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Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)


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Third Headquarters Base - 00:05hrs, Monday June 5th, 2000

Somewhere in Nevada...

To enter into the lower levels of Third Headquarters requires going through the Radar Tower, following the garage path to a vehicle elevator, and entering a long code on a hidden panel. Lauren ended near enough to the Commander and the presumptive head of science in the large elevator, the nineteen other recruits spreading out across the mobile platform in a semi-disciplined manner, and was just able to pick up their conversation over the grumbled whispers of her new comrades.

"You recruited more than I thought," the thin woman whispered while facing the back wall, before turning around.

The commander didn't visibly react, and continued to stand calmly at the far end of the platform facing the recruits. "I wanted to pad out the ranks."

One of the other recruits approaches the Commander and companion and introduces herself, Brianna Langray. She seems to be a friendly woman.

After a small chat the commander addresses the small crowd. "Everyone, this is the head of our science division, Doctor Yvonne Ingham. While she isn't military, understand that she is in charge or your health during your tour of duty with us." "Ahead of us is the command center, the heart of our operations where we will be briefing you for you missions. To your left is," he points to his right, "is the entrance to the cafeteria, while behind you is the main entrance to the barracks, which has an access to the armoury. I've give you a moment to drop off your belongings before joining me in the command center."

In the barracks there is a short hallway that breaks into a T-section. On the left are two doors to dorms, then a steel door with "Armoury" printed on the sign, on the right are two other dorms, and then six smaller rooms with single beds. Lauren will find a dorm room with her name labelled to the door, along with six other names. Four male and another female. Further down the hall are two door-less entrances to the cafeteria to the right, and the showers to the left.
 

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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

Lauren's eyebrow arched ever so slightly as she just barely picked up the conversation between fhd doctor and the commander. She wasn't eavesdropping per say, or really trying to, she just happened to catch part of it while standing at attention. When she was introduced to the doctor, Lauren would give a brisk salute and sharp, "Yes, Sir!" She then would address the doctor, "Pleasure to meet you doc! I'm counting on you to keep in top shape and in one piece out here." She said congenially before Brianna made her presence known. She would shake Brianna's hand and give her a simple greeting before taking hsf belongings and heading into the barracks and crashing on the bunk designated her. If Brianna or anyone else tried to make conversation, she would go along, if not she would catch her breath for a moment before heading to the debriefing.
 
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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

The doctor merely politely nods to Lauren. Brea however, is much more forward. "Hello there... Lauren wasn't it? I'm Brea. I hope we can be friends and help out around here. I mean, they are paying us pretty well for all this after all," Brea says to Lauren, taking her hand and firmly shaking it with a friendly smile before she turns back to the doctor and being requested to submit to a medical checkup.

The other recruits quickly scatter to the dorms, eager to lay claim to particular dorms. Upon arriving in the barracks, Lauren finds that most rooms already have labels assigning people to them.

The entrance hallway in the command center is flanked by offices with large windows looking into the hallway. Several are dark, though one has large ominous shape barely visible in the gloom. In the center room is a depression flanked by consoles manned by various technicians. What catches people's attention however is the fully functional holographic projection of a globe hovering only the fact that it is slightly pixelated, barely translucent and occasionally flickering gives away that it isn't an art piece hanging by thin wires.

When he is sure everyone has entered the main room, the Commander begins to address the crowd. "Now that we're all here, I can give you all the briefing on our program's mandate." A few people excitedly pipe up. "If you would all look to your right," he points to a darkened office with obscured dark form and it suddenly becomes lit, causing some recruits to gasp. Inside was some sort of large serpent or worm lying dead on a gurney, covered in chitin obviously broken by gun shots, with a chitin frill around it's neck. "You may or may not have believed in extraterrestrials visiting our little planet before today," the Commander begins with a grave tone, "and it wouldn't have mattered until that particular species payed us a visit. Now our planet is quickly becoming a focal point to an interstellar shout-out between slavers and militants looking to get piece of our blue marble before the bigger players in the galaxy find out about what is going on here and make decision on how they want us handled. Until that point however, we have to both protect our little marble and make a showing to the rest of the extraterrestrials that we're not push overs, all while keeping the existence of aliens a secret from the general public." He sighs before continuing. "Of note is that we're not beholden to any treaties regarding technology or taking prisoners, so we've also been tasked with learning as much from our unwanted visitors, whether they cooperate or not.

