[PRP] Artifacts 101 (Lucky, Gale, Rep, Mark, Carl)

[Molten Tigrex]

"She's not my - you know what, never mind." Lucky watched Mark and the other hunter disappear out the door with extreme speed. He checked his heartbeat for any irregularities, but it just felt like it was going a mile a minute. If something was growing out of his heart, what would happen when it reached his brain? Wait, no, he knew the answer to that. He didn't want to right now, but he did. He fidgeted where he stood, cataloguing every hint of a possibility that he was showing symptoms of infection while simultaneously trying not to hyperventilate. "Just...hurry back with the vaccine... please?"

"Right, yeah, the text," Lucky responded to Gale faintly. All this hyperventilating and worrying was making him a little dizzy. "I... I need to just... lie down for a minute..."

Lucky slowly sat down, then laid down, on the floor of the office, looking like he was going to pass out at any moment. Nothing actually felt wrong, aside from the passing of a severe panic attack. He did make a big show of holding up his phone and slowly typing out a text to Sam - Charlotte - whoever - like he was about to drop dead at any moment. "Gale, what color are my eyes - wait, don't answer that -"

Quote:

Text from Lucky:

fine, we'll make the trade

"There," he lamented, throwing an arm over his eyes. And then un-threw it so he could stare at Carl and Rep from around the side of the desk as if in disbelief. "'We'? As in, chaperone a defenseless kid through a heavily guarded military base full of deadly disease, and guns, and also, more guns? And Charlotte?"

He relented almost instantly. "Sure. Knock yourself out."

Apathy was the least of his problems right now.

zoobey

kuropeco

baneful

 

[Zoobey]

The text reply back was almost immediate:

Text from Sam

Mark knows how to find me, I'll see you soon <3 <3 <3

The next text was to everyone in the room, except apparently Gale and Rep.

Text from Sam

Bring your small friend with you as collateral, time is ticking.

"No, her as in," Carl got as far as saying-

- "So," Mark suddenly interrupted, peering back into the room," Rep is okay with uh, others going right, because we have a small problem. I think they decided that Lucky wasn't enough as uh, collateral and want," here he paused and then spelled out, C A R L in a loud whisper.

"I can spell," said not-quite-trainee still wearing Gale's trainee coat said. He scooted out of the desk seat. "I'll- I'll go. What's the worst that could happen?"

Ironically, those were some of Lucky's most famous last words.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," the Death assistant sighed, not waiting for anyone else to pipe up because it seriously looked like Lucky was going to pass out any second. He belatedly realized the vaccine thing, and stabbed Lucky in the arm when he thought the other wasn't paying attention.

"I mean it's either that or like zombie brainjuice, so here's the new plan. Me and Gale are going to sneak to the main core and Lucky, Carl, and Rep are going to confront Charlotte." He paused. "Maybe nix the sex thing and just go for like, crazy distractions."

"She'll help too," Carl chimed in.

"Okay cool." Mark rubbed his hands together, "So we'll need plenty of time to prepare. How about we meet up in oh, about a week or so?"

Silence.

"Fine. I'll meet you guys down there. Please bring runics." He kept on looking at Gale and Rep as he said this for some reason.

*

Mark disappeared for about ten minutes before he finally showed up at the lighthouse again, this time holding all his tech. "Setting up," was all he said before counting the number of heads. He looked grim as he began to set up portal coordinates. "Everyone good to go?"

xBaneful

xMolten Tigrex

xkuropeco

 

[Baneful]

Rep didn't freak out too much about Luckys condition given that at the very least they had an antidote. He was also functionally immune to it himself for whatever reason. "You'll be awright." He offered helpfully.

It was only when they artived at the portals kitted up to the nines that rep realised what the numbers Cael had left in his sleep could be.

"Mark." He said heading over. "I er. I've had some more weird dreams. Carl was there and er not-Carl. He wrote these." He held up his phone. "Look like coords to you? Are they near the place we are going?"


 

[kuropeco]

Lucky was on the floor. Gale stared at him for a good, long second, then said sardonically, "I'll just tell you then if you're about to go postal, shall I?"

