The Endless Knot (Post-Apoc./Alien Invasion|IC|Open)

[Dyelli Beybi]

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OOC | Discord (Andromedaverse)

OOC Foreword

Welcome to The Endless Knot, a character RP set on earth in the year 2133. In this RP you will play the role of a one of the few free human survivors in the aftermath of a brutal alien invasion. Five years after the attack, humanity has fled underground where a few small settlements have been established in the tunnels under earth's fallen cities. You will one of the survivors under the city of New York, struggling to survive until one day a new survivor arrives with a far-fetched plan to save humanity (this will happen shortly after the RP starts).

The RP is set in the same universe as the 'Voyages in Andromeda' RP, though there is no requirement for you to have read any of it or even have the faintest idea what it is about. If you happen to have a character in both you will probably pick up a few hints about the other RP but they exist as entirely separate entities.

Finally, this RP is open to latecomers. If you want to join a bit late, we'll just assume you are another random survivor found on the road, who hitches up with the group. Feel free to jump onto the OOC and make an application.

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Chapter One: It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

"Everybody take a big step back!" it was a cold day in November, especially without the benefit of amenities like central heating, though the tunnels under the one-time city of New York were somewhat warmer than the surface. It was still cold enough to make Hannah Brown's nose turn slightly red. She wore a thick jacket, scarf, cap and gloves, but still she managed to feel cold. Right now though she had more important things to focus on as she shooed people down the tunnel away from where she had set up the dynamite, motioning with her torch in the direction she wanted them to go, "I'm really hoping not to be responsible for any of you getting blown up, blinded or deafened; I'd much rather keep the medical supplies for unpreventable incidents!"

It took a few moments, but once she had everyone back a safe distance, she picked up the detonator. A lot of people would have had something dramatic to say, like 'fire in the hole!', but that really wasn't Hannah's style, "Everyone clear?" she yelled. She counted to ten, slowly, in her head, then when there had been no response, hunched over, to do her best to cover her ears, "Cover your ears if you value your hearing!" she called, then pressed the button.

There was a deafening roar, following by the sound of collapsing bricks and, a few moments later a plume of dust that caused the small woman coordinating the raid to cough, blinking her eyes for a few moments before she turned her torch back down the corridor. The light caught in the dust, reducing visibility as she picked her way towards the site of the explosion. According to her calculations they should have blown a hole into the basement of an old supermarket distribution centre on the outskirts of torn which had, according to the shipping manifests she had got her hands on some weeks earlier, received a large consignment of tinned foods a week before the city had fallen to the Ragons. There was no record of the goods being moved on afterwards, leading Hannah to the conclusion that it was probably still here. Most food would have rotted over the last five years, but tinned produce kept, more-or-less, forever which made it very valuable when fresh food supplies were as unpredictable as they were in the tunnels.

A twinge of excitement and trepidation hit her as she found the hole she had blown, picking her way over the fallen masonry. They were in a basement, but it could have been to anything at this point. If she'd brought everyone out here with the promise of plentiful food, only to find they'd actually ended up in a tanning salon she suspected she wouldn't be very popular. Hannah was gifted at getting supplies, but if she stuffed up, she ran the risk of less people coming on her expeditions in future... or of getting staked out and left somewhere where the Ragons would find her, though she hoped the people she was working with today weren't that sadistic.

Ahead was a metal door. She tried the handle. It was stiff, probably from rust, though it did grudgingly open after a couple of hard tugs. A short flight of concrete steps led up to a vast, dark warehouse. She swung her torch upwards, revealing towers of boxes reaching up towards the ceiling. They'd need a fork-lift to get to some of those...

Immediately she realised they were in the right place; the interior of the building was cavernous, though the wide aisle corridors and high ceiling would give any Ragon hunters that showed up down here plenty of room to manoeuvre, which wasn't ideal. To her left was a row of switches. Without actually expecting anything to happen, Hannah flicked the nearest one, only to be rewarded by two rows of bulbs blinking into life. She made a small surprised noise; they must have had solar pannels on the roof or something similar. It wasn't unprecedented, though it was far more usual, in her experience, to find places like this completely cut off. She pocketed her torch, then flicked all the remaining switches, watching as the lights lit up one row after another until all the warehouse was illuminated.

If she could find the office, there would probably be CCTV. If that still worked then they would be in a much better position to keep an eye out for attackers. There would probably also be a computer with files on where everything was though she didn't fancy her chances at cracking the password. She spun on her heels, turning back to the survivors who were gradually following her through the hole in the wall, "Okay everyone, I'm going to head over to the office to see if there's any working CCTV to keep an eye out for anything dangerous. If that isn't working I'll find my way up to the roof and sit up there with a pair of binoculars, though I'd rather avoid that if I can; it'll be freezing up there! Fill your packs then meet me at the office when you're done. Oh... and would somebody please be kind and fill up my pack while I'm watching for trouble?" she asked, shurgging her backpack off, "If you could please load up with tinned meat, vegetables, whatever. So long as it's food, I'm happy."

She'd also asked for a cut of anything they happened to bring back themselves. Hannah Brown wasn't greedy, but she was the nearest thing the surviving humans in the tunnels under New York had to a food bank. If she was going to let people have a share of a horde she had discovered, she reasoned it was only fair they contributed to her stores.

[Acerbez]

Shenhua

Shenhua had been huddled over a small flame and simmering pot back in the survivor camp when the commotion had started. Hannah beckoning other survivors and forming a group with her insights on the supermarket.

Shenhua had been aware of Hannah and interacted with her from time to time when food situations were tough. Shenhua always keeping to herself and not overly exposing herself as wanting or needing, there had been multiple occasions when it seemed Hannah had noticed her behind by her lonesome, atleast that's what Shenhua assumed. Then out of nowhere a box of some pasta or canned vegetables would appear near her little section Shenhua occupied.

Honestly, Hannah spoke to fast for Shenhua. At the beginning when she was telling others her plans to loot the supermarket. A funny situation where Shenhua didn't completely understand each and every word but understood enough to know what she was planning and saying. So Shenhua stuck to the back of the group and did her best to listen to Hannah's directives before making their way to the section of the underground.

Having enough time to gather herself a bag, Shenhua took her small boiling pot of water from its hot bed and sat it down. Reaching into her own belongings, she produced a handful of mint leaves. The grand thing about the little Bush of mint she grew in the camp was that fluorescent light supplemented the herbs growth and it being a perennial plant meant she had a steady supply to brew tea with. A poor man's effort at adding flavor in such a dim and dispicable situation. Pouring it into a beaten up thermace she carried with her, the hot drink would be a warming addition to the onset of the cold.

When the masonry had been demolished, Shenhua was kneeling and covering her mouth with her wooled winter coat and trying to cover her ears at the same time. The echoe of the blast had reached into her ears and produced a slight ringing even from a distance. Standing up and following the group, Hannah had divulged her overall plan after flicking the lights on.

Shenhua was following her words and made out the bear minimum. As the group began to funnel in, Shenhua blankly stared ahead with her shoulders tightened from the cold air. She got the jizzt of Hannah's plan and frankly valued her charitable approach on helping Hannah help herself and everyone in tandem.

Shenhia approached Hannah and slung her own "Everlast" duffle bag to the side and stood in front of Hannah reaching out for Hannah's pack. She pointed at the pack in a silent Gesture of volunteering to aid Hannah.