"This is the XXX-zone Program. Our Motto is Extraterrestrial Elimination and Experimentation."

Several of the recruits alternate between gasping and grumbling, and a few a still too shocked to react, staring at the alien cadaver. Brea is particularly vocal with her questioning, "B-But why would they come here, sir?"

Doctor Ingham is quick on the uptake, "As far as we can tell, the vast majority of visitors until recently were various scientists making observations about the planet and our development; biologists, ecologists, sociologists. We were protected by various laws by the major galactic powers until we could make contact with another species ouselves. That should have been peaceful contact with another civilization when we managed to develop FTL, however that species there has screwed that up. Despite being individually non-sentient and being incapable or adhering to interstellar law, they count as a trans-stellar civilization themselves, which has opened up the way for other, equally unfriendly civilisations to interact with us."

Several week protests can be heard throughout he crowd, and the and several of the technicians have empathic but unsurprised expression. "Our biggest issue," the commander continues, "is that we have to way to contact the Galactic Council. We lack the technology, and haven't detected any of the science observers nor have a way to get their attention, so the galaxy at large isn't aware of our plight. As for what factions are currently interested in us, well allow me to introduce our welcome guest, Mizrin." He gestures towards, the tiny person in a trenchcoat, who has removed his hat and sunglasses, revealing is now obviously inhuman features; his lack of nose and large black oval eyes. His skin is a dark olive colour and unblemished. He has no hair on his round head, which is the same size of humans even if the cranial dome takes up larger proportion of it. Despite his large head, he is not even three feet tall.

"My people's warriors will be visiting this planet to hone their combat skills against whatever other creature's decide to visit, as well as your own military and police forces. But overall, this world is not viable for a proper invasion." He points through the crowd to the corpse, "It's those monsters you need to worry about most. To the more developed civilizations they are deadly nuisance, but manageable using orbital artillery and extermination droids. To a feral world they are an apocalypse, going straight to the galaxy's apex predator's stomach. To a planet like yours? Well, we've never found evidence of them meeting any pre-stellar civilization, and we have most of the galaxy mapped. Perhaps you will fare well?"

Many recruits are reeling at meeting an alien in person. The commander quickly abades their fears. Mizrin has agreed to help us communicate with extraterrestrials when we develop the communication technology, as well give us valuable tactical information on every species we encounter, including his own, in exchange for retrieving his equipment. Which brings me to my next point. There's another group that knows about the state of affairs our planet is facing, and they are not sanctioned by the UN or any of the world governments. What we do not about them is that they are involved with several weapon smuggling cartels and late third world warlords. I don't believe these are the kinds of people that should have access to more advanced weaponry."

The commander nods, "Understandably. I expect you all to understand that everything happens here or on your operations is considered classified to the highest order, but to share information freely between each other. Learn from-" a chirping beep from one of the terminals interrupts, and quickly everything changes. All the technicians spring to action and begin interacting with their consoles. "Scrambles the Erinyes. I want them them ready to go as soon as we have trajectory."

"Should we go and get ready in armour then, sir?"

The commander shakes his head. "Not until we know what we are dealing-" only to be interrupted by Mizrin. "It's been spotted still above the atmosphere and you haven't lost track of it instantly, which means it isn't using stealth devices. Either the pilot wants your attention, doesn't care about stealth, or it is a Boorus flesh pod. If it enters the air slower than Mach 6 and is a coney blob shape, then it is a Boorus and will simply drop to the ground before you have any chance to intercept." The commander glances at Doctor Ingham, who nods, "The math checks out. We won't be able to intercept even if we spotted it five minutes ago and it was dropping right in our front yard."