Lucky's phone was still beeping. Gale's eyes automatically went to the screen, because texting Charlotte - or Sam - or whoever she was - was a dangerous business, making a deal even more so. His gaze cut to Carl, then to Mark at the interruption, then back to Carl, and the all-too-familiar coat.

"Who is 'she?' " Gale was still bellowing in exasperation, even as they were all breaking to get ready. There were too many questions and not nearly enough answers and Mark was being unhelpfully useful for once, except in a way that was giving Gale a headache.

He arrived back at the lighthouse with his runic gear strapped to his person and a look of annoyance on his face.

"You dream of Caelius?" Gale asked Rep, catching the tail end of the conversation and squinting at him as he tried to figure out if Lucky was actually coming or not.

baneful

molten tigrex

zoobey

 

[Molten Tigrex]

Lucky, unsurprisingly, arrived last, armed with a runic knife modeled after a jungle-slashing machete, and a customary roll of bandages for any inevitable gaping wounds that a lack of fear shields seemed to invite. His usual outfit was enhanced by some heavy boots, gloves, and wrapping his scarf tightly around his neck. It wasn't much protection from the vines and plants Charlotte was known for cultivating, but it made him feel a little bit better.

Despite it all, Lucky still looked nervous, though at least somewhat less after Mark had surprise-vaccinated him. At the very least he'd stopped being overdramatic. Without context to Gale's question, he gave both of the other death hunters a very odd look. "Don't know, don't want to know."

"Do you know where she is?" he asked Mark uncertainly, pulling out his phone to reread his texts again.

zoobey

baneful

kuropeco

 

[Zoobey]

"Dude Gale, don't even ask about the their threesome thing, I've tried." Mark took a look at Rep's phone, and then at Carl, who was watching Mark's computer with a strange sort of curiousity. "He wrote those? With what a psychic dream pen?"

Nonetheless he took another look at the coordinates, and then very hesitantly, keyed them in. Nothing showed up on the signal, and the Death assistant relaxed in relief. "Maybe it's like, I dunno, just a dream."

"Rogue one, check the coordinates again, but detect a heavy absence of Fear. That's one of the biggest secret base tells they have, the fact that it suppresses everything." And there was the O-tattoo Hunter, the one that said he was not going. He sighed and ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "I wasn't going to come, but it was just getting weird with Oz around with his bong and his- his medicinal weed, and you guys look-" he waved his hand vaguely.

"Fear levels at zilch," The Death assistant sighed, "I tried pinging the satellite there too, and got no bounce back." He looked grim.

"Arctic base." Tattoo Hunter confirmed, inhaling deeply. "We found it." A pause. "Finally."

Mark was still re-scanning the coordinates, an area that was entirely blacked out from any pre-rendered mapping on his screen. He rubbed his temples with his free hand, making the deep circles under his eyes even more obvious. "Fine, change of plans. Lucky, me and Carl are going for the decoy Amazon base so they don't know we know, Sam, Gale and Rep are going for the Arctic base, which we just discovered and have no information on." A pause. "Well maybe just don't touch anything - wait where's Sam."

Before Lucky and Rep could ask the inevitable question of who the heck was Sam, Mark immediately stood up and flailed erratically. "Headsets on, everyone go now. No time to explain!"

OOC MISSION INFORMATION

gaia_crown [ BASE 1: (AMAZON BASE)
Team: Lucky, Mark, (Carl sort of)

show spoilerhide spoiler

Mark practically shoves Lucky through the portal before gesturing for the last of the group to follow. They arrive at a surprisingly well sheltered area, next to gigantic green foliage.

"Well duh," the Death assistant says to Lucky before he can open his mouth, "you don't seriously think we're just going to portal to their doorsteps with no backup plan right?" He tapped his cellphone against Lucky's Spectre watch and strapped one to Carl as well. "You two are going to go to your girlfriend Lucky, I'm going to set up the decoys. When I give you the cue on the headset, you guys need to lose anyone following you, and the watch will show you back to the portal."

He continued stare at Lucky several times. "Don't do anything weird seriously don't make regret using the last vaccine for no reason." He would usher them through a very well concealed route about fifteen minutes away before tapping on his headset. "Remember the cue. I'll be listening to anything strange and advise as I can."