"Ni rang wo bangzhu nei..." Shenhua quietly uttered to Hannah halfway seeking and assuming approval before reaching down to take Hannah's pack.

"I hep you..." Shenhua Concluded before strutting off down the illuminated corridors of the market. The cold air abated the stench of rotted food but it was still prevalent nonetheless. Rather disgusted but doing her best to ignore it, Shenhua would waste no time making headway down the markets aisles. Half handedly keeping the duffle bag open, she slid whatever canned goods she could find.

In her mind, she'd fill the larger bag first then divy it up evenly to reflect a fair share. But that was at the end... There was no rationale in being picky here in a potentially dangerous situation and despite the noise from clanky and banging cans entering the bag, Shenhua would slow her steps and attempt to tread lightly before peering around corners.

She made it through canned meats first and went towards canned vegetables second. Doing her utmost to be cautious and careful not to knock around debris or fallen items on the floor and making excessive noise. Her lithe yet tall frame rocking awkwardly from the growing weight of scavenged goods. The situation was risky, and it didn't help her anxiousness when more clumsy or direct survivors made noise.

Then at the end of an aisle, Shenhua noticed a rather vibrant and colored section. Reading the name slowly with her knowledge of Pinyin, her lips moved with her silent effort to sound it out.

Wine and Spirits. A short supply of the inventory she observed decored and labeled with a name she didn't really understand, she made her way to accommodate a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

[Mercatus]

George walked through the dust and fallen bricks, using a bandana to cover his nose and mouth. He had his shotgun at the ready, as he always did, with his M1A slung on his back. He was wearing his usual attire, a warm flannel shirt, blue jeans, boots, gloves, a baseball cap, and over it he was wearing a winter jacket. He had his pack and around 4 other bags, empty so he could fit a lot of supplies.

When they got in the store, he went off alone into the back, where bottled water was kept along with snacks heavy in carbohydrates and protein, something the survivors would need to stay energized and warm. He walked the hallowed aisles, remembering that this was once a wholesale store, packed with people. He shoved the thought out of his mind. He began filling a bag with bottles of water and bags of jerky, knowing that both could last for a long time. Before long, the bag was filled to the brim, and he zipped it shut. He walked away from the aisle and looked for canned fruits and veggies, knowing an entire backpack's worth would be appreciated. He found that section on the opposite side of the store where the water was, and haphazardly crammed cans of beans, pineapples, carrots, and other nutritious foods into the bag. He filled it in no time.

He knew that people needed more than just the basic survival foods to be happy, and he went looking for alcohol and other enjoyable drinks and foods. Alcohol would also have applications in medicine if it was strong like Vodka, or even Moonshine. He found a sign that marked entrance to the section containing alcoholic drinks, and looked for what he thought would please people at camp. Vodka was on his list, as rubbing alcohol was running low and Vodka could treat infected wounds, second was beer, which was a drink that people could commonly enjoy and keep morale up, third was champagne, which he would save for celebratory occasions, because even in this day and age, people still celebrated on certain days. He found a shelf with small bottles of Vodka, meant for one to chug it and be done. "Travel size." he said, as he stuffed a few bottles into his pack and the empty pack. He soon found a shelf with bottles of champagne, and picked a few up and put them in the bag. Lastly, he needed beer. It took some searching to find it, but he was rewarded with a wide selection, as any of the gas stations he found were out of beer, and full of water. Aliens just invaded our planet, grab the beer! he thought to himself. He put a few six-packs into the bag, and then some non-alcoholic beer in, "For those who's beliefs don't permit." he said. As he made his way out, he saw something, and leaned back to see a shelf of whiskey. He grabbed a bottle, "One for the road," he said, and he grabbed another, "and one for later." Three bags were filled, one more could fit more useful things. He decided to go and get more food.

He was back in the canned foods aisle, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He had heard a rustle, and heavy stomping. He knew that if it was someone, or something, it was only one, as he would have heard louder syncing or a second set of steps. He slung his shotgun over his back, and had his M1A at the ready.

[New Udonia]

Weston G. Foster
Survival Shoplifting

Fill your packs then meet me at the office when you're done. Oh... and would somebody please be kind and fill up my pack while I'm watching for trouble?" she asked, shrugging her backpack off, "If you could please load up with tinned meat, vegetables, whatever. So long as it's food, I'm happy."

Let's do this. The burning bulbs above resembled bright stars as they radiated outwards. Before entering, Weston spent several seconds spurring his eyes into action with constant blinking. He didn't live underground or at least he told himself he didn't. Yesterday he had to do some preliminary dig-surveying for a few minutes from the shadowy cave of an alleyway.

He was glad he had emptied his pack before the journey. He still had a knife and his G17, but everything else was back in his room. If you could call that abandoned section where he rolled out his sleeping bag a room... As he was beginning to move away from the entrance towards the dried food section he heard Hannah's request. Should I? Before he could formulate an action, a tall Chinese woman answered the request. She has it handled. Weston made his way down the frozen section guilt-free before he realized his mistake.

After escaping the unforgettable legacy of five-year-old unfrozen milk, he finally reached the dried foods section. As he dropped to his knees, he seamlessly shrugged his pack off of his shoulders, bringing it to a stop directly in front of him. I need to thank Isaac again for the kneepads. Dried food, the stuff that five years ago "nobody" would have ever eaten unless they were held at gunpoint was staring him in the face. A wide variety of dried berries, nuts, and meats was on the menu. You would think they would give the boring food more-appealing wrappers. He slowly wrapped his fingers around the nearest pack, analyzing how hard he could squeeze it before it squealed. The last thing he wanted was to be that guy.

Make sure you get enough this time. There was enough dried food to fill his entire pack with, but he didn't want to eat any of it. He filled his pack about half-way, before making the journey to the canned section. It was all gone, except for the spam. Thinking quickly he dashed for the paper goods. Toilet paper was a currency. Now the trick was figuring out how many rolls could fit. This was accomplished quite efficiently, as only fifteen minutes had passed when he had finished. Dried cranberries, peanuts, jerky... toilet paper. That should do it. With that settled, Weston started looking for the office.

[Europa Undivided]

Monsieur Jean-Luc Lafayette
Comrade Ivan Ivanovich Ivanovsky

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The lights above shone like supernovae in the night sky, casting their baleful light on the decimated aisles below. Five years ago, these aisles would have been filled with mothers buying goods for their children, friends seeking for the best drinks for their parties, and children looking for cheap meals. Now, it was empty, the people who would have mingled in these silent halls now mere proteins inside the Reptilian bodies of the Ragon. Dead. Eaten. Farmed. Consumed.

This was, however, a bountiful hunting ground. There were many consumable goods here, and as technology had advanced, so had the preservation of foods; it now took an apple years to rot.

Jean-Luc strolled around the department store, the Cadavrés anti tank rifle slung on his back. Contrary to what its size and shape would suggest, it was actually a very lightweight weapon to carry. The ammo, however, was a different story.

Right beside him was Ivan, who had Yascheritsa slung on his back as well. He didn’t seem encumbered at all.

“Monsieur Ivanovsky.”, Jean-Luc said with a strong French accent as he held out his pack to the Russian who stood just a little distance away, who was busy with pilfering the cereals section, filling his own pack with whole packages of cereals. “Can you help me with keeping this open while I pour all of these pasta in here?”

“Da, moi droog.”, Ivan answered as he placed a stack of cabbage inside the pack. “Gladly.”

