Degradation 2.0

[Gorbaz]

"Gullyjabbers?" she askes, pulling herself to her feet and collecting the strewn buttons of her top. "Thanks, I'll remember that. Doesn't look like their hides would carry a high price.."

She sakes her head - now was not the time to be thinking of trapping and skinning the beasts for a profit. Instead she took a deep breath and, keeping herself as covered as she could, followed the old man into his home

[Grape_Drink]

Jane/War Mumma

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(12/12 HP, Fatigue: 0%, Hunger: 100%, Thirst: 100%, Radiation: 32/1000)
Luck: 17-1 = 16

As you flick the switch back and forth, you note a panel in the corner of the room begin to screech open! You begin to flick it frantically to try and turn it off, but it seems to be designed to open completely once it’s begun to open! Shit!

The light outside seems to focus on you as a voice calls out eerily.

“GrEetIngs, JoNAthaN PolOWskI! It haSSSSSS been DATA CORRUPTED months sINCE your Return-turn-turn. It SEEM-SEEM-SEEMS that yOUR DOor is JAMmed. AlLOW ME to fIX That!”

The robot cuts a small hole in the wall as it enters through it, hovering in place as it drops off a soggy package at your feet before flying off to lord only knows where, the screeching of the floor tile opening having finally stopped.

Cutting open the soggy package, you find an industrial handheld cutting torch inside, though you note it’ll be useless unless you can obtain a battery strong enough to power it, and maybe a cover for your helmet in order to not go blind.

The passageway you opened up seems to lead to a larger toolshed. Ignoring the skeleton hanging in the corner, likely that Jonathan Polowski fellow. More interestingly there seems to be dozens and dozens of canned peaches down in here, and a small motor scooter. Finding a can opener nearby, you decide to give one of the cans a try, only to find that they’ve all decomposed into an inedible brown sludge…

Still, one of the cans jingles, and opening it up, you find a dozen old world quarters inside!

Rein

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(10/10 HP, Fatigue: 0%, Hunger: 100%, Thirst 100%, Radiation: 23/1000)
1d4- 4
The fight is over in quick order as it seems there were only two guards in the back of the truck. Hugo must’ve really underestimated the fortifications here… Well, then again it was a huge armored truck and they weren’t expecting it to be raided, it kind of speaks of the driver’s incompetence more you suppose.

One of the infiltrators calls out to tell you the coast is clear, and as you make your way back towards the truck, he tosses you four needles full of a fluid you’d only seen in a few cases.

“Here, take some in case yah ever need it. Don’t suppose you can drive vehicles, can yah? My arm’s a bit fucked up right now and I don’t trust those other sods with driving this thing. We just need to park it in the garage before sundown.”

Arthana

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(15/15 HP, Fatigue: 10%, Hunger: 50%, Thirst: 50%, Radiation: 24/1000)
Perception: 13 +2 = 15
High Encounter Rate: 17
Morning Encounter: (1-45 passive, 46-60 aggressive, 61-100 lustful) 61

You manage to make your way into the nearby town alright as you rest in an abandoned barn, your throat parched and your stomach churning when you wake up…

Deciding to make your way back to the scene of the crime, you note two raiders with wild eyes seeming to eat the remains of the leftovers the mutants left behind. They haven’t seemed to have noticed you, though raiders never have good intentions. Then again, there’s a lot of canned food and from the looks of it, possibly drugs strewn about. If you could beat the two of them there’d be plenty of a reward (and, hell, raiders by themselves aren’t that tough from your own experiences, they’re pretty malnourished and diseased if anything).

Crash

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

( HP: 10/13, Fatigue: 5%, Hunger: 95%, Thirst: 95%, Radiation: 84/1000)

“Hrm? Hides? Well t’ey’re wa’er proof an’ greasy as’ll feck, but’ll keep yeh dry’n’warm. Gotta kill ‘em first though, tha’s the tricky part if they ain’t wantin’ t’fuck. Otherwise y’jus’ cut out t’ey’re tongues ‘n leave’em t’bleed out f’bout twen’y minutes.”