As Mark left, the two of them were also left with the very obvious outer walls of what was most likely the Ourboros Amazon base, a place that looked more like a fortress than even the Deus HQ.

"She's not here," Carl said, almost a little sad, before remembering they were doing spy thing and then whispering. "I think she's with them." He followed Lucky as they just stood right outside the walls, just slightly out of visual range in the underbrush. "What are we doing now?"

gaia_crown [ BASE 2: (HIDDEN BASE)
Team: Rep, Gale, Sam

show spoilerhide spoiler

Frigid wind blasted them the second they arrived, the howling deafening their ears for just a moment until they adjusted. It was dark outside.

"If they'd keep anything they didn't want us to find around, it would be here," the tattooed Hunter said, wrapping his coat a little tighter around him. "Wait-"

He managed as far as that in the conversation before there were shouts in the distance and sentries shooting at them through the murky dark and snow. Swearing, he shot back with a custom runic shotgun, and then dodged behind a thick pile of upturned snow. "Find an entrance, we need to get inside. Preferably before we get overrun."

There was definitely something solid in the pile of snow, and stomping against it proved it to be hollow, but there seemed no visible entryway or door latch in sight.

[ ROLLING TO GET DOOR ]
- Both Gale and Rep can try to roll to get door. If either of them get it they are safe! Roll 1d6 to try for door. Odd = they find a hatch, and open it, to skirt inside, even = no luck.

Baneful

Read your mission spoiler tag for info!

Molten Tigrex

Read your mission spoiler tag for info!

kuropeco

Read your mission spoiler tag for info!

 

[Molten Tigrex]

BASE 1 - AMAZON

Lucky had no time to react to the change of plans - or Sam's identity - before Mark had pushed him through the portal. He wasn't sure what he expected - but a serene jungle wasn't it. At least he knew to keep his mouth shut long enough to commit Mark's plan to memory, following the route while trying to touch the plants as little as possible. He didn't have anything to say to Mark's request for no weirdness - or the fact that that had been the last vaccine they had.

"Uh-huh. Right. Yeah," Lucky kept repeating dully after each of Mark's warnings. He took the time to readjust his watch and headset, giving his 'mission partner' a look of obvious concern. It was starting to really sink in that he and Carl were about to march into one of Charlotte's strongholds, alone. Lucky missed Rep and Gale already. "Thanks, Mark."

And then there were two.

"Who, Charlotte?" Lucky asked Carl nervously over his shoulder, trying to stay quiet as well. He still wasn't questioning Carl's impressive psychic powers. He wasn't questioning a lot of things about Carl - like if he had brought his own set of runic daggers to defend himself with, or why he was a kid now, or whether he still remembered that time Lucky had tried to join this organization. Nope, not important.

"Uh," Lucky stalled, glancing down at his apparent mission partner. If there was one thing he wasn't used to doing, it was ordering Caelius around. He didn't think he'd ever get used to it, it was just wrong. "I guess... we go knock on the front door?"

Lucky glanced both ways along the imposing wall. It didn't really matter where to start. He stayed within the safety of the jungle foliage, walking the shaded perimeter in search of a door, or a gate, or anywhere they could attract Charlotte's attention. And, more importantly, entrances were also exits. Lucky wanted to know exactly where to run when the time came.

zoobey

 

[Zoobey]

AMAZON BASE

There was the sound of rapid gunfire, several shots just barely missing Lucky, and then silence again.

Finally, the gate door opened, and two reluctant guards, both holding runic firearms came and forcefully escorted Lucky and his new side quest in.

"I have it from here, thank you boys," and there Charlotte was, exactly as she always was, wearing a fancy red coat this time with a delicate lace trim. She had her long curls tied into a high ponytail, and was wearing a different coloured plaid scarf this time, everything looking very expensive. In the sweltering heat and humidity, she looked very out of place, and nodded to Lucky. "This way, mind your step please."

