Evergreen Mills
Mar. 11th, 2013 09:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
The door opens on the interior of the remains of an ancient office building. Most of the walls and parts of the floor are missing, allowing for a fine view of the rubble covering the ground two stories down, but there's just enough exterior wall remaining to provide some cover. Ellen has taken the liberty of hanging a portable chalkboard on that wall; it's got a painstakingly hand-drawn map on it. "This is where we're headed," she says. "We're a little ways north of the canyon; from this floor or what little there is of the next floor up, we have line of sight as far as this bend, here. Note the catwalks on either side of the canyon walls. They're there because the canyon has a railroad track from before the War running down the middle and the raiders who occupy the place have planted land mines on either side. The raiders patrol the catwalks on a regular schedule."
"About here, just before the canyon takes its turn and we lose line of sight, there's a tripwire connected to even more explosives. It's not a very sophisticated mechanism and it could be disarmed without too much trouble if it weren't in plain sight of every raider who could hold a gun. There's another tripwire after it, but since the canyon takes a turn at that point, anyone trying to disarm that one won't have covering fire unless they brought a buddy along."
"Over here is where the minefield stops. The railroad track splits at this point and the canyon widens out. Tracks go off to the left; that area's got a couple of tin-roofed open-air equipment shacks and a lot of old railroad cargo cars. Plenty of cover for the raiders, not to mention most of the railroad cars have some means of climbing up on top for a vantage point. The canyon wall on this side is too steep for them to scale, and there don't seem to be any openings or outcroppings, so there's that, at least."
"To the right the catwalk terminates in a tin-walled guardhouse. That tends to have one or two people in it or in front of it, probably because it overlooks the slave pens, here. I counted five or six slaves when I got in but wasn't able to make contact with any of them. There's a supply shack at ground level past the slave pens and then about five or ten yards of space before the canyon wall."
"This round object here, on your left as you pass the slave pens and supply shack, is the Behemoth's pen. The walls are a good twenty-five feet high and electrified. There's a generator just next to it that looks like the raiders could switch it off pretty easily if they needed to let the thing loose. The mutant itself is eighteen feet tall and doesn't seem to be armed, but there are motorcycles and substantial chunks of metal lying around the area that it would be perfectly capable of picking up and wielding or throwing. I've fought a few of these things before. They've got hides as thick as armor and pain tends to just make them mad. Slowing them down pretty much requires doing enough damage to physically cripple one or both legs, and even then they've got enough rage to them to keep trying to come after you just for spite. The neck in particular is ridiculously thick and tough. Wonder Woman had a hard time snapping the spine of the one we fought in the Capitol building's rotunda."
"To the right of the pen is the main factory, which has wire fencing and sandbags out front. It's built with its back up against the canyon wall. Given that this is the same rock formation that Vault 112 and Vault 87 were built into, and that Lamplight Caverns aren't too far away, I'd be really surprised if there weren't significant underground areas of the place. There are two other outlying buildings past that, further down the canyon. They're smaller and don't look like there's more than one floor to them. I wish I could give you more information than that but I wasn't able to get past the Behemoth pen without it roaring because it could smell me."
"As for the raiders themselves, there's a pretty fair number of them. I don't have an exact count. Most of them are armed with 5.56 millimeter assault rifles and twelve-gauge shotguns. A few of them are carrying disintegrator rifles of alien design- they're all but guaranteed to take apart a man-sized target on the first or second hit. The disintegrators are silver and shiny and fire blobs of energy, so they're pretty easy to recognize. I'm trying to get the slaves out of here and get those disintegrator rifles out of these people's hands before they become a threat to the rest of the Wasteland... anyway, I think that's probably about it. Any questions?"
"About here, just before the canyon takes its turn and we lose line of sight, there's a tripwire connected to even more explosives. It's not a very sophisticated mechanism and it could be disarmed without too much trouble if it weren't in plain sight of every raider who could hold a gun. There's another tripwire after it, but since the canyon takes a turn at that point, anyone trying to disarm that one won't have covering fire unless they brought a buddy along."
"Over here is where the minefield stops. The railroad track splits at this point and the canyon widens out. Tracks go off to the left; that area's got a couple of tin-roofed open-air equipment shacks and a lot of old railroad cargo cars. Plenty of cover for the raiders, not to mention most of the railroad cars have some means of climbing up on top for a vantage point. The canyon wall on this side is too steep for them to scale, and there don't seem to be any openings or outcroppings, so there's that, at least."
