The Oasis Mirage

Vlachs dismissed Axel's question as he turned to follow the group. "You bear a weapon of skill," He commented to the man with the sword. "Unlike the cowards we're so affiliated. Tell me, have you come to prove yourself on the battlefield as well?" Vlachs asked, though never glancing in Axel's direction. Instead, his focus was entirely on the rest of the group in front of him. He still was unsure what to think of them. They were all bold, yet distastefully ignoble.

Solomon walks up behind and between Maeve and Valkyrie placing an arm on each of there shoulders. How are you girls doing today. they both grab his respective hands and grip tightly while turning there heads to him. he slips his hands out of theirs. Easy girls it's no problem i understand. he places his hands on there butts and squeezes gently. You didn't want them on your shoulders because you would rather have them here right? two elbows immediately strike his stomach. he releases them grimacing in pain no no it's cool. he stays close to them while starting up a reasonable conversation. after a while he moves ahead to Alistair Oi Alistair I gotta tell you about Hephrid.

Axel looked at metal face and replied. "Honor? I fight for survival. If you call fighting to live honor, then my honor is based on my survival." Axel looked at the girls and sized them. He liked them, if they were leaving to fight with metal face, then Axel wouldn't mind tagging along on this adventure. Axel did feel a bot of competitiveness pairing with metal head and fighting along side him.

Cyrus continued walking forward next to Alistair. He listened to the man's words and let him finish before answering him. "Well I wouldn't consider that a threat. Can one consider a wall refusing you to pass, or a bullet passing through your body without hitting a major organ a major threat to one's health." They continued on for a bit, "But I understand where you are coming from. Rest assured that I mean this group no harm, and will do my best to help our mission succeed." He glanced back at the group, "I don't plan on ending up on the menu. And things never escape the guidelines of my plans." Cyrus then slowed his pace before making his was to the side of the group. Seemingly no one wanted to talk to him so he kept his distance, a lone wanderer astride from the rest of the group a watchful protector. Several things raced through his mind as he watched the group and how they interacted with each other. It brought him some happiness that these people enjoyed life or at least made the best of their situation. Each having their path and way, yet aligned for a time their goals in sync.

As the group made there way to Oasis Aeris stayed in the back of the group to cause as little problems for them as possible as there where going she saw everyone socializing but made no attempts to talk to any she only thought to herself "A rag tag group of people that I hardly know, yet I can trust them." Aeris had a small smile on her face as they traveled onward.

Gills stayed to the right of the group, staying just close enough to catch the a word or two, not that he was even trying to. He was two busy keeping his attention on the man in the front of the group with the cowboy hat. He assumed this was one of the twins, but couldn't match the other from behind. "Oh well" he thought out loud. "At least i know who to follow". He decided if there was a time to introduce himself the time would be now. He speed up his pace and got closer to the twin. "Hey cowboy, Gills Giles at your service" he said to the man as he caught up to his side.

Alistair continued his trek with eyes forward looking for any anomalies. He was aware of the group behind him and their movements, but only peripherally. He did notice, however, when one of the new guns decided to approach him. He nodded his head in acknowledgment of the rifleman's greeting, but never slowed down, forcing the rifleman to keep pace, "And a fair morning to you, Mister Giles. Unfortunately, you missed the previous nights festivities, but if you have no qualms with using your rifle to create Swiss Raider then by all means continue to walk in our direction."

Alistair's stare twitched towards one direction and without warning he bolted off for a dune. He hit the ground upon arriving and signaled no one to follow. Slowly he crawled to the top and peeked over before coming back down a little bit and rummaging through the duffle bag. In a flash he was over the dune and sliding down the other side out of view of everyone. He somehow managed to stay silent as his body slid down the dirt and tossed a throwing knife at the closest raider. With a roll, he shot to his feet and tossed another at the second raider hitting him in the back of the head. The last raider got hit in the eye when he turned around. With the same speed as his attack, Alistair began to drag the bodies behind cover before climbing up a ladder that leaned against an abandoned convenience store.

From the roof of the store, he could see the entirety of the rundown town. A lot of the buildings were now nothing but rubble, but many still held good cover and at one end of the cluster of concrete stood the Oasis Hotel. Alistair reached into his bag for some flares and dropped a lit one into the group of bodies beneath him. He lit the second one and tossed it over the dune towards his group; a signal to advance.

