428/Evolution of the Species

Evolution of the Species
Date of Scene:	16 August 2014
Location:	The Secret World <TSW>
Synopsis:	Investigations in Kingsmouth continue. The local Orochi Group research team asks for a problem to be solved. Explosions occur.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 40, Staren, 151, 303, Riva Banari, 513, Wuyin Tsai, Inga, 543

---

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Kingsmouth is as it ever was: dark, dreary, and full of things that no man should ever have to encounter. The fog continues to swirl, round and round, keeping the people in and hiding the monsters that lurk along with them. It looks today like black tentacles are reaching for the sky around the perimeter of the island -- but, no, it couldn't be. It must be a trick of the light, an oddity amidst the already-strange fog.

It must be.

Things begin at the Kingsmouth Volunteer Fire Department, where they often do, these days. The Multiversal denizens congregate here with the local Elites, trying to find a solution to the problem that is Solomon Island. It is difficult when one cannot identify where the problem began. Their latest lead has been a ship, the Lady Margaret, which may be in the harbor somewhere. They're still formulating a plan for how to find it without dying along the way.

Wuyin is standing outside the building but inside the perimeter of the bone fence, staring at the sky. He's counting something, waiting, mouth moving silently. The sound of a helicopter's rotors, muffled by the strange fog, comes to him. He stops, watching the source: a black chopper moving over the town from the west, headed north towards another edge of the island.

"That was too fast a rotation to have been from outside, or a routine flight," he says. "It might be time to pay the visitors on the bridge a visit in person."

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Rotors are always a familiar sound, but here in this place? The pilot must be either mad to fly through the fog... or they were inside when the fog came. Either way, the Sister is looking out a window on the second story, yelling down at Wuyin. "Who do you think they are? Illuminati? Someone else? We haen't really seen much of the others here yet."

Loros (303) has posed:
A little while ago...

The Wizard has not been to Solomon Island before this day. Strolling out of the side of the mountain, he takes a moment to regard the longboat he finds himself standing on. Pulling out a hand rolled cigarette, he lights it with a snap of his fingers as he thinks back on his recent trip. "I'll have to remember to mind my manners."

Inhaling a mix of cigarette smoke and moist air, he also extends his mystical perceptions - and nearly chokes on his cigarette smoke.

Now.

Wuyin can see a figure walking down the road towards the fence, ambling along as he trails cigarette smoke - smoke shot through with sparks of light that resemble nothing more or less than tiny dying stars. Loros stops at the edge of the fence and tips his hat slightly. Eleanor gets a nod as well.

"Interesting place. I'm tempted to break out a metaphorical shovel and start digging."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley is here, as she's made of a habit of hanging around Solomon Island whenever she had the chance. Most of it was spent mopping up any undead that she could on any of the main roads along the way, and updating the map for any changes. It just hasn't been very eventful since a few days ago and that restless ghost encounter.
    She gets up from the firefighter bunk she claimed to put her stuff at when she's at the station and look out one of the windows. Her head turns to follow the chopper's path as far as it stayed inside her vision, a slight squint betraying the musing mood she has.
    She makes her way outside and meets up with Wuyin, standing near him. Her eyes look over the fence and at Loros with a dim recognition. She's never met the man in person. She nods at him once, silently, in greeting.

    Then she looks up at Wuyin, wondering at him without uttering a word.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
A black Trans-Am rests beneath the roof of the fire department. Warble warble. Warble warble. A red light sweeps left and right, left and right. The owner stands not far off, munching on a hot pocket and poring over a map of the town. His watch squawks with the chatter from the radio. The loner pushes off the table and heads outside to see about this visitor.

Inga has posed:
Inga is standing not far from Wuyin, her hands on the carved wood staff she uses to help her walk and wield her magics--and occassionally for bashing draugr. Strange, how she found she was stronger than she used to be. It went with the quick healing, the so-called immortality...The Bees. Chosen of the gods. While Wuyin and Riva are dressed more normally for the area, Inga continues to wear her own clothing, as anachronistic as it is in a setting like this. She wears a linen underdress beneath a blue wool dress, trimmed at the top with fine embroidery fashioned as twining beasts. Two silver brooches are pinned at either shoulder, one a twisting dragon, the other the head of a fox. Around her waist hangs a long knife, several pouches, and now a set of finger bones wound with herbs.

Her white hair hangs in a tight braid down her back that just happens to be threaded with a few brightly colored ribbons thanks to certain Sisters.

When the helicopter flies overhead Inga's eyes widen, reaching out to clutch Wuyin by the arm. "What in the worlds is that!?" she hisses.

Words over her radio. Someone about the newcomer causes her to raise a brow.

Inga looks to Loros, greeting him with a nod, giving him a look over. Her cunning eyes settle on his. "Welcome to Kingsmouth."

Finna (513) has posed:
    There's a newcomer to the usuals who've been assembling. A young lady with dark, dark hair. Dark, dark grey with an almost brownish tinge. It doesn't quite look like anything you'd see for human colorations, but maybe it's dyed...?

    Yeah, that's gotta be it. That's what anyone who can't see the fox features glittering silver in the light: ears, and a fluffy human-scaled tail that really wags.

    Any non-Elites probably will never be seeing that feature, and even many Elites will have a hard time of it unless she wants them to see it!

    Now is not one of those whens. Finna Snowdancer has adopted local fashion through some means or another, and even acquired a gun. Why, Luna only knows. It is actually a Glock 20, nothing too unusual. And it probably came from one of the local corpses. Or maybe stolen from a store. Witht he way she's been in and out, despite all the zombies and draug, it's REALLY hard to say.

    One thing's for sure. She's almost unrecognizable as the beast of the moon who helped out on the beach earlier! The way she strolls out from the Fire station answering the strange sound of helicopter flight isn't out of place at all. It's the measured stride of a local who's walked sidewalks for a decades.

    A fox among sheep, masquerading as one of the herd.

    "There's the warp gate, so why would you come in through helicopter?" Her langauge, however, is unchanged. It's Skytongue, from far from here, and it's increasingly full of loan words from more and more languages she's encountering in the Multiverse.

    Finna puts her eyes towards the sky while following along with Wuyin. "... Hmmm... odd-looking thing." She hasn't, after all, seen helicopters before. "Shall I have a look at who it is?" The fox woman sprouts a grin. Apparently, she's chosen to defer to Wuyin as squad leader at the moment. he came first here after all.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva is sitting nearby, cleaning her guns. She moves with trained precision as she strips, cleans, oils, and then reassembles the weapons. Looking inside, you can see signs of complicated incisions and inscriptions, circuit-like, throughout the firing mechanism and inlaid with silver. The weapon might not be suitable for firing bullets...

But Riva doesn't fire normal bullets. She looks up at the commentary, and frowns at the helicopter. "Orochi." She mutters. "Why are they doing flyovers? Can't be /that/ much to see over there that you can't get from binoculars."

The mention of the new arrival causes her to glance over to Loros. The suspicion is clear on her face but she doesn't open hostilities. "Hello there." She says, squinting at the smoke. "So you're the guy with the pacts? You're pretty classic. Nice suit."

She does, however, wave to Finna with a smile. "I'm guessing Wu is going to drag us along whether we should or not. I agree with him this time though."

Loros (303) has posed:
Loros settles his hat back on his head and nods to Riva. "I am, in fact, the one with all the pacts. And I'm more classic than might seem at first. But thank you."

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
"You would not have to dig very deep to find something intriguing," Wuyin says, watching Loros through the lenses of his out-of-place 3D glasses. "Bodies and secrets are both buried quite shallowly here."

He glances to Finna, and then at Inga when she grabs him. "A helicopter. A... flying machine. Like the cars you have seen, but capable of travelling in the air like a bird instead of on the ground. They are much less common, though." Wu doesn't say 'nothing to be afraid of,' because he doesn't want to give her the wrong idea.

He turns towards the fire station, looking up at the upper windows. "Orochi, most likely. Maybe the US military if we are exceptionally lucky." They're never that lucky. He casts a glance at Finna again, nodding this time. "Do not get spotted. I would like to follow it to their camp, if possible." Wuyin looks down at Ainsley, glancing at Loros and then in the direction the chopper came.

Which is when he turns to the smoking sorcerer. "We were just about to investigate a..." He pauses a second to think. "...seventh, maybe eighth party on the island, if you would care to join us."

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor tchs as people greet Loros, still casting a suspicious gaze at the Wizard. But she sighs, and shuffles back into the fire station to climb down to the first floor. Some grumbling on the way, before she comes back outside, carrying her massive two-handed spanner.
    "I suppose you're coming with us, then. But... Orochi. The Eight-headed Snake, the Hydra. That's almost as shady a name as Umbrella or Global Dynamics." The Sister tchs, and adjusts her sweater... and then grudgingly holds out her hand to Loros. "Eleanor Lamb. I don't think we've actually met in person."

Loros (303) has posed:
Loros takes a long draw on his cigarette and nods to Wuyin. "For now, I imagine our goals align - learn about what happened here, what is happening here, and why." He gazes out at the fog, and his eyes narrow.

Eleanor is simply grinned at as Loros tucks his hands in his pockets. "You'll have to forgive me, but in a place that reeks like this one, you don't want the scent of my touch on you. And yes, I am called Loros. It's not my Name, of course, but it serves. Shall we?"