“Please.”, Jean-Luc answered succinctly as Ivan approached to hold the pack open for all the breads to enter.

Without further ado, Ivan placed his hands on the bag’s edges, to which Jean-Luc responded to by placing rigatoni, spaghetti, and a myriad other forms of wheat based foods. “I am also taking these.”, Jean-Luc said as he laid his hands on several packs macaroni, which he added into the bag’s contents. Looking over the shelf, he spotted a whole bunch of instant noodles and ramen, of which he pillaged even more.

“Ironic isn’t it?”, Ivanovsky said quietly as they added more things into the pack, filling it to its fullest capacity. “Back then, you’re a French captain and I am a Russian operative. We were at odds with each other. Now, we’re this jolly bunch of scavengers, hiding inside the tunnels of New York.”

“God has an odd sense of humour.”, Lafayette remarked in response. “It took some giant man eating lizards for us to forget our differences. How odd.”

“Hah. I like you more now.”, Ivanovsky answered in his heavy accent.

“Just like the last few hundred times.”, Jean-Luc rolled his eyes before patting the crouched Russian, who was still keeping the bag open even though it was full. “How’s your approaches to Ms. Brown?”

“Uhh... none as of yet.”, Ivanovsky closed the bag as it was full.

“Ugh, weak. I thought that the man who has the guts to blow up two French and two British ships would have the same courage with women.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”, Ivan said an he stood up. “I am just bidding my time!”

“Good timing you got there.”, Jean-Luc said slowly. “Would suck if someone... beat you to it.”

“You’re horrible , Jean-Luc.”, Ivan growled as he stomped towards the canned food section, hoping to find some corned beef there.

“Proudly.”, Jean-Luc grinned as he took several packs of tea and stuffed them into one of the many shopping bags scattered around the place, before taking a few boxes of Quaker Oatmeal.

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“George!”, Ivan exclaimed in the lowest voice possible as George had pointed his gun at him. “It’s just me... and is that... vodka?”

[Mercatus]

OOC: Last post redacted, didn't see the last comment down there Europa, sorry.

George lowered the gun, and said, "Yeah it's Vodka, I treated wounds with it before. I also brought jerky, water, canned fruits and veggies, beer, and champagne." He heard another rustle, however, and he raised the rifle again. He motioned for Ivan to hide, and George took cover behind some boxes.

Heavy footsteps were heard, and he peeked through a gap, seeing reptilian feet and a massive tail. He quietly sat behind the boxes, wondering what to do. "Run." he whispered to Ivan, "One dead man is better than two." George said after that.

[Acerbez]

Shenhua

It had only been a couple moments after everyone had entered the market store when it became apparent of the value of alcoholic beverages. Shenhua peered from under her dad cap's visor, a now worn and dirty royal blue cap with a vintage Logo of a blue horned man grinning. She was surveying the selection when she heard the man 10 or more paces away muttering to himself "travel size" before he stepping out.

Quietly perusing very similarly to the way customers had done so before the war. In Beijing, cigarettes and alcohol were proper means of showing appreciation and comradery with those you kept company with. So Shenhua had pushed aside some of the cans and boxes and deposited 3 long cartons on the top of her own duffle bag of red marked smokes. She had never seen Hannah smoke and Shenhua wasnt the type to indulge but she knew others did at camp. She would hold onto them in the event they were needed for bartering.

At the top shelf of the stores were a common liquor rather cherished back in the middle kingdom, Cognac. So she deposited 2 of the largest sized bottles they had into the 2 bags. One had caught her attention however, set inside a display next to the cashier's counter. In a clear scatnly labelled body that simply read Paradis with a separate tag unrelated with a big bold font reading "Cognac 80 Proof, $879.99.

Her ungloved porcelain hued fingers glided across the class surface as she shifted behind the counter. Shenhua's English was horrible but she knew how to read a price tag. She looked around and jiggled the plexiglass cabinet and it produced an obvious location of where the opening was. Then she saw it, a gap and a metal device with key hole holding the opening in place.

Stepping back and scanning the counter for where the keys could be, she eventually found a sort of nail with a 2 keys on it. Looking up she didn't see anybody, not like it mattered but she double checked to ensure no ill wanted company found her... General safety. Unlocking the cabinet, she pilfered the large bottle and placed it in her bag and quickly strut out the alcohol section.

Thinking to herself it'd be smart to look for what people would call duct tape- then it happened.

She froze mid gate as she saw aisles down the top ridge of scale covered skin protruding from above the tall stacks of sold goods. The weight of her duffle bag and hannah's pack tripled as she felt as if her stomach shot into her throat. It hadn't come into the wide open yet and the angle only afforded her the slightest glimpse of its top side.

She didn't know what to do, she couldn't make noise to alert the others either. Just as abruptly as her observation of the Ragon, her peripherals revealed the man known as Weston casually walking. Unknown to her, that he was looking for the offices of the market, her eyes widened like plates as she hoped he'd look over and see her in time.

Using a mid aisle set up that had been propped up for advertising as cover, Shenhua urgently waved her hands to get his attention. The weight of the bags doing a disservice to this effort. Armed with her Kiss weapon and small handgun, Shenhua was now wracked with worry.

"他妈的，看我”！she shouted in her mind. Fearful that Weston would haphazardly walk out into danger.

"Damn it, look at me!" her thoughts screamed.

[Europa Undivided]

OOC: Last post redacted, didn't see the last comment down there Europa, sorry.

George lowered the gun, and said, "Yeah it's Vodka, I treated wounds with it before. I also brought jerky, water, canned fruits and veggies, beer, and champagne." He heard another rustle, however, and he raised the rifle again. He motioned for Ivan to hide, and George took cover behind some boxes.

Heavy footsteps were heard, and he peeked through a gap, seeing reptilian feet and a massive tail. He quietly sat behind the boxes, wondering what to do. "Run." he whispered to Ivan, "One dead man is better than two." George said after that.

Comrade Ivan Ivanovich Ivanovsky

“Crap.”, the Russian managed to mutter. He then strongly nudged George at the arm. “You get out as well, moi droog.”, he urged the American. “There is no way you can delay one of the big scalies. It’ll eat you alive before you even get a shot at the eyes.”

He look at George, meeting his eyes with a strong sense of urgency to get him to move before breaking into a quiet sprint towards the area in the department store where the others where foraging for goods. The first person he came to Jean-Luc, who had a whole month’s worth of baggage on him by the time Ivan got to him. Ivan didn’t bother looking to his back, as he expected George to follow him... probably.

“Moi Frenchie, one of the big lizards is here. We gotta get out of here fast.”, Ivan said, panting. “Where’s Hannah anyway?”

“Either the office or the rooftop... but if she was watching the CCTV on the office she should’ve have already warned us already... or maybe...”

Then, the Ragon’s heavy footsteps reverberated through the empty halls, enchoing as the herald of death. “We really have to go.”, Jean-Luc spoke with urgency. “There is no way anyone of us could kill that thing without someone getting eaten.”

“Yashcheritsa should suffice...”

“No, you’ll get shot and explode into a million pieces before you get close enough. I’d Rather have my cuddly buddy intact.”

“You jest.”, Ivan muttered. “Let’s stay behind cover. It can’t see us yet...”