Cyrus watched as Alistair passed over the sand dune. The flare went active, and it was just a short few seconds before Cyrus had jumped the dune as well, making good haste towards the building. One there he held his back to it, guns ready, looking around for other raider. It was clear that he was no novice to organized warfare. Cyrus awaited the next round of orders.

Valkyrie drifted away from her brother and soon found herself walking alongside her new impromptu playmate, Maeve. She greeted the redhead with a roll of her eyes, "Big brother is being kind and caring, thought I'd settle in for some debauchery back here." The two girls conversed for a good while before they were interrupted by comedic styling of Solomon. He attempted what might have been charm before sliding his grip to their rears and getting a stern reprisal for his actions. Valkyrie considered grabbing Mae's knife and sticking it to his genitalia, but something about his composure stopped her. She tolerated his passes for a brief period before he finally decided to head off in Alistair's direction with some information.

Before her brother could be bothered, however, he bolted off into the desert. She saw the tell tale signs of their "Grave Sight" as their father liked to call it and motioned everyone to stay put. When he disappeared behind the dune, Valkyrie motioned everyone to stay low and began creeping towards the dune. After a few minutes of waiting a yellow flare flew over the dune and at her feet, "That's an advance signal, everyone! Head for the next flare you see, but stay low and out of sight!"

Valkyrie herded the majority of the group over the dune and towards the convenience store. She noticed Cyrus rush ahead and press effortlessly into cover before sweeping the area and heading inside in one fluid motion. With an impressed grunt she brought up the rear and did a sweep of her own before sliding into the building and shutting the door. She pushed a shelf in the way to bar entry and headed deeper into the store. When she found the roof access she signaled everyone to hold before climbing the attached ladder and knocking on the access panel.

-thud thud, thud, thud thud-

A few seconds later the panel opened and Alistair fell through. He landed on his feet with knees bent and made his way to the remnants of a check out counter. He laid a piece of paper he was carrying on the counter and looked towards the group, "Everyone here? I'm gonna go over the game plan only once, and I don't plan on repeating any of it. Any of you dying just means its one less head to pay."

Not a second behind Valkyrie Solomon races across the sand down the dune and into the store. He looks around for a second before placing himself sitting under a window facing the hotel. About Hephrid, Alistair he is going by a different name while he is here just call out to him by his real name and he will know you are with me, he has a scar that runs from behind his right ear to his right eye underneath his ear. and there are around 30 guys in there you should plan for more though last I heard they merged with another group with Rathian as the leader let me tell you she is a bitch. They used to be simple raiders and I didn't have the manpower to get rid of them now they are too big a threat to ignore.

Aeris looked around the shop little, but was interrupted when Alistair told everyone to listen to the plan. She turned around, as Soloman was talking about his spy. As Soloman was talking she was thinking "How can a group of eight people take out a group of thirty plus". Aeris took out her rife and made sure it was loaded, her heart was racing, she was shaking a little but tried to hide it. Aeris walked to the other side of the store and slightly poked her head out of a window, her eyes shifting constantly Aeris made sure to keep an ear on the conversation for important information.

As the others charged ahead, Vlachs began to pull the two machetes from the ring on his belt, causing a metallic ring to carve through the immediate area. His twin blades brandished, he followed suit into the store. 

Thirty or more? Accomplishing such a feat would require a more valorous squad. But perhaps the man with the sword would prove his mettle.

His heart was racing. Death was clawing at his face, as it had many times before. But death has proven to be on his side. Vlachs opened his left hand, loosely holding the machete with his fingers, and ran the other blade across his exposed, white palm. A sharp pain shot up his arm, and a cold sensation washed over his body. His muscles tightened and he shook his head.

Noticing Alistair run over the sands, she quickly followed as Valkyrie set off. Entering the store, she gazed out of the window into the town, checking to see if both of her pistols were loaded before awaiting the time to strike.

Thirty people certainly seemed a bit more than fair for the ragtag team they had, but no matter, the job would still be finished. Sighing, she gave everyone a quick glance before heading to the counter with Alistair. "Lets get going then, no point in wasting time."

