Dreams of the Past (inactive)

[Shachza]

Tommaso held his ground initially when people started going by him in to the store.  Cinna's antics only brought a questioning glance, but Wraith's response made Tommaso step back and gape.  He had not expected the Panther to show anything resembling compassion.

When a thunderous boom sounded from within the store Tommaso's gun snapped up and he scanned the nearby buildings for hostiles while crouching to make as small a profile as possible.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!  ANYONE DOWN?!"

[Lisky]

sliding into cover, and taking a prone position, the feline swept his rifle towards the sound of the explosion.  His heart-rate spiked, adrenaline flooded his system, and his mind raced.

He noticed the seemingly puzzled looks on everyone's faces, as they seemed to freeze in place and observe.  He shouted, "GET THE FUCK DOWN!"

At some point, the selector switch had gone from safety to semi-auto as Wraith's sense picked and probed the area around him from where the hostilities has arisen.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Kandela appeared in the large hole she had made in the second building, a defined golden glow surrounding her. "What was that? I feel like my connection to the light was restored out and them some..."

Despite her violent flight through solid walls, the Tauren Paladin seemed completely unharmed, and if anything seemed healthier.



Again the town stayed silent despite the disturbance.

[SquirrelWizard]

the flurry of activity caught Cinna off guard. After a moment to figure out what happened, she blurts out, "Wait!? I make brains turn to crystal and explode?"

[Inumo]

Returning to the store, Sifa looked at Cinna with an are-you-sure-you're-okay look and said, "I'm pretty sure you don't turn brains to crystal, let along make them explode." Gesturing at the crystal brain on the store counter, she explained, "You did jack all to that guy. I think the brain was already crystal by the time you passed through, and of course, it's still intact. That seemed to be some kind of reaction with Ms. Kandela over there." Glancing back at Kandela, she also asked, "Are you sure you're alright? People don't usually survive getting blasted through two and a half buildings, let alone survive it without injury."

[Lisky]

As the signs of relative stability set in, Wraith slithered off the floor.  He cautiously and silently started taking note of the situation.  Peering out through the window, ears flicking back and forth, tail twitching as the panther watched windows and doors through his low-powered scope.  He was hunting for anything out of place, any sign of life... movement, shadows, figures... anything.  Let the civies deal with their own problems... Wriath had to keep them alive so they could keep doing their own thing.  If only he had a competent fire-team to back him up.

[Paladin Sheppard]

The glow from around Kandela faded as she stepped back into the remains of the store, and to Cinna, Sifa and Salem, she seemed energized, or full of life. The skull on the counter however had lost the pink shade and now was clear.

"The light protected me as I was forced away." Kandela said, and for someone who'd just gone through several walls she was oddly relaxed and happy. "I'm fine really but the surge as the light returned to me was forceful."


*********************************************

Despite Salem's watchfulness nothing Stirred near the group.

[Lisky]

The total lack of anything at all happening was starting to get to feline.  Too many strange occurrences, too many factors, and too much incompetence.  If they were hostile, they should have taken some pot shots by now.  If they were friendly, they should have probably made some effort to approach.  Just what the hell is going on here? where are those people from the pub? They couldn't not have heard us.  So... what gives?

The feline tightened his grip on both rifle grips, took a sip of water, then moved on out of the store.  "If everyone is okay, lets move.  If someone is out there, they've surely heard us now.  I for one, would not like to see what firepower they're packing."

[Inumo]

Sifa shook her head at Kandela's response. Crazy religious LARPers... Looking at the fursuiter, she said, "Fair enough. Shall we go?"

[AmberCross]

After a brief wait outside away from the people who were twitchy and wound tighter than a violin string, Chris heard a sudden explosion and much loud yelling from inside the building everyone had just entered. After a moment of calm during which no one started shooting (group that would up with guns, there would be shooting if anything was still dangerous) he walked over with a concerned expression on his face and leaned in from the door frame. "Is everyone alright in here?" he asked politely.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Not happy that she had to agree with the Human girl Kandela managed not to frown. "We shall."

The Tauren turned her head to look at Chris as he poked his head in the door. "Yes everything is fine! We are going to continue on to the Inn now." The obviously much happier looking woman said.

