Ellen Park, the Lone Wanderer

Sahaal comes through behind her, fully clad in his warplate and carrying an ammunition crate in one hand. There's a large, ornate firearm mag-locked to his thigh, and the bandolier straps of his jump pack are hung with grenades of all shapes and sizes. With a purr of muscle-cabling, he scans his new surroundings. Not much of note, but after the wars Ellen has described, the Night Lord is just amazed there's anything standing at all.

"Is there anything I shouldn't mention to your comrades? Or any rules of engagement I should know about?"

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Hawkeye enters after Sahaal, dressed in long, khaki pants for freedom of movement and a form-fitting black turtleneck, as well as a brown jacket. She's armed to the teeth, with two pistols holstered at her sides and two others at her back, and a grenade secured at her waist. She's also got extra ammunition magazines scattered about her person.

She listens to Sahaal and then turns to Ellen. "Those are good questions. I'd like to know the answers as well."

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Ellen considers. "The primary rule is not to mention Milliways," she says, "but if anyone asks where you're from it's okay to be vague, or mention a name and just not say what the name actually refers to. Scribe Cancio's my husband, and he knows about the Bar, but the others don't and have their own theories about where offworld help comes from. If it helps at all most of the time they think I'm really good at finding mole people living underground."

"As far as rules of engagement go, try not to kill the crabs in ways that leave the corpses inedible. We've seen no signs of humans or ghouls in the area, but if someone turns up and they're not wearing spikes or leather or weird cages over their heads it's best to avoid attacking them unless they shoot at you first. Spiked armor usually means they're raiders or cannibals or something like that. If it's shaped like a human but it's eight feet tall and green, it's a supermutant and it's going to try to kill you, so you're free to act accordingly, but mirelurks are as hostile towards them as they are towards humans, so no reason to believe we'll see any of them either."

"The four Knights are wearing power armor today, and the three Scribes are wearing armored red robes. The only robots on the premises are Brotherhood of Steel property and should not be shot at or damaged by scattershot or shrapnel, because we've only got so many supplies to repair them, but as long as they're not destroyed we'll manage."

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Sahaal nods. Nothing he can't handle, and no restrictions that'll inhibit his combat effectiveness.

"I'll keep a watch on my words, then. And for any of these local threats."

Raiders won't be a problem. Supermutants could be interesting to fight, but he's not going to go out of his way to kill one. Luckily, shoot on sight doesn't seem like something that anyone would have a problem with here.

"Inedible? You want the corpses for food?"

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Ellen already explained to Hawkeye that she'd like to eat and trade the mirelurk meat, but the Amestrian figures Paladin Park can further explain that to Sahaal. Instead, Hawkeye spends her time sizing up their surroundings, and double-checking her pistols.

She knows she's ready, and she's too seasoned to have pre-combat jitters, but this is a new world with new rules, and different monsters than she's used to fighting. "Hopefully we'll only have to face the mirelurks."

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"As much as reasonably possible, yes," Ellen says to Sahal. "Waste not, want not. This isn't a hunting expedition, though. If a corpse has to be destroyed or lost to achieve our objective then that's how it goes. "

"Unless there are other questions, it's time to meet the others and get this started.'

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"Ah. I understand. No phospex or rad, then."

Slightly sheepishly, he unhooks a quartet of grenades from his harness, tucking them into a belt pouch.

"I don't have any other questions. Lieutenant?"

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Hawkeye's sharp-eyed gaze flicks from Sahaal's grenade pouch to Ellen's face. "I'm ready to go, Paladin Park. I'll follow your lead."

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Ellen nods. "This way."

She reaches over her shoulder for her plasma rifle, a complicated affair with tubes and hoses and glowing green parts, and eases the door open further. Once she's verified there's no threats within visual range she gestures over her shoulder and sets out for Ivan's. Inside, several people are waiting: two women and one man in heavy, armor-reinforced red robes and four helmeted people in power armor slightly more bulky than Ellen's own. One of the armored figures very lightly taps the lighter-haired of the two robed women on the shoulder. "Told you," it says in a radio-staticky voice. "Five caps."

The woman grumbles, and fishes something out of a pouch on her belt. "Here," she says, and then: "So it worked, Paladin?"

"It worked," Ellen confirms.

(OOC: I forgot to ask how your characters would prefer to be introduced. *facepalm*)

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Despite knowing that none of these people are a threat, Sahaal still keeps one hand near his bolter. Just his Eighth Legion paranoia. Given his height, he has to duck as he enters the shop, and the top of his helm knocks the doorframe. Dust falls onto his shoulder guards.

He straightens up, and raises a hand in greeting.

"These would be the assault team?"

(OOC: Something along the lines of 'Captain Sahaal' will be fine, thanks.)

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Hawkeye does not have to duck under the door, but she does anyway, not wanting to mimic First Captain Sahaal's bump of the head. She's tall for a woman, but she's still much shorter than he is.

"Hello," she says to the team, falling into place at Paladin Park's left side.

