Ch 4. Landfall

[Tori]

"Six, one confirmed sentient in building, speaks american, species unknown." Tori mumbled into her mic. "I'll try again. I say if we ain't gettin' him to open up, we bypass. Though if he's with the enemy, he could sound a warnin'. Yer orders, Six? Over."

This time, she spoke up, and with a little more desperation as she rapped the door with her rifle again. "Please neighbor, we're lost and only need directions. We ain't from no village round here and we don't know where we're going. Socrates, no!" she said, knowing that a dog was less scary than a dog boy. She moved back from the door, in case the occupant started shooting through the portal. Then she pulled out a piece of her jerky and tossed it beneath the door. If only the dumb mutt knew his two worst nightmares, giant cats, were just outside the door.

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
MA roll for occupant to trust [dice=100] 45 needed

Prowl: [dice=100] 60 needed +10 due to 3D Cammo suit (total 54)
Camouflage: active thanks to Janxi[rand=6681537010206192393611356028228491424898326020077364775944195774]

[sasqaricious]

"OK Shep. Will do!" Autumn responds to the doctor.

[Janxi]

Stifling another giggle, Janxi watched Tori throw out the meat. Unevolved dogs always thought with their stomachs, though seeing the meat made the big cat hungry, too. She stayed ready with her massive juicer claw, in case the situation called for a shredding. "Six," she muttered into her mic with a very low purr, just loud enough for the radio. "I can get us in purty quick, if ya need me to."

She took care to listen at the wall, to get a read on everyone inside and their location in the structure.

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, especially location of all sources of footsteps
identify sounds [dice=100] 72 needed especially race of speaker inside and others, from footsteps
Prowl [dice=100] 50 needed[rand=2391297964567947740974828734929564083534228960516546784541705891]

[dakota]

The sniffing at the door stopped with a heavy slurp, then was followed by a single woof socrates knew was a challenge, a sort of who's there bark.

The voice replied to Tori. " You all ain't barbarians talking like that. Which are you, dumbass city slickers tryin to hunt dinos or treasure hunters thinking there's anything of value in this godfersakin swamp?"

Anyone with advanced hearing can hear the distinctive 'chk chk' of a pump action slide


Sam and Richardson, what are you doing?
[Autumn needs a perc check]

[Tori]

"Six? Target is still resistin'. I got no read of magics or psychics in there. Still one humanoid, and a real smelly mutt. Do you got some orders for us?" Tori grumbled into the mic at a volume just loud enough to be heard in her helmet. The man had worn her patience thin when she heard him rack the shotgun. A shotgun would do nothing to her and her armor, but one of those Triax guns could suck.

"Looky here, pardner," Tori said in her native accent. "I ain't no city slicker huntin' treasure or lookin' for a dino head to mount up on my wall. I'm here to kill me some slavers and to lib-rate some friends of mine they got. Ya don't wanna help me out, that's fine, but I hope them sons of bitches ain't got none of your friends or your kin or done you wrong. I just wanna know what we're goin' up against in this here swamp."

She took a breath and paused to let the words sink in. "I think yew got a purty damn good idea who we are, and ya know if we wanted to come on in and take whatever the hell we foxin' wanted we could. But we ain't doin' that. Yew ain't our orders. And we ain't no barbarians! We're just lookin' for some intel, then yew and yer hound-dog can go on ridin' the storm out. I might even have a spare e-clip or some chow for ya. Now put down that scatter-gun before ya make us all nervous-like. Yew start shootin' and we're all liable to go up like roman candles on the Emperor's Birfday." She did her best to gain the man's trust with her down-home attitude. Country folk were all part of the same tribe.

At the same time, she listened at the wall to get a better idea how many were inside, and what species might be within. If ordered, she could punch the wall, get in, and take them all down. Not that she wanted to, particularly.

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
MA roll for occupant to trust [dice=100] 45 needed

Prowl: [dice=100] 60 needed +10 due to 3D Cammo suit (total 54)
Camouflage: active thanks to Janxi

[rand=8254945227293995592092937009132938013956730848455628240501662184]

[Mierin]

Sam is quiet as she listens to Tori and, after a few seconds of careful consideration, says "Proceed with caution. While I want to see if we can get answers, it's not worth anyone getting hurt over. We'll be here to back you up."

[sasqaricious]

Perception - [dice=20]

The good doctor stays as silent as possible.