The Commander nods before turning back to the technicians, who looks up from the console to exclaim, "We have a visual, barely. It's some sort of cone with a tail." The commander looks at the Brea and the recruits. "Looks like we have mission already. Any volunteers before I start picking?" another chirping sound interrupts. "Second Contact! Lost it" Mizrin pips up, "And that would be one of my kind looking for a fight. Your bombers may be able to shoot him down before he can land. He'll be heading for the Boorus." The Commander hisses. "All right new plan. Team One and will be tasked with hunting down the Boorus. Do not let any of those things live. Team Two will consist of Tindall, Wolters, Orphan, and Sepirco, and will be tasked with fighting off the Zhetans-" "There'll be just one." "-if we shoot it down and it ends up in a separate area. Scramble all the planes. Team One will need extra fire-power and can take the LMG. Once we have trajectory I'll need to make some calls. Move it people."
 

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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

Lauren was needless to say, very conflicted once Mizrin made his presence known; aliens had been responsible for the loss of her family, along with several other innocent families who had been torn asunder or destroyed by the invasion. But she also knew better to let her personal feelings get in the way of her duty. She would grit her teeth a little and shift in her seat slightly at hearing Mizrin's explaining of his people's presence on their planet, it's like going to another country and attacking their wildlife and picking a fight with their citizenry! Only there wasn't any way Earth could realistically detain or sentence them. She had to fight to keep from facepalming as she heard the commander mention smuggling cartels trying to make a quick easy buck off the alien weaponry. It's like giving the Mafia nukes, or a bunch of five year olds automatic weapons! They're fucking around with something they can't possibly hope to control or understand. She thought to herself. At the sound of alarm claxxon, she would surprisingly find herself the first to bolt up from her seat. Upon hearing that one of Mizrin's people had come to their planet looking for a fight Lauren's sense of logic would force her to speak up for the first time, "Sir! With all due respect, if it's just one enemy landing, isn't a whole team kind of... excessive? One properly trained and experienced soldier should be enough to take it out, shouldn't they? I would think that the majority of our forces ought to address the bigger threat of the Boorus." She let her thoughts be known, but like a good soldier would comply with the command given to her by CO; so whether she was reassigned to the Boorus or left accompanying the others to deal with Mizrin's "friend" she would proceed to gear up and head to her objective with her squad...
 
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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

Mizrin cocks his head at Lauren's suggestion to have someone engage the Zhetan alone. The Commander shakes his head, "Zhetan warriors are very well equipeted. You'll get a better description when you are briefed en-route to your mission. Now go."

It doesn't take long for the ten operatives to reach the armoury and load up on weapons. Lauren will find a brand new piece of light armour still in the shink wrap. There is a small discussion among Team One on who should use the LMG, but they sort it out and spread some extra drum of ammo among them. Next to Lauren, a big German woman, Bernadetter Wolters was mubling as she was putting on her thin armour, "I wish we got the LMG."

Roll to influence Commander: 60 + 2 + 0 = Failure
 

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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

"Understood, Sir. I'll take your word for it. You heard him, people. Let's move!" Lauren saluted the commander before rushing out to get geared up with the rest of her team. She would quickly don her armor and equip her weapons laid out for them before the German woman would speak up mumbling about their particular load out. "The second team probably needs the extra fire power for dealing with the flesh pod. Not to mention we're short on fundings, equipment and the likes need to be divvied out to optimize our chances of success. Maybe once we start getting a little coin in from Uncle Sam we can start to get some better toys as well. Until then, we gotta make do with what we're given. I'm Lauren by the way, Lauren Orphen. What's your name?"
 
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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

"Bernadette Volters," the woman replies with a slight accent. "Just call me Votlers. I look forward to fighting beside you, Lauren." She grabs one of the assault rifles, a pistol and full load of ammo. "I will take extra grenades," she says quietly before grabbing three and heading out to the elevator.

One of the technicians gets on the elevator just as it starts moving carrying a cardboard box. "I hope you guys are hungry, because I have some protein bars for you. Eat them before the plane reaches altitude and you catch some sleep." He holds out the box and lets people grab as many as they want as the elevator climbs. "The VTOL is just past those doors there." He points as they come into view above.

As the elevator reaches the top, the hanger doors open and reveal a large cargo plane with a heavy pair of wings with three jet engines each. The rear ramp is lowered ready for operatives to climb in.

On the plane, people are busy strapping themselves in. Laurren will note that like a civilian plane the seats are all facing forwards with a robust set of straps to hold people in.

