Ch 4. Landfall

[Renekin Skywalker]

"Not so much chatter, please." Socrates says on the radio. "It's hard enough to hear anything right now. And its triangulation is the one detection we're vulnerable to in this storm."

[Dome]

Richardson tells the doctor, "as we march you keep one eye on the person in front of you. Orders to move or hold will come from point. I'll be right behind you covering your back."

As they walk Richardson keeps his eyes open making sure they don't have anyone coming from behind.

[dice=20] Perception[rand=119659370180728780278447367321557153450994849426867651180791263]

[Tori]

Tori continued her stalk. With the cammo of her armor, the 3D camouflage suit, and Janxi's efforts, she was all but invisible to even moderately trained eyes.

Socrates wasn't exactly a cat in silent stalk. So far, his eyes were open, and he missed nothing. She wondered how much he relied on his natural abilities and how much on training. Surely, some officer somewhere must have compared natural senses to elite training.

Then social hour broke out on the radio. She realized Shep couldn't gesture for a corpsman, and Autumn would know what it meant. But then Autumn responded, on an open frequency, offering to sneak pills. Then Capt. Sam, and then even Socrates, the veteran.

Of course, Soc was right, everyone should STFU and about the triangulation. Even if the enemy couldn't decode the scrambler-and with so much war surplus on the market, they might be able to it- they could triangulate the source of the team's signal with little more than three radios. Sounding military on the comms, that could be a big tipoff for the enemy. She thought of a single click on the mic, but that would mean more RF to track. Instead, she raised her fist over her shoulder, meaning "shut up!" This was more unprofessionalism.

If XO wanted an aspirin, he could stash in his LBG, or he could wait until Six called halt. Breaking radio silence could be dangerous. Then opening the party line, well. She shouldn't have expected less. Instead, she doubled her efforts to detect the approach of any enemy, despite the wind and rain. And be quieter than quiet. If Janxi saw something she missed, the big cat would make herself perfectly clear, without a word spoken.

Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100]needs 30
Sense supernatural [dice=100]needs 54
Locate sound [dice=100]80 needed
Identify sound [dice=100]72 needed

Skills:
Detect ambush [dice=100]45 needed
Detect concealment [dice=100]35 needed
Detect mines/traps [dice=100]35 needed

Prowl: [dice=100] 60 needed +10 due to 3D Cammo suit
Camouflage: active thanks to Janxi[rand=98163541617757075732856309154406378254462842074652517774663272738]

[dakota]

If anyone was listening, they were in no hurry to join the party. Perhaps the 90+mph wind gusts and deluge of rain had something to do with it. But despite the storm, Shep let the others get ahead of him as he pulled off his helmet long enough to take the pain med. If anyone was watching, he also took the time to blow his nose and then wipe something from his ear before stowing the meds, replacing his helmet and getting back in position.

Somewheres up ahead, both Tori and Socrates could see something. When the plantlife lined up just the right way, they could see a distant light flicker through the undergrowth.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates gave the "hold" signal, effectively saying <I have seen somethingvsuspicious up ahead.>

He looks over at Tori. "Look but don't touch. I will be in sniper range."

With that, he gave the signal to the group to wait, but stay on alert, this possibly being a trap.

[Tori]

Tori acknowledged the signal with a nod. She then turned to her partner Janxi and signaled for her to cover her as she advanced to investigate.

The fishing cat made the most of her small size, speed and natural cover available in the area. Stalking was her thing. She advanced past Socrates, to get a closer look at the source of the light. Even with the high gusts and wall of sustained winds, Tori worked to stay downwind from the target, in case it had a sniffer like Soc's. She cradled her rifle at the ready for unexpected close encounters. When close, she did her best to study the target. A crunch of a stick was loud beneath her foot, but she hoped the storm noise, rain and her cammo would not trip anyone off to her presence just yet.

Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100]needs 30
Sense supernatural [dice=100]needs 54
Locate sound [dice=100]80 needed
Identify sound [dice=100]72 needed

Skills:
Detect ambush [dice=100]45 needed
Detect concealment [dice=100]35 needed
Detect mines/traps [dice=100]35 needed
Intel [dice=100] 42 needed
Prowl [dice=100] 60 needed +10 from 3d cammo suit
Still camouflaged thanks to Janxi[rand=27010223815170564766155269159145472794496903500179289523897171131]

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates crept closer, bring his rifle out, and getting in range of Tori. Not so much to shoot Tori herself, but anything that would be creeping up on her. He would leave it to Tori to actually see what was there.

