Jungle Drums IC
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Jungle Drums IC
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Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Ascending Ramp, Under the Jungles, AztlanAlyce is only too happy to send the codes to the scouting team, telling them to stand down and that Al and Shrike are friendlies. She lets Rhea give an update to them re the status of the team and the need for additional medicines. Rhea passes on to Alyce that the team above had been left alone during the time the larger group was underground and the mood of the people around her lightened a great deal.
The trip to the surface was made a bit easier for some of the injured when a team of five soldiers from the surface intercepted them about half-way up the ramp with a stripped down Mule to help transport them. By the time the group made it to the surface, they were welcomed by the stay-behind leader who had already set up a triage post and medical tent. Ammunition was distributed to the soldiers, giving them the feeling that they could take on another enemy. After talking with Rhea and Caroline, Alyce approached Al, Shrike, and Sian. “I want to thank the three of you for the help you gave us. I am sorry that Dream has succumbed to the temptations of his kind and has gone against the Choir and its Pattern. Perhaps they foresaw this event and simply forgot to mention it.”
She looks at each of them again. “In any case, I have sent a message off to the Old One in Below, giving him an update and have called for the transport to be on site at the rendezvous point. Unfortunately, we are a couple of weeks out from that location, and perhaps even more when factoring the slower pace we will need to have to get my wounded out of here. There is a very powerful free spirit in the area that fought us to get here. Perhaps it will be magnanimous and let us pass out of here, but I would think that there is just as much chance that it will fight us as we traverse across its domain.”
She pauses, knowing that what she has to say next may not be appreciated. I am going to return underground to see if I can rescue any of the others of my team that were separated from the main body. I know that some survived as we could hear weapons fire in the distance as we made our way to the pyramid. These people are loyal to me and I cannot do less that this to try to save them. It may take a couple of days to make sure that we have got everyone I can expect to find. Please feel free to remain her and help me or to return on your own. I can give you the specific location of the rendezvous point and have a vehicle standing by to take you to Bogota, where you should be able to find air transport to anywhere.”
316/47
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Al wondered if going after a few stragglers wasn’t simply jeopardizing the survival of the people they were currently with. He also knew they needed to get on the trail of the MIrror, and that that could impact the whole world.
And he hated mobsters.
But these guys had been on his team, if only for a few hours. And that probably wasn’t the only reason for the answer he gave.
“I’ll go with ya.”
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Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Ruined City, Jungles, AztlanAlyce turns to face Al, her smile broad and genuine. Suddenly, she felt able to take on the world despite how fatigued she was. She nods and motions with a hand in the direction of the ramp. “I am getting some supplies together, medicines and munitions, that sort of thing. We will be moving light and fast and I hope to have any stragglers back with us within a short time. Thank you for making this decision, Al. I appreciate it very much. We will meet over at the ramp entrance in thirty minutes, so please see Rhea if you need any supplies, such as shotgun ammunition, explosives, and the like. Be guarded; she is pissed that I am leaving her here to control the camp and see to preparations for departing for the rendezvous point.”
She gives Al another smile and moves off to pick up some fresh medkits and other supplies.
Sian gives Shrike a look. “What does your Master want you to do? Mine has indicated to me that I should follow your lead on this. Personally, I could leave whenever you want to.”
317/48
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Al didn’t need any supplies.
But he needed to touch base with Shrike and Sian before running out on them.
“Listen I know damn well the Mirror’s the thing. My head says ta stay on its trail. But my heart knows it ain’t right ta leave people behind, an’ if God stops bein’ on my side, what the hell good will I be ta anyone? I’ve got yer commcodes an’ I’ll catch up if I can. Or if’n ya need ta ditch ’em, leave me a way ta find ya.”
He turned to Shrike. “You – psycho inna colloquial sense – I’m glad ya ain’t never died, an’ I hope ya don’t inna near future neither.”
Then he turned to Sian. “You – psycho inna literal sense – yer all right, even if yer little herd o’ Satanist-guard livestock over there gives me the heebie jeebies. So I decided that even when this job is all done an’ finished, I’m still not gon’ hunt ya down an’ kill ya. An’ that’s the closest thing to a hug yer gon’ git from ol’ Al, even if ya are walkin’ around in yer birthday suit.”
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Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Ruined City, Jungles, AztlanSian gives Al a long look before responding. ” Thank you for your kindness.” She turns so that she is facing both Al and Shrike. “I have been thinking and perhaps Al has the right of it. I know if this was one of my digs that I would not want to leave anyone behind. I think that I will go with Al and Alyce to see who we can find.”
Her unspoken thought is that she may also find one or more of the other warriors down there that she can take captive for feeding.
318/49
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I shook my head: “Yeah, it should be obvious that I’m glad you all survived. And we make a pretty good team all things considered. Your loyalty to those… expedition members is commendable. But I have to ask:
What exactly do you expect to get out of this by going back down there? Are you planning to genocide those blood cultists? Do you hope to find a lead to where and why Dream turned? Because right now we have him on the run with the artifact that could literally make the diffence between preventing the Apocalypse coming early and watching the world burn next Saturday.
