Ch. 8 - Back in Action

[Tori]

Tori clicked her mic once to stand by. She waited until the vehicle was well away before returning to her own. "If they was tracking Tony, then they're piss poor at it." She held her dainty little foot next to Takota's bear-sized foot, then gave a fishing cat "Rowowowowow" for a laugh.

"'Sides, my tracks was fresh and if they could track, would have found one angry lil cat. If they ain't huntin' Tony, they could be hired muscle. Any way ya cut it there are armed assholes in this here swamp that will pro'lly shoot the three of us first, before sortin out ain't none of us is orange."

She turned to Six to report. "I didn't find no usable intel on J-Cat's kill. Nor did I recover a weapon."

Camouflaged
Detect concealment [dice=100] needs 50 fail
Detect ambush [dice=100] needs 60 fail
Detect mines/traps [dice=100] needs 50 pass
Judge distance and location of source of sound [dice=100] needs 84 pass
Recognize and identify prey by sound [dice=100] needs 76 pass
Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100] needs 40 fail
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100] needs 58 pass
Prowl [dice=100] needs 90 pass[rand=76382831194983791484334379844525263256912467629784536207679961952]

[Janxi]

"I wish we coulda lit his ass up," Janxi said with a hiss. "Er gone hand to hand. Yeah..." She gave her small partner a nuzzle though both had helmets on. The two made a clunking more than a nuzzle, but she was still very glad to have Tori back.

"I recommend we get oscar mike ASAP, cuz they might triangulate our signal."

Camouflaged
Judge distance and location of source of sound [dice=100] /84 pass
Recognize and identify prey by sound [dice=100] / 76 pass
Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100] /40pass
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100] /56 fail
Prowl [dice=100]/ 80 pass[rand=123741312178159090273452726670913030672287574088362737202227576692737]

[foxx]

"I agree with the kitties, we've over stayed our welcome." Kain comments, he exposes himself to the others but dosen't come all the way out into the open. He was paranoid like that after a near miss.

[Mierin]

Sam nods at Kain and the cats. "Agreed" she replies, "Let's keep moving."

detect concealment [dice=100] out of 65%
prowl [dice=100] out of 60%
perception [dice=20][rand=0986452950399528474246574056259255066681758744908973602940682988]

[Takota]

Thinking that appropriating the APC might have made their search a little quicker Takota quickly dismisses that same thought knowing that they are much more stealthy on foot.

"It seems that Tony probably has some kind of transportation. If he was around here I'm not sure what would make him walk from this area to the base. Who knows, he might even be a scout for the team that nabbed the gun also." Complete speculation but it is another idea to consider. Not that it would change their mission. "I don't know what anyone else thinks but if the people in that APC are not part of the gun team it would appear our target is not in the direction they came from. " he comments.


Sense psychic and magic energy ~ 40% [dice=100]




Sense Supernatural beings ~ 58% [dice=100]




Track human-(oids) ~ 50% [dice=100]




Track Animals ~ 45% [dice=100]




Detect Concealment ~ 45% [dice=100]




Recognize/identify prey by sound ~ 76% [dice=100]




Judge distance and location of source of sound ~ 84% [dice=100]




Prowl ~ 70% [dice=100]

[rand=93286116002127536087647788226604880080491770058923694316484034061]

[dakota]

As the team grouped up, Scope offered another opinion," I think those guys are after the gun just like us. But I can't figure out why they would want it."

"Black market." Shep said flatly. " A gun like that is worth alot of credits to the right bidder. I'd say they haven't met our tiger yet, but saw Tori's prints and put two and two together wrong."

Shep nodded," YOu heard the bosslady. Tori, move out."

""Great. means a three way dance when we find the gun." Det said," sounds like a party."

[Janxi]

"Let's foller 'em until we learn somethin' from tha drones. Maybe havin' mercs here's gonna work fer us. We let tha mercs and sploogs fight it out, then we destroy wud-ever tha hell's left."

Janxi's tail gave a mischievous swish. It was certainly a Shagcat plan. She waited for Tori to take point, unless Six said to go the other way. Mercs rolling along in the ATV would trigger any ambush before the team bumbled into it.


Camouflaged
Judge distance and location of source of sound [dice=100] /84 pass
Recognize and identify prey by sound [dice=100] / 76 pass
Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100] /40 fail
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100] /56 pass
Land Navigation [dice=100] /64, fail
Tracking: [dice=100] / 65 pass
Prowl [dice=100]/ 80 pass[rand=315071098204989669726491976374733873874763077954753928117081083]

[Tori]

"Right good idea, Janx. Unless yew think we shouldn't, Six, I'm followin' the headhunters."

Tori stayed off the "road" but close enough to follow its course. She reasoned if the mercs were heading one way, the super gun probably was not in the direction it came from. She stayed smart for traps and ambush, and hoped the mercs would be stopping no time soon.