As you enter into the small home, you note the walls are littered with small ornaments from all over the area, he even has a few pictures of the nightmare irradiated hellhole known as Denver.

“m’wife died a couple years back’n there ain’t many folks ‘round here left these days.”

He digs through a small chest, pulling out a few shirts to replace your ripped up one. Most are just standard T-shirts, though you also notice the occasional dress shirt. Eventually he finds something or another as he turns around with a nod.

“Here yah are. Should work ‘aight.”




He tosses you a short-sleeved dress shirt and a leather corset with a nod as he takes your torn up shirt and a spool of thread, sewing the buttons back on.

“S’how about that there story, miss?”

[exalted]

Jane gave a sigh of relief as the machine disappeared without question, not relishing the idea of close combat with the thing.

Investigating the room she checked to see if she could safely close the door again without trapping herself inside. She wondered what had happened to the man, had he locked himself away or been imprisoned here? Had the loneliness just become too much?

If she could safely close the door she would move gear and generator into the room, now that the over room was compromised before examining the scooter.

If only they could see me now, she thought, wondering what her old crew would say, going from an Easty 8 to a scooter.

[That_One_Guy]

Garian didn't reply to much, being quiet himself, listening to her as she explained everything that was going on and where his target my be. That was when they saw the monstrous creature and he hid with her, "So, do you think we should look for a way around it or wait for it to finish up?" He asked her, he didn't think his weapons would do anything to the monster other than to piss it off and it'd be a waste of valuable ammo that was sorely needed for whatever else was to come and attack him.

[lilbooth]

Although rather interested in the mating habits of mutated humans, Val favors a cautious approach and quickly silences Flash's whistle with a slender finger. After another few moments of observation Val quietly steps back, gently ushering Flash to do the same. She then, rather excitedly, approaches Charlie in a tip-toe fashion. "Uhh... Charlie, sir. Were only a few hours from sundown and this here cabin seems like a safe 'nough place for us to bed down for the night." Started Val gesturing back towards the cabin. "Only there happens to be a pair of muties inside making like our recent rabbit friends, if you catch ma drift. Ya figure we could just scare em'off, or maybe a more permanent solutions is at hand?" Questions Val to her temporary master.

[Nobudi]

Arthana usually made a point not to kill people, but Bandits and Raiders were probably the exception.
Then and again, there were only two of them.
She decided not to kill the poor bastards, so she armed herself with the pistol set to 'stun', immediately sprinted into range, and fired at the closest one.
Hopefully, there'd be some cover she could use to protect herself in case they were armed.

[Reaver]

Glaring at the brute, she took a deep breath as she watched the man grab the pipe and lunge at her. Wyveria hated close quarter combat so much. Everything was rushed, a frenzy of panicky actions that could get you killed if you messed up once. She couldn't stand being rushed into action, not to mention fighting naked. She was just glad he didn't have a knife instead of a pipe. Bruises and broken bones was something that Wyveria had a somewhat basic understanding of how to fix in the field but knife wounds were beyond her. "Bring it Fucker!" She yelled, acting more confident than she felt.

She hadn't practiced physical combat in a while and it showed as she missed the first few thrusts at the man. She blamed it on her bodysuit pooling around her ankles but she only gritted her teeth and lunged at him again. This time her blade sunk into his shoulder blade with a sickening crunch, a noise that brought a grin to her face. That noise was almost immediately replaced by the sounds the pipe colliding with her side. Wyveria winced, coughing up a bit of vomit before retaliating by stabbing him several times in the arms. She could feel his blood splashing against her face every time she pulled the knife out, giggling loudly as she let her instincts take over. Just stab and pull out, stab and pull out. It felt like a rhythm to her, almost like firing a rife repeatedly. Then everything went black and the rhythm stopped.

