, he sees no reason why he wouldn't do it again here should the need arise.

Reker's Vehicle: )

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    The highway is quiet, not a sole for miles untill...

    Up ahead in the distence, there's a small group gathered around a pickup, a drive with one or two men picking on the wreckage of na old jeep, hacking at the engine with crobars and saws, the truck has hte image of a scarred fist holding up a broken tool of some sort... it's the Red Union logo.

    As one, the group turns and stares at the convoy for several seconds as it rolls into view, before they hop back in the truck, and book it out over a nearby hill. Maybe the sight of armed elites drove them off?

    The answer to that comes in the form of a flare flying up into the sky, that explodes with a loud howling noise. Moments later there's the roaring of engines quickly drawing closer to the convy.

    A voice breaks in over everyone's radio it sounds, angry, angery and REALLY annoyed. "Alright #653*heads! Get yer ears open. This is Allan Bodily, you're in my turf so here's what's going to happen. I'm gonna demand you surrender your cargo in return for safe passage. You're gonna say no and probably spout some dumb &*^ about justice and freedom, and then I'm telling my boys to rip you limb from $*(ing limb. Got it? Here we go: Surrender your cargo now!"

    Well, it's not the most orthadox of demands, but at least he knows how this kind of setup usually works out.

Corona Arclite has posed:
Even with the assortment of vehicles rumbling along around her Corona's acute ears, trained over the years to pick up that one sound amongst the cacophony of machinery surrounding it, catchs the faint reverb of an engine different from the familiar ones in the convoy from the distance. By the time she's pulled ahead a bit with her vehicle to turn her brass goggles shielded vision in that direction it's turned into a chorus of multiple such sounds approaching over the rise as someone bitches at them over the radio. She probably rolls her eyes but it's impossible to see behind the goggles as she reachs over to grab the handpiece to the clockpunk CB unit of her buggy and hold it to the side of her mouth.

    "Nobody cares 'bout yer li'l desert playground, so here's a better notion. Y'all just go back to pickin' part whatever machine carcass ya were accoustin' and none of yer li'l banditos gotta end up in a short pine box beneath the dunes."

... Well at least there wasn't the drawn out lecture about justice and whatnot he was expecting, right?

Probably because Corona prefers to let such 'speeches' be made by her frontier justice in the form of the personalized shotgun she grabs after putting down the speaker unit and flicks the safety off with her thumb, all while keeping the other hand firmly on the handlebars.

Nope, she doesn't expect the Bodily brigade to listen to her suggestion any more than she doesn't intend to listen to his.

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
There's a pop in the air, a flare marking exactly where the Red Union has run into some free loot. It wasn't exactly free, but the price to extract it made it more than acceptable.

Especially because they added a free performance, and an ally had called for some 'help'. What's a teenager to do, except make themselves useful?

As the roaring of engines draws closer to the convoy from the front and sides - Allan's Red Union growing every closer, it's not the only issue there. There's a sudden break of shadow on the highway, the convoy of Union folks getting a bit of shadow each. They likely don't even have the time to look up before there's a massive eruption of sand, something slamming into the ground behind the convoy, tossing up a cloud of sand - before the sound of drums erupts, sending what is exactly a wave of sand forwards, washing towards the back of the convoy. Whatever slammed into the ground behind the convoy doesn't immediately move.

Treads begin to chew into the sand, engines used to keep the machine afloat instead being used on the ground to keep on the convoy. A giant heart shaped tank managing to keep pace suddenly cutting off the 'turn around' escape route. Tethered to the very front, Nonon extends a hand from the very midsection of the heart shaped 'tank', dressed in what seems to be bones and black, a truly grim attire compared to the pink, green and white motif of the tank. "Ahahah~!" She spins the baton in her hand, raising it forwards.

It shoots fire, because /why not/. Corona's words and her shotgun are of course /noted/ but... "There'll be more than just machine's here to pick clean if you talk like that~, but I think the vultures will more than happy to help us with that part!" She cheerfully exclaims.

Rocket (781) has posed:
"I don't think so, mister!" Rocket yells over the engine noise in the direction of the 'blockade' and then "Get ready to open up at `em, Groot," to his friend as he locks the first round into the chamber of his gun so he's ready to open up himself.

"I am Groot!" ((Right with you, Rocket!)) Groot replies as he brings the vehicle to a stop and readys his own weapon.

Reker (631) has posed:
    Okay so they're surrounded. That simplifies things. Reker turns the turret on his truck around to take aim at the massive tank....Thing behind him, "I knew I should have saved up to buy the tank." Reker mutters to himself inside of his truck. Maybe after he wins BoB he take take the winnings and buy himself a tank. Yeah, that would be sweet.