He is a vampire with limited blood supply and no back-up. We have satellite communication and could make a reasonable attempt at catching him before he can find sanctuary within the Aztech Pyramid.
What we don’t have is time to get sidetracked. Going down there again will diminish your forces as well as your supplies even more. Worse, getting more wounded back will in the long run kill more of your people through exhaustions, injury and disease as your journey will be slowed down.
There’s a difference between what feels right and what’s the right decision.
The only acceptable way to do this would be to send in a small, mobile squad to stealthily free any remaining prisoners…” -
[Friday April 9, 2077; Basecamp above The City, Jungles, Aztlan]
As the subterranean team regrouped with the others a child came racing through the camp towards Alyce, and then stopped short in puzzlement when she saw Al.
“Where is he?” Petal demanded “Where is Dream? I can’t feel him anymore, why hasn’t he come back out with you?”
#39
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Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Base Camp above The City, Jungles, AztlanAlyce goes to the child and kneels down in front of her. “My dear, I have some very bad news for you. Dream has fallen to the temptations of the blood. He turned on us and fled with the mirror, placing a toxic plant spirit in our path to prevent us from chasing him. He is very sick, but I would hope that he can still be saved. Do you know where he might have gone to?
Sian pauses to watch the girl and Alyce then turns back to Shrike. “I understand what you are saying, but I also know where Alyce is speaking from. I have employed thousands of people in my lifetime as an archaeologist and every one of them has been precious to me. It is important that she account for her people, to her, to the soldiers that survived, and to those that provided her with the soldiers and equipment. But, in her case, I think that it is more important to her as a person and a leader of people. She has to go back down there and I fully understand why and support her decision. Some things are more important than saving the world, Shrike. If you need to leave, I can also understand and support that. Right now, I think I need to show support to Alyce and go with her. It should mean a delay of a few hours, at most a day, and I cannot see the fate of the world hanging on that thin a thread.”
319/50
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“Listen, Shrike baby, yer right on every point – on paper. But we ain’t gon’ win this fight by numbers, we win it with pure hearts an’ the Good Lord on our side. An’ God’s got enough juice, He can afford ta be an idealist. Reckon it’s like when that little barefoot feller Fido done let the hissy rat-critter keep hangin’ around against all good sense, but that’s what saved the day at the end. My ma always said, ya can never do wrong by doin’ right.”
Al squinted at the hippie spirit talking to Alyce. Sian had mentioned running into a toxic version – could there be two? Or wouldn’t that have been a corrupted version of the original? He kept an eye on it as he continued speaking. “Anyhoo, I think what yer proposin’ is exactly what Alyce is sayin’. We ain’t takin’ ever’one. We send the whole group on its way with Krea. It’s jist the three of us fixin’ on goin’ back, an’ that right quick. Hell, the pick-up spots days away – we’ll probably catch ya up afore y’all reach it.”
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“If you think for a minute that I’ll rather go with those Russian goons than with you, you are in for a surprise. Besides, I already sent my report back to Essen. My estimate is that we can expect a ballistic solution to this Kaern within the next 24 hours. After that, there won’t be much left to rescue anyway. Me being around here, will buy you a few extra hours.
So let’s not waste anymore time with jabbering about silly stuff about good and bad and instead lock and load for another round of fun in hell.”
Shrike replied. -
Al was surprised at his reaction to Shrike’s unexpected decision – was he actually starting to like the unhinged never-die junkie?
In any case, determined as he was to go back for the stragglers, Al was keenly aware of the force of Shrike’s arguments and the time pressure they were facing. He didn’t trust the spirit after the story Sian had told, but then nudist vampirella hadn’t raised any alarms at Petal’s return, either. So he gambled.
“Won’t things go a lot quicker down there if flower-girl here plays scout for us?”
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“Possibly – especially if she too succumbs to the corruption down there. High BGC does funny things to – how do you call them – satan worshipers.”
I replied laconically. -
[Friday April 9, 2077; Basecamp above The City, Jungles, Aztlan]
With tears in her eyes Petal simply said “I cannot go in there, I don’t have the strength to withstand the taint, I am sorry…sorry for what Dream has become. I thought I had lost him before when he changed but he seemed to retain his humanity despite the curse… now even that must be gone for I cannot believe that he would act as you have described if he retained any control over his actions.” She grew fierce “I would fight for him if I could but he has gone beyond where I can go. If you find him and you believe he can be saved you will have my thanks…she will know” and she nodded at Sian “but if he is beyond hope then I know that the Dream he was would not have wished to do such harm… you must end him and the threat he poses…” she choked out…
#40
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Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Base Camp above The City, Jungles, AztlanAlyce and Rhea decide that three soldiers will be enough to help escort the group looking for stragglers and Rhea asks for volunteers. Every member pf the team raises a hand or chimes in on the comm system as wanting to go, including all of those who have just come up from there. Rhea picks three and makes sure that they are fully armed and carrying extra ammunition and medlits before sending them to Alyce.