When her eyes managed to open, Wyveria found herself having a hard time at breathing, probably due to pipe slowly crushing her windpipe. She could feel herself fading even as her legs were being opened and she knew she had to try something, anything to avoid a worse fate for herself and Janette. Using the last of her reserves, Wyveria took a deep breath, ignoring the ringing pain in her skull before putting all of her force behind a single thrust and dragging upwards. The warm blood dripped all over her nude body as his grip lessened and she finished the deed, then Wyveria threw up. "Fuck, fuck fucking fucks! I should have never left. Stupid ambitions, stupid reasons." She muttered, trying to cope with the intense pain in her skull. She managed to push the dead man off of her, clutching her throat as she tried to cope with how close she had came to being killed and or raped. Then she remembered Janette, then the other thing in the room. She darted at him threateningly, clutching her knife tightly even though she was pretty sure she didn't even have enough energy to fight it if it tried anything. Luckily for everyone, it seemed set on helping them, first by untying Janette then handing her a first aid kit. "I-I'll take it from here, champ." She said shakily as she took the kit from Janette and did her own best attempt at bandaging the head and stomach wound. She wish she could had done a better job but she had become rather used to the base medics tending to all her wounds that she had sustained on patrol. Regardless, the security officer tried her best before redoing her bodysuit, then putting her Loyalist Garbs over them.

"Janette! Collect your things, we still have a mission to finish. Do you know how much closer we are to the robots or if this little 'detour'", kicking the dead body out of anger "Set us back?" She began looking around for her things, including her prized sniper rifle as well as her leather club, not willing to leave anything behind. Staring the mutant, called Ronald, Wyveria dug through the dead man's pockets, preferring to look at the mutant rather than her own handiwork. "Your name is Ronald? If you really don't mean any harm and you want to help then perhaps you could lead us through all these tunnels and keep us safe. I can promise you shelter and food back where I am from." While she didn't particularly like the way the mutant looked, she still could have some use for him, not to mention she rather have someone else to watch Janette since she might not be able to perform as well as before if they got in another fight.

[KnightVanilla]

After the battle had ended Rein hesitantly came out of cover. Keeping the girl behind him for good measure. Taking the package of what was supposed to be some drugs snipers used(estrada mentioned what the shipment was in degrad 1)

He thought maybe he could we'll this. Getting addicted to a drug was never a good thing and he saw people meet there ends that way too. Either way he wouldn't use these for himself maybe to sell or or trade something. Hearing about his arm he replied "I know how to drive a bit but nothing fancy. I won't be dodging gun fire and missles if we end up doing any of that." he warned as he got in the driver's seat. The old man had taught him how to drive rather smokthly. But nothing that could compare to most racers he's seen.

[Grape_Drink]

The sky looks dark and gloomy, everyone outside will begin to gain radiation from rainwater if they remain so next post ((except Jane))

Jane/War Mumma

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(12/12 HP, Fatigue: 0%, Hunger: 80%, Thirst: 80%, Radiation: 37/1000)

Sure enough, you can close the door from within, a switch on the wall causing the panel to screech shut. Unfortunately while the top floor was dimly lit, there only appears to be one LED providing light in the center of the room. You find a crumpled up note in the dressed skeleton’s hand, but it’s faded with age to the point where the only word you can make out is a large “sorry” at the end of it.

…

Moving the gear and generator downstairs (stumbling about in the darkness for a few moments as you rewire the power supply), you look over the scooter and find it fully functional. While it’s definitely not as fast as a car, it could easily cut your travel time in half along major roads, though you aren’t sure how well it’d do on steep inclines. The paint is faded and the whole thing is rusted to high hell and back, but as you hit the ignition, it turns on alright with a few put puts before making a chugging noise and dieing. It’ll need some more fuel, but there’s usually small gas canisters to be scavenged, and if you find an Engineer, maybe they could swap the motor with a battery?



Time passes, and eventually the rain stops as evening approaches.

Garian

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(HP: 12/12, Fatigue: 0%, Hunger: 80%, Thirst: 70%, Radiation: 66/1000)
Stealth Check: 6 vs 7
Perception: Natural 1

“Best to just keep going, there’s another street we can take about five minutes down the road.”

It isn’t long before you reach what looks almost like a subway tunnel, a metal sign with large chunks missing from it and a purple flower decal reading:

“Bl-||-ut Auto- Rated world’s second s---|||-- ||un--|| house! Now fully automated! Open from six PM to three AM, Friday through Sunday from mid September to the end of October!”