Strolling around the perimiter of the wards, he pauses once in the postion to head north, after the helicopter.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Then leave it to me!" Finna crows, glad to do SOMETHING different and maybe a litle sneaky for once. There's been too much violence, it's gotten boring. She saunters over towards behind the fire station - passing by Loros on the way, and giving the most sideways of looks - but as soon as she's out of sight...

    "They might spot a hawk, so something smaller... so much for that big meal, this'll burn it all up." As she speaks her flesh reshapes, sprouting short and tightly woven body feathers of mostly white. The throat feathers, however, are a striking ruby. Down the back, as her clothing vanishes it's replaced with a line of sleek, irridescent emerald feathers. her lips fuse, jutting out as a hard and long beak....

    In a matter of moments.... VVVVVVVVVVVVHMFWOOOO.

    A ruby-throated hummingbird flitters out of hiding, circles Wuyin's head a few times, pokes him on the cheek with her beek, and then zip zip WHOOOOOOOOSH, off into the skies after the helicopter, coming in low.

    They'll NEVER see anything that tiny, and if they do, would they pay it any mind? Hummingbirds are all over the place!

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Getting confirmation on what the game plan is, Ainsley then turns her gaze onward toward Loros again. She seems thoughtful and not really aware of how awkward it is to get stared at by a four foot tall feathered lizard woman with bright red eyes. Whatever is on her mind, she's not sure if's appropriate to say, making her hesitate. Her gaze follows him even as he walks away.

    She follows along and leeeeans in that awkward, whimsical way to try to get a proper look at his face if he's looking away.

    "You seem fairly personable," she remarks at him, approvingly. "I am Ainsley," she introduces at him. Then she'd slip past the fence and walk off a ways to find some zombie creatures to chop up with that longsword she's carrying with her so that any walking people will have less trouble when they get moving. She's got a dutiful air to her.

Inga has posed:
Inga lets go of Wuyin, though she is still frowning in the direction the flying machine went. "Everything is so /noisy/ here," she comments quietly, shaking her head.

The witch glances up toward Riva and Eleanor, cracking a smile as Eleanor brings her massive weapon. "So, we shall investiage again. I have been working on a charm of concealment I think might prove useful," she offers to Wuyin and Riva, as she sees them as more or less being in charge here.

Inga looks back to Eleanor, introducing herself to Loros. She'll follow her lead. Apparently the man is a sorceror of some power. Indeed, she thinks she recalls him from the 'radio'. "I am Inga Freyjasdottir," she informs him.

She wonders if she will have to ride in the talking car again. She's sure her heart almost leapt from her chest the last time.

Back to Wuyin and Riva. "Shall I work the charm on those present?"

There's one at least that does not seem to need her magic. Finna changes shape, and Inga watches, her eyes slightly wide. "Shapeshifter," she whispers, then smiles. It has been a long time since she has known a shapeshifter. "Be wary of arrows--and...those other things," she says, waving a hand dismissively. Bullets. Whatever, she cannot be bothered to remember it just now.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight waves to Loros. "Hey. I'm Michael. Nice to meet you," he says, offering a polite if somewhat cool greeting. "Inga, you riding with me again? KITT and I could use that concealment thing of yours, I bet."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva arches an eyebrow. "That's not the most reassuring thing I've ever heard from someone, but sure. I'm Riva. Look, I don't mind if you poke around. Just please don't make my job any harder than it already is. The people I work for get really jumpy when guys who specialize in pacting walk around in hot zones."

Riva pulls out her phone and pokes at it as Eleanor comments on the group. "Yeah, they're a local megaconglomorate out of Tokyo. Here, check this..." She blinks, and then giggles. "Hey Wu! Someone hacked the Orochi corp main site." She turns it around and shows the contents of http://www.orochi-group.com/ on her phone. "That's got to make them pissed, they take data security personally." She glances over to Eleanor. "As in shoot you with guns personally."

Inga arrives and offers a charm. Riva looks considerably more relaxed when she sees Inga moving around. "I'll be happy for your help, Inga." Riva says. "Hopefully everything will work out."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has bene here and lurking about the firehouse really, she's been quiet for the moment working on some glowing dvice that some might know as a tablet but those who paid attenion she'd plugged something from it into her neck. She looks up for it at this point and she looks to the new arrival for a moment. She looks over Loros for a moment not sure what to make of the man. He was however not hostile so she wasn't about to start anything first herself.

"Kotone, Kotone Yamnkawa."

she pulls the plug out of the pad and it snaps back into her neck vanishing under her hairlinea nd the pad is put into a pocket.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin seems to take Loros' assent as good enough. Then again, he has no evidence that this guy can do anything worse than, say, kill him extremely dead. May as well have him where he can see him.

"They certainly picked an ominous name," Wuyin agrees, nodding in Eleanor's direction. He doesn't seem particularly perturbed by the hummingbird pokes, but does wave a hand at the shapeshifter half-heartedly when she does it. It's the principle of the thing. "Go ahead, Inga. We can wait." Especially if it means not getting shot, bitten, clubbed or impaled.

Then Loros takes off. Okay, maybe not. He waits a moment, but then starts off up the road. He quickens his stride, getting ahead of the group and leading the way. They start across one of the bridges, reaching a long stretch of road on the other side between two sparsely-wooded areas. It's more open on the left, with what looks like a skate park up a short hill. Wuyin leads them right past it.

It's a bit of a walk. The chopper has, of course, gotten away from the ground-bound group. Finna is another matter.

The helicopter lands behind some kind of faintly-glowing, evenly-spaced barricade to the north. There's a much larger bridge behind it, completely blocked and stretching into the fog, with black trucks and men in dark uniforms moving around on the ground nearby. Finna can see them unloading something from above; it looks like more sections of the weird barricades.

Loros (303) has posed:
Loros chuckles faintly. "I'm not really all that reassuring of a person. But in this case, I was talking about my age." Exhaling a slow cloud of cigarette smoke he reaches into a pocket and pulls out a Knife. The Knife. The one made of obsidian and bone and soaked in unknowable amounts of blood, historically speaking. And literally.

"It is a pleasure to make the aquaintence of you all. And while I appreciate the offer, daughter of Freja, I shall decline. I have my own ways." As he starts off down the road, the smoke hanging about him seems to stick to him, wrapping him and to those with the knowledge or sense for it, warding him from casual notice of the deal. He was willing to wait while Inga worked her arts, of course.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor follows right along, stopping just out of sight of the men milling about the barriers and the black trucks all that equipment. "Goodness. This is... quite the operation. Either they have some way into the Island we don't know about or they were very prepared for something before the Fog hit."
    Her grip tightens on the wrench, and she bites her lip. "I suppose trying to cloak myself with all those sensors around would be a bad idea, now wouldn't it. Hmmm." She looks around a bit more, and then over at Riva and Wuyin. "I'd ask what sort of interest corporate types have in this rotten place but there's far too many awful answers I'd rather not consider. Especially when they seem to be setting up an extremely sturdy defnsive perimeter."

Inga has posed:
Inga looks to Michael, shrugging her shoulders, a small sigh escaping. "Yes I suppose that I must. Perhaps I will grow more used to it in time," she says, her mouth creasing in a small frown. "I will do the charm for you," she says, looking to KITT. She frowns thoughtfully. "I am going to need a lot of blood," she comments lowly.

Inga looks to Riva then, smiling as the woman's trust in her. "I will set to work then," she comments, and reaches for her knife.

The young woman begins to chant, her dark eyes growing distant as he speaks the words of the charm, opening herself to the flow of her magic as she brings her knife up to first slice a neat stave upon her forhead. She then brings the knife down to open a deep wound on the iside of her arm, the blood beginning to flow quickly. She has a bowl then, the blood from her veins dripping into the bowl until her wound has reknit and the crimson liquid no longer flows.

She does this as quickly as she can while still being sure to do it well. She moves to each person who wishes to make use of the charm in turn, dipping her fingers into the blood before drawing a magical stave upon their brow, her lips moving as she continues to chant the words of power she had learned.

To each other, none seem to turn invisible. There is perhaps a soft shimmer, a blurring that can be seen around the edges of their forms--but to the undead? To these Orochi? They will be concealed. "You must still try to be quiet. The charm will draw the eye away. They will dismiss you once seeing you...but if you are loud, or take aggressive action the charm will be broken," she explains.

When Inga comes to KITT her bowl is empty. She sighs, and opens herself up again in order to inscribe the stave on the hood.

Inga looks toward Loros, nodding. She is not insulted that he prefers his charms to hers. The knife catches her eye and keeps it. A look of knowing, a small shudder. "Long in blood has that ritual blade been soaked..." she comments, then, as it seems they are getting going...Inga gets into the now blood-marked car.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Glowing. Glowing is bad, most of the time, if it's not of the gods or their chosen. Finna's pretty sure of that. But she also knows that those beings have no purchase here . So, now what glows, and is that bad or good? Is this barricade to keep something out... or in? The hummingbird zips through the area seemingly harmlesslby, but she employs her training, committing it to memory. But for the moment, she'll linger. Anything ELSE they're up to? Or saying? Surely they're SAYING something...

    Or perhaps there are some loose papers around...

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight says, "Thanks, Inga." He... isn't quite so good at disguising his discomfort. That looks like it hurts--definitely the less friendly kind of magic, it seems. "I can take care of the noise thing. KITT has baffles that let him run quietly."

KITT opens his doors for Michael and Inga. "I'm detecting an energy fluctuation. Very useful ability, Miss Inga," the car says. "Though highly unsanitary.""