The Pilot is the last to get on the plane, but quickly makes her way to the cockpit. "Everyone strapped," she checks as she passes by, strapping herself into her seat when she's happy. "Good. I hope you guys like wild rides because this isn't just a any fancy VTOL troop carrier. Our good doctor has redesigned this bird from the ground up to handle my favourite feature." Two pairs clunks and clanks can be heard from the top of the carrier. "Those are solid fuel rocket boosters, just like the space shuttle. We need to be able to get anywhere in the world in two hours, and this gets us closer to that goal." A thick throbbing hum vibrates the cabin for few seconds before Lauren can feel an rapid lifting sensation. "The engines also start almost instantly. Once we reach six thousand feet, I turn the wings forward, turn off the engines and ignites the boosters. After that it's three glorious hours of rocket powered turbulence. You're going to get dizzy, you're going to pass out, but you won't lose your lunch. The Gees will keep it in your stomach." Everyone else in the cabin is already staring wide eyed forwards, hoping this woman is exaggerating. "Oh look, we're already there! Here we go!" Short bit of slow forward movement is felt before the full force of the rocket boosters pushes everyone into the back of their seat. After several moments of the intense sensation of speed, Lauren's vision begins to blur and turn dark, and all she is aware of for the next two hours is intense shaking.
 

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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

"Likewise, Volters" Lauren answered as she would grab her standard issue gear "I'll do my best to make sure you don't get killed. We're going to be relying on each other and the others out there. So let's go do our best and give the alien Hell, okay?" She said smacking Volters backside good once before heading towards the elevator to the VTOL. When the man carrying the cardbox offered them the protein bars, Lauren would grab a couple of fistfuls, before tearing open and beginning to non on it. She would strap her self into a seat next to Volters before the captain would come on board and explain things to them. Lauren was a little unnerved by the sudden lifting sensation and would sweatdrop as the captain would inform then of the jet boosters, "Wait... Seriou-OOOHFUUUU-!" before eventually blacking out from the sheer force of the ride, her last thoughts being This is some shit I am seriously going to have to get fucking used to...
 
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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

Some time later, Lauren becomes aware that the shaking has stopped. After a few minutes, she can hear the Pilot speaking "Check, check. Command this is Albatross-1, do you read? ... Roger. All systems check out. Boosters have gone dead and have been dropped over sea. Currently decelerating over central Gabon. ETA to first drop off thirty minutes. ETA to second drop off thirty minutes." The other passengers also rouse and begin to groan at the sudden return to conciousness.

Wolters quietly swears under her breath as she comes to. She turns to her new friend. "You awake, Lauren? I feel like the time I tried to wrestle a drunken bull."
 

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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

"Huh...Wh-Wha...? Red Bull...? I could sure use one right now.... Huh !? Oh! Hey Wolters... And y-yeah... Just barely... I feel like someone stuffed a chloroform rag in my mouth... U-ugh... I hope that's something that will get better in time... And really!? You really tried to wrestle a drunk bull!? That must have been some party..." She says as she hears the pilot report back to command,"Captain. Will further details or debriefing be given when we arrive? What are needing to be on the look out for? Do we have any more information on the alien target? Anything in particular we need to be weary of when approaching?"
 
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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

"Hang on, hang on. Is everyone awake?" She yells back over her shoulder. "Good, good. The Commander didn't have time to give you some intel, but you will get some with your briefing now, so listen up." A click and the PA system hums to life.

"Good afternoon everyone," comes the Commander's voice. "I know that a briefing after a G-force coma isn't what the doctor prescribes, but this is the cost of having an applicable response time across the globe. Now for your mission. Team Two will be dropped off first near a former missionary town to engage the Zhetan Warrior. In general, a Zhetan stands at most a meter tall and is as strong as emaciated human of the same size. What makes them so dangerous is their technology. According to Mizrin, his race has claimed to have mastered cybernetics, and regularly employ the use of neurally controlled powered armour in their military. They also make use automated drones programmed with, to them, rudimentary artificial intelligence, also neurally controlled. So to answer a few question you may have, you will be facing a single Zhetan combatant whom will be armoured like a small tank and guarded by at least two drones fitted with machine guns. A daunting foe, perhaps. But be content that they prefer ballistic weapon technology similar to our own. Satellite scans report that there are no other humans in the area, as the town has long since been vacated."