They walked through several layers of armed sentries until they were deep, deep inside the building. There, she went into the elevator and they went up to a floor marked PH. The skylight on the top floor was bright, though it was surprisingly devoid of foliage, unlike last time, the area in the center created like a large solar room, with a long table in the center.

"Have a seat," she gestured, pouring herself a cup of tea. An extravagance of sweets and finger sandwiches lay around them. "Only the best afternoon tea for my lovely guests, why I remember when we had a wonderful experience last time, though we do seem short a guest or two."

Carl was still standing, hesitantly, a little closer to Lucky, and Charlotte just smiled. "Come now, I don't bite. If you're worried you shouldn't be, we get along very well."

It was just the three of them in the conservatory space and it was tense for a bit as Charlotte helped herself to a raspberry scone and Carl just quietly sat there.

Finally, after taking a bite, she piped up again. "I love this jam spread, it is so lovely, there's only two places in the world that make by hand anything this good." She paused and took another bite. "Lucky, do you know what you, this jam, and this scone all have in particular?"

Molten Tigrex

 

[Molten Tigrex]

Amazon Base

How Charlotte could remain immaculate in sweltering forty-degree heat would remain a mystery. She was pretty, in the same way that venomous animals were often alluringly colorful.

After passing a certain number of high security checkpoints, Lucky had given up on counting, and resigned himself to the idea that maybe he'd have to find another way out later. In the elevator, his right hand twitched uselessly; he wanted to grip the handle of his runic dagger for safety, but that was sure to give off the wrong impression. Still, he had to worry - she had an impossibel number of guards at her disposal and didn't bring a single one with them. As if she didn't regard either of them as a threat worth guarding against.

"Nice place," he ventured, trying to build up his confidence little by little, trying to hold on to the hateful grudge he'd steadily built against her. He made an obvious show of looking around, mostly in the hopes there were more exits. The penthouse was extravagant, but surprisingly lifeless. There was no garden or Grail here, apparently. He adjusted his glasses as he spoke. "Shame about the old one though... you might want to hire a better gardener next time."

Like a thorn in her side, he wanted to say as she spoke to Carl. It took him a moment to notice that Carl was standing even closer, and actually seemed nervous about Charlotte. Well. That made two of them. At Charlotte's invitation, Lucky slowly took a seat, and after about three seconds realized he should motion for Carl to as well. Like before, he didn't touch the food. He didn't think it was possible to feel more tense than last time, but somehow, it was. She was already probing to see what had happened to Gale and Rep. Again, and even though he was seated rgiht beside him, he almost missed Caelius and how he knew what the hell he was supposed to do in this kind of situation. Lucky tried changing the subject.

"You've done something new with your hair," he observed wryly as she served herself. The detail wasn't lost on him. It had been years since she had died, but Sam had worn her hair the same way. She'd also had expensive tastes, and a great deal of interest in secrets. Gale had claimed she was dead, but Lucky never had the closure to truly come to terms with it. That, and Charlotte seemed to mock her memory on a regular basis.

"Uh." But all of the bravado he'd been carefully building fell apart the moment she turned her full focus on him. Lucky was never great at hiding his desperation to stay alive. In his hyper-focus on surviving he'd almost forgotten they were supposed to be making a trade, or pretending to. "That you... love them?"

zoobey

SORRY NOT SORRY

 

[Baneful]

Rep was a little crestfallen when Mark dismissed the co-ordinates, feeling a bit stupid for admitting the fact he'd had a dream at all. He made an annoyed little huffing sound at the comment about a threesome and looked away, crossing his arms. He stopped sulking when Sam came back and added a bit more insight into what it could be. No fear meant no weapons and he found himself reaching up briefly to give the piercings in his ear which were Tracey's totem a brief affectionate rub.


<>

"Did you say Arctic?" he grinned. "My ******** favourite." And he had mercifully dressed for it, since he almost always did, in defiance of all sane logic.

Stopping by Carl, he ruffled the guy's hair affectionately. "Please for the love of god, stay out of trouble for five minutes." Mark got a nod of his own. "And don't ******** get killed either or I'll vader you back together."

