John

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The door opens from Milliways onto the tumbletown ruins of what used to be an industrial area on the fringes of Arlington. The temperature is summertime-warm, the air dry; the last rains to pass through here are long since gone. Overhead, a scavenger bird or two circles, visible only to people who know what they're looking for. A breeze listlessly stirs the air, kicking up brief dust-devils along the shattered ruin of the local roads. Beyond that, the place is quiet in the way that only emptiness can bring.

"This is where I came in," Ellen says over her shoulder. "Like I mentioned the other day, it's about a day's travel to the Fort Bannister region from here. There's still some pre-war asphalt laid down here but pretty soon it all gives way to open sand and scrub. The nearest radiation source is a hundred yards northeast of here, and we're not going in that direction, so unless my Geiger counter goes off without warning we should be all right."

Comments

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

We would cheer for the flawless detonation of his skull if Ellen weren't executing the world's noisiest drop and roll to get out of the stream of assault rifle fire. The instant she's as close to safe as she's going to get, she balls up- the better to present a smaller target- and cuts loose with the plasma rifle like nobody's business. Really, between the thunderous racket of bullets and the stream of splattering zap! sounds, you could be excused not hearing the shotgun being fired. Or not seeing the figure in the shadows below, heading for the stairs.

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle finds out all about the shotgun when it hits her in the chest. Thankfully, the armor absorbs most of the force.

In a twist of luck, this causes her to be looking in the right place to see that figure in the shadows.

"I don't think so," she hisses, as she takes aim at the shadowy figure with the rifle.

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Her aim is good, it really is- but when she fires, the figure is already moving. Even that might not be enough to save him under normal circumstances, but there's a shriek of metal grazing against metal. Most of the Talons wear cerasteel and polymer combat armor; this one, apparently, got hold of something else. As he dashes into the light on the staircase his armor becomes evident- metal plates and hoses, all spikes and shielding. He's also one of the first, if not the first, Talon they've seen who's had the sense to wear a helmet.

And he's armed with a missile launcher, which is why he's coming up the stairs; one doesn't fire one of those close to a wall, even if it does happen to be the kind that uses compressed air to to launch the rocket a safe distance away before the propellant ignites. "Taylor!" he shouts without looking at the shotgun Talon. "Ease!"

And as the Talon's jaw drops open (the better to save his eardrums from the imminent change in pressure), he fires on the only enemy he can currently see- Annabelle.

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

It's the surprise that gets Annabelle in trouble, really. The sheer disbelief freezes her in place for just a second too long.

Annabelle is beginning to really hate rocket launchers. For the unInspired, that hesitation would have been fatal.

Thankfully, the new armor is sturdy stuff, and the odds alter just enough to allow her to get mostly out of the way. Even so, she can feel the ribs crack on her left side and the shrapnel draws blood in a few places. The impact itself knocks her off her feet and back into the wall.

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

It would be nice to report that Ellen at this point discovered a hitherto unsuspected gift for profanity, but... well, some people are good at it and some people aren't, and some people can't actually hear themselves very well right now because WHO USES A ROCKET LAUNCHER IN AN ENCLOSED SPACE. COME ON NOW, REALLY. She just squeaks in speechless rage, levels her plasma rifle, and begins firing on the newcomer as fast as her finger will let her. True, the microfusion cell is going to need replacing shortly, but she's banking on the fact that no one really wants to find out whether their spiffy metal armor can really repel a plasma blast or not.

"ANNABELLE!" she yells, as she can't really hear her current volume. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

That's okay, Annabelle is cursing enough for six people.

"I can hear you!" she calls out.

"Try this on for size, you son of a bitch!" she growls. Aiming the rifle at the man's knees.

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

He started backing down the stairs for the reload the instant the first missile was clear- you try to reload from cover where possible, after all. So he was on his way up the steps again when the bullet hit. It doesn't penetrate the armor, but moving up stairs is not the most stable of activities; he goes over backwards... with his finger on the trigger.

If there is anyone left in this room afterwards who is not functionally deaf we will be very surprised. Oh, and look out for the rain of ceiling fragments and dust. It's comin' down in plenty. Just be glad that the War Department built this place to stand up to nuclear assault, or it'd be much, much worse.

(Ellen, once she gets herself flipped over, is going to crawl over to the edge of the stairwell and peer in. It's safer than trying to stand up at the moment.)

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

Yeah, Annabelle's pretty deaf right now. On the other hand, while trying to dodge falling ceiling fragments, one of the Talons with a rifle comes out from behind cover.