Volters swears under her breath, "I knew we should have gotten the bigger gun."
 
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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

After hearing the commanders debriefing, Lauren would comment over to Wolters and try offer a strategy for dealing with the Zhetan. "Our enemy is well armored and a big mother fucker. A direct assault will be doomed, especially with the drones. I think we should set up some fox holes and the likes and have our best shooters hiding in wait to try to snipe the serverbots out. After that we should consider a volley of grenades at first, to try to soften the power suit or neutralize any shields. Then we should press a forward assault while the enemy is weakened and trying to recover from the initial attack. Since we don't have exactly have the biggest fire power, were going to have to play it smarter..." She commented waiting for any response from command or her fellow comrades.
 
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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

Miss Volyers nods in agreement. "Ya. Good thing I grabbed extra."

The commander continues. "Now Team One has the more important task. Somewhere in the Democratic Republic of the Congo we have a budding infestation. While Zhetan Warriors will be content to land and cause trouble, they will leave after completing their tasks or getting bored" He says darkly before taking a deep breath. "The Boorus are landing with the intent to colonize and terraform our planet. We aren't certain how, and Mizrin says that such a process has never been observed, only the end results. All that we know is that they show up in these pods and land basic xenomorphs to begin eating the local wildlife, including both fauna and flora. After some time they will dig an elaborate tunnel and start laying as many eggs as they can produce. We need to be on top of these pods otherwise we lose our planet to an ever growing swarm of invaders. Team One is being dropped off somewhere in the jungle, an area rich with biological resources for them feed if given enough time. It will take weeks before the first eggs hatch, so there is still time to gain control of the situation."

There is a short pause, giving the people in the cabin enough time to stary discussing strategy. A chinese woman brings up fire only to be shot down one of her team mates.

The speaker pipes up again. "Ah, a couple of requests from, me, Doctor Ingham. Try to keep as much of the invaders and their equipment intact while killing them. The more intact specimens are easier to research. Also, Team Two is not to secure to Zhetan's damaged landing pod as it will self-destruct when its owner has died and we lack the means to disable the function at this time."

Volters chuckles. "Don't worry, Frau Doctor, I will only use as many bullets as needed," she jokes, causing some the other team members to chuckle.

"Final Sat-scan shows at least six large heat signatures that are likely to be Boorus. There may be more, but the foliage and native animals makes an exact count difficult. Team Two's area is still clear of heat signatures, and we believe that the Zhetan has taken cover in a building."

"Six eh... well, surely we can handle it," Brea says confidenlty from the front, her team emphatically agreeing with her.

There is a short buzz of static before the distinct voice of the little green extraterestial comes out of the speakers. "This is Mizrin. Doctor Ingham doesn't believe me, but -you ask for my help, now you get it!- but many of my people, and others, are certain that despite not having technology the Boorus can communicate instantly without using sound or using line of sight, and are likely to posses psionic-telepathy. If one creature spots you, the rest will be aware of it at the speed of thought. -Yes, woman! Psychic powers are real!-" The speakers buzz with static again for a second before the commander's voice is heard again. "Sorry about that. The good doctor and our guest have disagreed about this for some time. Take this information under consideration as you see fit."

"Team Two, Mizrin has let us know that the standard armament a lown ranking Zhetan will be kinetic weaponry comparable to our own; small yeild bullets propelled at super sonic speeds. Each of a zhetan's drones will be equipted with a similar weapon, and most of those lower rank and file will be able to afford at most four drones, unless he is a particularly old and inept warrior. You most likely need not worry about more sophisticated or specialized drone models, and he is unlikely to be possesing an energy based deflector shield. Yes this technology apparently exists elsewhere in the universe. Finally, as he was chasing down the Boorus' pod, it is unlikely that he brought with him electro-stun weaponry, but do avoid close-quarters combat if it can be helped." There is a slight pause. "Good luck, Team Two."