    Okay time to focus. The minigun begins to spin up, but hasn't fired anything yet, though it may just be Reker getting a target. He comes over the short-wave radio to the others in the convoy, <We've got company on our six. I'd recommend we make a decision, either we run this death trap or we circle the weagons. But whatever we're gonna do, we better do it quick."

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    "Like clockwork. BOYS! #&* 'em up!"

    The roar of the engines is mixed with mad yelling and howling now as the vehices pour into view. Several bikes and buggis of various styles, each one seemingly cobbeled together from parts that have clearly come from several different sources. The men are a bit odd. not the usual skulls and mohawks bunch, they wear patch workarmor over what looks like simple work uniforms. Everything has the same logo: A scarred fist holding up various broken tools.

    finally, there's the ROAR of a much louder engine as something rolls down a side street and turns to take up a position at the back of the convoy, it's...

    It's a truck, two trucks, or at least that's what it might of been at some point. Now it's a massive battering ram on wheels, heavily armored and wide enough to block both lanes of the road, it's front? A brutal looking plow that a few creative types have scrawled obscene messages over. and behind the wheel is one ANGRY looking Allan.

    Suffice it to say stopping or slowing down would be a BAD idea, and turning back is out of the question. This convoy is either going to reach it's destination, or die trying.

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
Oh, they /really/ are interested in Allan, aren't they? Barely even noticed by Rocket and his tree, and one has their lips flapping already~.

Allan, of course, joins Nonon behind the convoy, "Looks like they're going to have to keep their eyes and ears open~!" With the massive battering ram wall that Allan has put up, Nonon is happy to take part in the 'back' line of the back line, Symphonia Regalia Grave sucking in air as the minigun spins, but does not fire.

"If you're going to put on a performance, you all better make it a fitting swan song! So all I need now is your SCREAMS!" The sound of drums returns, heavy beats from the tank as the eight massive speakers pound. Another wall of sand erupts towards the convoy, threating only to bother. Except there's more. The sound of a guitar rips through the speakers, just as /literal notes/ rip through the air, digging into the ground and sand and plinking off metal. If they hit juuust right, they stick into metal even, like some sort of shrapnel cannon - except Nonon doesn't seem to need something like 'bullets'.

Her aim specifically seems to be Reker at this moment, because he's pointing that oh so deadly weapon towards her. Yet it might be hard to get a bead on them. The wall of sand Nonon is apparently keen on kicking up to cloud them from behind may be a continual problem.

Corona Arclite has posed:
<We stop and we're sittin' dead ducks,> Corona replies to Reker's query, though it's as much to the benefit of the other escort and the convoy's drivers as well. <I'd make a witty comparison to a cattle drive but betcha the relation would just be lost and confusin'. No 'ffense. But only way we're gettin' anywhere is goin' through.>

That said and done she opens the throttle of her buggy, bright plumes briefly flaring out of the back-slung exhausts from the burst of power as she accelerates closer to the front of the convoy. She's got her shotgun at hand, but the inbound bandits are a bit out of it's up-close-and-brutal range. That's okay, though. This is a situation she's familiar with and because of that is exactly why the rebuild made a few changes. "Welp. Guess it's good of time as any to test the new bits." The vixen might be grinning a little more eagerly than necessary for the matter as she uses one foot to stomp a heel on a control lever concealed amongst the other pedals.

Panels shift and tubing folds out of the way as a pair of gear and pulley driven gunpods extend out of the sides of the buggy. "Warned 'em they shoulda just let be. But they ain't listenin' so bring out the buffet of pipin' hot lead!" As the machinery locks into place and reachs speed the clockpunk scatterblasters roar to life in peppering fire at the oncoming horde of bandits!

Corona's sensative ears splay back beneath the brim of her hat at the ruckus Nonon starts raising behind them. Goddamn that's almost worst than the potential hazard of driving headlong into oncoming marauders. Almost.

Rocket (781) has posed:
"<I agree, we have to keep the trucks moving,>" Rocket replies to Corona's comement and then asks Reker, "<Need backup back there?>" Even as he asks he and Groot open fire on the trucks ahead of the caravan.

Reker (631) has posed:
    "Probably soon!" Reker retorts to Rocket as the shrapnel starts to hit his vehicle, those notes jutting out of it in weird angles. He's thankfully safe inside for now, but the vehicle's health bar on his HUD is starting to drop rather quickly. That's not good at all.