[Sivala]

Travis Currie

Travis felt antsy. He always did on one of Hannah’s larger salvage Ops. Too many people, he was certain. Worse then that, too many civilians who didn’t know their ass from their elbows. Oh sure, they had survived for five years doing the whole scavenging thing, but there were still a a great deal of them wondering why the mechanical engineer couldn’t get power to their homes. Well he’s has an electrical engineering degree! Surely he could power something! And why not make more of those little bows while he was at it?

As if there wasn’t enough that needed fixing in the New York underground. Travis suppressed a tired sigh. A people person, he was not. Most of them just didn’t understand that even if by some miracle he could get a power-plant working again, most of the substations had fallen into disrepair. You couldn’t just occupy a dam and flick the lights on again. As for his Coil-Bow, he had made a few others, but Travis had been careful to whom he handed them out to. Magnetic coils were finicky at the very best of times; he wasn’t just gonna hand them out left and right to whoever wanted one.

Not for the first time, he came to the conclusion that people were idiots; this was the ultimate source of his anxiety. He didn’t know how to handle people who didn’t know the difference between a fuel cell and an electric battery. For the most part he kept his own company, with few exceptions. Naturally he advised the resident council on any mechanical or electric problems them might run in to. It may have been the end of the world, but power was still essential in some places, and he did a lot of essential work keeping these critical services online; or teaching other people how to service them in the event of a minor emergency. He also personal services for food; fabrication, electrification (if you could somehow convince the council why you should have that generator rather than the people), and bringing personal devices back from the dead.

One of the few exceptions to this though, was field Ops. Travis was one of the best technical minds available to the Underground; so naturally when the field guys needed an egghead, he was their first choice. Which casually explained the Coil-Bow in his hands as he slunk forward towards the supervisor’s office and the CCTV system. His weapon was the perfect blend of modern engineering and ancient innovation. Using a series of magnetic coils located in the arms of the weapon, she was capable of accelerating a solid metal bolt to speeds that would astound modern riflemen. But that wasn’t the real impressive part; the payloads were. Oh sure, making what is essentially a solid metal arrow go as fast as a rifle bullet is impressive, but selectable ammunition was what really made it a Lizard killer.

He had some great choices; Incendiary, explosive, gas (tear, and plain Jane smoke screen), these nifty little shock bolts that were incredibly hard to make, and a two stage HEAT arrow that was so mind bogglingly frustrating to fabricate that he only had four in his quiver. A couple or three explosive arrows could put a Ragon down in a hurry, but those HEAT rounds were the real deal, actually letting you penetrate deep into vital organs rather than blasting chunks out of them. Couple that with a semi-collapsible frame that let him slide the weapon into a holster strapped to the small of his back and you had a real winner.

So it was that he took himself, his gear, and his beloved weapon up the stairs to the supervisors office. Immediately he started hurting the place, pulling what electrical systems he needed off the local grid and recabling them to plug into his simple pedal crank generator. Little more than pedal boat pedals on a stand attached to a crank, this little beauty was small enough for him to pack around into the field himself. It only pissed out a bit of power, but it was significantly quieter than a generator, and much smaller than a fuel cell, so it always went into the bag. He got the computer and monitor running first, setting the pedals and their stand in front of a rolling chair for Hannah to sit in while she powered the equipment. Wiring the CCTV camera system’s power into his little generator would take longer m.

“Better start looking for the password to that computer.” He advises the expeditions leader in a Frank tone. “I’m willing to bet the dolts left it on a sticky or in a drawer somewhere. You’d think some people would learn, but ooooh no, let’s just leave our passwords laying around and hope closing the door keeps them from being naughty boys.”

[New Udonia]

Weston G. Foster
Unlucky Limelight

Where is it? His first thought was that it would be near the restrooms, but that turned out to be an unfruitful quest. Now he was walking past the alcoholic beverages section, with no results apparent on the horizon. I need a better view, maybe if I climb on... huh? The feeling that someone is watching you is eerily on-point. Spinning around he scanned the cavernous structure, nobody. Then he saw a pair of hands waving from behind a poster.

Making his way towards the gesture, he stopped short when he saw who it was gesturing for him. It's volunteer girl. Glancing downwards he noticed her heavy haul. Before he could ironically ask if she wanted his help, she kept gesturing for him to get down. Once his knees had hit the floor, in a controlled whisper, when part of him wanted to laugh and the other part wanted to run, he asked the obvious question. "What is it?" Maybe because he was finally done moving, he heard loud stomping. He stood up, peering over the edge of the poster, half-expecting to see someone trying to take some plastic lawn furniture. Instead, his corneas were met with the telltale image of a lone reptilian hunchback.

Silently he lowered himself down, kneeling beside his savior. "Thank-you." He proceeded to undo his backpack and lean it up against the side of the nearby counter. He withdrew his knife, the equivalence of a Ragon's toothpick, before retiring it to its home-pocket in the pack. He then fumbled for his sidearm before realizing that it too wasn't going to do much. Today, of all days, I leave the big one behind. Just last week that guy wanted to sell him some grenades and he had turned him down. Idiot. "How good are you at running?"

[Dyelli Beybi]

“Better start looking for the password to that computer.” He advises the expeditions leader in a Frank tone. “I’m willing to bet the dolts left it on a sticky or in a drawer somewhere. You’d think some people would learn, but ooooh no, let’s just leave our passwords laying around and hope closing the door keeps them from being naughty boys.”

"I'll have a look... But if it was me if have memorised it," she gave Travis a slight smile to acknowledge that she knew she probably want most people. Hannah was organised to a level that had probably been quite annoying before the invasion.

She didn't get much of an opportunity to search for a password though, as she quickly spotted the unwelcome, hulking form of a Ragon on one of the cameras. Oh shit.

The Ragon appeared unhappy, gesticulating angrily as it spoke to someone on the other side of a comms unit. To human ears it's language sounded nothing more than a series of guttural growls and hisses, with no discernible meaning. It snapped something, then began to lumber off, it's trail lashing about like an irritable cat.

In the office, Hannah held her breath as she tracked the Ragon's movement through the store, to a delivery roller door that had been left up when this facility had been abandoned. Where the hell are you going? She reasoned it had probably been drawn by her dynamiting the wall; if someone had died because of her making noise she'd never have been able to live with herself.

She watched the open door through the monitor. Annoyingly she couldn't say exactly where it had gone or how far away it was because of the camera angle. Hannah counted slowly to ten in her head. In her experience the Ragon didn't usually hunt alone and it looked to have chattering to another, so there were probably others nearby. Though where exactly was anyone's guess. And why had it left when there were clear signs of prey in the vicinity?

For a moment she considered using the intercom, but there was no guarantee the creature want still within earshot, so instead she slid the rifle from her shoulder and, keeping low, beckoned for Travis to follow then hurried out of the office in search of one of the others.

Jean-Luc and Ivan were the first to catch her eye. She waved at them each in turn, motioning for them to join her outside the office, before outlining her plan, quietly and hurriedly, "We had a Scaly in here with us, but it's gone, for some reason. Can one of you please take a look for the others, give them a tap on the shoulder and get them to hurry? No point wasting this opportunity to gather supplies, but I don't want anyone to get taken. I'll go back to watch the CCTV, but could the other one of you keep an eye on the roller doors over there?" She pointed in the direction of the door she'd seen on the monitor, "The camera only shows me what is right by the door. If you see a Scaly, wave at the camera above the door on the left and I'll alert everyone inside."