The loud but muffled noise of air rushing past a fast plane begins, then the Pilot speaks up again. "We've slowed to below the sound barrier. Get your final stretches in, Team Two. Mission drop off in three minutes." Lauren starts to feel the G-forces pick up again as the plane begins to maneuver downwards. In but few short moments the desent ends and the rear ramp lowers. "Team Two, this is your stop. Target was last detected in this village.*Be advised that you will not have the quick evac option as I will be deliverinf Team One to their mission site. Good luck, and may I see you all soon."

The plan has stopped and hovers just a few inxhes over an unkempt dirt road. On the ramp itself, the loud whines of six jet engines blasting to keep the metal bird hovering can be heard, until everyone on the team is off the plane, then it blasts away.

Without the artificial wind of the of the Albatross's engines, the full swealtering humidity of the Congo invasivelt introduces itself to the operatives. The sun is well into its descent from high noon, but there are still too little shadows to provide much shade on the way to the abandoned village.

Just up the dirt road past the shimmering heat is said village, quiet and abandoned. Even from the landing zone, the decrepid nature of its medern buildings is apparent. At the other end of the village there is a church and a large three story mansion.
 

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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

"I'll try to avoid completely wrecking your toys Doc, but you do realize we're in a war, and when it's all said and done it's them or us. Hopefully, I can avoid a head on one on one confrontation, but if it comes down to it, I'm going to make sure I survive. But I'll keep your request in mind." Lauren said to the doctor before turning to Team One, "Try to take out the Xenomorphs before they can set up shop and start pumping out babies. If not look for the nearest tunnel and alpha strike the mother fuckers. Drop enough explosives to level a city block or two." When she would over hear the argument between Mizrin and the doctor Lauren would speak up to try to assist the other team, "If these bastard actually are psychic, divide and conquer would be your best bet. Even if they can communicate, if you play it smart with guerrilla warfare and pick them off one by one alone, it should hopefully take a while for their friends to come to the rescue. Hopefully long enough for to finish the one or ones you're dealing with at present." When the commander informed her and her team of the capabilities of the Zhetan, she would speak up again, "If they're not very advanced or sophisticated, would chaff grenades be effective against them. If we could short them out or stall them, we would have an easier time taking them out, or at least give us more time to deal with the main threat. If we don't have any to spare, we'll just make do, but it was just a thought."

Once she would finish giving her two cents to the mission and the plane would land on their drop off spot she would nod in agreement to the commander's statement, "Yes sir, understood sir! Alright everyone, we're going to want to pace ourselves. There's little to no shade, and we won't be much of a fight if we're drenched in sweat and falling over dead. Stop and rest and get a drink when you need to. I can carry a good deal of gear myself but I won't be able to take everything. Let's move out!" With the she would head out with Volters and the others down the dirt road to their destination. Once there she would stop just outside of it, giving the deserted buildings a look over, "He's likely to be in either one of these buildings. My money is on the mansion though. It's bigger, with more room to maneuver and places to hide. I suggest we check it out first. Be alert! We can't afford to be caught off guard."
 
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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

The dirt road has long gone unkempt, but is strangely not overgrown with weeds and roots. A short stone wall begins near the village, and appears to have been built more for aesthetics than anything else. Just to the right there is a break in the wall and some knocked over trees, and car threads, as if some vehicle crashed there; there is no sign of it now.

The village is small, only having two rows of buildings. Coming up on the left are four larger buildings, which appear to be old wild western style wooden frames with large store fronts, as well as a single huge gnarly cypress tree. To the right are two clusters of small stone houses with rather small doorways and tiny windows. The area is overgrown with vines and trees, but few bushes or fern clusters. Any paint that would have been up has long since peeled away, with only the church's white still visible in places.

Thick foliage surrounds the village to the south, west (left) and north. To the east (right) of the village is a steep drop and more jungle.

Lauren and her squad mates are standing in the middle of the dirt road.
 