    He opens fire with the minigun, intent on shooting down Nonon with the 7.62mm hail of bullets from the weapon, "I need to get something bigger!" He yells to nobody in particular, trying to shoot down notes out of the air when he can spot them coming in, and spraying bullets at and around the tank in the mean time. Thankfully there's no shortage of bullets for this particular weapon, so he's got ammo to spare

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    with the streetsweeper in place, the resto f hte Red union starts to close in, worringly, they ignore the elites, the real prize is the trucks! The bikes and buggies start trying to get alongside the trucks, inching up to line up with the drivers, though several get gunned down by the present elites, more shrapnel littering hte road as hte bodies get sent flying.readying shotguns, rifles, crossbows.. if it makes death at a dsitence, they've got it.

    There is however, some exceptions to this, as a few do break off ot deal with the elites. A metal whine can be heard as a Red union member stands up in his side car, holding out a chainsaw as the vehicle careens towards Rocket and Groot's vehicle, and anothe vehicle, a buggy with what appears to be a makeshift crossbow for a turret fires what appears to be a heavy bolt made of rebar at her vehicle.

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
The tank Regalia plows through the sand, throwing it behind it while it blasts it infront of it, the bass of the speakers doing exactly what they were designed to do. Play it /loud/. And loud it is played. Corona tests out the new bits, which seem to definitely make Nonon peer, an eyebrow raising as she clasps the hat to her head with one hand, the shoulder batons swinging to continue the onslaught! Or at least /loud ass music/ that Corona's sensative ears are suffering from.

It's only going to get louder, Corona.

Still, gunpods open fire at the bandits, and Nonon... well, those aren't her bandits. So what purpose does she have of getting angry about them? Or their succes - or especially their failure. "What's wrong, already lost the will to - " Gunfire. Lots of it! Ducking under the 'mouth' of the tank, the bullets mostly slam into the armoring, metallic parts of the massive tank gaining unSIGHTly holes, a speaker blowing out from the impact of the bullets with a horrible whine - likely to Corona's chargrin. That will /not/ be pleasant. It is, however, the sound of progress. "You ASS!" She exclaims, waving out and flailing a baton. The bullets are still there, but they whiz past her. Except for one, by luck, going straight between the eyes. "-!" What happens is odd, the clothing she is wearing gaining a rather sudden and harsh gash along the side. No damage to her forehead, or hat, but a clear gash on the clothing. "THAT'S IT!"

The music increases in strength, a sudden almost /rainbow/ of music arching from the back of the convoy towards the front, right before where they're all aimed towards to drive at.

"You're NOT GETTING AWAY NOW!" It impacts, slamming hard, a cacophony where the impact is made, much like an artillery shell almost - except the music, notes and lines like sheet music through the air, explode outwards before 'vanishing', intending to force them to /slow down/ or stop and impact Allan's streetsweeper. There is a crater though... might be rampable? Two whizzing blades shoot through the sky towards Reker, cymbals flying through the air. Heavier than the notes and about as wide as a foot, they're certainly more of a threat!

Corona Arclite has posed:
Shrapnel and debris littering the highway is going to make it literal hell for anyone else to drive down. All the more reason to make it the first time, one supposes. Junk on the ground is one of the reasons Corona's cowpunk buggy has big reinforced wheels with guard fenders in the back and a heavy duty tread pod instead of front wheels. Scrap littered terrain isn't going to be a problem, at least for her.

Scrap being used as projectiles, on the other hand... Well, she might actually be a little jealous she didn't think of McGuyvering a pole chucker first, but that's not important right now. Corona veers to the side, only for a metallic crunch and smoke splaying from the left side as a chunk of what was probably an ammo belt clattering across the pavement as the rebar harpoons through the left scatterblaster pod, enticing a string of cursing as well.

However annoying as that may be, the convoy and it's supplies are the primary objective. Trying to distract them from interviening is not what she intends on letting some freak with a bar flinger do.

Corona starts to pull back alongside the convoy again, this time with her shotgun in hand. Up at close range snapping off shots at cycles or guys trying to get out onto the trucks the firearm is much more effective. She doesn't seem particularly preturbed that they might fall off and get crushed under the other vehicles. She's a woman of the frontier, you do this sort of stupid shit and you get what's coming to you if run over by your fellow bandits is what happens.

Her own vehicle, with the bladed guards around the front tread and the heavy reinforcement on the back wheels, at least makes an imposing obstacle to the bikers trying to get close to one of the trucks.

Reker (631) has posed:
    Okay this is getting pretty insane. Reker is trying to evade the fire that's coming in on him, but the truck isn't the most maneuverable thing ever. Both of those cymbals come down and crash into the vehicle. He starts to spin out, throwing the vehicle into reverse as he tries to recover. Okay, no problem he thinks.