[Shachza]

Though an 'all clear' had essentially been given, Tommaso stayed alert to the possibility of immediate danger.  He had seen too much, or thought he had, in the Shadow War that simmered between the Traditions and the Technocracy behind the scenes.  A faint glow that receeded from the the direction Kandela had flown, but she reappeared a moment later whole, hale, and apparently quite happy.

The newly colorless crystallized brain on the counter drew him like a magnet.

He wondered at the obsenely Vulgar effects that must be at work to cause this sort of transformation.  A mastery of Biologic manipulation as well as Matter transmogrification could do this to a person, but even a single application would be so complex that failure would be nearly garaunteed without an accompanying excruciatingly complex laboratory.  With no lab present, the Enlightened in question would need to somehow broadcast the effect as well, and to affect an area such as this town, even greater potential skill was needed.  Then to cause an explosion with indeterminate secondary effects?  Skill at modifying energy flow is certainly involved, but who knows what else, or at what level?  He was half surprised that the entire town hadn't been vaporized simply from a stray fluctuation of concentration.

Had he been talking aloud this WHOLE time?!

Looking a little sheepish he tucked his rifle under his arm and walked back outside with the hunk of crystal in his hand.

[Inumo]

Sifa blinked at Tommaso's little rant, but refrained from immediately commenting. Remembering the crystal out in the street, she quickly scooped it up and jogged slightly to catch up to the man. "So you know, this is what it originally looked like... The blast happened when she touched it." She held it out to him for inspection.

[AmberCross]

Chris looked doubtfully at the very large hole in the wall to the panther whose grip on his gun would have left his knuckles white if he were human and then back at the tauren. Everything did not really seem that fine to him, or at least... he got the impression he had missed something or other. However as whatever may have happened seemed to be over, he mentally shrugged and ambled along after the mythos and the cyborg (?). After listening to their comments, he considered the pink crystals in a new light. Whatever was going on around here probably had to do with those brains. Perhaps it may even be linked to why they had all come to this place with patchy memory. He made a slight detour over to another dead body and pulling a handkerchief from his bag and 'excavating' another one of the crystals. Ethical quandaries aside, he had a feeling it would come in handy. Besides, at his age there were a great many things that had stopped bothering him and this hadn't been the first time he'd gone grave digging after all. So being careful not to touch it (last time had set off an explosion and the time before that a seemingly nervous breakdown after all), he wrapped it in a spare shirt and packed it carefully into his bag before continuing after the rest of the party.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Kandela exited out the front door of the (now) ruined general store, somehow smiling and much more full of life than she should have been. Standing in the sunlight she seemed to almost glow. "Lets get moving."

*********************************************

The crystal in Tommaso's hand seemed clear and sparkled, but felt if it was possible...Empty.

Chris upon wrapping up the still pink crystal brain could feel some of the energy contained within, it was very familiar almost like his own magics.

[Shachza]

As he looked down at the bright pink crystal brain in Sifa's bare hands Tommaso paused.  The clear version that was in his hands seemed almost hollow, and as much as he wanted to test the one Sifa held, he couldn't help but remember Kandela's experience.  He had learned long ago that being unsure of a course of action meant that he should learn everything he could first; jumping right in tended to end unpleasantly.

He brought his gaze up to meet Sifa's almost expectant one.  "You should carry it since it hasn't reacted to you yet.  I will examine it later if you wish."

Motioning for Sifa to walk with him he started following Kandela.

"So tell me, do you or your family have a history of mysticism or even supernatural ability?"

[Inumo]

Sifa casually shrugged. "Not a bad idea, I suppose. Just figured you'd want something for comparison. Let me know if you'd like it later on."

[Lisky]

Wraith flexed his muscles a bit.  Truth be told he was feeling mostly recovered, in that, the world seemed a bit slow compared to his mind.  Totally predictable given his enhanced reaction time.  As the others started to move, he grew a bit more adventurous, trotting on ahead, checking corners, windows, and scanning for possible ambush points.  He felt sharp, his attention hunting for signs of trouble, eyes looking for signs of disturbed ground or tripwires.  His nose flared with each breath, ripping for the slightest scent that didn't belong.  His eyes swiveled like radar dishes, hunting for noises that weren't the wind.

