Ch 3 The river flows to the ocean

[Mierin]

Sam's eyes widen in alarm and she all but runs to where Shep is in order to wake him up so that he knows they need to keep silent. She gently nudges him to wake him up, but so that she doesn't startle him which would cause more of a ruckus. Sam is ready to clap her hand over Shep's mouth if he tries to make a sound and hisses into his ear as quietly as she can, "Be quiet! We are approaching what appears to be some kind of a vessel with magical capabilities and need to try to pass it without being detected."

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates looked over. So much for hoping for progress. He thought, as Shep slept noisily.

[Dome]

Richardson he nods at Tori's movements, he knows she like Autumn is trying to calm him. He almost laughs when he hears Shep snoring though. He will have to explain himself to Sam when they have time. Based on what she could see, she probably thought they were flirting or something.

Without planning his breathing starts to match Tori's, meanwhile he keeps looking at Autumn.

[dakota]

Shep's eyes opened to look at Sam as her hand covered his mouth. They went wide at her explanation. He gave her a slight nod before sitting up. He pointed up and mouthed What is it?

[Renekin Skywalker]

<it's a boat, with a lot of evil and significant magical power> Socrates signalled back. <We are running silent to avoid detection.>

[Janxi]

Janxi wondered how so many claustrophobes and guys who were less at ease in the air than B.A. Barakus could end up in special forces. The disaster was averted for now, at least. She stayed quiet and wondered about the ship on the surface. Tori seemed to be studying the enemy. It would be interesting to see what they were up against as soon as they were cleared to speak again.

She looked at Tori, nuzzed up with the human and shot her a playful wink.

[Tori]

Even with a helmet on, Tori recognized Janxi's snarky look. She wanted to ask just what the fox the big cat thought was so funny, but they didn't have the all clear yet. Tori narrowed her eyes and licked her nose. A sure sign a cat was less than pleased. She stayed still, at least for now, to keep Richardson soothed. Her purr became audible to a being as close as Autumn, but no louder than that. A warm feline was a calming influence to all. She reached into one of her LBG's pouches and produced her nip, taking a quick snuff.

[Mierin]

Sam removes her hand from Shep's mouth and silently says to Shep. 'Boat. High Magic. Evil. Not sure who.'

[dakota]

Shep , looking slightly ill, slid out of the bunk. " Sounds like Horune. If they spot us, call in an airstrike. Should anyways." He slid his helmet under his arm.

The three Lone Star experiments could tell they were passed the ship, and slowly putting some distance between. Then the vessel stopped.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates instively made a "Everyone stops what they are doing and stays completely still or we all die" signal. The kind that cannot be misinterpreted. By the looks on his eyes, he wasn't screwing around.

[Tori]

(Clarification please- we stopped or the Horune stopped? I'm working off the assumption WE stopped.)

Tori thought Socrates may be overreacting, as the ship had been left behind. She felt it pass. Still, something was wrong. The sub had no reason to stop. Without moving from her position as Richardson's security blanket, she looked up at the boat's captain with her amber coloured eyes for an explanation.

Next, she referred back to her senses for anything she missed. She listened, smelled, watched and felt the world around her.

Sense magic/psychic energy[dice=100] 30 needed
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100] 54 needed
Judge distance/location of source of any unusual sound [dice=100] 80 needed
Identify any target or prey by sound [dice=100] 72 needed, -20 for mechanical sound
Wait for sixth sense to trigger.

A firefight in the sub would be fatal for all within. If anything rifted inside, the team would have to use melee weapons. Tori was well supplied, as was her partner. If something was outside, the sub would either have to engage, or the cats would go out and get it.

Stopping the sub for an enemy made little sense. Diving and throttling up was the only thing to do if torpedoed or depth charged.

She heard of the Horune, but knew little about them. Again, her mind told her of no immediate danger. Maybe the boat broke. Still, it made sense to be silent and ready. She gave Shep a nod. A few Dagger squadrons would put them out of business. Either that or a Tomahawk strike from an 01 or 07 class boat would make its day.


(If it was the surface ship that halted and not us)

The airstrike was a good idea, but the sub would either have to deploy a com buoy or rise to periscope depth to use an aerial for the radio. Tori had an idea, but it would be dangerous. They would need to put some distance between them and the Horune to call the strike. The storm would make air ops difficult.

Daggers could fly over the storm, and drop LGB's virtually undetected. The little sub's periscope could laze the target. They needed to call in the strike first.[rand=101260608971551876468097131802856226393139796195698915091691503143]

[Janxi]

With Tori busy keeping things calm, Jan looked at the sonar screen. She studied the ship hard to see what she could make of it, and what it was about to do. Being a passenger sucked. Jungles and swamps were her thing, not waiting around while someone else drove the bus.

sensors [dice=100] 35 base

She used her natural senses too, just in case. She trusted them a lot more than some Kraut's sonar.

Sense magic/psychic energy [dice=100] 30 needed
Sense supernatural beings [dice=100] 54 needed
Judge distance/location of source of any unusual sound [dice=100] 80 needed
Identify any target or prey by sound [dice=100] 72 needed, -20 for mechanical sound
Waiting for sixth sense to trigger, just because we might be about to die.

[rand=26640670735019685233986395264445432662855167789465578348739085766]

[dakota]

May 10, 2010 10:22:40 GMT -5 Tori said:

(Clarification please- we stopped or the Horune stopped? I'm working off the assumption WE stopped.)

.

(no, the other vessel did. The sub is still moving)

[Renekin Skywalker]

<The other ship has stopped moving> Socrates signalled. <It may have detected us.>

He as quiet... his breathing was almost imperceptible. Years of hunting hunters taught him how to wait motionless until he prey gave itself away. He continued to listen to his psychic senses.

[Tori]

It didn't bother Tori that the sub had been pinpointed. If they had, the surface contact would be turning towards them, and still underway. It bothered her that they could have heard something, and stopped for a quiet listen. If the ship had a towed array, it would be offline with no pull through the water. If they were relying on passive, they could go active any minute. The best place for the sub would be behind the ship's stern, but she trusted the captain to know that. Hopefully, he would put as much distance between them and the surface contact as possible, rise to periscope depth, and take Shep's advice.

She continued to reach out with her senses, but followed Janxi's lead for a glance at the waterfall display. She looked for any torpedoes, though again, a torp worked a little better underway, to have some inertia on launch. Something like an ASROC was of greater concern now.

Read sensors [dice=100] need a 40

She continued purring, and her rhythmic breathing, but Richardson might notice her ears swiveling a bit more actively than before. Perhaps they tickled his chin a bit. Clearly, the fishing cat was searching for danger.[rand=8206989471592807395412369377222469399135699865337286160512630229]