[Mercatus]

OOC: Last post redacted, didn't see the last comment down there Europa, sorry.

George lowered the gun, and said, "Yeah it's Vodka, I treated wounds with it before. I also brought jerky, water, canned fruits and veggies, beer, and champagne." He heard another rustle, however, and he raised the rifle again. He motioned for Ivan to hide, and George took cover behind some boxes.

Heavy footsteps were heard, and he peeked through a gap, seeing reptilian feet and a massive tail. He quietly sat behind the boxes, wondering what to do. "Run." he whispered to Ivan, "One dead man is better than two." George said after that.

Comrade Ivan Ivanovich Ivanovsky

“Crap.”, the Russian managed to mutter. He then strongly nudged George at the arm. “You get out as well, moi droog.”, he urged the American. “There is no way you can delay one of the big scalies. It’ll eat you alive before you even get a shot at the eyes.”

He look at George, meeting his eyes with a strong sense of urgency to get him to move before breaking into a quiet sprint towards the area in the department store where the others where foraging for goods. The first person he came to Jean-Luc, who had a whole month’s worth of baggage on him by the time Ivan got to him. Ivan didn’t bother looking to his back, as he expected George to follow him... probably.

“Moi Frenchie, one of the big lizards is here. We gotta get out of here fast.”, Ivan said, panting. “Where’s Hannah anyway?”

“Either the office or the rooftop... but if she was watching the CCTV on the office she should’ve have already warned us already... or maybe...”

Then, the Ragon’s heavy footsteps reverberated through the empty halls, enchoing as the herald of death. “We really have to go.”, Jean-Luc spoke with urgency. “There is no way anyone of us could kill that thing without someone getting eaten.”

“Yashcheritsa should suffice...”

“No, you’ll get shot and explode into a million pieces before you get close enough. I’d Rather have my cuddly buddy intact.”

“You jest.”, Ivan muttered. “Let’s stay behind cover. It can’t see us yet...”

George didn't follow. He wanted others to get away. He knew that everyone running would do no good, as the Ragon would hear everyone and kill many, possibly alerting more Ragon in the city. He peeked behind the boxes, the Ragon stood still, looking away. He steadied his rifle in his hands, and quickly squeezed off two shots. It yelled in anger as two .308 rounds struck it's neck and shoulder. It looked at George, and George fired off the rest of the magazine, and the shots would have been heard throughout the store, hopefully telling everyone to leave or at least be careful.

He ran opposite of where Ivan ran, trying to draw the creature away. He ran as fast as he could with the food and other supplies, and with the Ragon's larger body mass slowing it, he could maintain a healthy distance. He turned corners rapidly, trying to make the lizard lose sight of him. He duck for cover behind a crate, and the Ragon looked intently for him. George knew he would be on comm with other Ragon, and he was probably out here to get food too, albeit from a different source. He knew he had to get away and get away with the food. Slowly, he crawled to the other side of the open shelf where he was hiding, and began to climb, looking for a spot to hide himself. As long as he was higher than the Ragon, he was safe.

The Ragon heard the noise of glass bottles hitting each other, and looked up. He saw no motion, but still headed to the spot where he heard it coming from. He sniffed and looked with care, but found nothing. He walked away, mumbling in some gibberish language. George cautiously poked his head out, waiting until the Ragon was out of sight to move. He had hidden between unopened boxes of only god knows what goodies, and with a stroke of luck, the old, musty smell had masked his. He climbed further up the shelf until he reach the top and could see the whole store.

He walked across the shelf until he stopped at it's edge, far away from where the lizard was last seen. He could see the office from here, way in the back of the store.

[Endem]

Jack Gill
First Aid Hunting

Jack didn't usually go on scavaging parties, he wasn't the greatest scavenger, in fact, he was a pretty awful one, but the nearly constantly running our medical supplies he needed nearly run out ( what a shocker ), sure he could just ask someone to bring him some, but, he needed to know that there was still some life in this old body of his, thus, he climbed into the store despite the back hurting like hell. But he was there, eventually, probably as one of the last to get in the store, but there would still have been plenty of loot to find if the columns of boxes indicated anything. He quickly managed to find the food he needed to find, it was a supermarket after all, and these cans were scattered about practically everywhere.

Now that he had his bag that hanged on his shoulders half full with the equipment he needed to bring he started to walk aisle to aisle trying to find anything he could use, alcohol, for disinfecting, bandages, any medicines would be very useful, generally, everything he would be able to turn into a useful thing for a doctor. The life of a doctor during the apocalypse is probably the hardest, constantly running out supplies, not being able to operate in even remotely sanitary environment, the constant threat of his patient's relatives wanting him dead if he screwed up anything or simply couldn't help them, plus the normal stuff like food, water, constant threat of death, etc.

He then finally found an orange box with a white cross on it "Thank God" he said to himself as he opened the box to check what was in there, seemed like it was untouched, he threw it into the bag, "Just a few more and I would be supplied for at least the next month", meanwhile he was also collecting various trinkets that could be considered valuable in this world, not useful to him, but if anyone found another first-aid kit he might be able to bargain for it. He then proceeded to thoroughly search the shelf where he found the kit but he couldn't find much more thus he moved on to another aisle.

Just when he was about to slip between the aisle's he saw the distinctive lizard hunch walking out of the store, he then for a moment experienced once again as he was kneeling over Linda's corpse ( Linda was his wife ), but he quickly snapped out of it. He decided he didn't survive 5 years just to be killed in a supermarket thus he walked away and walked towards the office as he tried to shake away the memories of pristine white halls of his hospital splattered with blood, he quietly hoped at least one of the lizards got sick after it. He finally reached the office where he saw Hannah exiting it " Hey, I suppose you saw the lizard, maybe we should get out of the store while we still can"

[Sivala]

Travis Currie

Travis was just about to open his mouth and tell Hannah he’d take the roll up door position for her, his coil-bow had just the right amount of firepower for that sort of overwatch position, when he heard a series of shots ring out somewhere inside the warehouse.

“Trigger happy morons!” He snarls, reaching behind his back for the Coil-Bow. He unfurls it with a snap of his wrist and a very satisfying clack. The engineer begins sliding an ACOG sight onto the modular top rail of the weapon as he speaks to the expedition leader. “I’ll keep an eye on the roll up in case the Lizards decide to roll us through there.” A finger jabs out at the pedal crank, “If we gotta punch out quick, you’d best grab that or I’m charging for it.” This was usual talk from Travis, not a threat or any sort of jab at Hannah’s leadership. Just a simple balancing of the scales; cause and effect.

Carefully he creeps along the gangway towards the general location of the roll up door, sliding an explosive bolt and a smoke bolt out of his quiver and holding them in hand. He didn’t want to commit to one over the other just yet. The only problem he had with the current iteration of the weapon was it’s top loading design. He had a few ideas about doing a semi-automatic drum design, but it hadn’t come to fruition just yet. Soon enough he found himself in position looking down at the doors, the camera off to his right. He gives Hannah a quick thumbs up and sights down at the blue roll up, watching, waiting. “Fucking impatient civilians.” He mutters to himself.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Hannah Brown

Hannah gave a small sigh of relief, giving Travis a quick thumbs up before motioning for the others to carry on. She had seen some of them collecting alcohol. It wasn't on the list, but she'd be quite grateful for a drink once all of this was over. Quietly she crept back into the office, planting herself in front of the CCTV cameras to help keep an eye on the people who had agreed to help her gather these supplies. Her heart was racing from the close encounter with the Ragon a few moments before. Slowly, her pulse began to slow, slow down to a more normal rhythm...