[rand=15374263106884867868112853502094632110839271876424503152211608164]

[dakota]

" Truer words were never spoken." Said the old man inside the cabin as the door edged open against the storm, and the first thing Tori saw was the pump barrel of a C-14's grenade launcher. " Show yerselves real quick if you think yer getting in without goin' through me."

He was holding the hound by the collar, while it snarled and went on, defending it's home as well.

While she doesn't see anything unusual, Shep beside Autumn sat down on a deadfall. " Doc, your pain pills aren't cutting it. Got anything stronger?"

[Tori]

Tori stepped up, still holding her rifle, but not pointing it at the man or anyone else. "Now that's bein' sensible, old-timer." She looked at him holding the rifle, and smiled beneath her helmet. Without the faceplate, it may have resembled a snarl.

"That's a right nice rifle you got there. I think you know that grenade ain't gonna arm til it's traveled 20 feet. The fuse counts rotations. If it didn't, and ya pointblanked us, you'd cook yerself, too. The laser though, that's gonna hurt. Then my railgunner out in the swamp is gonna open up, and before we know it, we got ourselves a foxin' fight. So let's act like we all got some sense and try talkin instead of shootin'."

She took a non-threatening step back from the man and dog, before she tossed the dog another bit of jerky. All this meat was making her a little hungry. "Alls we wanna know is if ya seen any other C-Sog teams round here. If ya seen any slavers or anyone else with a buncha human prisoners. Who's gottem, how many there is, where they are, and what kinda magic or firepower they're sportin'. Also, where's the dinosaurs, and how can we avoid 'em?"

[sasqaricious]

Autumn lowers her voice considerably, "I told you that I needed to check this out. Pain pills might not be the answer after all. But here you go." With that Autumn reaches into her bag and grabs something stronger. (I do not have my books with me in town, but I know there is something for stuff like this that will not impair him) She pulls out the needle and quickly attempts to dose him.

[Janxi]

"Good job, T," Janxi thought. Her small partner commanded the man's attention. If the situation escalated, Janxi could shred the man while he focused on Tori. The fishing cat made a few good arguments, and could probably end the stand off with a new friend. Good kitty.

She waited on the other side of the doorway from Tori, watching the scene unfold, and keeping her FWS ready. She didn't point the p-beam at the man, just because he was in range for a pounce-and-rip. Dead men couldn't provide intel. Janxi hoped the drama would play out soon because she was ready to fight, either the old man or the enemy.

[Dome]

Richardson stays low and out of site well back from Tori, but with the big rail gun leveled at the house. He stays quiet listening to Tori communicate with Sam and to Tori's side of the conversation through her comms.

[dakota]

" Yeah, well,: Shep started to reply, not realizing he was on the open squad channel" It wasn't like this before. Nosebleed is back, running down I can taste it."

The hound broke from his owner, and wheeled past the cats. It instead rounded the house after Socrates, where the now soaked dog stood looking at him and woofing a curious challenge with his head tilting slightly.


The older man watched the dog go, then turned his attention back to Tori. He lowered his rifle. : Finne, you wanna talk, get in outta this blow. Be sure to wipe your feet so you don't track raptor crap in. Place is crawling with the crafty lizards."

[Janxi]

The big cat heard Shep's voice on the com and sighed loudly, shaking her head. Shep flammed the team and Six. She wanted to kill him for it. "'Fraid I didn't copy Shep. Storm musta garbled it. Why don't y'all come on in where it's dry, and repeat that transmission verbal."

Janxi loomed out of the gloom, retracting her vibro-claws. She nodded to the old man and watched his hound make a break for Socrates. "First time I ever seen a dawg ignore two cats for another dawg... You reckon, Tori, she's a female and got a crush on ol' Soc? Could be love is in the air!

"Howdy Pops, I'm Cpl. Janxi, Coalition Marines, and this here's SO-3 Tori you been chattin' with. Thank ya kindly for lettin' us come in." Dutifully, she scraped mud from her boots and looked the man up and down, searching his arms and clothing for tattoos and other insignia from being in the service.

She pulled off her helmet once under the roof, and looked at the man with green eyes that glittered with lightning out of her dark face. "Ya got any milk?"

[Renekin Skywalker]

Against his better judgement, Socates lifted up his faceplate. "Hello." He said to his lesser cousin. "Is this a safe haven?"