"To the right the catwalk terminates in a tin-walled guardhouse. That tends to have one or two people in it or in front of it, probably because it overlooks the slave pens, here. I counted five or six slaves when I got in but wasn't able to make contact with any of them. There's a supply shack at ground level past the slave pens and then about five or ten yards of space before the canyon wall."
"This round object here, on your left as you pass the slave pens and supply shack, is the Behemoth's pen. The walls are a good twenty-five feet high and electrified. There's a generator just next to it that looks like the raiders could switch it off pretty easily if they needed to let the thing loose. The mutant itself is eighteen feet tall and doesn't seem to be armed, but there are motorcycles and substantial chunks of metal lying around the area that it would be perfectly capable of picking up and wielding or throwing. I've fought a few of these things before. They've got hides as thick as armor and pain tends to just make them mad. Slowing them down pretty much requires doing enough damage to physically cripple one or both legs, and even then they've got enough rage to them to keep trying to come after you just for spite. The neck in particular is ridiculously thick and tough. Wonder Woman had a hard time snapping the spine of the one we fought in the Capitol building's rotunda."
"To the right of the pen is the main factory, which has wire fencing and sandbags out front. It's built with its back up against the canyon wall. Given that this is the same rock formation that Vault 112 and Vault 87 were built into, and that Lamplight Caverns aren't too far away, I'd be really surprised if there weren't significant underground areas of the place. There are two other outlying buildings past that, further down the canyon. They're smaller and don't look like there's more than one floor to them. I wish I could give you more information than that but I wasn't able to get past the Behemoth pen without it roaring because it could smell me."
"As for the raiders themselves, there's a pretty fair number of them. I don't have an exact count. Most of them are armed with 5.56 millimeter assault rifles and twelve-gauge shotguns. A few of them are carrying disintegrator rifles of alien design- they're all but guaranteed to take apart a man-sized target on the first or second hit. The disintegrators are silver and shiny and fire blobs of energy, so they're pretty easy to recognize. I'm trying to get the slaves out of here and get those disintegrator rifles out of these people's hands before they become a threat to the rest of the Wasteland... anyway, I think that's probably about it. Any questions?"
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-16 02:30 pm (UTC)It does not understand what just happened, but it does understand that it's in a bad position. It flings the wreck of the motorcycle in Thor's direction with all the force it can muster, just as Invincible's punches send it staggering. The Behemoth braces its feet in a low crouch, readying for the best charge or leap that its limited space options can allow.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-16 08:28 pm (UTC)So: structural damage, Ellen said.
Thor whips Mjölnir around by its strap once, twice, dropping to a low half-kneeling crouch, and then flings himself hammer-first through the motorcycle wreckage and towards the nearest green knee.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-16 09:06 pm (UTC)Meanwhile, Invincible moves in, hammering at the grimacing, snarling, caricature of a human's face. He's not skilled enough to pick a point and work relentlessly, like some Caped Crusaders, but the face itself is a suitable target for the novice hero, and he drives in and lands blow after blow, aiming to flatten the nose and shatter the cheeks.
The motion of Thor rushing in catches his attention briefly, and he tries to time the impact of his next punch. Invincible is fast, but he's not used to teaming up with another in a fistfight, so the left-handed hook that he uncorks into the behemoth is a second or two behind Thor's blow to the knee. But it blurs with speed and the impact is jawbreakingly hard.
If Voodoo is watching, he might find that left hook a bit familiar. But that's unlikely; after all, he has his own dance partners at this shindig.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 02:34 am (UTC)... well, he won't be the only one with a good thumping in the ribs coming to him. Nobody can miss the sound of Oliver here bellowing like that, no matter what chems they're on. There's a green-haired raider outside the enclosure with a missile launcher, and he's aiming for the most obvious target- the one in yellow and blue.
Think fast, boys.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 03:48 am (UTC)Which means that the Behemoth's knee is now in substantially, and visibly, worse shape. But it also means that Thor is going flying backwards.
The enclosure is small enough that he doesn't have time to fling his hammer round and catch himself before he hits the wall, either. Good thing enormous jolts of electricity don't bother him! And, uh, here's hoping the wall is sturdier than it looks.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 04:00 am (UTC)Invincible frowns as he extracts himself from the side of the building. "Ow," he remarks, mildly. "That stung." He is, generally, unhurt, but his uniform has been blackened and is a bit torn. One goggle has been cracked, but Art the Tailor makes good clothes, and nothing's shattered yet. Pulling himself to his feet, he looks back across the yard at the behemoth pen. That explosion went off right under the beast's nose; it can't be happy about that.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 04:04 am (UTC)It's pretty sure it saw something moving in the direction of the place where the wall doesn't exist any more. That should work.