This is a fatal mistake. *BLAM*

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

There's a terrible CLANK that no one actually hears as the rocket launcher is thrown aside. The man in the metal armor draws a pistol, shouting something- no one will ever hear what- and starts to fall back into the ground floor shadows.

Ellen may have taken a lump of concrete to the head or something. It's hard to say. But apparently she's decided that that armor of hers has good shock protection built into the legs, because she jumps down after him, and shortly thereafter flashes of green light start blazing up out of that darkness...

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle pegs the last Talon with a rifle in the head, and hauls herself to her feet, hissing in pain.

Annabelle's not going to jump down there, thank you, not with this many broken ribs. She does, however, creep carefully down the stairs to see what's going on.

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

He's fast, if heavy, and armed with a pistol. Ellen's not as fast, and her gun's not as fast, but that armor's holding up under a hail of ten millimeter fire. And both of them are screaming at the top of their lungs as they charge through the rubble firing at one another and taking cover, it's just that nobody can actually hear them. They can still see, though, and the man in the armor catches sight of the new arrival on the scene of combat. His eyes briefly widen at the fact that Annabelle lived.

Ellen, however, has her back to the stairs, and so only notices her enemy's hesitation... PZAP!

And the man not only catches a faceful of plasma, but stiffens, spasms, and explodes in a shower of luminescent green goo. There is a tiny clink of metal hitting the ground somewhere in the pile, but nobody's going to hear it. not today.

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

It's not the first time that Annabelle has surprised an enemy with still being alive. It's no coincidence that all of them ended up dead, either.

"I think he's done for," Annabelle says dryly.

Then she notices the fellow with the shotgun, struggling to free his leg from underneath a piece of concrete.

"Well, what do you know?" she says in a menacingly cheerful tone. "It's the little fish we let go last time, Ellen.

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"WHAT?" Ellen takes off her helmet, wriggles her jaw around, and repeats, "What?"

After Annabelle repeats herself, she shakes her head. "Not a good idea," she says loudly. "You really should have gotten out when you got the chance."

"WHAT?"

This could be a long conversation.

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

Yes, yes it could.

Annabelle just sighs. Annabelle looks at Ellen with an inquiring look and makes the finger cutting across the throat gesture, tilting her head toward the mercenary.

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The man makes a terrified face, and probably squeaks- it's a little hard to say- before babbling. Ellen leans over and sniffs at something- then wrinkles her nose. You don't need to be able to hear to detect some things.

Then again, she just caught a hint of something he was saying. "WHAT?" she calls down to him.

He points towards the goo pile and babbles something again.

"Annabelle, he says that was Commander Jabsco...."

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

"Really?" Annabelle says, with a raised eyebrow. "If he's telling the truth...that's very good news."

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen turns and trudges over to the goop pile, rummaging about in it with one hand. When she stands up her gauntlet is covered in goo, but so are the metal holotags she's managed to extract. She does her best to brush the goop off. It takes a while.... but it results in a thumbs-up.

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle grins at the thumbs up. "Well, that's one thing down, then."

"Now, what do we do with this one, and the rest of them?"

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen looks down at the man, sniffs again, and then says, "You start using these." She holds out several stimpaks. "And I talk to this one. Perhaps he realizes the situation has changed now."

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

"Perhaps," Annabelle says with a smile of thanks as she takes the stimpaks.

She's rather practiced at injecting the things at this point. Things seem quiet, but she's still keeping an eye out for trouble.

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Stimpaks don't heal everything instantly, nice as that would be. But they do close up wounds visibly within moments if the wounds are held closed, and they persuade bones to start knitting themselves very, very quickly. That's not to say that the healing doesn't itch, because Lord Almighty does it ever, but it does get under way.

When Annabelle turns back to Ellen and the mercenary, Ellen's had a bit more time for her ears to recover. "The fight's gone out of him," Ellen reports. "I think if we take all his things, we'll be all right. Finally."

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

It itches horribly, but Annabelle carefully holds still while her bones start to knit.

"Assuming he can get that thing off his leg," Annabelle replies with a nod. "If he can't, it would be kinder to put him out of his misery rather than let him die of dehydration."

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I was assuming we would try to work the concrete off in the process of getting his stuff," Ellen says. "There's not much use for armor without one leg."

Re: Team Delta

[aeons_crackshot]

"True enough," Annabelle replies. "We ought to be able to move it, between the two of us."

Re: Team Delta

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You had better not get stupid now of all times," Ellen says sternly to the man as she moves to get a grip on the concrete. "I'm just saying."

"I won't! I won't! I promise! I'll be good! I'll go north and- and- I'll leave the Wasteland! I promise!"

"Good. Keep that up," Ellen says, and gestures to Annabelle to join in when she feels she can.