"be careful, just because you're strong doesn't mean you're invincible.  You might survive a concussive blast, a round that can punch out a tank would be a bit of a different story."

[Paladin Sheppard]

While feeling fully recovered and in touch with her beloved Light once more, Kandela none the less still heeded Salem's advice not to be a target. Walking down the foot path she kept her brown eyes following the LMG's arc of fire, her nose far more sensitive than a humans testing the air.

"I will try to be careful Salem." She said with a smile that seemed more at home on her muzzle than the scowl that she had been wearing the most since they had awoken.



*********************************************************

As the group moved along the road there was a slight rumble heard in the distance, but nothing identifiable, and after a few minutes the Inn that was their destination was in sight.

The car park was empty bar a few very run down and rusted cars like those already encountered, however along the front of one wall seemed a structure of recent construction that looked like a stables with a water trough.

[Lisky]

Wraith just shrugged at the reply.  A smile was a good sign, it would be a better sign when the rest of the group started listening to his advice about tactics and not getting blown in half by a half-assed ambush with these archaic chem-burners.

His ears continued to ping noises, his nose pulled for smallest of smells that seemed out of place.  His eyes continued searched around his field of fire while his rifle swept back and forth, hunting for targets.  He was a hunter on the prowl, and his stance and pose oozed with his predatory grace his kind naturally posessed.  His movements were silent, his rifle ready but safe, his thumb on the selector, his finger on the trigger.

The concrete structure before the party seemed... off... odd.... and... not built with the rest of the town.  It's design was foreign, alien, and out of place with the ghost town.  As the party approached, Wraith's rifle instictively started panning across the tp, looking for snipers or windows.  "Be careful, and take things slow.  I don't care that they're unknown... be on your highest of levels of alert... it'd be great if no one died tonight."

[Shachza]

Tommaso cast a couple sideways glances at Sifa as the group progressed.  She either hadn't heard him or was ignoring the question.  It left him a little annoyed, but he kept himself occupied by instead paying extra attention the area around the group for potential enemies.

The rumble in the distance piqued his interest quite a bit.  Was it another crashing plane, combat of some kind, or something completely natural?  Nobody else seemed to pay it much attention and since nothing else happened afterward, Tommaso simply noted the direction it came from as best he was able.  Yet another mystery to investigate later.

"Careful.  Yeah."  Tommaso agreed with Wraith's suggestion.  "Can you detect scents with your nose in the same way as a...  um."  He wasn't sure how to note the distinction between a traditional cat and the being in front of him.  "...like a quadruped feline?"

"What I mean is can you detect anything unusual around here?"

[Paladin Sheppard]

The rumbling continued, becoming louder and more distinct and then changed pitch, that sounded like steel-shod horse hooves on a road....

And as the group reached the car park (or what was the car park, and now looked more like a watering station for horses) the horses in question appeared on the road from the other end of town.

The fifty or so riders on their backs appeared to be wearing camouflaged heavy armor plating and a shield on one arm while a sword was sheathed at their belts. As the riders pulled into the car park the leader spotted the group.

"Westerners and some of those American Morphs....With guns even Hah" He growled in German yet was perfectly understood by all. "Take them! I'll be having a word with the sentries, they said that was bomber drone not a cargo plane!"  And with that kicked his horse into a charge, drawing his sword and pointing it at the group, the rest of the riders following.


*******************************

Kandela had tilted her head to the side as the noise had increased, turning to Salem she nodded her horned head in the vague direction of the sound "Sounds like group of horses..." And trailed off as the riders appeared... "Hostile or Not?" she asked him.

As the Riders' Leader shouted his attack order she had her answer. "Hostile!" The Tauren stuck in the middle of empty space had no option but to kneel, shoulder the HK21 and opened fire with a long rolling burst.

[Inumo]

Sifa noticed Tommaso glancing in her direction and wondered what she might have missed... That is, until the crazy Germans came around the bend. Then she ducked behind the trough, slinging her bag around to drop the crystallized brain inside. Pulling out the pistol, she also glanced inside to see what else was within that might be usable in this situation.