With a scream of wrath and utter blood rage, it charges towards the hole in the enclosure walls, electricity and badly damaged leg be damned.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 04:42 am (UTC)Which, of course, just makes things more exciting.
Unfortunately, the wall was not. Between the Thor-shaped hole and the Invincible-shaped one, there's now plenty of room for the Behemoth to get out. And it's not just the physical structure; the electrical circuit is broken. Thor can feel the gap in front of him, the background fizzing gone from that space.
Well. Electricity clearly harms it, or it wouldn't be caged by a net of it.
Thor pushes himself back to his feet, with an anticipatory slice of a grin. (He doesn't know how much family resemblance there is in this moment.) Instead of dodging aside or charging in again, he stands his ground, and thrusts Mjölnir to the sky.
Black clouds billow, spiraling out of nowhere into a looming thunderhead that covers most of the camp, and a wind rises to lash at hair and clothing. Lightning stabs down to hit Thor's hammer -- and, though spare electricity crackles along his arms, most of that white lance bounces right back out to hit the charging Behemoth.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 04:50 am (UTC)After a second, he shakes his head and looks back at the behemoth. Time to put this thing down.
There is a blue-and-yellow blur as Invincible charges across the canyon and drives both fists into the monster's sternum, somewhere in the general location of the solar plexus. If its breastbone doesn't break on impact, the behemoth will certainly have trouble breathing.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 05:02 am (UTC)KRAKA-THOOOM!!
There's an overpowering stench of ozone and burning, too, but that wasn't going to show up on the comic page anyway. No matter how hard we tried.
Speaking of trying hard, since the Behemoth at this point is fueled pretty much by nothing but pure hatred, it actually tried to get up after the lightning sent it sprawling. And then Invincible happened.
The trouble with being struck in the chest by a high-speed half-Viltrumite is that the damage it does to your rib cage renders you physically incapable of making a proper roar of rage as you go down. Well. That and the going down itself, of course. That's never fun at all.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 05:25 am (UTC)He's mildly impressed that there are still things to have in hand, after the amount of damage it's taken. Either its healing or its stubbornness are pretty credible.
If it's still moving when he gets there it's gonna get a hammer to the face, though.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 04:38 pm (UTC)"Somebody shot me with a rocket," he notes, looking around. "I kinda want to have words with them."
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 05:11 pm (UTC)Well, there are worse deaths.
(As the green-haired individual frantically scrambling to reload his rocket launcher some distance away is probably thinking just now.)
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 07:29 pm (UTC)Fighting humans seems kind of unsporting as a general rule, when they're so fragile, but you make yourself an exception when you go around shooting people with rockets like that.
"Then we shall see if any of our companions need aid."
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 08:23 pm (UTC)Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-17 09:28 pm (UTC)Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-18 05:06 am (UTC)And the raider's aim isn't very good anyway. And if it hit Invincible that hard, this missile shouldn't be allowed to hit any innocent targets.
So.
"Leave the rocket to me!" Thor calls, and tosses himself skyward.
Batting it hard enough should either destroy the thing, or at least knock it over into a distant uninhabited-looking hillside. And Thor's good at this kind of interception.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-18 11:18 am (UTC)The blur of blue and yellow crosses the canyon in almost no time, and Invincible doesn't even pause to say something witty before he punches the slaver in the face. It's honestly hard to say what kills the poor fool; the broken neck from the punch or the impact with the side of one of the metal buildings as his body pinwheels away. Either way, any regrets that he may or may not have had about his life choices are now irrelevant. This is an ex-slaver.
Invincible shakes the blood off his fingers as he scans the rest of the melee. Time to clean up. He looks to see if there are any massed groups that are putting up any resistance. There's plenty of large, metal objects around here, some of which aren't fission-powered. Let's see how they like having a building thrown at them.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-18 12:39 pm (UTC)As for the remaining raiders, most of them are falling back to the main factory. Suddenly, being surrounded by stone walls seems like a good idea.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-19 03:13 pm (UTC)Sure, they could kill a bunch of them, but they're helpfully grouping themselves for greater efficiency anyway.
"Let us seek their destination," he says. "We may rejoin our comrades there as well."
Odds seem pretty good.
Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-19 05:42 pm (UTC)Re: In From Above
Date: 2013-03-21 08:55 pm (UTC)