You note a number of gigantic bats (the likes of which that beast had been ripping apart) flying overhead, though they don’t seem to take much notice to you, perhaps they’re afraid of something? A few bat corpses are lying about leading towards the entrance, though they’re all cold, having had to sit there for at least a day.

“This tunnel’s creepy as all fuck, I’ll wait at the entrance if you want, but I’m not going any further than that.”

Your partner seems to be dead set on not going any further as you enter the main lobby, noting a sign in the corner of the room that says this is supposedly “the world’s second scariest haunted house” and that it’s “fully automated.” Hmph.

((OOC Note: If Wyviera stays the night/depending on if Garian gets hit by the gas, you’ll catch up with them by “tomorrow afternoon” in-character, otherwise it’ll take at least another day IC.))

Val

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(Fatigue: 5%, Hunger: 100%, Thirst: 60%, Radiation: 77/1000)
((Did some preemptive rolls, party kills the mutants in one surprise round))
Search: Natural 20

Charlie flips a knife out of his boot as Doc looks at him incredulously

“wh-wh-what are y-you d-d-d-doing?”

“Dealin’ with’em muties. It’s gonna rain soon."

. . .

The deed done, the two mutants lie dead as Charlie picks up the dead squirrel in the female’s slack jaw.

“Think we can cook it? If it’s good enough for these fuckers, it’s gotta be safe to eat. Bah, search the area.”

You begin to search the small cabin. It’s relatively nice, a few beds, a solid wood floor and a small fireplace. Doc and Flash check the back yard, saying something about a bunch of mushrooms growing back there that Charlie promptly goes to check on as well, leaving you to your devices. You feel the urge to use the restroom (whether out of the sight of dead mutants or simply because you need to go), and after doing your business, you note a medicine cabinet…

Digging through it, you happen to find a canister of spray-on skin (3 uses), some potassium iodide tablets (8 hours worth), and… No that can’t be right… You hold up the small red bottle no bigger than a pepper spray bottle, a small label reading “red eyes- single dose” on its surface… But what are Grey Eagle drugs doing this far out west? Exiting the restroom, Charlie seems to be tossing what looks like a small water pistol into the air… Except it has a ligher attached to it… Is that a homemade flamethrower?

Arthana

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(7/15 HP, Fatigue: 15%, Hunger: 45%, Thirst: 45%, Radiation: 24/1000)

Arthana shoots at Raider: Miss!
Arthana Shoots at Raider: Miss!
Raiders have reached Arthana! (Initiative: Raider 2, Arthana, Raider 1)
Raider flings shovel at Arthana: Critical Hit! (Rolling to confirm: Hit)
Arthana takes 7 damage! (8/15 HP)
Survivor's Garb takes 1 damage! Survivor's Garb has been destroyed! (New Rank: Tier 1 Rags, 8/8 HP)
Arthana Shoots Raider: Hit!
Raider takes 4 nonlethal damage! Raider is incapacitated!
Raider flings shovel at Arthana: Hit!
Arthana takes 1 damage! (7/15 HP)
Rags take 2 damage! (6/8 HP)
Arthana shoots Raider: Hit!
Raider Takes 8 nonlethal damage! Raider is incapacitated!
Arthana has found: (between the two raiders and the dead bodies)

• 4 sets of tattered raider armor (tier II, 85% DRPP, -2 LE in civilized areas/+2 LE vs raiders/slavers, 3/10, 5/10, 1/10, and 7/10 respectively)
• Two day’s rations (OWG)
• A bottle of purified water
• 3 oz of Mutant Juice
• 1 dose of Morphine
• A spool of copper wire
• Small fission battery
• Rusty Shovel (Tier II, 1d8-2 damage, 5/20 HP, 10% chance of tetanus infection)
• $30 in old world currency
• Spray-on Skin (1 use remaining)

In your sleepy state, your aim seems to be off as you repeatedly miss the mindless idiots! They manage to reach you as the one swings his rusty shovel as you, promptly cutting your armor to ribbons and leaving a nasty gash on your chest! You take aim at his other cohort approaching while the raider is still recovering from his swing and a prompt zap of your ionic pistol sends the Raider spasming to the ground as it twitches.