The explosion rattled the windows of the depot and made Hannah jump so badly she just about fell out of her chair. She righted herself in time, bolting up from it and racing in the direction of the door as the sharp rattle of gunfire followed on from the explosion. Those watching through the doorway would have had a much better view of what had happened, though it didn't take Hannah long to figure it out. There was an alien gravship in the air and it had fired a rocket down into a cluster of buildings on the far side of the depot car-park. It was far, far too close for comfort. But to make matters worse there was a group of a dozen or so uniformed people, soldiers by the look of it, running straight towards the warehouse, "Everyone!" she yelled, "Get what you have and run back down to the tunnels! I'm going to do something stupid."

She looked up at Travis, then across at the foreign troopers. Hannah had never been a soldier. She had been a desk worker with an interest in making workplaces safer, but she couldn't just leave those people out there. The Ragon couldn't follow through her dynamited tunnel. They probably had ways to dig the people in the tunnel system out, but to date they hadn't made any real effort. She suspected that the tunnel dwellers just weren't worth the effort to the alien conquerors. She stepped out of the door, right out into the open, waving desperately at the people on the far side of the parking lot, "Over here! Get in here!"


A few seconds earlier...

Rebecca was sent flying by the explosion, flying across the front room of the old derelict house in a shower of shattered glass and debris. Her flight was broken by the kitchen counter, knocking the wind from her. Her ears were ringing, her head spinning and for the life of her she couldn't figure out what she needed to do. But then she felt hands pulling her to her feet. Tariq was there, concern in his dark eyes. He pointed desperately at the doorway, his mouth moving though she couldn't work out what on earth he was saying. Her radio was going as well, "Sergeant, get the Professor out of here, we'll hold them off..."

"We need to go, they'll be on top of us in a moment!"

Rebecca shook her head, then stumbled towards the doorway, pushing it open. A patch of overgrown ground led into a parking lot. It wasn't great. They'd be very exposed, but there looked to be some industrial buildings on the far side. Gunfire behind told her their were Ragons there...

This wouldn't be the first time someone had fought a hopeless delaying action to help get the Professor to his destination. One day it would be her turn, but not today. It had been a long journey from Amman to Beirut, danger dogging them every step of the way. They had thought there would be a vessel there, but there had been nothing but scavengers and ruins. They had gone north, finding the same in every town along the way, Tripoli, Latakia. In the mountains in Hatay they had encountered the last remnants of a Turkish army brigade who had told them there had been a submarine in good working order in Mersin. By that stage Rebecca had given up all hope of finding passage across the Atlantic, though by some miracle the Turks had been right. The vessel was an ancient diesel-electric one, but it had been able to stay submerged for weeks at a time. Whether the safety of being underwater was real or purely imagined, they had managed to bring the ship all the way across the Atlantic before heading inland. No doubt weeks at sea had made them complacent, for the attack had come as a complete surprise...

She sprinted out into the open, Tariq to her left, other troopers streaming after them. To her right someone went down suddenly and she realised with horror that they were taking fire. There was no safety behind, no safety where they were. To retreat or to stop was suicide. They could only run and hope for the best...

[Lessoni]

Jack Dredd

Jack Dredd was, above all else, late. At least, at the moment he was. He'd meant to go on a scavving run with Hannah, but he'd been... let's say busy and leave it at that. He'd scrambled to catch up with the group, rather ill advisedly leaving alone to follow them, but he'd taken a leisurely pace.

Until the shooting started. Then he sprinted. He saw Hannah waving her arms. Tripping and rolling his way to his feet as he approached her, he gave her an uncertain smile that quickly dissipated.

"What the hell's going on here? And, follow up, how can I help?", he said, out of breath, bringing his shotgun off his back.

[Sivala]

Travis

The nice thing about technically being a consultant on this sort of operation, was that Travis didn’t -really- have to obey orders, because Hannah had no legal ground from which to give them. He was here of his own volition, and while he generally respected her instincts, this was one of those times he wasn’t going to let her go down on her own.

His booted feet go clank-clank as he runs along the cat walk, huffing and puffing with exertion before coming to a full stop in front of a window that overlooked the parking lot and the fleeing soldiers. Their foreign uniforms didn’t dawn on the Engineer, all he saw were Humans in danger. He wasn’t a hero, nor was he trying to be one. The math was pretty simple; as many of them needed to survive as possible to eventually beat the Ragons. “Sorry sweetie...” He murmurs mournfully as he smashes the stock of his custom weapon against the glass, blowing it out onto the pavement below.

Grateful he had the sense to bring a handful of smoke bolts, Travis loaded one into his weapon and did some back of the napkin math on the approximate height of nearby buildings, the Ragon Gunship’s approximate line of sight, and the distance involved in the shot. The math seemed solid enough; well within the range of the Coil-Bow, and if he used five out of his six bolts, he could give the fleeing soldiers enough cover to hopefully make it inside before the alien craft repositioned. Here goes nothing.

He squeezes the trigger on his first bolt, sending it into motion with an oiled click, followed by the distinctive whistle of a projectile being accelerated to ludicrous speeds by a series of magnetic coils. He didn’t watch as the first bolt impacted a building between the gunship and the soldiers, nor as it ruptured and began to throw up a sheen of billowing silvery-grey smoke. The modern smoke grenade, of which Travis’ bolt was based off of, was something of an improvement over the model utilized in the twentieth century. In addition to throwing up thick curtains of smoke, these grenades also threw up a thin curtain of chaff that played havoc on thermal and electromagnetic imaging systems, as well as infrared targeting. Using his supply of five bolts, he quickly and methodically established key clouds of smoke that would hopefully prevent the alien gunship from getting a clean shot at about anyone without committing to a rather major position shift.

[New Udonia]

Weston G. Foster
Crisis Delayed

That was close. Looks like it was gone, for now. Weston didn't know it, but he was smiling. He got off of the floor, attached his pack, then offered the survivor next to him a hand if she wanted it. "I don't know about you, but I think I have had enough for today. I'm going to head back, I'll give Brown her cut once we're safe and sound." He checked to make sure that he hadn't left anything behind before he left the corner. He noticed, across the store, a door open. His first thought involved something reptilian, but when he saw who it was it quickly faded. The office was over there? He watched her cross towards some of the group members before re-entering the office. Alright, then.

By the time he had made the walk back toward the breaching entrance, for he had not felt like anything more than a slow-walk after the last debacle, he was ready to go "home". That, and he would look towards purchasing some grenades in the future. Thinking of grenades, an explosion shook the block. What the. Weston made a mad dash for the hole, covering the remaining few meters in a matter of seconds. By the time he caught his breath, what a sight to behold. Hannah was waving her arms at the entrance, the same entrance which a Ragon had exited less than five minutes ago. A breathless kid passed him and confronted her, then a guy ran across a catwalk and started firing... smoke grenades? Ah... shit.