Alyce nods at the two men and one woman and motions them to join her as she heads for the ramp entrance. Sian smiles at Shrike and follows after Alyce and the soldiers.
320/51
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“No.” My voice was harsh as I pointed at the Vory soldiers: “No extra weight. This is stealth business. Sian is our only remaining full mage and we have to rely on her counter spelling. The more there are, the thinner she has to spread. I’d actually prefer if it was only us three going down. Any additional trooper increases the chance that we are discovered or slows us down. This is a scouting mission as much as a rescue. You can ready them as back up, but you already saw what happens to a large group down there.”
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Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Base Camp above The City, Jungles, AztlanBoth Alyce and Rhea turn to look at Shrike, as do all of the Vory and EVO soldiers in the area. The soldiers all then turn to look at Alyce, who keeps her face towards Shrike. “No? At last look, this expedition is still mine to command, unless you want to take steps to remove me, which you could probably manage, but it would be messy. It is important that I go for my people and it is just as important that the soldiers are represented on the team going back down. I have limited the number to three and every one of the team knows that they might not return. If that changes your mind about coming, please feel free to remain here and wait for us or to make your way to the location of the vehicle rendezvous point.”
She turns to the three soldiers and motions for them to continue. The escort nods as one and moves off to the ramp entrance. Alyce does not look around but she does address Sian and Al. “I am going down and you may each make your decision about coming with me.”
Sian pauses then shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders before joining Alyce.
321/52
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I stepped closer to the girl and spoke in a low voice as not to undermine her authority in front of her men further. But that was the end of my patience:
“Are you willfully stupid or just obstinant on principle? You want to sacrifice certainly living soldiers for soldiers quite likely already dead? What benefit do you expect from those three going down there beyond producing more wounded and dead? When we met, you already had lost half of them – thanks to your leadership. Those from our group made it in and out without casualties. What exactly makes you think you’ll do better this time with only three of your soldiers?
I already agreed to support this fools errand as a courtesy to your brave pawns and so that you would not have to send them down there again.
But it seems instead of recognizing the limits of your abilities, you’d rather double down, throwing good resources after bad. Leadership is more than just marching in front and being heroic. It’s taking the course of action that will preserve most of your strength and keeping your people alive. I’ve been there countless times in my life. Romantic drek-for-brains glory hounds have killed more of their people than any enemy’s clever strategies ever could.
The bunker busters will drop soon on this cursed place. And unless you want to lose all of your men, you’d better be preparing them for a quick evacuation instead of another invasion.
I’ll leave the decision to you.” I smiled suddenly and nodded towards the three vollunteers.
“Alright, Gentleman, glad to have you on board then. Tie your shoes tight because this just became a race.”
And with that I sprinted away, down the slope of the Kaern. -
Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Base Camp above The City, Jungles, AztlanAlyce nods as Shrike blasts her leadership abilities then shrugs her shoulders as he takes off at a run. She has a feeling that the man’s master keeps him on a short leash when it comes to missions and that the man has mostly been involved with very small groups for a reason.
She does pock up the pace, but cannot match that of the man running point. The trip down the ramp is quicker than the first time due to familiarity and the small group reaches the bottom without incident. Alyce throws up an AR guide to where the tunnel leading out of the lake cavern is and the team heads that way.
Exiting from the river tunnel, the group finds three soldiers in a very rough perimeter, along with two dead. There are no warrior or priest bodies in the area and Alyce is told that the three managed to make it here separately and that two of the men had died of wounds shortly after arriving. They pass on that they have not heard any gunfire for nearly half an hour.
Alyce looks over at Shrike. “Well, it looks like you were mostly right. However, we have three to take back with us. I propose waiting another quarter hour to see if any others join us then leaving for the surface.”
322/53
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“Roger that, demon-sister,” Al had replied grimly to Petal’s plea. Sure, he’d do it. But only after trying everything else to bring the confused hippie back.
And then with the drama. As if there wasn’t enough to go around. Worse, everyone took off back underground running. Al was not a runner. Definitely not cool. “I got rear guard,” he yelled after them. He knew he could track them easily if enough if he lost sight of them.
He set out after them at a reasonably brisk pace. By the time he caught up with them where they’d stopped, about fifteen minutes later, they seemed to already be getting ready to head back!
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Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Base Camp above The City, Jungles, AztlanAlyce sends out several boosted signals to try to get some sort of response from anyone still trying to make their way to her rendezvous point. She gets no responses and hangs her head for a few moments to pray for those she has led here to die. Al arrives shortly after she had and she smiles in his direction, letting him know that she is waiting about fifteen minutes and will them return to the camp above.
At the fifteen minute mark, there have still been no new arrivals and no answers to her signals. She makes a hard decision to return to the lake and up the ramp, calling on her people to get ready to move out. The walk back to the ramp is mostly silent. She is returning to camp with three additional soldiers, but only three. The reunion at the camp is brief and Alyce sends the three new arrivals off to be checked by the medic.
She calls Rhea over and turns to Shrike and the others. “Thank you for helping me. Now, how serious is this bombing you warned me of and do we have any time to stay here and heal a bit?”
323/54
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