Navigation: [dice=100] needs 55 pass
Detect concealment [dice=100] needs 50 pass
Detect ambush [dice=100] needs 60 pass
Detect mines/traps [dice=100] needs 50 pass
Judge distance and location of source of sound [dice=100] needs 84 pass
Recognize and identify prey by sound [dice=100] needs 76 pass
Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100] needs 40 fail
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100] needs 58 pass
Camouflage janxi [dice=100] needs 70 pass
Prowl [dice=100] needs 90 easy pass[rand=122444655229097232296810360705697495313820582277247181890379723682]

[Takota]

Takota takes his place in the line-up as they begin to move out once again. He almost hopes that they catch up to the APC before they find anything but at the same time would much rather have them flush out any attackers before the arrival of their squad.

Dismissing those thoughts the leopard concentrates on the task at hand and keeps his senses alert for anything that might be hiding.

Sense psychic and magic energy ~ 40% [dice=100]
Sense Supernatural beings ~ 58% [dice=100]
Track human-(oids) ~ 50% [dice=100]
Track Animals ~ 45% [dice=100]
Detect Concealment ~ 45% [dice=100]
Recognize/identify prey by sound ~ 76% [dice=100]
Judge distance and location of source of sound ~ 84% [dice=100]
Prowl ~ 70% [dice=100][rand=622616820735856932895136997103699020655876956880835040882229805]

[dakota]

(NPC'ing Sam until Mierin is back to posting)

Sam gave a nod before motioning to Tori to follow the APC. "Eyes and ears open"

Shep added, "and mouths shut. Safe distance Tori, and no more surprises."

[Tori]

At the order, Tori's tail gave an irritated swish. It was far from her fault her XO stepped out from under cover and started firing. Other than ask what direction, she hadn't done a lot of yapping either. "Shut up, cat" was getting under her skin yet again.

She kept a good distance from the mercs. If they stopped, she stopped, and gave the Lt. Dan Order with a gesture. She was mindful that they were far from the only danger in the swamp, with dinos, Splugorth, rats and everything from a damned-if-I-know to a diddle-eyed Joe out there to kill them. And oh yeah, she still had a mega-gun to find.


Navigation: [dice=100] needs 55 pass (glad she's following the road!)
Detect concealment [dice=100] needs 50 fail
Detect ambush [dice=100] needs 60 pass
Detect mines/traps [dice=100] needs 50 pass
Judge distance and location of source of sound [dice=100] needs 84 pass
Recognize and identify prey by sound [dice=100] needs 76 pass
Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100] needs 40 fail
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100] needs 58 pass
Prowl [dice=100] needs 90 pass[rand=9820505284789298924467307684621921153524915874133903866648042914]

[Janxi]

Janxi shot Shep a look. "Really?" she asked as her tail swished like Tori's.

Janxi unzipped a long gun case and pulled out the massive rifle that was Samson, and checked its energy. She replaced it with her juicer rifle in the case, zipped it back up and slung it on her shoulder. Samson made for a better sniping weapon, and so far, this mission struck her as a sniper's war.

She followed her partner into the swamp without another word. Shep had taken a lot of feline rescues, but given little back other than hell.

She watched and listened for the mercs and other sources of trouble.

Camouflaged
Judge distance and location of source of sound [dice=100] /84 fail
Recognize and identify prey by sound [dice=100] / 76 pass
Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100] /40 fail
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100] /56 pass
Land Navigation [dice=100] /64, fail
Tracking: [dice=100] / 65 fail
Prowl [dice=100]/ 80 pass[rand=967179336093388474394054637266754606447731008159681046306691362]

[Takota]

Maybe it is just because Takota is more used to hearing humans say such things that, unlike the other two cats, he just continues on his way as if he didn't hear anything except the command to follow the APC. If he has any feelings about Shep's comment he keeps them well hidden.

Sense psychic and magic energy ~ 40% [dice=100]
Sense Supernatural beings ~ 58% [dice=100]
Track human-(oids) ~ 50% [dice=100]
Track Animals ~ 45% [dice=100]
Detect Concealment ~ 45% [dice=100]
Recognize/identify prey by sound ~ 76% [dice=100]
Judge distance and location of source of sound ~ 84% [dice=100]
Prowl ~ 70% [dice=100][rand=079437523381784568563016110565513542332009878009648705254262313247]

[foxx]

Kain takes up rear guard again, letting their snipers and scouts do the leading. Little bit of tension in the group, he wonders how long that has been brewing. He couldn't say he was surprise by it. The CS always tend to treat their own creation with little to no respect. He was surprise he hadn't had the same treatment lately. Then again, he is after all, a loyal CS citizen fighting for the great cause of humanity.

He gives a soft snort, off comms, and continues doing his job.

[dakota]

As they continued on following the mercs, the trail led out of the redoubt into the swamp at Tori's start and stop pace. After an hour, one of the stops didn't start. Something ahead caused the mercs to hold up. It was after the team stopped that they realized that the depression they stopped in wasn't natural. something huge had landed on the ground here.