"Can't we just talk?!" She shouted over the din.

[AmberCross]

Fifty to ten. Chris my not specialize in battle tactics, but even he could tell the odds were against them. They had the element of surprise attack, larger targets, and a rapid-fire gun on their side. Arrayed against them however was the fact that they had no armor, fewer weapons, and only two people that seemed to be any good in a fight. Sifa of course seemed to still be in denial about what was real, and besides Wraith and Kandela... the rest of the party, including himself, were hardly fighters. He of course had his pistol, but that had seven shots in it and even he could tell that wasn't going to do squat against armored foes without more aim or luck than Chris was willing to give himself credit for.

If things turned for the worse,  Chris had a hunch about those crystal brains that he may have to cash in on. He'd been hoping to investigate under more controlled circumstances, but this attack very well might force his hand. As is, there was still a bit of time before the charge reached them and there was a very large tauren between him and the men on horses. So instead of rummaging for the crystal, Chris took a position directly behind Kandela, pulled out his pistol, and took the time to aim down the barrel before firing at a target. Killing, incapacitating, distracting... he was willing to settle for anything he was able to get with his seven shots before he might not have time to reload.

[Shachza]

"I'm Italian you retarded pig-dog!"  Tommaso growled back with the only german insult he knew as he lunged sideways to get behind a car before the riders could reach the group.  He brought his Steyr Aug PARA to his shoulder and flipped the safety off while he skidded to a halt behind the cover.

"Hah!"  He shouted back at Sifa without taking his eyes off the riders.  "They just want to cuddle!  Why don't you?"

Leaning over the hood of the car to steady himself he let out a long burst and strafed from right to left along the line of horses and riders.  The riders amounted to one giant squishy target in front of him, and his goal was to hit as many of them as possible because armored or not, some of them, both horses and riders, were going to have a bad day.  The more the better.

[SquirrelWizard]

Cinna had observed what happened with a look of confusion.

"Why are they attacking. We're friendly!" She turned to Sifa, "Your a human. That practically makes you cousins right? Cant you humanize with them or something?"

[Inumo]

Sifa only glared at Tommaso in response before turning to Cinna. "I wish, lady, but 'humanizing,' as you put it, requires both sides' participation."

[Lisky]

Wraith had his sights snapped to the obvious leader of the group, centered on his chest with the high-powered rifle.  His finger snapped the safety switch to single shot as he replied to the others "very hostile, move between the buildings and try and keep yourself in cover."

So saying he took a knee, then fired a double-tap at the leader's breast-plate.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Wraith's shots hit home with the precision of a trained and honed soldier the first shot seemed to be stopped by something inside the armor forcing the Leader to twist slightly in time for the second round to deflect off his chest plate sending him tumbling off his horse.

Tommaso's burst, apart from a few shots missed or deflected harmlessly off the charging riders, the 9mm round denting platemail here and there but finding gaps in three of the riders flesh causing them to slump in the saddle.

Kandela's experience on a mostly cavalry dominated battlefield showed as her burst was directed against not the riders but the horses themselves, and many of the unfortunate mounts fell, their riders hurled or crushed as the horses crashed to the ground, forming a macabre barricade forcing the other riders to divert or pull up short.

Chirs' fire added to Kandela's  most of his shots hitting slumping two more riders on their mounts.

Cries of fear and confusion came from most of the riders at the gunfire yet some persisted in their charge, even if it was to get to grips with the members of the group firing at them. Several Riders diverting around Kandela's barricade hurtled at Cinna and Sifa, swords raised to strike, while another jumped his horse over the car Tommaso was using as cover slashing downward as he passed.

[Inumo]

"Aw, frig," Sifa said as the horses barreled down on them. "Come on!" Grabbing Cinna's hand, she bolted around the corner of the building, pulling the rabbit-girl along with her. One-handed, she opened up her sack and pulled out the pistol, firing a few shots at the first rider she saw before rounding the second corner.

((Note that with such a quick shot, it would likely be aimed at center of the silhouette; this means it'd likely be aimed around the horse's head.))