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is always nervous about magic but she trusts Ingaa would not be doing something undue to her. She tenses clearly not used to magic she simply nods and is going to have to trust in this. She seems well uneasy but she's ready and away she goes with the others. She's armed just incvase but seems to be well moving along basically.

Inga has posed:
Inga tsk's. Her magic is plenty friendly! This is how it is done! She knows no other way, and even if she did she is fairly stuck in hers. "Thank you...ah...KITT. It is not unsanitary. Are you insulting my blood?" she frowns.

She's arguing with a car. Why is this a thing.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva looks slightly uncomfortable when Inga does the self-wounding, but she doesn't shy away. This is just how Inga works. She's getting more used to it over time. With that much blood, Riva considers giving her a taco to shore things up. Tacos are good for the blood, after all.

Riva moves along, working her way towards the Orochi barriers and the people there. "Given where they aren, they'll need it." Riva comments. "This place has some nasty stuff off the coast and around just inland." She hums as she pulls out some binoculars and looks over what's going on in more detail. "Definately a major barricade." She passes the binocs over to Eleanor. "Think we should move in and knock? See what they're up to? On second thought, maybe not..."

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor murmurs quietly. "If this is a... semi-legitimate outfit, the best approach might be parley or diplomacy, honestly."

    She peers through the binocs, trying to find An Important Looking Person.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Spotting an Important Looking Person is easy: there's two people at the back. It's hard to tell who they are or what they're doing, but they're standing aside from all the guards and secret agent-esque folks near the nearly-closed barricade at the bottom of the bridge. Speaking of barricades, they extend loosely in most of a circle out from the highway guard rails, with a shimmering blue field flickering between them. Guards aren't that close, though; the guys with guns are on the bottom of the bridge itself.

It doesn't look like they've been spotted. Inga's charm against detection seems to be working. Wuyin glances at Riva and then ahead, and reaches into his pocket. He produces... a quarter. WU raises his eyebrow, as if questioningly.

MEANWHILE, INSIDE THE CAMP

Finna overhears the two people near the far end of the bridge-bound 'encampment' talking: a young caucasian woman and a dark-skinned man, both in silver-lined black uniforms and both standing near an open truck. The woman looks up from her tablet PC, giving the stoic-looking man a sidelong look.

"Wanna go another round of 'Confirm or Deny' while the centrifuge spins up?"

He sounds like he should be rolling his eyes, but he isn't. "Do I have a choice?"

She goes on without waiting for, well, confirmation. "Confirm or deny: /You/ are an overachiever since your parents named you after a more famous 'Harrison.'"

Harrison(?) replies, "/Strongly/ deny." There's barely a pause. "Confirm or deny: you ordered two of those 'I'm A Vali Girl' sweatshirts from the company store."

"One in pink and one in oatmeal!" she replies, enthusiastically. There's a slightly awkward pause. "I mean... confirm." She keeps going without missing another beat. "Confirm or deny: you play a /mean/ tenor sax."

He looks at her askance. "You'd only know that if you'd read my profiling, Radcliffe."

She looks back at him a touch impishly. "Are you asking me to confirm or deny whether I specifically requested to be assigned to you, Blake?"

There's a hint of a smile in his tone, but not on his face. "No need, Ann." He turns aside, starting to step away. "Important call; I need to take this." Ann goes back to whatever she's doing on the tablet.

...

Well, it's not actionable intelligence, but it's... it's definitely /something/, right?

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor... exerts a little pressure, popping the shroud of Someone Else's Problem around herself, and dusts herself off. A moment to properly affix her Union ID to the front of her sweater, and the Big Sister puts on her Best Face as she approaches the barrier. The heavy hammer is planted at her side as she lifts her arms up, and calls out to the guards. "Attention, I am Eleanor Lamb of Union Naval Intelligence. I wish to speak to your superior officers in regards to your... current situation."

Loros (303) has posed:
Loros raises his eyebrows at Inga's ritual, and then grins. "A devotee of the -old- school. I most certainly approve." He catches her mutter as well, and nods as she gets into the car.

Striding past areas filled with zombies, and all the rest he keeps up with the group... and then Eleanor announces herself in straightforward fashion. He shrugs and flicks away his own veil before leaning against a railing at the side of the highway. "A coin toss?"

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
The black Trans-Am, now dampening its sound of its own power and cloaked from sight thanks to Inga's magic, departs for the bridge. The artificial intelligence inside of it maneuvers carefully around obstructions, assisting the driver in such actions. The journey is slow, and if Inga finds herself a passenger, thankfully uneventful. It comes to a quiet halt near the bridge, out of the way of any foot traffic. "KITT, enter surveillance mode."

"One step ahead of you, Michael." The car begins scanning local radio and wireless frequencies, silently attempting to intercept any meaningful information.

Inga has posed:
Inga isn't exactly sure what the old school means, but she does smile to Loros and nod to him in understanding before she's driven away in the talking vehicle. Naturally, she looks extremely uneasy the whole ride, though much less green in the face, at least.

Upon arrival, Inga exits the car on shaking legs, her knuckles white as she grips her staff. "Thank you kindly for the ride," she says to them, ever polite even if it is clear how much it unsettles her. She can't deny the convenience however. "I will follow Eleanor. If you wish to dismiss the charm, simply wipe away the stave," she informs any who are listening. Inga then moves quietly after Eleanor, remaining concealed by her charm for the time being.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Awwww, nothing she can steal and easily get awa with, not without drawing attention... but Finna's not entirely deterred by this. She zips into some bushes and relays what she's learned over the radio... and still happens to be keeping her eye on these apparent scientists from Orochi. Had she time, this would be a good chance to study one to impersonate soon, but she doesn't know the local lands or languages, a disguise couldn't hold up for more than maybe a minute or two: not worth the trouble, since that would tell them someone's on to them!

    But now she's curious about this centrifuge. So she'll hunt for whatever it is they're futzing with... if that means moving inside their vehicle, it's time to be a mouse. Ugh.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva looks over to Wuyin and shrugs. "Tails." She says, reflexively even if that's not exactly useful in this specific situation. He's going to flip tails EVENTUALLY. That's how odds work, right? Eleanor moves forward, and Riva doesn't immediately follow. She wants to see if the coin flip finally goes her way. She'll be right there.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
The guys with guns level them on the people who actually reveal themselves as soon as they can see them. One of the less-heavily-armed men steps up, looking Eleanor and Loros over. "Union?" The man shakes his head. "You're still breathing. Good enough for me." He waves them through the firing line. "He's in the back."

Going past what looks like a generator, a couple of vehicles and some probably-ready-to-use heavy weapons, Team Diplomacy finds themselves face to face with... well, the pair that Finna was just spying on. Ann looks up first, right at Eleanor. "Hi! Hey! Um --" She composes herself, and says more officially, "Hello." Excitement creeps back into her voice, slowly but surely. "I know you. I mean, not, /you/ you. The /collective/ you, whatever the collective is for superher-"

Blake cuts in, finger on his earpiece as he speaks, presumably to Ann. "I'm starting to think they're doing this on purpose. Lost satellite signal again. Word is, we're not going to see any..." He trails off, actually noticing the visible few. "More visitors from out of town?"

He looks right at Eleanor, nodding slightly. "Welcome to the party. Dig in. There's enough cake for everyone."

Ann asides, "It's not sarcasm. He isn't capable of sarcasm."

Blake nods in agreement. "She's right."

MEANWHILE, Finna decided to be larcenous. She finds that she can get into the armored truck next to them as a mouse pretty easily. It's full of computers, all built into the interior of it, with compact, expensive-looking lab equipment also affixed to the countertops. There are samples of various fluids and tissues all over. No loose papers in here, either -- but there /are/ some latched drawers. If she weren't tiny, maybe she could pilfer them!

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    A grin from Eleanor as she's lead back and identified as a 'superhero'. "Goodness. Hardly, really. Ah... Just a lady who is in the right place at the right time, to quite honest." A nod to both. "Though cake would be lovely really. We've been keeping the locals supplied on awful supermarket food and pilfered booze."
    She looks back over her shoulder at Loros and then back to the pair. "I can assume from the... high-but-impromptu-security here that this was not a /planned/ excursion into the dark and brooding awful night that shrouds the place now?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is going to go with the taling team, right she can sneak about another time but if they are not shooting, right? So she also falls in remaining quiet, she looks more like a civil but she's clearly got some military grade hardware, some sort of battle rifle is visable on her person as is a pisto, and sometrhing else but it's hard to tell what /that/ is. She follows along and nods a little bit.

"It's is ... quite the party."

Inga has posed:
Inga stands besides Eleanor for a bit while she speaks to the two. Evidentally, she has decided they are not enemies, for she reaches up to wipe the now dried blood from her brow, breaking the charm.

"Hello," she greets, and to them it would seem she came out of nowhere. No smoke or pops or zings (nor ever zorts). She was simply standing there, where they would be so sure she was not just a moment ago.

An eyebrow rises. "Cake? I don't smell anything but the draugr," she says, leaning forward on her staff as she looks between the man and woman, both dressed so strangely. To them, of course, she probably looks like she got lost on the way to a renaissance faire.

"You have very interesting wards," she comments, looking to the force fields, obviously quite intrigued.