Taking a position behind the hole, inside of the subterranean aqueduct, he withdrew his only ranged weapon on his person. He always kept it fully loaded, the number of rounds permanently burned into his sub-consciousness. Seventeen shots. His eyes had managed to adjust by this time and outside of the entrance, he could make out the shapes of humans, running towards them. She wasn't shooting them, so that meant that something was shooting at them. Only one thing had the power to shake a block like that. I'm so glad I got this modified into an automatic. He had decided a long time ago that if he was ever consciously facing a Ragon's jaws he would unleash 16 rounds down its throat. If that didn't kill it, he was going to kill its dinner for it.

[Mercatus]

George had heard the explosion in the distance, and jerked his head towards the office.

Minutes later, he arrived and was climbing up a flight of stairs when he heard another explosion. He stepped outside through a back door.

He saw what caused the explosion, a Ragon gunship. "Aw SHIT!" he yelled to himself. He ran to the warehouse where the missiles were being fired from. He looked for survivors, if there were any. Another explosion occurred just 30 yards from where he was standing, with shrapnel hitting his side and leg. He fell down in agony. Slowly, he got up, only to fall again from pain. He knew he wouldn't make it to the tunnel where Hannah was standing, so he decided to do what he could. He loaded the only incendiary shells he had into his shotgun. He had 20 shells, and the shotgun held 10. Incendiary buckshot had come a long way since the 21st century, which packed more power per pellet, enough to blow a hole in foot-thick steel.

[Europa Undivided]

Monsieur Jean-Kuc Lafayette
Comrade Ivan Ivanovich Ivanovsky

“Damn Scaly ruining our little day...”, Ivan cursed under his breath as he moved stealthily across the hallways of the department store to tell the others to hurry up with their scavenging operation, while Jean-Luc had kept an eye on the set of roller doors that made the entrance. Thankfully, the Ragon had moved on and left, and hopefully they’ll be able to leave without incident.

Jean-Luc stayed behind a set of crates, the anti-tank rifle set on another crate to stabilise it. The scope was directly aimed at the door, giving him a significantly farther sight range, and probably the prerequisite to fire into the Ragon’s eyes.

Then... there was the explosion. It was so loud and bad that Jean-Luc almost pressed the trigger. He didn’t, though, and he quickly picked up the rifle. He turned just to see Ivan slinking towards him, who had tapped Shenhua to hurry up earlier. “You heard that?”, he said to the Russian, who nodded.

“Obviously.”, Ivan replied. “So we gotta get outta here now.”

“We should.”, Jean-Luc replied as he began to journey to the office to recommend to Hannah for them to leave now, but Hannah had the same idea, it seemed.

Damn girl, you shouldn’t break Ivan’s heart now!, Jean-Luc thought aloud as he saw Hannah waving her arms. Then, Jack Dredd and George were both asking Hannah as of how they could help... not so good. Travis was there as well, firing smoke grenades. Damn it.

Jean took up his rifle and placed his eye on the scope, looking through the entrance. He saw what seemed to be soldiers of some sort, probably from the government. Turning back towards Ivan, he yelled. “Get the stuff outta here and get back into the tunnels just as boss lady here said!”

Ivan nodded, but he didn’t look very well, as he was now going to be encumbered by double the normal weight. “Alright, Jean!”, he shouted back as he ran as fast as the heavy baggage would allow, which wasn’t very much.

Jean walked up to the wounded George before lightly tapping his arm. “Your desire for heroism is appreciable, but sacré dieu get back to the tunnels! I’d tell you one thing about delaying the Ragons, and the only way is to offer yourself up as a meal offering.”, he said, casting a glare. “I fought them as a general on Enceladus, and you will be wise to heed what I say.”

“Get out and have the nurses clean your wounds.”, he said as he set the rifle at a set of crates a little distance inside the building. He loaded a bullet; an 5.7 mm aluminium shell filled with tungsten particles, of which he had stocks of as the Marine Interstellaire personnel he had during his flight into the tunnels carried several suitcases of the ammunition while another had a case with the rifle in it. There were very few times he actually had to use it, though, and this was the tenth bullet he would be using in five years. He look past the smoke, straining his eyes for energy discharges from Ragon troopers. He then fired, the distinct whistle of the Cadavrés bullet streaming through the air reminiscent of a bomb being dropped from a plane. It soon produced a guttural grunt as it had hit a Ragon somewhere.

He cocked the gun, and reloaded. “Ms. Brown, Ivan has evacuated along with a two person’s worth of supplies.”, he said to her. “Hopefully those soldiers would recognise this gunshot and go towards us in addition with your waving.”

[Acerbez]

Shenhua

Just before the explosions began rocking the whole market, Shenhua was tucked away with Weston just before their break. His "thank you" wes met by her most capable effort of response,

"O.K., no need." despite harsh whispering, she really annunciated the "Oh" and "Kay". Her thoughts were jumbled as she was trying to cross translate the Mandarin version of your welcome into English. Which in direct translation would mean something similar of "no need for courtesy".

After the brief pause, Weston had offered a hand to help and body gesture inferred he was going to make a run for it. Shenhua simply nodded and tightly gripped the strap of her duffel back along with Hannah's. The sound of liquid waving back and forth inside its bottle making a slight noise in the crushing silence.

Weston lead the fast break with Shenhua following behind. Despite her conditioning and physical capacity, the awkwardness of the duffle bag was counter productive to her movements and its weight was making her dash look just as pitiful. Losing distance, she realized that Hannah's pack hadnt been closed properly and a can of green beans had flown out. Panicked at the sight of this flying can, Shenhua worried that it would catch the attention of the Ragon if it wasn't out of earshot.

BOOM.

Just as the can hit the floor, Shenhua Lost her footing due to the duffle bag dragging her sideways. Shenhua had misstepped and fell off balance but luckily shifted "ass first". Sliding a few steps, she was huffing and puffing out of anxiousness. Raising herself to her feet, she looked up and saw Ivan who had tapped her to get a move on quickly. Unsure where he appeared from and whether he saw her fall just moments before, strands of hair covered her left eye as she breathed heavily with her mouth open- she shook her head profusely acknowledging his suggestion.

Seeing Ivan slink away, Shenhua looked side to side and without any thoughts started darting again towards the blast hole the group had entered from. That's when the explosion sounded and she saw the others going about their way, whether it was Hannah waving her arms, Jack talking with her, or the deployment of smoke grenades.

Shenhua leaned back against the uneven arches of the exploded foundation. Her muscles aching from the sudden bursts of energy and duress of carrying both bags. Witnessing Weston pull his pistol, Shenhua looked back through the gaping hole. Her mind racing,

"他们做什么！？” she thought. A wave of irritation and annoyance began to cover her mind. The futility of fighting multiple ragons was obvious and hopeless! The smoke blocking her from witnessing any uniformed men outside, her assumption of the situation may have been mislead but she wasn't here to take chances or risk her life. Slinging the duffle bag around her back, and sliding her armed through Hannah's to have it cover her chest, Shenhua began shouting at those in her vicinity,

"Now! We Go! Fast, please!" making no efforts to speak properly or anunciate in common English tone.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Travis
...
His booted feet go clank-clank as he runs along the cat walk, huffing and puffing with exertion before coming to a full stop in front of a window that overlooked the parking lot and the fleeing soldiers. Their foreign uniforms didn’t dawn on the Engineer, all he saw were Humans in danger. He wasn’t a hero, nor was he trying to be one. The math was pretty simple; as many of them needed to survive as possible to eventually beat the Ragons. “Sorry sweetie...” He murmurs mournfully as he smashes the stock of his custom weapon against the glass, blowing it out onto the pavement below.

