This logfile is imported from aitelogs2 and may contain errors or wrong timestamps.
#CultistCompound – March 10, 2015
The vehicles start down the muddy road. At first there is nothing but bare rock around them, but they soon enter into a forest of tree-like plants, trunks with a cone of sharp downward-facing spines. The APC rocks back and forth as it drives over the uneaven road. The sun seesm to be setting, although it is hard to tell through the layer of dark clouds that covers the sky.
Sioria idly hums to herself as the APC trundles along, leaning back against the bulkhead and enjoying the relative calm.
Leah turns somewhat red from Sioria's comment, thankfully her helmet hides her face. She pulls her Mattock from her back and lays it across her lap, "Nothing fancy, but we could skirt the perimeter and see if they've got any defenses." (Jason_Wolfe)
Athorus is still looking out the back of the truck, eyes scanning the treeline behind them. He has unholstered his Phaeston now. "These woods are thick. If anyone came at us from the sides, we wouldn't know."
I like this plan. But we keep the squad together. Last thing we need is you two coming up against these creeps all alone.
Leah gives a slight tilt of her head. "In this line of work, having a reliable weapon is a requirement. Well worth the investment." (Jason_Wolfe)
Sioria glances at the gun again. "... now I know what I'm saving for." she says, still with her vindicator assault rifle on her back.
Steve is looking quite cozy in the back of the truck. He pops a pill into his mouth and rests his elbow on his helmet as he glances at the drell. "They can come at us all they want. Get themselves the fight of their life."
Bayani nods in agreement with Steve. "Yeah, they try to surprise us, they'll regret it." He says, patting his rifle.
That's exactly what I'm thinking, Ilyna. They're much too dangerous to store without some serious safety precautions in place. Might buy us the time we need to hit them hard and fast. Releasing those things in their own compound would be just as dangerous to them as it would be to us, so that's a factor, too. Hopefully they're not suicidal...
Sioria strokes her mask. "Damn, wish we had more intel. Way I see it, small team sneaks in, kills whoever operates the containment centers, all silent. We just sweep the compound and kill the cultists." she comments. "If only it were so easy."
"Hey Jason, wouldn't releasing them into the compound and sicking them on the cultists just make MORE of them that we'll need to deal with?"
Jason puts his hands up defensively, "I'm certainly not saying we release them. I'm just saying if they get desperate enough to do it-... assuming they even have them on-site.... then they're going to have a lot to consider."
Leah nods. "Regardless of what they've done I wouldn't want to be responsible for anyone going that way. Clean and quick." (Jason_Wolfe)
An equal reaction. If these atrocities they've committed are as bad as the stories I've heard, then perhaps releasing their own creations on them is exactly what we should do. Unless you believe these creatures smart enough to find a way off the planet on their own, that would be a swift end to the problem. (Jason_Wolfe)
Sioria nods. "Mmm." she says, leaning back again. "Good thing we have mounted weapons, eh? Cut down the hordes."
Jason frowns and gives a big shake of his head. "Not an option, Jattic. For one, people live here. Two... The job isn't done until I'm satisfied that every one of those things is dead."
Acceptable losses. A few lives is a cheap price to pay in the face of what you've all described to me. But it's your call. I will act accordingly. (Jason_Wolfe)
Leah goes airborne for a split second and immediately begins looking for some sort of harness. (Jason_Wolfe)
Ilyna hits her head against the wall behind her. She also wear a helmet, even if her crests would have done a better job absorbing the impact. She was in her harness, however.
Sioria tuts from under her mask as she whacks her head again. "Shock absorbers can only take so much..." she mutters.
"Couldn't get one of those hover APCs? Those, uh... hammerhead things? No wait... that's a tank, isn't it..."
Jasper bangs a closed fist against the back of the cab, "Might wanna hold on back there!" he calls out, "Seems like it's only gon' get rougher from here on out! (Jason_Wolfe)
Steve gives a chuckle. "Kinda ironic, ain't it?" he asks, not bothering to give any context to his comment.
Jason unharnesses himself and stands up, using handholds to balance himself as he moves to the head of the APC. "Might wanna pull off to the side here. Let us scout it out a bit."
Jattic gives a nod. "Exactly! It's taken her nearly this entire trip to hit as many. Her aim is lacking." (Jason_Wolfe)
Vasquez nods in agreement. The APC starts to come to a halt. "Bravo squad, check it out. Someone get on the gun!"
Jason points to Sioria and then up to the hatch. "Man the mounted." he says, "Give Bravo some cover."
Jasper slows down a bit, coming to a stop a short distance from the APC. "What're we stoppin' 'fer, Chief?" he asks over comms. (Jason_Wolfe)
Sioria nods and clambers up to the machinegun. "On it." she says, loading some rounds into the chambers. She scans the area around them, then with thermals if they're mounted.
Jason blinks a couple times at Ilyna. "Uhh.... Yeah, that's you. You know. B. Bravo." he claps his gauntleted hands together, "Bravo! Bravo~" he cheers, followed by a short chuckle. "We'll be ready to move out if you see any trouble."
Jattic unharnesses himself and stands from his seat. "Ridiculous human terms." he mutters, unholstering his weapon from his back. (Jason_Wolfe)
Victoria unharnesses herself and stands up, drawing her avenger. ''Why can't we be call shield or red.'' She said.
As soon as Sioria pops the roof hatch open she's met with rain, drumming against her armor and pouring into the APC. The machinegun has a large built-in heatsink like most mounted weapons, eliminating the need for thermal clips. The woodline seems uneventful for the most part - the thermal optics are largely useless due to the rainfall.
Ilyna takes off the harness and gets out of the seat. "Yeah. Right. Bravo," she says with a nod. "Let's move out." She makes her way over to the door to open it.