She still prefers her bone fence though.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Goodness, maybe Finna could. But with the rest of the group making diplomatic efforts to those, she'd hardly want to be caught snitching at an inopportune time. especially since it might sabotage any benefits of making acquaintances with this group. For the moment, she'll stick to anything that's in reach, and visible. Sadly, she'll not be able to make much SENSE of most of their things on the monitors even if they are written in the Multiverse-translated english due to an utter lack of scientific understanding. But she smells draug, and zombie, and other odd, inhuman things, and scampers at high speed out of the vehicle to instead study the researchers themselves.

    In particular, she's sniffing at them to gauge their emotions and deeper feelings. After all, fear, anger, and so on are easy to spot with animal senses, easier than humans, and if their apparently friendliness is not genuine...

Loros (303) has posed:
"I'm pretty sure he's being figurative, referring to the vast number of wierd, dead and not quite dead that surrounds us," comments Loros.

One eye is on Wuyin and Riva and their coin toss, while the other is on the rest of the group. He tucks his knife away since they've decided to play diplomat today. "I'm presuming that's what's brought them here. I'm here for... related reasons, although the walking dead interest me less in whatever drew them out into the sea. And the fog."

Raising his cigarette to his face he takes a deep draw on it, then exhales slowly. "Although I admit the barrier fence here is a bit surprising. Why's it glow?"

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
"Looks like the gang's making headway with the 'knock on the door' approach."

KITT continues to try and listen in on any electronic information being sent to or from the makeshift outpost. "Perhaps we should try that approach sometime. It might result in less people shooting at us, in any case."

"Maybe, but where's the fun in that? Just keep your scanners peeled. If these guys are getting orders from someone higher up in the food chain, I wanna know about it."

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Ann starts to say something -- probably about cake, judging by her expression -- but Blake answers Eleanor first. "We represent an... independent think-tank, working with the CDC. Our role here is to maintain a scientific overview of the situation," he looks at Ann pointedly, "/not/ to intervene," back at Eleanor, normally, "and our deployment was standard operating procedure in the event of an occult emergency."

"The situation has... degraded," he admits. "I would have preferred to oversee this operation remotely: on time, under budget and with minimum deployment of heavy weapons. Now, we make do with what we have."

"Which would be easier," Ann cuts in, "if we could keep what we have. Those -- things," she says, looking back at Eleanor and Inga with worried eyes, "those /monsters/... they're tearing up our perimeter. I mean, actually tearing it up and carrying it off. This has the potential to be bad on SO many levels."

"On multiple levels," Blake agrees.

"The barrier is a -- well, um, I'm not supposed to talk about that," Ann says, catching herself. It sounds like she has a hard time with that part, like she really wants to tell Inga and Loros all about it. "But 'force field' is pretty close; like an invisible wall. They keep getting around it somehow, breaking it down and taking it somewhere."

Finna can tell that the people here are all on edge, one and all. Ann seems to be a little more at-ease with the situation, and Blake even moreso. She thinks they're glad to have human contact that isn't trying to eat them, and that it's genuine. Blake is more guarded; more professional. It feels like they're waiting for something, and worried about something distant to this.

Michael and KITT, meanwhile, start picking up incoming broadcasts. It's encrypted, but it's possible to at least figure out two things right off the bat: one, it isn't coming from a satellite outside the fog and off the island; and two, that whoever is sending them is somewhere else on the island. Off to the west, maybe? It's military-grade, but it probably isn't actually the military. More of these guys?

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor frowns at all of that, most of which is the lack of cake. Bother. "Occult emergency. How I am not surprised this is a logical response in this locale?" She snorts quietly, before crossing her arms.

    Then the bits about the draugr exhibiting theft protocols. "Wait, they're taking your gear? What the blazes would they know about projected field generators?" A look over the coast with the shambling mess of crabmen off in the distance in the fog, and then back to the Totally Not Orochi people. "It would seem you're in a predicament then. Hmmm."

    She taps her fingers. "I'm willing to offer my assistance on several conditions. One, we get more information once we get back. Two, supplies for the locals. Is that a reasonable offer?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa listens to the oair as they talk she does seem curious and seems to get it. She isn't going to press too hard about it. She however admits ot herself she's curious.

"So you need us to go get it back I take it? Given you don't have the personel to chase after them?"

She nods to Eleanor for a moment sh thinks.

"They are clealry aware that you need it and are taking it, maybe they figured out how to use it ot their own ends? As for my own prices information basically. I need more my self on the goings on and you get your hardwre back."

Inga has posed:
Inga looks around her, noting the 'force-field's again as the two people inform them that the draug are actually coming to /take/ their stuff. Inga resists the urge to snort. "Should have made a bone-fence," she comments.

Inga looks to Eleanor then as she offers to help. Inga nods to this. "I will offer my assistance as well," she tells the too.

She is also disappointed about no cake. Maybe they should add this to their offer?

Finna (513) has posed:
    This is increasingly frustrating. It's hard to spy when the things you're spying on are so utterly foreign. They aren't military plans, they aren't someone's journal, it just had to be scientists, augh.

    Fat chance of understanding their lot.

    The mouse squeaks quietly in the grass, frustrated over how likely little use her investigations have had.

    So hearing about the barriers, she instead goes back inside of the tank, and, against her better tastes, if at all in reach, gnaws off small chunks of draug and zombie samples, only to scurry with them towards some of the glowing barricades. Time to see what those things DO.

Loros (303) has posed:
Loros frowns deeply. "Destroying the barrier - or trying to use it?" He stops leaning against the barricade and turns to gaze out into the distance, beyond the barricades, towards the beaches.

"I think I'm going to need to take a closer look at these Draug than I thought. The one problem with knowing a great many things is the risk of thinking you already know the answer."

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
"All right, buddy. Let's go find the boss."

"My thoughts exactly, Michael." The Trans-Am quietly departs, its sensors making minute calculations every so often to correct its course and lead it towards the signal. As KITT sniffs out the the details, MIchael reaches behind the passenger seat and retrieves a professional-quality camera.

"No theatrics if I get caught."

"Are you feeling well, Michael?"

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin lets the coin fly. He, of course, always calls heads.

-=<*FLIP*>=- Wuyin Tsai flipped a coin: Heads!

There might be chaos magic at work here somewhere. If there is, it's /really/ hard to tell. He gestures at the camp, settling down outside of it and looking around for incoming trouble. Riva gets to be the local face this time! Except, you know, the problem is basically solved.

"Retrieval or destruction, whichever is within your means. Information on what they are doing with it would also be welcome, to add to our research," Blake adds. He pauses a second. "I am not at liberty to tell you much of anything about us, or our operation here, you understand."

"But we'll help however we can," Ann says. Blake frowns at her. She looks back at him. "We can't just sit here and watch," she protests. When his expression doesn't change, she sighs, turning around and going into the truck... which Finna can definitely hear while she's trying to make off with the specimens. Think fast!

"Ann's -- Ms. Radcliffe's," Harrison says, correcting himself, "rural upbringing leads to every community in peril tugging at her heartstrings. In our line of work, I find the best practice is to refer to small towns by case number." It's a very... coldly practical kind of way to look at it.

A little grudgingly, he says, "I can't promise you anything. But /if/ our equipment was salvaged or destroyed, and /if/ proof of their behavioral changes was brought back here, the survivors in town might find themselves in possession of some surplus rations, and the people behind it might have a better position to request intelligence from." He quirks a brow slightly. "Do we understand each other?"

Michael and KITT go off, over the river and through the woods. The shortest route leads to a tunnel in the mountainside, a winding one that leads to... what looks like a tanker of some kind, tipped, crashed and burning. It completely blocks the way past it. If he could get to the other side somehow, he might be able to do something about it, but unless KITT can phase through walls...

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    "Clearly you are in no position to help us but I feel strangely compelled to make sure the draug do not posess high-tech solutions to Very Old problems." Eleanor smiles warmly, hoists up her wrench, and nods. "Consider it a Totally-Not-Business Deal."

Loros (303) has posed:
Loros chuckles softly. "I will consider myself to have signed a binding Non-Disclosure Clause regarding any agreed upon exchanges that never actually happened." Then he frowns slightly, rubbing at one temple. "...Singing? No. Just... noise."

Shaking his head to clear it, he steps off the road and over towards one of the barricades. As he goes, he starts mumbling softly under his breath, in words only half heard and quite strange even then.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Mice are quick, but shoes are heavy, and Finna would rather be somewhere UP ABOVE where she can see things. The mouse is fast, and light, but the ceiling is where it's at.

    Finna launches a tiny silver strand from the Mouse's tiny paw, nothing more than, seemingly, spider's silk, and somehow uses it to RETRACT up to the ceiling whereupon her feet shift slightly. The paws spread out more, and the undersides... change properties?

    Did you know Geckos can cling to ceilings? Because they can.

    Ceiling Mouse is watching you. Possibly with some tiny flakes of tissue samples tucked into Elsewhere.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva looks frustrated and throws up her hands. Once again, Wuyin's shenanigans go unnoticed. Is it the social engineering or the chaos magic that's more effective in this case? No one can tell. However, by the time they get that figured out, Eleanor is already finishing up the negotiations, which leaves Riva free to go to the lower barricades, looking them over.

She gets out her guns. If this is where the draug have been hitting, they could come again at any time. "Be prepared."

Inga has posed:
Inga raises her eyebrows, settling her eyes on the pair, a bit of uncanny knowing creeping through her gaze. "Keep your word. I have Knowing of you," she says, then turns back toward Eleanor and the others, ready to proceed. "I will provide the charms of protection and attack from afar," she says. Melee? Not really Inga's thing, though she is handy with staff or that knife of hers if necessary.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "I see that's a fair deal, I understand and that's good enough for me. Better something than nothing. She looks back for a moment.