Smirking, you almost forget the other raider as his shovel impacts your shoulder and his hand reaches for your breasts, tearing what little rags remain of your armor and likely leaving a nasty bruise, but you’re quick on the draw as your pistol sends him flying through the air and spasming as well!

Looking over the various corpses, you acquire a good chunk of loot, the raiders unconscious and their… Members quite hard… Ew. Gross. There’s no telling where those things have been.

((OOC Note: You can coup de grace the raiders if you want))

Wyviera

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(HP: 4/14 HP, Fatigue: 20%, Hunger: 65%, Thirst: 65%, Radiation: 92/1000)
(HP will recover to 10 with one day’s rest)
Perception Check: 3+4 = 7

“I’m not entirely sure… We’re really close to them, only a few hours by foot, but this city is really weird, and a lot of these maps are outdated.”

The mutant points to the corner of the room as you look for your belongings before picking up a backpack in the corner of the room. Wordlessly, he approaches a door and unlocks it, going through it.

“That’s his way of saying we should follow… He doesn’t talk much. Well, at all, really.”

Following behind, he in fact doesn’t lead you to an exit, but instead to a room labeled “employee showers.”

“Ronald! We don’t have time for that. We need to leave.”

He cocks his head, waiting to see your own response (waiting should you choose to use them) before eventually making his way to another door and entering it. This room seems to be filled with monitors, a green illuminated exit sign resting in the corner of the room as he looks over a monitor, inhaling deeply as if excited. Peering over his shoulder, you see a Thorn Tower security guard and a random mercenary-looking fellow at the entrance you had been at… How long were you out for? You’re not entirely sure now.

“This tunnel’s creepy as all fuck, I’ll wait at the entrance if you want, but I’m not going any further than that.”

You hear the security guard speak through the monitor as you watch them from your position. Why are they here? Who are they? Ronald dances from foot to foot as he begins to press buttons on a hologram display, activating various areas of the automated haunted house…

Rein

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(10/10 HP, Fatigue: 0%, Hunger: 100%, Thirst 100%, Radiation: 23/1000)
((Lax, yep))

The man nods as he gives you directions back to the parking garage. As you enter into the main lobby, you’re given a split of the rations found that day, but are politely informed that Estrada isn’t seeing anyone else this evening. Chrissy saunters on down the hallway, leading you to what you assume to be your suite.

“Jenny said we could stay here until things get sorted out, or something like that. If you don’t mind, I really want to get changed out of this…”

She makes her way into the bathroom to get changed back into her regular clothes, leaving you to look around. The room is alright, two double beds that look like they haven’t fallen apart and a small fridge in the corner which undoubtedly has bottles of dirty water in it. There’s even a balcony that looks out over the city of shield heights as the sun gets ready to set in the distance. You could stick around, though you think you saw folks pulling out some booze downstairs that they’d probably be more than willing to share.

[Nobudi]

Arthana gingerly winced as she tried to find out where she hurt.
Turns out that was everywhere. Especially her chest. Luckily, there was a bit of Spray- on skin, which she used.
The raiders were out at the moment, so she wasn't in much danger.
She felt kind of bad for them, really. Their compatriots were dead and eaten, and she went in to knock them out and loot their bodies.
So she decided to leave the food and water alone, taking the drugs and materials with her.
She also took one of the tattered armors, not the one that looked like it was on the verge of breaking however.
Finally, she took a stick nearby and wrote in the dirt deeply 's0rry'.
She got what she came for, and now was not the time to dally.
Taking a bottle of water out, she began to down it slowly, moving away.
Once she was in a safer place, she could stop for some of her grits.