Once the team seems to be ready, Vasquez presses a button to open the APCs rear hatch, which slams down into the mud.
Sioria tisks, but doesn't care about the rain. "Typical..." she grunts, scanning over the surrounding areas. "Thermal optics are out, boss." she radios to Jason. "Visibility ain't great."
Ilyna steps outside and aside to let the others out. She glances around while unholstering and reloading her Hurricane SMG.
Jason activates comms. "Just keep your eyes open. The rain is going to make tagging targets difficult. Keep in mind that we have a colony nearby. I don't know why they'd be out in the woods in this weather, but you never know. No opening fire unless you're sure it's a hostile."
Vasquez reponds to Jasper over comms. "Prefab shelter up ahead. Bravo is checking it out. Stay put."
Victoria follows Ilyna out of the APC, wielding her avenger and she activates her eye's piece biotic sensor.
Jattic stops at the door and puts his helmet on before following Victoria into the pouring rain. He shoulders his Vindicator but keeps it aimed towards the ground as he awaits orders. (Jason_Wolfe)
Vaden hesitates for a moment before leaving the vehicle - he can't help but enjoy the rain for a moment before bringing up his omni-tool.
Ilyna pauses. "Kur'don and Victoria, take point. Garr, keep watch to see if anything tries to ambush us."
Jattic gives a nod and steps towards the head of the group, raising his Vindicator as he scans his surroundings and begins to move in the direction of the structure. (Jason_Wolfe)
Ilyna nods to the salarian. "Good," she says. "Stick with me, then." She starts moving after the others.
The prefab shelter sits alone on the side of the road. A few objets covered by a tarp sit outside it.
Jattic approaches the tarp. He glances at Victoria and nods at the shelter, indicating for her to keep it covered as he leans down and tugs the tarp to the side, hoping for some indication of what this place is. (Jason_Wolfe)
Jattic releases the tarp and quickly swivels in place, swinging his rifle towards the direction indicated by Sioria. (Jason_Wolfe)
A crab-like creature crawls out from among the spiky trees, walking at a leasurely pace onto the road.
Ilyna lifts her weapon at the sight, too, but lowers it as she deems it non-threatening. "It looks harmless," she says over the comms. "Open fire only if it gets close."
Jattic shakes his head and lowers his rifle. "Shall we proceed inside, Ilyna?" he asks, using comms to be heard over the rain without shouting. (Jason_Wolfe)
(Comms) Knock first. If someone lives here, they may have information on our target... and the wildlife.
Jattic nods to himself and glances at Victoria before approaching the door. Using a clenched fist, he bangs on the door a handful of times. (Jason_Wolfe)
The door to the prefab shelter opens, revealing a human woman in her thirties. Her eyes go wide at the sight of the batarian and she backs away from the door. The inside of the shelter has a table with a chair, a bed, a locker and a small cooking unit.
Jattic steps through the door rudely, without awaiting an invitation. He hardly notices the woman's reaction, or is simply used to it. He immediately begins looking around for any sign of a second inhabitant. He makes no attempt to introduce himself, assuming Ilyna or Victoria will do the talking.
There is no other inhabitant, or room for one for that matter. The woman grabs a knife from the cooking unit and yells out: "You're not taking me too!" before trying to stab Jattic to no effect whatsoever due to his hardsuit.
Jattic looks down as the knife clanks fruitlessly against his hardsuit. He reaches out and grabs her by the wrist, giving it a slight twist in an attempt at dislodging the blade. "Bitch tried to stab me." he growls as Ilyna enters. (Jason_Wolfe)
Jattic stands in place against the woman's petty assault. "As you wish." he says to Ilyna before taking a step back from the woman. (Jason_Wolfe)
ForestHuman scrambles back until she hits the wall, her gaze darting between the two. "Get out of my home!"
Jattic crouches down and scoops the knife up off the floor. He places it on the table and keeps some distance from the woman. (Comms) "We have one woman inside. She seems to be emotionally unstable." (Jason_Wolfe)
The crab-thing slips a bit on its way up the short slope on the right side of the road, causing it to let out a squeak.
Philip keeps his rifle aimed out at the woods - he is soaking wet by now as he doesn't have a hardsuit.
"The crab thing." she says, turning the turret slowly to scan the woods. "What? It slipped on the slope."
Jattic lets out a frustrated sigh. "Answer her, human! I don't care to remain in this shack any longer than I must!" (Jason_Wolfe)
ForestHuman flinches slightly. "I don't know anything about them! I came here to get away from your kind!"
Sioria continues to slowly scan the woods with the mounted gun. "Rain rain go away, please come back some other day..." she murmers in a sing song voice. "Fuck you Ben... hate that song...."
ForestHuman glars at the two of them. "What the hell is wrong with you people?! Get out! I don't know anything!"
She knows nothing, Ilyna. This is a waste of our time. She's obviously delusional if she believes any self-respecting slaver would travel so far out of their way for such a-... (Jason_Wolfe)
Jattic remains behind for a moment longer, eyes fixed on the woman. "See you around." he growls before following Ilyna out. (Jason_Wolfe)
Jattic mutters to himself upon exiting the shelter. "My home has soldiers. Engineers. Cooks. Farmers. Politicians. Yet the first thing they see when they look at me is a slaver. A pirate. A criminal." he says as he passes Vaden. (Jason_Wolfe)
Ilyna starts walking towards the APC. "We're done here," she says, in case they're not following already.
Jattic follows closely behind Ilyna towards the APC, a bit frustrated over the whole exchange. (Jason_Wolfe)
Vasquez looks over her shoulder to make sure everyone is in and then closes the rear hatch. "Alright, let's move!"
Jasper starts the truck back up and begins to follow the APC. It takes a little bit more time to catch traction, but eventually they're back to rolling. (Jason_Wolfe)