    Sure he's looking right at the giant tank thing now, but he's got an idea. It's a terrible idea, but it's an idea. He jams his foot down on the pedal and opens his menu up, swiping over to the explosives inventory, as he pulls out all of the satchel charges he has on him, and a detonator.

    He stacks all of the satchel charges in the front seat, making sure to put one down on the gas pedal, and then shoves the detonator into one of the bombs, "This is going to hurt." He mutters to himself, as he jams the vehicle back into drive, heading straight towards Nonon, "PREPARE TO SUFFER THE WRATH OF JEEP STUFF!"

    Reker bails out of the door of the truck, and will detonate it as soon as it crashes into Nonon's massive vehicle. He just hopes he survives the high speed fall.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    The Red Union is many things, angry to a fault, vengeful, EXREAMLY violent. Suprisingly though, they're not compleatly unhinged. so when Corona's buggy comes close to one of the bikes, it breaks off immeidatly to handle the bigger problem, and when the passenger is shot dead, the driver immeidatly goes to pull off the road to get awat form the street sweeper. Unfortunatly this causes two more bikes to break off, turning around to aim their rifles right at her, while the bolt thrower repositions to take aim again...

Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
The wrath of JEEP stuff?

"Are you ALREADY bleeding from your ears?" She asks, in response to Reker's attempt. The giant tank charges straight towards the jeep, Nonon watching close as she sees the bomb. Eyes, narrow in confusion, realize at the last moment that 'oh, - "YOU DAMN BASTARD!" She yells out, the shockwave from the Regalia Symphonia echoing outwards, through out sand and shrapnel as she attempts to blow the jeep straight away. It's going too fast, and too hefty, to do so though.

The explosion in the burst of sand is like a sand tsunami, erupting from the earth as if they had struck sandy black gold, a geyser of it.

Soon after, what seems to be instruments. Drums, tubas, horns, all of them tumbling outwards, as if there was a sudden bursting/emptying of something. The metallic clattering is annoying... but it shouldn't hurt the ears of everyone, especially not Corona.

At the end, crashing down into the sand and rolling a few times, Nonon comes to a stop - her outfit about her having switched back to normal. Torn, worn and shorn, it's barely holding together - and her hat especially has seen better days. She skids to a stop, laying face down in the sand for a bit before spitting some out. "... That dumb asshole..." She growls. "Hope he died from that..."

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona leaves it to Rocket and his 'houseplant' to deal with the longer range targets with the weaponry their military buggy is packing. Let's her focus on the thugs actually getting close to the convoy. Which isn't exactly an easy thing. The bikes are certainly smaller and more maneuverable than her ride. As they come around and aim their rifles she grunts, making a mental note she should really add a rollcage or something similar to this vehicle. She fires her shotgun at one, but the guy on the other side has a clear shot that shatters a shoulder guard and tears up a chunk of her vest, which thank heavens is reinforced! Being shot is nothing new to her, but that doesn't mean it don't sting like a sunnovabitch.

The bolt thrower is going to have it's own problems though. With a growl through gritted teeth from the shot Corona leans back in her seat, though this also allows her enough space to use one of her boots to shove a lever. "Let's see how ya varmints take some -real- heat!" The two nozzle-like fixtures on the front of the vehicle's 'hood' draw up heat from the depths of the vehicle's steampunk workings to spew out twin jets of blue-green flame at the more priority target of the bolt thrower, though bikers probably aren't going to want to get very close to those, either!

Reker (631) has posed:
    It seems Reker is not dead, despite being in close range to the explosion. With the blast having sent him flying, he's currently laying on his back looking up at the sky, "Ow." He mutters to himself, looking at his health bar get dangerously low. It's down in the red, so he thinks he's going to just lay there for now. He knows Corona will be able to pull it out and get the Convoy the rest of the way home safely.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    There's a loud crash as the remains of Reker's jeep slam into the Streetsweeper's plow, getting violenty thrown up and over the massive vehicle. Meanwhile, the bikes keep a carefuly distence from Corona's flamethrowers, before suddenly the entire Red Union pulls away, pulling away, retreating back behind ths streetsweeper as a loud horn suddenly sounds and allan's voice speaks up over radio. "PACK IT IN BOYS! That's as far as we go. Got a Union base up ahead, and besides, seems one of 'em decided to pay the toll. Thanks for the jeep bucko! Or whatever's left of it anyway."

    As the Massive vehicle pulls to a stop, the convoy would find the oasis they were looking for coming into view on the horizon. The shipment is safe, though the Union will likely need to found a new supply route through the area.

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite retracts the weapons when the scavangers start backin' off. But keeps her other foot on the throttle, because slowing down is not a good thing to do just in case it's some sort of feint. That and she really needs to get that shoulder bandaged up once they get to the outpost.