"I get the diea, I can get you full motion video of their behavirour too."

She grins a little bit at that she'll hv eto see how they react but Kotone is redy to move out.

"Keeping at ranged would be a good idea my prosetics are not combat grade..."

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight wipes the mark from his forehead. "KITT, turn on your wipers. I think we've gotten pretty much all the information we can at this point."

"I thought you'd never say that. Who knows what pathogens were breeding there?" Jets of soap water spray the windshield, and with much effort, Inga's... contribution is wiped away. KITT pauses. "It's unusual how wiping blood all over me made me less noticeable. In most cities the police tend to notice a car soaked in blood."

Michael snorts, and drives back to the bridge, this time without the benefit of invisibility. Upon arrival, he steps out and gives a wave to the Orochi agents. "Hey there, Michael Knight. I'm with these guys." He then shuts the door and heads around to get the camera from the passenger seat. Seems he's of a similar mind with Kotone!

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
With a deal made and the problem outlined, our heroes (and their assorted allies and acquaintances) have a job to do: find the Orochi Group's missing barricades, discover what the draug are doing with them, and either retrieve or destroy them. Ideally, they want the components salvaged and brought back; after all, the implication of supplies materializing at the Sheriff's office is too good to pass up.

Right now, the crew are standing at the base of the northernmost bridge on the island, with the Orochi encampment setup on this side of it. The barriers in question are spread out a short distance from the main encampment, with shimmering blue fields glowing between them. There's movement off beyond that, where the hills slope downward towards the island's shore to the east. Even through the ever-present haze that permeates the island, the distant shapes of monstrous things can be barely made out in the distance.

Food, answers, and cake are on the line. What do you do?

Finna (513) has posed:
    The foxgirl who doesn't look like one to most people has again assumed her new appearance of a local, in jeans and a blouse, with a Glock 20 where the HECK did she get that? "let's play some fetch. First to find the barriers gets a prize?" She suggests playfully, though there's really no question of how serious she is about that. She's none too happy about the THINGS moving around in this town, and spends a few moments fiddling with the weapon to make sure it's ready.

    She doesn't look like she's handled a gun at ALL before, but when she whirls about, taking practice aim, one might wonder how much that matters...

    "We don't have any clues about what the draug would want with these things or how they overcame them. Soooo not many clues about where they would've taken them! But those things looked pretty heavy... you think they dragged 'em, instead of hoisted 'em? There might be tracks."

Inga has posed:
Inga stands with the group, leaning on her staff and looking thoughtfully ahead toward the beach. "The draugr are very strong, much stronger than a normal person. They could carry the barriers," she assures Finna. Inga has no intention of taking part in any race here. She's not in a mind to play games she most obviously cannot win.

The witch heaves a sigh and pulls her knife, taking it again to her much-used arm. A thick line of blood wells quickly, start crimson against moon-pale skin. The bloodied knife is flicked outward toward Finna first. The blood forms a sort of shimmering barrier around her, providing her with a degree of protection against incoming damage--and will boost her own natural healing to make a prolonged fight easier. "They are strong, be careful. I will remain at the back," she says, then would repeat the protection spell for the others, provided they want it.

Staff in one hand, knife in the others, Inga prepares to move, her keen eyes scanning for the draug.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight fiddles with his camera. Click click click, click click click.

He's not really... crazy about the idea of using a gun, and never has been, despite his military service and his subsequent time on the police force. Still... these things aren't human, and he's certainly run over plenty of zombies. He sighs, putting the camera over his shoulder and jogging back to KITT. The Trans-Am's trunk pops open with a press of his finger against a cleverly hidden fingerprint scanner.

Michael retrieves a shoulder harness and a Colt M1911 from the trunk, slipping them both on with practiced, if not comfortable ease. He closes the trunk and returns to his peers. These draug things attack like cornered dogs--they're not criminals or even enemy combatants, they're monsters that are definitely going to try and kill. Since he doesn't have the help of the bees, he's going to need old Samuel Colt's help instead.

Staren has posed:
    Moments ago, Staren was watching medics try to diagnose a dying spider-monster-woman-thing. But his work there is done -- the task they seek of him will require much more preparation and returning another time with specialized equipment. And he can hear on the radio that there are others performing a critical task /now/. Unfortunately, it was quite a trek through the depths of Lordran to reach the nest...

    Fortunately, when Staren's phantom is unsummoned, his awareness returns to his body sitting in the lab. Convenient! And he'd already gotten all armored up to ensure his Phantom would be ready for anything, so...

    A teleport and a quick warpgate hope and a disorienting treewalk later, Staren is flying through the fog, following his allies' signals. At last he lands in the midst of the group. Once again he's clad in the Triax BLUE armor, which is painted red. He takes his helmet off to greet and speak. "Heya." He nods to those assembled. "So the zombies are stealing forcefields? That's weird. Something must be controlling them..." he rubs his chin. "Could be a big break in the mystery right there... but isn't there any way we can detect these forcefield emitters? Are they on right now?" He activates his electromagnetic field sensor all the same, so he'll at least know if he blunders within about 5 meters of active electronics.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva's milling around the barrier line at the base of the hilly street area, trying to think of what to do with this. "Well... We could wait for them to come again, kill most of them, and then follow one back to wherever it takes the barrier, too." she suggests. "But if we want to look around, I can help guard these while you guys follow them to wherever they're taking them. Every one we stop them from taking is one less we'd need to take back intact."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is with Wuyin and everyone else, she's also armed with her rifle and is moving in with the group. She keeps eye on the various bit of tech and she pauses for a moment and she narrows of the ideas. She looks at the barrier lind.

"Humm I'm for letting them come next really but just give me orders here I'm just an extra gun and tech head really."

Finna (513) has posed:
    "CARRYING those things? ... Maybe deep footprints..." Finna's forced to muse. "... hopefully you have some extra eyes while you're at it!" She quips Kotone's way, rather playfully. "I've not seen anything from the air, but I could take another look around."

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Cleverness, go!

The area around the recently-installed barricades -- black slates, flat on the bottom and then with a slightly back-angled vertical panel at the forward edge -- is full of footprints, though most of them are from booted feet. There are some deeper, irregular ones nearby, and spent casings from some kind of automatic weapon on the near side of the field.

Dark spots, too. Blood; recent, even.

The trail, either way, goes down the hill. It looks like it's a straight shot to the shore. That is one way to proceed, definitely.

Inga has posed:
Inga turns to look toward Michael. He seems, for all his strange vehical, to be a normal sort of person. She hasn't seen him use any magic, or display any healing powers. A small frown. She will keep an eye on him. Riva and Wuyin may not like getting hurt...or dying...but she knows they come back. Not everyone could have that.

Staren arrives then, and Inga nods to him. "Follow the blood," she suggests.

Inga reaches down to touch the finger bones that hang from her belt.

Her form grows very still, her eyes distant before they roll back into her head, only the whites visible. Her voice is quiet when she speaks, no shouted prophecy, no voice like thunder. Only a quiet, uncanny voice that whispers like the sea.

"Have you ever had the falling dream, sweetling? Falling, always falling. You fall so far. You fall into the Unconquerable Sun. The stars go out. You can hear a star scream for aeons and aeons after it's died. Awake. In the dark. The flicker-glow of the TV. A reassuring commercial for Sycoil energy bleeds into the staccato ad for Diet Zagan Cola. An acrid aftertaste of carcinogen rapture. You reach for a can. Synthetic. No sugar. Weep for the false sweetness, pleasuring your tongue even as it eats your brain cells. You doze."

Inga goes silent. It takes a few moments for her to come back to herself. She shakes her head, inahling deeply, replying what she said in her mind, memorizing. Difficult, when you don't know the meaning of some of those words. "What does it mean? Many words I don't understand," she says to anyone still nearby. Not the most helpful of visions.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight says, "I know all of those words, and I'm not sure what it means." He frowns--the whole visions and prophecy thing kind of weirds him out. It's a side of magic that the fairy tales aren't always so keen on exploring. Certainly, it's one that he knows of, for some stories do dare to venture there. He never actually imagined he'd see a... seer... seeing.

"I believe Inga's vision was speaking figuratively of a negative impact by modern culture on the spiritual awareness of the average citizen," says KITT from Michael's watch.

"Thanks, professor," says Michael. He looks up from his watch and claps Inga on the shoulder. "You with me, Inga? I'm thinking I want to get some photos of what these draug are doing.""

Finna (513) has posed:
    Spotting the blood and footsteps, boundless signs of a scuffle, Finna wastes little time. Crouching down, and pressing her nose down near the ground, she sniffs at the fallen blood...

    But by that time, she's not a human anymore. Instead, an arctic fox in its summer coat's replaced her after a show of rippling flesh and shrinking...

    And then one of the people around starts doing those mad rantings that give her chills. She stares Inga's way for a few brief seconds, then takes a few more sniffs at the blood, hoping to pick up on any nearby clues the eyes alone might miss...

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at the vision. "Umm... what blood were we supposed to follow, again?" KITT explains, sort of. "Really? You were able to decipher that? But it still doesn't tell us where to /go/."

    Staren thinks for a moment. "What if zombies are like magpies? Maybe they're just dragging shiny things back to their nest."