Perception: [dice=20][rand=4118567265472731977253917654721463988466800180925056218637091296]

[Janxi]

Janxi prowled forward, covering her friend. She made it a point to step exactly where Tori stepped, and follow her path. A hundred yards behind, she stopped and slipped into some bushes. The big cat opened both lens covers on the scope mounted on her rifle and began to peer through. She looked for anything that could be a danger to Tori, but also studied the light that Tori and Soc had seen.

She deliberately chose a different path and location than Socrates. If needed, they could overlap their fields of fire, or snipe from multiple directions, confusing, and perhaps drawing a counter-sniper out for the other to kill. Sniping without Tori as her spotter was strange. When she had a shot, she was used to the little cat's directions through mental telepathy. The warm body beside her, silent, but tangible purr, and rhythmic breathing calmed her for nearly perfect shots.

From her nest, she watched Tori, and her environment, waiting for trouble if, and when it came.

Search for Tracks [dice=100] 50 needed
Sense psychic and magic [dice=100] 30 needed
Sense supernatural [dice=100] 54 needed
locate sounds [dice=100]80 needed- anything unusual, beyond the storm
identify sounds [dice=100] 72 needed
Prowl [dice=100] 50 needed[rand=5050926736130468791578420481395673594635558570268761408963016546]

[dakota]

As the trio did their thing, all of them realized what it was they were seeing was a light reflecting through a window of some sort. There was a structure hidden amongst the trees. Then something moved past the light for just a moment.

[Tori]

Tori studied the structure closely, trying to get a feel for its size and purpose. She looked for signs of a generator, ventilation, chimneys for a cook stove, entrances and exits, and estimate the number of humanoids it could hold. She tried to determine if it had weapons, firing ports or a garage area to store vehicles. She watched the window, to determine if the target was inside or out, and tries to identify who or what it might be. With this being a swamp, she doubted much was underground because of the high water table. Still, she studied it's structure, just in case, and if needed, tried to determine the most effective way to blow it up.

Then she opened her mind to Six, with telepathy. "Six, we have a concealed structure, appears to be powered an occupied. At least one foot-mobile inside. Unable to identify, and will continue observation. Janxi and Soc have eyes and glass on me and target. Interrogative: Is this our objective?"

Sense psychic and magic energy [dice=100]needs 30
Sense supernatural [dice=100]needs 54
Locate sound [dice=100]80 needed
Identify sound [dice=100]72 needed

Skills:
Detect ambush [dice=100]45 needed
Detect concealment [dice=100]35 needed
Detect mines/traps [dice=100]35 needed
Intel [dice=100] 42 needed
Demolition [dice=100] 75 needed to assess how to destroy structure if ordered
Still camouflaged thanks to Janxi[rand=39205612051806752186592255999602452976439280518566988147794165236]

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates noted the movement, but stayed focused on Tori's safety. Well, everyone's really. It would reflect poorly on him if he wasn't concerned about the whole pack. But, someone sneaking up on Lonely Tori would be more detrimental to someone sneaking up on the team of Shep and Sam +2.

Socrates waited for Tori to report the situation. His radioing would change little. Well, except that the humans might want to be warm while the dog and cats kept things safe. They could always commondeer the house, if needed.

Perception: [dice=20][rand=9925816028083055147673469329015495294818971420476316488578631292]

[Mierin]

Sam considers this for a minute before thinking back 'Let's check it out. Continue observation so we can try to determine if it'll help us'

[dakota]

As they watched from the storm, the light went out in the cabin.

[Janxi]

The storm sucked. Wind and rain meant there wasn't anything else to hear or smell. Whomever, or whatever was in the cabin could be an old hermit, a hunter or a dragon. A dark cabin wasn't going to tell them anything else.

She used her own telepathy. "Six, it's Big Pussy," she had a fondness for the name because she was told a famous criminal used the same name. "They shut out the light. All this rain and wind, and we can't hear and smell a damn thing! I think we oughta knock and announce and see who answers. Otherwise, we do an entry, and snatch the occupants. All we're doing now is getting wet."

She repeated a similar message to Tori and waited for something to happen.

[Tori]

Good operators could wait all day, or spend two days stalking 100 yards across a clearing. Tori had time, but didn't know the mission timetable. A rendezvous could be scheduled for two hours from now. She didn't know if this was the objective, an outpost for the force that took another team captive, a criminal or a local who might have valuable intel. In a perfect world, she would wait for him or her to come out of the cabin, for a good look-see.

In a perfect world, they wouldn't be assaulting during a hurricane.

Actions:
Wait and see what happens next, or for an order.