Gills shook his head and chuckled once inside the store. "How bad could it get?", he said to himself. He drummed his finger against his thigh. "Bad" muttering under his breath the answer to his own question. He began to question why he sought out the twins in the first place, why he wanted to join them in their search. Maybe it had to do with his own sins in the past, or complete boredom. Gills couldn't decide between the two and decided to choose neither, letting his reasons stay a mystery even to himself. Regardless Gills never runs, and Giles never hides. He readied his resolve along with his rifle and waited for an order.

Alistair raised an eyebrow at the intel Solomon provided, "Wait, that's it? I expected twice those numbers with the rate of attack and the size of the party that we fought." He scratched his head before pointing back at Solomon, "wait, does that include the men we killed last night?" Before he could get an answer, Alistair simply waved the question off and turned his attention to the parchment he laid on the table, "never mind, it's irrelevant. Now the plan is to kill every last one and get the victims home. Worry not, ye of little social skills, the last part is my job."

Alistair looked as his team and noticed many had reservations about the numbers. Many hid it well, but their eyes still showed either worry or excitement at the prospect of battle, "Now, I hope to our Lord Almighty that you folk weren't expecting a head on assault, because that would be incredibly STUPID! Instead, we're going to split them up and pick them off." He examined his team once more to gauge their readiness. Vlachs' self infliction of pain did not go unnoticed as he continued, "don't know how many of you ever heard of a woodpecker. Rare bird, lives by really big trees up north, but most importantly, make an ass ton of noise. We're going to take a page from it's playbook and make some noise out there while the rest of the group slips into the hotel and finds our slaves."

Alistair began to work on the parchment and drew out preliminary lines to mapping the Hotel and it's neighboring buildings. From their store, which was dubbed Home Base, their were two houses to the left before the remains of what looked like a police station with its roof blown out and the second floor partially destroyed. The skeletal remains of what was once probably an office building lay to the north of the police station with three more houses surrounding it. To the north of the store was a small cluster of concrete where some large building had been, now only a trenched maze that would be lovely in a firefight. a warehouse was across the street from it and in between the office building and the hotel.

When finished, Alistair began drawing in circles and assigning party members to said circulars, "Val, I'm putting you in charge of the infiltration team. you still remember how to carry out a raid like back in the day, right?" His sister nodded her acknowledgment silently and he continued, "good, then you'll be taking Cyrus, Mae, Vlachs, and the Highlander over there." Alistair shook his head in Axel's direction. He saw some contempt in Vlachs eyes and figured it might have something to do with not being a part of the main fighting, "that hotel has three floors, a basement, and far too many corridors with enclosed rooms attached to them. I need people who can operate within tight quarters and, preferably, who can do it quietly." His gaze lingered on the machete's in the tribal's hand before looking the tribal in the eyes, "these men live by the gun and expect to die by it. In such close quarters they'll either have to fight like a beast or get cut down."

With the hope that the Tribals will at least cooperate enough to fight, Alistair continued with the plan, "The rest of us will be dancing around the town here trying to lure as many shitlords as possible into ambushes." He pointed at Edward, Aeris, Solomon, and Giles, "find a good hiding spot among the buildings and start shooting anything that moves. I can provide you guys with noisemakers to lure them in, but the staying hidden part is up to you. Just remember, our job ain't to fight, it's to distract." Alistair pushed away from the counter and allowed the team to look at the map. While they studied the impromptu map Alistair singled out Edward, "You look like you find sleep overrated and you also have a big gun. I'd like you on the roof watching the raider's movements. knock on the roof when they send a raid party out. That's when it's time to act."

Alistair raised his voice to make sure all present heard him, "until the strike, I need you guys to focus up. Infiltration team, you need to prep and practice your stealth since you leave in a moment's notice. Woodpeckers, find a spot and head there as soon as you're ready. Take one flare from the bag and get ready. When you see the red flare in the sky, the hunt is on."

Cyrus watched and listened as Alistair laid out his plan before him. He could think of better ways to do it but why fight it this plan seem solid enough. Enough to make sure he didn't get hurt at least. "Well if that is the way you want it." Cyrus shrugged and looked at Valkyrie, "You in charge, but I recommend letting someone else take point, someone with a melee weapon." He turned and looked at the two other members of the squad. "Putting yourself up front will put you in the most danger and we dont need you compromising the plan due to injuries."