{ooc: Ellen can introduce her as Riza Hawkeye, leaving off the rank, as she doesn't want questions about her military. Thank you.}

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deadeye_shot - Date: 2018-08-10 05:01 pm (UTC) - Expand

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Once everyone's set and ammo supplies are in order, Ellen gestures to the Knights and one of the robots; the tallest of the Knights nods and heads out, the others in tow. Ellen looks to the pair from Milliways and says, quietly, "All right, let's move out. We're heading up to the rubble nearest the breach and waiting for a flare from Kang to say they're in position. Then it's time to get the crabs' attention and open fire on anything with an exoskeleton."

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"Yes, ma'am," Hawkeye says, deferring to Ellen, as she's clearly the one in command on this mission. The Amestrian keeps up with the group, scanning the perimeter and drawing the first of her pistols.

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There's more open, unsheltered ground between the restaurant and the breach than Ellen would like. If the fortifications had humans behind them, Ellen would be in her stealth suit rather than her power armor, and even then she wouldn't feel comfortable crossing the empty space, let alone bringing people with her.

Good thing mirelurks aren't really known for their distance vision. A little bit of edging along and using what little cover there is- the remains of a vehicle, the tumbledown hulk of an old tree- more or less does the trick.

Up ahead, through the gap in the walls, a human-height blue-grey carapace can be seen moving around in the courtyard.

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Sahaal kneels down behind a rusting delivery truck, careful to keep the oversized thrusters of his jump pack out of sight. Quickly, he peers round the side of the wreck, then turns back to the assault group.

"Visual contact," he says, his voice a vox-muted whisper.

His eyes flick to Ellen and Lieutenant Hawkeye. "Your orders?"

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Hawkeye flicks the safety off of her pistol, and holds it steady. "I can get a clean shot off from here, but I'll position myself wherever you need me to be."

She glances at Ellen out of the corner of her eye, indicating that she should proceed with giving orders to her and Sahaal, not to mention the rest of the group. Paladin Park is clearly in charge here.

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"Set up your shot," Ellen murmurs, "and when Kang sends up his flare-"

In the skies over the far side of the fortification walls, a blip of brightness streaks upward and explodes.

"There it is. Open fire and get these crabs wiped out!"

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Behind his vox-grille, Sahaal's lips twist into an eager grin. Long-range combat might not be his personal preference, but it's still combat. He's been a warrior without a war for far too long.

Pulling his bolter into his hands, he lets the weapon's electronics synchronise with his suit's cogitator. Data spills onto his helm display - ammunition counts, barrel temperature, design specifications.

The moment the targeting reticles pick out individual mirelurks, Sahaal opens fire.

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Hawkeye watches First Captain Sahaal out of the corner of her eye, and targets the mirelurks he's not aiming at. She fires hard and fast, her fingers closing around the triggers of her pistols with alacrity. Now is not the time for restraint. Now is the time to unless unholy fire down upon mutated creatures.

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It is, indeed. Heaven knows there's enough of them.

This place used to be called Fort Independence. It was built with the intention of providing enough space within its walls for men to train and provide significant defenses for the harbor. It would not be especially difficult, under most circumstances, to fit training soldiers, sheltering trees, and a few small farm plots within the center of the walls.

These are not those circumstances. The crab-monsters have been breeding in the area for some time now, in any puddle or pool capable of lasting through the time it takes their egg clutches to incubate, and without human intervention within the walls there's a lot of puddles and pools. Great gray-blue shelled things with beady eyes and snapping claws come swarming out of the gap, their front ends lowered to make their charge faster- and to present a thicker, tougher shell to the human forces' weapons. Hawkeye's most effective shots are the ones to the creatures' heads, where the beasts' natural armor is weakest, but even so it takes multiple rounds to bring one down... as for Sahaal, his bolter fire has a way of opening holes in chitin that would normally take a hell of a grenade impact to make. The smell of burning shell and cooking crab quickly fills the air, although a number of the monsters are scrambling over the fallen wall stones with alarming agility.

Ellen, for her part, is lighting into the creatures as rapidly as she can. Her own training leaned heavily in the direction of sniper rifles, but she's carried a plasma rifle, a laser weapon, or both for longer than she's been with the Brotherhood, and if nothing else she's got a good eye for small weak places. A mirelurk climbing over rubble is a mirelurk with exposed leg joints- for a few seconds, and then it's a mirelurk with severe motion difficulties, which is to say, it's an easy target.

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Sahaal exhausts his first magazine, hits the release catch, and locks home another one. He keeps firing, barely missing a beat.

Every shot is a kill shot. Astartes training, armour systems and centuries of battle experience makes sure of it. But it isn't enough. The mirelurks are like a tide, pouring over the broken walls and flowing out into their fields of fire.

He jerks his head towards the rest of the team. "Should we break out the explosives?"

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The grenade on Hawkeye's hip feels heavy as she listens to Sahaal. She'll wait for confirmation from Paladin Park; for now, Hawkeye is focused on bringing down a rather large blue shell.

She reloads both her pistols again, one and then the other, and then glances up to take out another two targets. "Your call," she says to Ellen, aiming at the heads of the chitinous beasts.

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