Grateful he had the sense to bring a handful of smoke bolts, Travis loaded one into his weapon and did some back of the napkin math on the approximate height of nearby buildings, the Ragon Gunship’s approximate line of sight, and the distance involved in the shot. The math seemed solid enough; well within the range of the Coil-Bow, and if he used five out of his six bolts, he could give the fleeing soldiers enough cover to hopefully make it inside before the alien craft repositioned. Here goes nothing.

Travis might have been slightly surprised by Hannah's reaction. She looked up as he started laying smoke, smiled slightly then gave him a thumbs-up. If anything, she looked grateful to have backup.

Monsieur Jean-Kuc Lafayette
Comrade Ivan Ivanovich Ivanovsky
He cocked the gun, and reloaded. “Ms. Brown, Ivan has evacuated along with a two person’s worth of supplies.”, he said to her. “Hopefully those soldiers would recognise this gunshot and go towards us in addition with your waving.”

"I suspect that might be right Monsieur Lafayette... And please just call me Hannah." Hannah replied, stepping back gingerly as smoke rolled in across the old parking lot. Shots were still raining down from the gravship. She'd have thought the smoke would have obscured the people below...

After a few moments a man appeared. Unlike most of the others he didn't look like a soldier. He was middle aged, middle-Eastern, wrote a weather-beaten leather jacket and was supporting the dead weight of a slim dark-haired woman on his shoulder, glassy eyes staring blankly into space, "She's been hit!" his voice was a little higher than one might have expected from a man of his size, his accent suggestive of an Oxbridge education.

The woman's eyes rolled, but that was about it, the thick barb of a tranquilliser dart projected from her left hip, "She'll be okay in a day,
Lafayette, can you give the gentleman a hand?" Hannah asked, scanning the fog. There didn't seem to be anyone else coming...

While the male in the group was not ostensibly a soldier, the ex-soldiers in the group would recognise the woman's uniform, particularly the blue beret strapped to her right shoulder: IDF. She was young as well, looked to be barely into her 20s; she had probably been a fresh recruit when the Ragons arrived. What on earth was she doing on this side of the Atlantic?

Abruptly a dart lanced through the smoke, straight towards Jack's midsection. There were big shapes moving out there. Big , hungry shapes.

[Endem]

Jack Gill
Definitely not in a mood for exploding

Jack was a simple man when he heard an explosion he knew to run away to safety, he, fortunately, was already on his way towards the tunnel, after the explosion rolled over he slipped into the tunnel, into the relative safety of the tunnel. He considered his chances and poked his head out of the tunnel

"Everyone! Get the f*ck in here" he then sighed and got further into the tunnel, waiting for everybody else, he then accessed the bag and took a spare water bottle. Soon the precious liquid was out of the bottle and in him, he walked deeper into the tunnels following those that were already there.

[Europa Undivided]

Travis
...
His booted feet go clank-clank as he runs along the cat walk, huffing and puffing with exertion before coming to a full stop in front of a window that overlooked the parking lot and the fleeing soldiers. Their foreign uniforms didn’t dawn on the Engineer, all he saw were Humans in danger. He wasn’t a hero, nor was he trying to be one. The math was pretty simple; as many of them needed to survive as possible to eventually beat the Ragons. “Sorry sweetie...” He murmurs mournfully as he smashes the stock of his custom weapon against the glass, blowing it out onto the pavement below.

Grateful he had the sense to bring a handful of smoke bolts, Travis loaded one into his weapon and did some back of the napkin math on the approximate height of nearby buildings, the Ragon Gunship’s approximate line of sight, and the distance involved in the shot. The math seemed solid enough; well within the range of the Coil-Bow, and if he used five out of his six bolts, he could give the fleeing soldiers enough cover to hopefully make it inside before the alien craft repositioned. Here goes nothing.

Travis might have been slightly surprised by Hannah's reaction. She looked up as he started laying smoke, smiled slightly then gave him a thumbs-up. If anything, she looked grateful to have backup.

Monsieur Jean-Kuc Lafayette
Comrade Ivan Ivanovich Ivanovsky
He cocked the gun, and reloaded. “Ms. Brown, Ivan has evacuated along with a two person’s worth of supplies.”, he said to her. “Hopefully those soldiers would recognise this gunshot and go towards us in addition with your waving.”

"I suspect that might be right Monsieur Lafayette... And please just call me Hannah." Hannah replied, stepping back gingerly as smoke rolled in across the old parking lot. Shots were still raining down from the gravship. She'd have thought the smoke would have obscured the people below...

After a few moments a man appeared. Unlike most of the others he didn't look like a soldier. He was middle aged, middle-Eastern, wrote a weather-beaten leather jacket and was supporting the dead weight of a slim dark-haired woman on his shoulder, glassy eyes staring blankly into space, "She's been hit!" his voice was a little higher than one might have expected from a man of his size, his accent suggestive of an Oxbridge education.

The woman's eyes rolled, but that was about it, the thick barb of a tranquilliser dart projected from her left hip, "She'll be okay in a day,
Lafayette, can you give the gentleman a hand?" Hannah asked, scanning the fog. There didn't seem to be anyone else coming...

While the male in the group was not ostensibly a soldier, the ex-soldiers in the group would recognise the woman's uniform, particularly the blue beret strapped to her right shoulder: IDF. She was young as well, looked to be barely into her 20s; she had probably been a fresh recruit when the Ragons arrived. What on earth was she doing on this side of the Atlantic?

Abruptly a dart lanced through the smoke, straight towards Jack's midsection. There were big shapes moving out there. Big , hungry shapes.

”Sacré bleu.”, Lafayette said aloud as the Middle Eastern folk entered into the departments store. They had the distinct badges on their arms, but for the most part, the first one he saw was the one from the Israeli Defence Force, carried by a man that looked like a graduate from some top university judging from accent and bearing. “Alrighty then.”, he responded to Hannah as he walked towards the Middle Eastern man to transfer the burden of carrying the unconscious Israeli woman to him. Now carrying her on his arms, he motioned to the others with his head. “Shall we call this a day then?”, he said... before a dart flew in from the smoke, hitting one of the others in the group with a resounding grunt.

Not knowing and not seeing who got hit, Jean began to move towards the tunnel. ”Foutues bêtes reptiliennes.”, he cursed lowly as he stopped to look If the others were following suit to his retreat. If they were, he would pick up his pace as he was not encumbered by any of the extra baggage that they had earlier.

[Sivala]

Travis Currie

The smoke and chaff wasn’t working! Why wasn’t it working?! The science behind them was sound! Smoke obscures line of sight and the chaff should be enough to defeat thermal and electromagnetic imaging! Maybe the Ragon saw things in another spectrum? Or their technology imaged in a different spectrum? Damn it, he was an engineer not a biologist!

Exasperated, Travis slips his last Smoke bolt back into his quiver. They’d have to go back to the drawing table, but for now it was time for old reliable. Explosives. He sighted down his Coil-Bow and took aim at the general direction of one of Lizardy shapes out there, the bolt whistling away with a clang and some incredible acceleration.

He was moving as soon as the bolt left the weapon to find another window, smashing that one open and repeating the same process over and over. The explosive bolts probably couldn’t kill a Ragon in one round, but they could definitely put the fear of a warm blooded God Into them. But sooner or later he’d run out of Explosive Bolts and have to try something else. Or worse; the Gunship would put its attention on him.