As the plan grew wings, Edward stood in the back, seeing the map with zoomed vision; the lights in his visor spun subtly as he processed and cross-checked everything. He was impressed. The last time he had to face around 30 enemies it was... less than pleasant.
The plan seemed solid and all had their place, unfortunately, though expected, this involved other depending on him. Edward picked up his rifle, he had used repairs and maintenance similar to what he does to his exoskeleton and added the scope. Should be less disappointing now.
"Understood" he acknowledged. As he moved closer, others seem to make room for him. "Anything else I should know?" he asked, cold and flat, directed at all of his new companions. Two lights in his visor remained still, his attempt to humanize and receive more of a response.

Aeris walked over to the map as everyone getting there gear together the police station was clearly marked she even saw it out side the window. Aeris walked over to the door and pushed the shelf out of the way. Aeris opened the door slightly to see if anyone was there she saw no one, so she ran across the field to the police station the building was in shambles, but there was still enough ruble to climb up to the second floor. There was plenty of ruble to take cover behind on the second floor. Aeris looked around to see a wall that was still standing with indent big enough to steady her rifle in and the wall was big enough to let two people take cover behind it "I have one job. I just have to wait for the signal." Aeris went into thoughts, as she was sitting behind the cover preparing herself.

well alrighty then Solomon got up walked over to the table took a flare gun and a round and headed out. after skul.. sneaking around for a bit he noticed an unexploded car not three buildings away from the police station. apon further examination he realized a well placed round would ignite it very easily. he set himself up if the first floor of what looked like a abandoned store of some kind just within range of the car.

Cracking her knuckles, she looked over the lot she was headed out with, Valkyrie the only one she had any ounce of trust for. "Well lets get to it then eh?" She smiled lightly, heading to the exit as she waited for the rest of them.

The dark holes of Vlachs' mask glared at Alistair, the eyes within boring into his leader. The decision was made, however, and Vlachs would make the best of the situation. 

He readjusted the grip on his machetes, and blood began to trickle down the back of one blade. Turning to Cyrus, Vlachs spoke up. "Then I'll take the front. If I must slither with serpents, then I'm determined to be the fangs." He said, deviating from his typically quiet demeanor.

Gills tipped his hat to Alistair and set off towards the maze across the street from the warehouse. He picked through the wreckage and found a cover in front of a large corridor. He dropped to his back against the crumbled wall and set his eyes towards the sky, waiting for signal, "Well....this is gonna be shit".

Valkyrie secured her equipment while the group gathered. Cyrus approached her and shared his thoughts on the mission. With a smile she inspected her two revolvers before re holstering them, "you don't have to worry about our capabilities. We're better trained  and experienced then our appearance and mannerisms let on." She led everyone to the back door where they stacked up outside once the skies got darker, "When the signal is set, we make a break for the hotel. Stick to cover as you move, the less people that see us the better our chances of finding the girls intact." She shot a glance at the machete wielder standing up front, "until they are safe, we keep everything clean. Once they're out of harm's way you can party as ahrd as you want."

Alistair adjusted the site on the scope to more human levels as he looked into the spyglass at the sentry sitting within the giant "O" above the hotel. With a controlled breath, he squeezed the trigger and awaited a second before seeing the lookout fall onto his back away from site. He lifted the rifle and examined it before tossing it back to Edward, "It fired just fine to me, I don't know what you're bitching about." Edward displayed three dots that periodically crawled across his visor. Alistair ignored the display and took the flare gun before walking to the edge of the roof. He couldn't have asked for better luck as six men walked through the maze of concrete in the distance. Picking up a whiskey bottle, the Pseudo-Ranger took a hard swig before stuffing a cloth into the neck and setting it on fire.

A loud crash sounded in between the raiding party just before a wave of flames engulfed the six men walking out of their base. The panicked men battered themselves in an attempt to kill the flames when a flare in the sky caught their attention. Recognizing an ambush, the six raiders spun around with weapons drawn awaiting whatever was hiding.

(Distraction Battle Start!)
(Alistair rolls for Initiative)
(Enemy Raiders 1-6 roll for Initiative)

The member 'Alistair Graves' has done the following action : Outcome

#1 'Dice Roll' : 12

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#2 'Dice Roll' : 13, 2, 9, 19, 10, 16