Book Two, Chapter Three: The Dragon

[albatross]

The day passes slowly and everyone is able to get some rest.

Jeckle and Strongbow don't discover much about the dove other than that it is exceptionally large for a dove.

As evening draws near most of the camp gets something to eat and gets ready for another all night party. While the discipline of the troops is generally good, the island is fairly small and there isn't much work for the soldiers here at present - they embrace Tiger's distraction.

Tiger puts on a dress uniform with awards for marksmanship, but without any major honors or recognition, most of her exploits having been 'black ops.' She straps on a QSZ-92-5.8 in a shoulder holster from the base armory, and reluctantly leaves her revolvers behind.

She sends a text to Kris Let me know if you sense anything. I'm bring you a good drink when were done. Text me with requests.

She texts Jeckle After dark you can run tests on your new friend

After the sun sets she contacts Dante, Ionic and Steelfist. "Ready to move out. Be sure to get as much information as possible. Approach separately and keep your guide handy if you want translations. Use non-violent information gathering techniques. You are free to lean to your areas of strength, still keep in mind that the soldiers are our allies, and while I want that information, we don't want to destroy anyone to get it. There should be plenty of inhibitions dropped tonight, so gathering information should be easy. I will reimburse whatever you spend on booze and girls. Cut loose, but keep your wits about you and stay safe."

Tiger orders double rounds of whiskey's when she arrives, though through pre-arranged agreement with the bartender hers are mostly water. She tips big and keeps ordering and greeting a few officers until her guide can't handle the drinks she is giving him and he leaves for the restroom. Then she starts mingling with the enlisted men. A few of the older ones remember her and she starts talking to the ones she has just met in Chinese, plying them with drinks and making sure the escorts give them plenty of attention. She hopes Dante is able to get more out of them than she can....

tag: Any and all

[Marcethus]

Steelfist does what he can to gather information relying on his enhanced senses as well as plying those he speaks to with alchohol and hiring girls to distract them with.

[dakota]

With darkness approaching, Khris slipped out of the camp while all the soldier's were headed to the mess tent party. He sort of envied the others enjoying themselves, but this was more his style. Once in the forest, he summon Khamai and picked the chameleon up to sit on his shoulder." Now donna you start talking to me our anything like that," he smirked, loooking at Khamai before continuing back to the hole. once he found a suitable vantage point, he shrouded himself to hide from anyone approaching, and swapped a deadfall for his Dragunov. Setting the rifle on his lap, he pullled out his phone long enough to text Tiger,

Hope your having fun while I'm out here sitting in the bush. Never mind that drink, a little company is enough

As he sent it, he set the chameleon down, and split his time between watching the hole and Khamai.

[Dome]

Dante walks through the entertainment tent, He doesn't drink much and he tries to read a few of the men, but with their thoughts coming back to him in Chinese, he limits using his telepathy to those few that speak English.

[shiivster]

*Jeckle catches a fast power nap of 30 minutes and seems ready to continue working. once its dark she proceeds to do the same tests she had started with on Strongbow's Dove. she takes a reading of her ring .. and of anyone else's ring .. checking for various radiations and energy readings. hoping that maybe by doing that she can narrow down who else might have a ring.

[albatross]

Steelfist is able to hear dozens of conversations around him, and easily picks up several pieces of information, most of it in Chinese....

"...intel says they was a fight last night." "ssh..."
"...Heard a few guys didn't make it back to their tents last night." "Sure, but they wandered in eventually, the commander has been taking roll more regularly since Tiger arrived. You would know if someone was missing."
"...The anti-aircraft team picked up something low last night, but it could have been a bird..."

Tiger is telling stories. One in three is completely made up, but all a elaborate tales where something strange happened, something unnatural. She is clearly trying to get someone to share similar stories. Most of the troops don't have anything she is looking for...

Dante is a bit more limited, most of those who speak english are officers or in the intel team and they are decidedly less drunk than the rest. Still he is able to pick up lots of unguarded thoughts. Most of them are focused on the girls, but a few deal with other topics... More than one them believe Tiger's mission will require their assistance and they are looking for an opportunity to aid her. One of those who never met her before thinks she is an agent from the government sent to audit the unit. There are also some concerns that spies have infiltrated the escorts...

Kris doesn't sense anything bigger than songbirds and bats.

Jeckle gets lots of measurements, but the other readings are barely ambient - the creatures are apparently very difficult to detect, whether summoned or in ring form.

[dakota]

Khris, being used to long quiet vigils when on assignment, let time pass by. But the more he did, the more he found he was focusing on Khamai than he was on the hole he was supposed to be watching. Not that his powers or sensors would let someone slip by him easily.

[Marcethus]

Steelfist recording what he hears with his sharp hearing and makes notes of who said what for later. Continuing his rounds.

[Dome]

Dante tries to see if he can pick up images from the men around him, since he doesn't understand everything he is getting. He tries this technique not on the enlisted men, but the officers as he thinks they will have more knowledge on things.

[shiivster]

Jeckle tries to do readings on herself with Kirin in ring form .. and then again when he's with her .. doing a full battery of tests .. in case she can pick up the faint aura/energy of these creatures to be picked up in a scan.

So far she's not getting much in the line of results, but SOME result is better than none.

[albatross]

Dante is able to pick up mental images of the site of the fight between the dragon and the snake. Apparently one of the intel guy's was aware of the skimish, but there is a tight lid on the information for now. Still, the man turns over the few details - scorched earth, bullet casings - in his mind trying to piece it all together. The man would like to ask Tiger about this but he is reluctant to do so.

One of the other officer's has a mental image of one of the escorts holding a very large bald eagle. Its a strange image, since the officer and the escort wouldn't have met until this week and the island wouldn't be where one would expect a north american bird to be.

[shiivster]

*Jeckle sets the detection tools aside and sighs as she starts to dismantle the tools she hade and used. the recordings are stored in her head and on a PDA for now. she says nothing more but she's a little irked about the lack of readings. all her scans revealed nothing. in a last bid effort she uses her glasses as she looks a Kirin. flipping thru the various fields she tries to pick him up. infrared, UV and the other various and then takes them off and makes her last notations and sits to ponder this out a little more. she sends him away to ring form again and goes to sit in the sunshine.

*she closes the eyes and sleep finally comes to her as she struggles to find the answer on how to spot another ring wearer. she drifts on the sleep she's earned but still the question haunts her dreams.