Inga has posed:
Inga closes her eyes a moment, shaking her head. "I will need the words explained if I am to make any sense of the vision, but I suppose that will have to wait," she comments.

Inga blinks then, looking to Michael's wrist, recognizing the voice of KITT. "Perhaps, but I think it must be more. The gods would not give me such visions if I were not meant to make use of them," she replies. "I do not believe it pertains directly to the draug. Follow the blood, retrieve what was stolen. Then we will see what these Orochi people do."

"I do not know what a photo is, but I will remain nearby," she tells Michael with a nod.

To Staren, she sighs a little wistfully. "I wish I had a magpie skull, a powerful charm..." she waves it off then, and begins walking down toward the beach, following the trail of blood. To Finna, she smiles. "Hunt well," she says.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is looking to spot the blood she moves to get a closer look of it. She halts as Inga is geting another vision. She alts she listens sh chivers abut at the ords and the image that it eaves.

"They speak of thier wisdom as sweet like honey they speak of something used to replace honey and the like in foods. It's fake, it tricks the brain into the same taste. It is however false. The other is the name for an old roman cult which worshiped the Unconquered Sun. I'm really at a loss here."

Finna (513) has posed:
    "So the people here ignored a warning, is that what the vision means?" Finna blurts.. as a fox. "Forgetting the things they should have known?"

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin is hanging out in the back of the line. He seems to be squinting off in the other directions, as if watching for the inevitable attack from behind. He gives Inga a few quick looks, jaw tightening. Prophecy, man.

The blood is gross. Finna has been sticking her nose into draug bits for a while now in the mobile lab, so she recognizes it as from one of them. The trail goes down towards the shore, twisting into the trees. The ground is hard and rocky after you get away from near the road, so it's a good thing that the trail can be followed at all.

Staren has posed:
    And then Inga starts following some trail. How did he not notice that? "Oh. /That/ trail of blood." He follows her. It seems like the best lead right now! Actually, now that he thinks about it, he walks a bit ahead... watching for any pings on his electrical sense.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Naturally, with a trail as solid as that, Finna's quick to put people on the right path with a quick bark - a much shriller, harsher sound than a dog's - and trotting along at a merry pace, nose halfway to the ground.

    Though a minute in, she flinches away from it, and wobbles about, mouth open as if she wants to retch.

    That stuff stinks.

    Back to the tracking. This time with the nose a litle higher off the ground...

Inga has posed:
Inga looks to Kotone, eyebrows rising. "You say you are at a loss, but that was rather astute," she remarks. "A Roman cult...there were many. I know only of the cult of Mithras," she offers.

Inga muses as she walks, slowly than the others, her pronounced limp making for an uneven gait. "The honey is wisdom, thought...the stuff that can be spun into tales. The bees grant wisdom. An artifical sweetness...a warning, yes," she decides. "Be wary of this group. This Orochi," she says.

Inga looks back to Kotone. "Do you know more about this Roman cult?" she asks.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa Says "humm that could be it, I'm always wary of large company or merchant princes if you prefer...as for the cult hummm give me a moment."

Her eyes go unfoxed a bit like she's looking at something she can see but no one else can. Her eyes snap back into focus as she looks abck to Inga.

"Sol Invictus, was the offical sun god of the later roman empire. Also he was the patron of soldiers. However the cult long died out even before you were born. Later due to emperor who attempted to place Sol Invictus above all other Roman it ended in his murder... humm I'm afraid that's all I got. Infromaiotn is sketchy from that era and given the truths of this world who knows what actually was going on."

She rubs the back of her head and thinks some more serious resarch may need to be done.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "He is also the ruler of all the gods, not a wannabe, in the land I'm from. Bright, shining, ancient... I've heard many things good and bad attributed to him and his Chosen, but it is also his light that keeps Creation safe from the dead during the day."

    Finna announces, whirling around to speak in fox form. "You bringing that up has me wondering. What would the sun and falling have to do with this mess? A dream? And people blinded to the warning signs of this by the abundant distractions of this culture?"

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight says, "Did you get all that from the World Wide Web, Kotone? I've heard soem things about it recently, when I was visiting other worlds. Must be pretty handy."

The loner pulls his camera around, checks the lens as he walks with the group. He is therefore oblivious to any cringes worn by those party members from more modernized worlds than his. "Maybe someone's distracting them on purpose," he says to Finna. "Wuyin said Orochi was a multinational conglomerate, and they don't look like the types to share their toys.""

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
The fog gets pretty bad just past the shoreline. There's maybe ten meters of sea-water from the coast before it gets bad, and another ten before it's opaque. Fortunately, you aren't quite there yet.

There is a rise right next to the trail with a few short trees and shrubs dotting it. It gives a clear view of the beach, a wide strand of sand and rocks stretching down the coastline. The sand has been occupied by something, though, something very clearly identifiable:

Eggs.

The eggs -- pods, really -- are a little shorter than a person, rounded and bulbous and red at the bottoms and narrowing to sharp points at the top. They're gathered in clusters, with a great number of draug of various types patrolling between them, including what appear to be females -- and with a number of what looks like drowned bodies shuffling along beside them, with the brood pods growing within and out of of their bulging torsos. The black spines normally found at the top jut out of their backs at odd angles.

Further down the strand are no less than three of these brood pods, but massive in scale. They're at least eight feet high, maybe bigger -- it's hard to tell from here -- with writhing tendrils digging into the ground nearby. The sand immediately around them has been overtaken by some kind of chitinous bowl. The draug activity is even heavier near those.

Chunks of metal and wood, salvaged from all kinds of things, are being used as crude barricades around the pod clusters. Incubators are being used to build them up; they appear to have two working hands, as opposed to the crab-like appendages the other draug usually grow. In the midst of it all are the Orochi barriers, flickering with electric blue light... and apparently built into the walls.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva continues to bring up the back, watching cafetully for any signs of an ambush. She's no tracker, Finna and Staren are doing way better than she is at point.

And there's no way in hell she's going to let someone get at Inga again. Not like last time, even if she seems to be fairly copacetic about the whole 'not being dead anymore' thing.

Maybe there's a lot to be said for the old ways. It probably prepared her a lot more for the Shadow Realm than Riva's own upbringing... She shudders for a moment.

The appearance of the massive egg clusters cause her to stare at the arrangement. "Whoa." She says, simply. "I've never seen an infestation like this before."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "Yes, the buffering rate and connection levels were subpar. I think the Refuggees in Japan back home get better speeds than here. I'd never seen so much buffering in my life. Uggg, seriously Can't you get 500MBS at least? That's like bare bones connection speeds back home."

she catches her self holding things to standabards back home and tries to pull out.

"Anyway you speak of your world and not of earth. Finna, the informaion I pulled up also noted there's been much confusion over just who that god actually was. Scholars have been debating it ... for nigh over a thousand years."

She stops and stares at the horror before them she shriks back a bit at the sight.

"We don't have enough fire..."

Finna (513) has posed:
    There's really only one word to describe this mess, if you're Finna. And that word is...

    "...Ewwwwwww." She's glad that they are still as of yet distant, but coming across what seems to be NESTING grounds has her on edge. Sure, there's all the draug down there, but this is some sort of massive group effort... there's certainly more eyes around than those, right? "Stay on guard, we might be flanked and ambushed at any moment. What are they doing? Breeding more draug? ... Or does those have to do with the victims of this mess... that's disgusting!"
    It takes a LOT for a Lunar to call something disgusting.

Staren has posed:
    Staren walks up the trail ahead of Inga, then... stops. It takes a moment to process all this. /Eggs/. His first thought is, indeed, to kill it all with fire, but it seems like he should double-check their mission objectives. And then he notices the egg-sac Draugr. He's not sure if it's more or less creepy than the person with the sack of spider eggs bigger than they are on his back that he was, like, /just talking to/. They're probably a lot less friendly, though...

    He can't help doing a quick mental calculation, plotting target areas -- but the fact is, he has only half a dozen plasma minimissiles -- given the risk of attracting more Draugr, he didn't really focus on packing wide area explosives today.

    of course, things are more complex than that anyway. They have to retrieve the emitters, and blowing stuff up /before/ they do so might only enrage the draugr.

    Are they still unnoticed? Then it's still planning time... for a little while longer...

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight finds himself in agreement with Finna. He expected disgusting /visually./ They're zombies, after all. Dead guys up and walking around. There's bound to be some nasty sights involved when you add zombies into the mix. Anyone who's seen a B-movie can tell you that, and Michael does love his schmaltzy crap. What he didn't expect was the /smell./ He pulls his shirt over his nose and caughs, bringing his camera to bear.

Knight kneels to steady his aim, so to speak. He adjusts the zoom on the lens, fiddles with this or that.

Ka-chik, ka-chik. The loner begins snapping pictures of the barricades, the egg sacs, and the incubators, taking special care so that his photographs, once developed, will show a clear connection between the three.

Inga has posed:
Inga looks toward Kotone, blinking. The unfocused look... "Are you a seer as well Kotone?" she asks. She sort of figured this would have come up...

Inga listens then as Finna makes a contribution. Apparently, this is a god of her world as well. "I see. The fog....it keeps the sunlight away. There is never truly day. If the fog were to lift I suspect the unquiet dead problem might solve itself quickly," she comments.

Others may be scorning Michael's 80's technology but Inga looks intrigued, watching him with the camera for a moment, before shaking her head and setting her eyes ahead of her.