HIDDEN BASE
As they stepped out into the cruel cold, surrounded by darkness, Rep felt like he was stepping back into a familiar world, there was something of the embrace in the world out here, a cold that punished you evenly and fairly. It didn't expect anything of you but to die and every moment you didn't made you stronger.

It was dark, and that itself was novel, he'd almost forgotten what it felt like to be unable to see, the dagger around his neck had made it that he could see in the dark around himself even when it was pitch black, but here with the suppression, he couldn't see.

And they were being shot at. Normally that wouldn't have been too much of a problem either but he was struck by the sudden and very mortal nature of their situation and it was suddenly quite a big ******** deal. "Come on come on." he said as he scrabbled through the snow, trying to find a way in, feeling ******** ******** <******** he hit something. "Here?!" he called out.
 

[Zoobey]

AMAZON BASE

Charlotte made a small noise and covered her mouth with one hand, and it sounded like she was trying not to laugh at Lucky's remark. "I'm happy you really built up your self confidence there, Lucky, but I'm not quite ready to commit." She refilled her tea. "I'm speaking of indulgence. I assume, being in the division you are, you have some understanding of the art of observation. What kind of person am I? What kind of things do I like?"

She picked up a finger sandwich, delicately made, and examined it, picking out the prosciutto only. "I like luxury and I like indulgence. Not everyone wants to live in the state you-" here she looked at Lucky and Carl - "do, and not everyone wishes to gain well, everything. At some point, I realized I am happy with what I have." Charlotte paused, and fanned out her ponytail a bit more. "I am happy with things as they are now."

The way she said it was beyond subtle.

Molten Tigrex

 

[Zoobey]

ARCTIC BASE - REP

"Go," shouted who was most likely Sam, "Move it."

The next part was chaos, of gunfire and muffled shouting noises, of someone falling over and a spray blood - but there was no time to hesitate or think, Rep's hands would close around the latch and it was open, and someone was pushing him down, far far down, he fell for quite a few steps, there was a clank-

- And then silence.

Only Rep had made it inside.

"Find the operations base," came Sam's muffled voice through the headset, "if you can't find that, just look for another entrance for us. We need to find another way in."

It was even chillier on the inside than it was outside, the layout of the place just a series of long railings crisscrossing all directions to various airlocked doors.

Baneful

 

[Zoobey]

ARCTIC BASE - GALE

"Don't worry about me," Sam was clutching his bleeding arm, "this happens to me every single time. I can't believe I chose this over happy fun times with Oz." He hissed, and then ducked again, looking at Gale, and then checking his Spectre watch. "I honesty don't know if Rep is going to find another way in, we got to lose them first. This way."

They ran through what seemed like endless snow and darkness - it was almost stiflingly cold and the wind was picking up again, roaring loudly and cutting through all else. It seemed like an eternity before Sam finally grabbed a hold of Gale. "Here."

He crouched next to something that was hissing very lightly, emitting smoke that was just slightly paler than the snow and night sky. A steam vent. "Help me break this open."

kuropeco

 

[kuropeco]

ARCTIC BASE - GALE


Gale had approximately thirty seconds of blistering cold to catch sight of Rep before his infamously red head had disappeared. The barrage of fire was more on his mind than his vanishing comrade, however; he ducked to the side, scrabbling for his runic gun, and found Samuel with a red arm and a look of exasperation.

"Is there such a thing as happy time with Oz?" Gale couldn't help but ask, but then they were running, and all he could feel was the vibrant, icy chill and the numbness of his fingers and toes.

A hand closed around his arm; Gale tumbled sideways, staggering in the frigid air, and reached for the vent, wishing he had gloves. Icy fingers curled into the vent and Gale yanked as hard as he could.

"What is this?"

zoobey

 

[Baneful]

ARCTIC BASE - REP

Rep tumbled down the stairs a short way, every bump and fall felt more intensely than usual. He lay there for a short time, gathering himself before pulling himself to his feet.

It was ******** dark down here too and he still couldn't see very well without his artifact's effects. He fished out an emergency glowstick and used it to see as best he could in the gloom.

"Fine." he said grimly. "You guys take care."

He didn't know where he was going, but he went anyway, following the railings along with every single sound he made seeming amplified tenfold with the quiet.