[lilbooth]

Val quickly stuffs what she has acquired from the medicine cabinet into her pockets, taking a few moments to consider how dangerous tossing a small flamethrower in the air is. Having relieved her self she has refocused at the task at hand. Step One; Get these dead mutants out of the house Val thought to her self, rolling up her sleeves. Step two; take a closer look at those mushrooms and see if they edible, before the rain hits. Step three; check and see if there is a functioning stove in the cabin, if not build a fire somewhere safe inside. Step whatever the hell, continued Val taking a few more concerned glances at Charlie. Set up a rain trap, try to purify some water, make sure Charlie hasn't eaten a raw squirrel or burned down the cabin. Concluded Val hoisting one of the dead bodies from the floor and dragging them towards the door.

OOC

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Not sure how many rolls I'm trying for here or how many skills I can call on, but i figure its a culmination of either cardio/fitness, survival, and search. As a side note after all this miscellaneous stuff gets done I'm probably going for a decently sized conversation with one of the NPCs Charlie is most likely the prime subject. But if you want, in order to keep the story going we can roll the conversation into the next days travel.

[exalted]

Jane stretched carefully as she watched the light outside fade to black, limbering up for the task at hand. Leaving the rocket launcher and her gear in concealed room, she wrapped her scarf around her face and carefully closed the door behind her. She paused a moment to rig a trip line to her grenade which she stashed in some rubble in the main room, a surprise for anyone trying to get into her room and it's stash.

She felt the cold dampness of the air outside as she stalked into the street, hand on the hilt of her machete as she scavenged around the area for supplies.

The night is for hunting, she through to herself.

[KnightVanilla]

Today was rather passive for his usual jobs but that was alright... As soon as Christy mentioned changing he felt somewhat curious and tried to find a seat where the angle would allow him to peer in on her without it seeming obvious that he was spying on her. She had a nice figure and a delicate air about her that made her quite attractive. He wouldn't lie if he thought about being with her before. It just seemed more relevant now than it did before. Calling chrissy out from outside the door he asked. "So why are you helping Estrada anyways?"

[That_One_Guy]

Garian looked at her and then back at the tunnel and sighed, "Fine just make sure no one leaves here unless they're with me." He told her and walked into the tunnel, pulling out his weapon and staying on guard for anything that might pop out at him, if the person he was assigned to grab was here, then he'd better be careful in case some traps were set for him, let alone maybe armed guards. Unfortunately, stealth wasn't really his strong suit.

[Gorbaz]

"Huh. So not easy prey to trap, but could sell well? Thanks, I'll remember that"

Crash runs her hands over the clothes she had been given - they were very nice quality, although she wasn't sure about the corset. Still, clothes were clothes, and better to have these than some lice-ridden ones found discarded in a box. Carefully she slips into the blouse, buttoning it up before struggling to put the corset on.

"Huh? Oh yeah, the story. Uhh... well, what kind of story would you like? I mean, I've travelled all over, hunted, traded... got myself into a life and death situation, once..."

[Reaver]

"Fuck, we might have been followed. Nothing says premium money like hunting down two Loyalists in the slums of Thorn Tower." Folding her arms and frowning as she watched their movements through the monitors. She considered talking on the microphone and convincing them to leave, but then thought back to her interaction with the dead man in the other room. A lot of people were scumbags, low-lifes that would never listen to reason, so she would not waste her time this time. "We only need one of them alive, put em through the maze, Ronald!" Ignoring the feeling of self-loathing for forcing someone to go through what she had just gone through. Wyveria did her best to rationlize it in her mind, to make herself feel better. Assuming that they had followed them, they were either here for herself or Janette but for what reasons remained to be seen, she'd find out later once she captured one of them.

With that problem being dealt with, Wyveria went back towards the main room, picking up all of her equipment and setting it on the bed to inspect them. She ate her grub fruit as went over her sniper rifle, making sure everything was working before placing it next to the bed. With a sigh, she sat on the bed, beckoning for Janette to come close to her. Once close enough, Wyveria hugged the girl, holding her tightly while whispering in her ear. "I won't ever let anything happen to you. We are going to get back to Regus after we finish this mission." She gave her a reassuring smile before finally letting her go. "We're going to rest up for the night then deal with the two hunting us before finding and activating the drones. So try to get some sleep, we'll have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." Patting bed for Janette to join her on it. She still didn't completely trust Ronald so she kept her knife on her person.