Good thing, for it gets interesting. Inga's nose wrinkles as she takes in the sight, watching with both disgust and fascination. "They are using them for their intended pupose--barriers. They are protecting their own," she says, pointing ahead toward the 'females'. "They breed..."

Inga looks toward Riva, reaching out to place a hand on her arm, sensing the shudder. It certainly isn't a pleasant prospect. "This may be difficult," she comments, her eyes focused below, assessing. "There are so many....I think we must do this just right. We cannot hope to fight them all at once...if we could seperate them, work on small groups..." Inga frowns. "I could attempt a barrier of my own, but it would take some time and I would need to be protected while I worked," she suggests, patting the pouch at her belt, taking a mental inventory, frowning gently.

"I suppose we may have to split into teams--those who can fight perhaps try to draw them away, others work on moving the barriers away. I can provide a warded area where we can retreat to, rest and be healed if needed. I know Riva and Wuyin heal as quickly as I do," she proposes.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "Not in the way you at Inga, no gods have anything to do with what I can do. You can get things that are lost or not known to mortal man it seems. It's nothing spcial it's dirt common honestly."

She looks to the barrier and to everything else.

"So we need to distract them with one group while another goes to get them. Then we purge this place in fire."

Inga has posed:
Inga smiles to Kotone, shaking her head. "You underestimate yourself," she says simply, kneeling down as she begins to pull small objects out of her pouch; a bit of herbs tied together in a bundle with a scrap of bright blue wool, the wings of a raven, some sort of dust... "I'll make a safe zone. Now, go be warriors," she says, gesturing, flashing a quick smile before she gets to work.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
The draug do not appear to have noticed the group of you on the ledge. They are milling about, patrolling or doing... something. The club-fisted and spike-armed ones drag what look like car doors and chunks of docks onto the beach and up to the walls; the walking incubators mess with the pieces when they get there, putting them into place and... well, 'drooling' is kind of not a forceful enough word, but they're /expelling/ some kind of fluid to affix it to the rest.

One of the pod-bodied creatures shuffles towards the stationary ones and... well, it plants itself. It drops down, and it goes still, propped up by the big thing. Chances are good it isn't going to look too humanoid for very long.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "I can do distractions very well..." Finna starts pondering locations nearby that she might be able to lure the draug to that would get them killed. She can't take them all on in a direct fight... perhaps leading them off a drop? But no they're probably not that stupid. These things may be very instinctive, but they're not dumb zombies...

    "Ghh..uuu.... they probably wouldn't follow far. Maybe just getting them to run in circles..."

Staren has posed:
    Staren... is waiting for the distraction team. Robot body super strength means he's on team moving stuff.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight places the cap on the camera lens after snapping a few more pictures. He lets it fall, the straps supporting the weight, and raises his watch to his mouth.

"KITT, we need a distraction."

"I'm on my way," replies the AI.

Kingsmouth Town is relatively small for a car with a turbine for an engine. First, the whine of that turbine can be heard in the distance. One would think KITT would use a road.

The whine grows louder. The Trans-AM comes not by land but by sea, hydroplaning across the water and into the shallows, smashing into a draug or two. The car carries them all the way to the nearest forcefield, slamming into it--crunch. Not a scratch. It backs up, spikes peeking out of its tires, and procedes to peel out on the edge of a brood pod. Its horn blares, multiple times, and it spins out in the sand, kicking sand and debris all over the undead creatures trying to apprehend it.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is making ready to go for the parts she's stronger than a normal human and she's not as good at fighting as the others. She takes a moment to make sure her rifle is ready to go in. She waits for the distraction to starts to move in. She's as ready as she's ever going to be here.

Finna (513) has posed:
    DISTRACTIONS? Finna can do that.

    After a few more bits of thinking, she sprouts.... this incredible grin. It's perhaps best not to watch that one form, as it's most unsettling to people who haven't been exposed to the craziest of mischief.

    But well, they're about to.

    Finna's body shimmers, taking on a silvery shine that wraps her up and then.... then...

    There's a new Draug around. She's met enough of them to manage this sort of illusion!

    And the new draug-Finna takes a FLYING LEAP onto the edge of the beach, making a low, guttural, gurgly noise filled with raspy, bubbly echoes... VERY, VERY LOUDLY.

    The new Draug is male, and it's moving with a lot more emotion and fervor as it gestures WILDLY at KITT. If only it had some sort of CLUB to wave in its hand as it belts gurgly growl-howl sound that draug probably don't normally make.

    There's no language. But there doesn't have to be any language. This draug's intent his clear. It wants to have that crazy awesome car. EVERY OTHER DRAUG can see why. The spinning tires, the sleek design, the raw, incredible speed, it builds like an unfathomable, uncanny lust!

    Presuming, of course, that these creatures are even REMOTELY capable of feeling things like greed, desire. Maybe the car will make excellent building materials?

    Either way, if all goes well, LOTS will hopefully want it. And want it bad.

    Finna-Draug is stoking the Draug Waaagh!

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
KITT knows his distractions, that's for sure.

The Trans-AM completely wrecks one of the drowned dead and splatters a smaller Incubator on the way in, crushing it into the barrier. The field flares up, bright blue, curving around the exterior of the pod cluster's walls in a sort of raggedly glowing barrier. It /does/ make a satisfying 'crunch,' with a kind of sizzling along with it.

This -- plus the violence towards one of the pods -- gets their attention. Oh boy does it.

There's a shriek from one of the females. She turns, head lolling awkwardly and midsection thrust forward. Tentacles erupt from gaping holes in the front of her torso, and the creature practically glides along the ground, giving chase at an impressive speed. Several of the nearby Impalers thrust their spikes into the ground, coral-like portrusions bursting out of the mud, sand and surf after KITT while they otherwise give chase.

Then Finna does /her/ magic, and things just kind of get frenzied.

There is a mob of these things chasing the Trans-AM by this point. Club-fisted, spike-armed, tentacle... appended, they rush along, a chorus of bubbling, gutteral cries and frenzied shrieks. 'Berserkergang' seems appropriate.

The pods are not /quite/ undefended, but a good number of them are being lured down the coast. So far, so good!

Staren has posed:
Staren stares. The car can drive on water too? Aaand... hoo boy. That is a /distraction/. Staren ducks back behind the hill, waiting for the main force of the draugr to run out of sight... then he walks in and, instead of going for the brood pods, leaves them alone for now in favor of trying to get one of the emitters. If it's been stuck into a bunch of other junk as part of a wall, well... he starts cutting around it with a beam saber!

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
KITT acceletates so as to be the perfect carrot on a stick. Fast enough so that the odd drowned dead can JUST get their hands on him, only to lose their grip as he gives... himself a little more gas. He leads the horde of furious, desirous draugr up and down the coast. But that's not good enough.

Is that music? It is! A flute, merry and lighthearted. The occasional rumblings of a powerful brass section. Tubas... or, no. Sousaphones. Why, it's the Liberty Bell, being broadcast for the cultural enrichment of Kingsmouth's living dead.

Of course, any good bait should keep any would-be predators interested, and so the Trans-Am occasionally performs a deft feat of maneuvering, driving in reverse only to spout jets of flame at the crowd of draugr. With this, and with the occasional screeching halt (so that his pursuers pile into him like dogs chasing parked cars) does he keep his suitors entertained.

Meanwhile, Michael unholsters his M1911 and begins making his way down the ride to provide fire support for those seeking to carry off the equipment.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Arrwwwwwwlggbbbbbbbbbbnnnnnnnnngggggggghhhhhhhhhrwl!!"

    ... Is... maybe what people can make of the noises Finna's making. One of them. She's charging witht he rest, keeping the effect up long enough to ensure the group's good and focused on KITT. She has to work HARD not to giggle at the plan's success. DISTRACTION? Oh this sure works. She also has to work hard not to cheer for that car. It's odd, cheering for a car... she didn't think they could talk.

    But oh well. If a LUNAR was overly bothered by that, they'd be disqualified as a Steward.

    "Mmmmrrrrrwlghble!" She throws in more mad wavings for good measure, then turns back to see what's happening at the nesting grounds...

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa sees the distraction is a go and she's going to make use of it. She now breaks into a run for the parts in the horrible organic blob that has the art. She moves with STartewn at this point. She attempts to aid him in getting one of the more intact parts free with no care for what she does to the horrible blob thing.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
The draug end up functioning a lot like they would if they were in a comedy of some kind, chasing KITT and then mostly accomplishing... slamming into things, and getting run down, and not actually damaging the car. It is kind of a problem, but one they don't acknowledge, being driven into a madness of want for the incredible machine.

Stopping and starting /does/ mean that there's kind of a pile-up. In groups that big, they throw themselve at KITT, trying to grapple and flip the car to stop it. It's hard in the water, but it seems to be sort of the favored terrain of theirs. One of them gets the bright idea to go for the tires with its huge spike-arm, which could work amazingly or backfire spectacularly when large amounts of torque is applied to flesh and bone.

Staren can hack through the makeshift barricade with his beam saber pretty easily -- except when he gets near the actual barrier device. The saber's blade bends when it hits it, appearing an awful lot like it's been turned into energy-paint and splattered in a streak on a glowing wall. Getting underneath it, however, seem to work fine. A weakness?

A trio of draug, apparently unaffected by the Charms and distraction, move up on Team Move The Wall. A warrior with a crab claw arm barrels forward, only a couple steps behind an incubator -- an incubator which promptly coughs up some kind of greenish fluid all over Kotone and Staren. This would have more of an effect if at least one of them wasn't in an environmentally-sealed suit... but it /does/ seem to be generating a caustic cloud where it lands.