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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

Lauren would casually scope out the surrounding buildings and surroundings of the town, Hmm... I doubt he's anywhere southward, there's nothing but cliff that direction... He could be holed up in one the shops. That would give him some room to move and cover, while leaving us in the open... The foilage would give good cover and concealment if we'd need it... He's likely holed up in the church, one of the shops or the mansion... Lauren thought to herself as she surveyed the abandoned city. "Okay, ladies and gents. Get in the foilage. I'm going to call the bastard out. Try to keep out sight and your sights trained on him when he shows up. It's just too damned risky to split us up to try to cover all these buildings. Best to play it safe." She instructed her team as they would head for the foilage in the south side of the town. Once they were adequately concealed and in cover, she would clear her throat before calling out for the Zhetan. "ALRIGHT ALIEN! WE'RE OUT HERE! I DON'T FEEL LIKE PLAYING HIDE AND GO SEEK WITH YOU! COME OUT TOWARDS THE CENTER OF TOWN AND LET'S SEE WHAT YOU GOT!" she called out trying to lure the Zhetan into her groups line of sight...
 
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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

It takes only a moment for Lauren to lose sight of her teammates in the brush. Serpico and Wolters hide among the tress to the right, looking across a dirt yard towards the clusters of stone huts. Tindall splits off and heads to the left, hiding in the fern bush across the street. Overall not far from each other, but giving slightly different vantage points.

Seeing all movement stop, Lauren calls out to the extraterrestrial. Nothing happens for a moment, but then Lauren hears a low humming sound. Among the cluster of huts, a small metallic approximately saucer approximately a half meter in diameter rises above the roofs. Under it's flat saucer is a pipe protruding from a box on a pivot, which points towards Lauren and flashes with repeating clacking noises. Super heated metal flies in her direction, but fails to strike her, peppering the ground and kicking up the dry dirt.

"Doesn't look like he wants to play nice," Lauren can hear Tindall mumble into her headset.



Laura passes charisma check to taunt the alien, alien can understand her. Alien passes willpower test to avoid doing something stupid and responds appropriately.

Zhetan Gun Drone moves upwards, spots Lauren, uses burst fire. Misses on both attack rolls.
 

TentanariX

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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

As the saucer sized device would fire at her and kick dust in her face Lauren would make a hand gesture for one or more of the snipers to fire at it, hopefully taking it out or at least distracting it. She would then fire off a few shots at the Zhetan itself, trying to distract it from her hidden snipers or failing that goading it to follow her back behind a building closest to the foilage. If the Zhetan followed her, she would call into her headset, "Wolters! Grenades!" And hope the other woman was nearby and quick on the draw. The plan would be to at least significantly weaken the alien if not disable it outright...
 
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the_taken

the_taken

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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

Despite being fired upon, Lauren stands her ground and directs her team to take action before returning fire herself. She sees Tindall on her left come out of the ferns to get a better vantage and takes a single shot, only for it to go wide. A burst of fire from her right fairs better, hitting the saucer along with Lauren's own attacks, while a small metal pineapple beans the saucer before exploding right above it. The drone emits several sparks and lines of static electrical bolts before it falls back between the huts, missing many chunks.

Despite her focus on the nearby drone, Lauren spots another all the way across town hovering out of the mansion and towards the church.

Wolters and Serpico move forwards, still in cover. Drone doesn't spot them. Wolters throws a grenade, hits drone, doesn't wound (lol). Serpico takes aim action (bonus!), burst fire; glance-glance.

Tindall moves forwards, takes aim (bonus) and uses a single shot. Misses, hits a stone wall for minimal damage)

Lauren takes aim (bonus) and uses burst fire at the drone; glance-glance.

Grenade explodes; Severe-Severe-Mortal
 
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TentanariX

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Re: Lauren Orphan (TentanariX)

Lauren would catch her breath for a few moments once the first drone was dispatched. However, she curse under her breath as she would another one fly out of the mansion and into the church. "Shit. Looks like my first hunch was right. He's holed up in the mansion. or at least has all his drone parking there. Wolters you and the others advance towards the church. Try to keep in cover if you can. Stay sharp and watch the sky. See if you can take out the second one there. I'm going to try to make my way to the mansion. If you see any of his other toys, buzz me on the head piece, got it?" She would instruct her team making her way to the mansion where she suspected the Zhetan to be. She would stop to take cover/shelter in one of the abandoned shops, keeping her eyes peeled for either more drones or any other surprises. She would also keep on the look out for any possible cover.
 
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