The two other draug, one flinging some kind of water magic bolts and the other with the claw, don't seem affected by it as they move in. Something to watch out for.

The rest of the nesting grounds are... mostly gathering up. There are a lot more of them further away, and the incubators, warriors and broodwitches left seem intent on defending the place. On the bright side, the vast majority of Orochi technology has been concentrated on this side of the cluster!

Staren has posed:
    Staren runs into some trouble. Of course he can't cut the barrier device free, the barrier is in the way :/

    Once he figures out the trick, though, he swiftly cuts the device free -- only to be spit on! Yuck! Well, he's a robot, but it might be starting to dissolve armor. This can't be allowed to stand, but he's got quest objectives to do! He holsters the beam saber and pulls out his trusty magic staff, blasting the nearby draug with a low power lightning bolt!

    (Spirit Battery Charge:83%)

    "We gotta move!" He casts haste on the retrieval team, grabs the device next to him, and books it back to the safe area for drop off.

    Spirit Battery Charge:67%

    At last, as he charges back into the nest, he casts hydro pump, blasting himself and Kotone just enough to wash off the acid and focusing most of the blast on any approaching Draugr, trying to knock them ba<span class=" bold_fg_g bg_x ++ k.

    chXg">Spirit Battery Charge:</span>47%

    And then: Time to repeat, with the next barrier device! Hopefully he and Kotone can get more of them before more pesky Draugr reach them...

Riva Banari has posed:
Meanwhile, Riva and Wu got into another coin toss. Once again, Riva picked tails.

Once again, the coin landed heads. With great trepidation, Riva appears on the opposite side of the egg cluster, screaming at the massing Draug and firing a couple flare guns. The sizzling fires launch into the midst of the mass, and Riva switches to pistols, still screaming at them as she lays down fire...

And then runs the opposite direction from the cluster.

Yes, Wu and Riva flipped to determine who was going to be doing something unbelievably stupid to buy the Wall Movers enough time to salvage enough barriers to satisfy Orochi.

Move fast guys, Riva isn't in tank gear.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Hrm. To help aid KITT, who seems to be taking care of himself just fine, or the metal girl and Staren? Finna looks between one and the other, startled somewhat by Staren's strange tricks... if she goes to help KITT that could backfire.

    So, as the illusion vanishes, she pulls out the Glock, takes aim... and rethinks that. No. Gunfire might be the worst thing to add to this...

    So, stuffing the Glock away, she INSTEAD pulls out a bow. Not her wooden laminated recurve shortboy, but something much more modern. It has all those fancy pulleys, synthetic materials, aiming sights, the metallic bowstring weaving through a pair of pulleys...

    One can only imagine she probably scavenged this from the town recently as well.

    Drawing an arrow with a really NASTY-looking serrated and barbed tip, she sends it flying for the Draug assaulting Staren and Kotone!

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight forms up the rear guard, watching for any draugr that get past Kotone or Staren. He takes potshots here and there, mostly conserving his ammo. His stance is trained, confident, both hands on the pistol, arms bent at the elbows as he moves with the retrieval team.

KITT... is in an interesting position. The draugr with its arm stuck in his wheelbase finds the Trans-Am's underside to be just as tough as the top. The tire is pierced, but shortly thereafter, KITT remedies the flat by extending his traction spikes. "You want to play rough, do you?" His frontal brake discs lock into place, and his turbine engine roars to life. An immeasurable amount of horsepower is under that hood, and suffice it to say the end result is something like putting a crab in a blender.

If there are party members with tank gear, KITT is certainly one of them--many of his devices are excellent distractions, but only a few do any meaningful damage in and of themselves. To do real damage, he has to get creative. So he does. WHOOSH WHOOSH. WHOOSH WHOOSH. WHOOSH WHOOSH. Three rocket boosters fire off three times, sending the car 40 feet into the air. What goes up, must come down--and that's a lot of Trans-AM.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Staren doesn't have to go far. He gets to the edge of the strand and to the trees and finds the impromptu safe zone, a lightly-warded place setup thanks to Inga... with a short-backed box truck, apparently from a moving company, parked in the perimeter. It's battered, but it's running. Wuyin is there to take the barricade pieces and load them up.

Worth every flip.

More draug intervention is stopped primarily thanks to Riva running in like a moron on the other side of things. It gives Staren time to unleash techno-magical hell, his lightning bolt intersecting he path of the incubator and basically popping it like a melon filled with fireworks. The warrior is more of a problem, but the hydro-pump slows it down just enough. Water is not terribly effective against these things.

The arrow takes it in the back of the head, and support fire from the rideless Michael puts the crab-handed warrior in a position where they can finish it off. It's still trying to claw its way forward, and the witch behind it is flinging icy spikes through the air like magical javelins to stop the theft of the barricades. They can really take a beating!

KITT, off on the shore, does his best Super Mario impression. You would be amazed how many man-sized fish-monsters one Trans-AM can crush or blend with a forty-foot hop. The crunch is massive and quite likely satisfying -- if you're anyone but a car's on-board AI, anyway. A good chunk of the draug that got too close to the car are now too flattened to do anything... and the rest are hesitating.

A few turn around and start heading back to the nesting grounds. It's a trickle right now, notable because it's happening but not because of the numbers. That will certainly change. A little more time on the looting front, and they'll be ready to run like hell!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
You know those times where you get access to things you shouldn't have? Like several X-Com issue grenades? That's what Kotone is doing right now as she moves to plant several in some eg pods she's set them for delayed. The others have a lot o the problem handled at this point she knows the others can take it and well?

A moment later from the nesting are a chain of explosions good off hopefully turning a bunch of DRauger into chunky salsa. Kotone makes it back to the safe sone panting her hands on her knees

"I took the liberty of dumping my grenades in the nears pots..."

Several more go off, she'll have to thank Dr. Shen later.

Staren has posed:
    "Oh, hey, thanks Wuyin." Staren comments as he sees the convenient truck. Back to the fray he goes... "Thanks!" Finna takes down another problem draug, and so he rushes in to take another emitter. Now he knows the trick, so it takes less time!

    Once he and Kotone have got all the requested items, he shouts, "Alright everybody, get in the cars!" Then he leaps up on top of the truck and turns towards the Draugr horde. "SO LONG, F***ERS!" The minimissile pods on his shoulders rotate into position and--

    Oh. Kotone beat him to the punch. He stares for a moment at the explosive carnage.

    ...

    "...Eh, the heck with it." The launchers unleash their payload. Six missiles shoot up into the sky.

    Staren turns and grabs the edge of the roof tightly. "Drive, /drive/!" Because it won't take out /all/ of them.

    Six missiles rain down from the sky, some on specific targets in the nest area, others on clusters of draugr chasing the heroes, airbursting in 30' wide spheres of superheated plasma.

    And you just KNOW that the truck and the Trans-AM look totally badass as they drive away from the explosions, because /come on/.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Wheeeoooooooooooo!!!" Finna chairs, waving an arm and jumping on the beach! EXPLOSIONS! Rockets! Crazy things she's never seen before and all kinds of carnage!

    That's pretty awesome!

    And then, without warning, she sprouts HUMMINGBIRD wings. At this point, a soft glow's coming from her whole body, a silvery-blue aura that ripples and flickers... but the wings work. They hit tremendous speed and send her flitting like a Fairy over to Staren and Kotone, and she starts adding to the chaos by launching more arrows - now from a height advantage!

    "What do you call that thing?!"

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
KITT has plenty of experience driving away from explosions! When Staren shouts, the Trans-Am disengages from the fight with the draugr, heading towards Michael. He swerves, opening his driver side door and scooping Knight up in one swift motion.

"Thanks for the lift, buddy," Michael says with a smile. The car speeds off with its new companion the box truck.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
KITT and the poor, nameless box truck barrel off away from the scene of the ensuing blast.

The explosion is tremendous, the plasma blasts and high explosives creating a deadly light-show behind the group. Draug are sent flying, blown apart or incinerated depending on where they're standing. The makeshift barriers are burned down or blown up depending on where they are in relation to the blast.

The most important part, however, is that cool guys don't look at explosions.

It isn't until they pull over at the Orochi camp to let them unload that the team can assess their progress. Most of Orochi's barriers have been retrieved, only a little worse for wear; a chunk of the draug breeding grounds have been blown sky-high; and valuable information on how they're adapting has been collected for analysis. All in all, this has been a pretty successful run.

Now all Orochi has to do is deliver on their end of the deal...

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
SOME TIME LATER

Wuyin reaches for his phone, feeling it vibrate in his pocket. He thumbs the screen lock, checking the message from the secure line.

Until now, our great advantage over the draug has been their discomfort on land. However, they are adapting quickly.

The draug are not only taking land-based technology from the Orochi Group, but tactics as well. We must now interrogate the sophistication of these tactics: the Orochi Group are blocking access to New Colony Span Bridge; the draug, to large varieties of pod clusters. One is tempted to conclude that these things are then of utmost importance.

But one must not take for granted the power of misdirection. In their place, it is certainly what we would do.

He locks the screen again and glances towards the shore. That /this/ could just be the diversion, one on a bigger scale than the one they used today... the thought is sobering.

If this really is just the smokescreen, Wuyin thinks, then where is the real fire?