Decker Hits the Deck
A couple of hours south of Trenton is wooded region with intermittent valleys that are bespeckled with farms or secluded little homes, connected by dirt roads. The location that Eliza gave up as Decker's hideout is a ten acre spread of land with some overgrown gardens around a little home with attached garage. There's also what looks like a small, crashed ship half-buried in the field, partially overgrown by weeds and vines, so it's been there for a least a couple of years, if not longer. It looks like an ASREV-class ship with the name 'Starfire' scrawled on it's side, but one of the wings is broken off halfway, the tip missing completely. Despite it's rundown appearance, the crashed ASREV looks like it's actually *running*.. or at least, the reactor is. There are some running lights lit as well, and some heavy cables running from the ASREV to the house. As for the house, it looks like an old, unkempt home that's been neglected for some time. The paint on the siding is peeling, a couple of the windows are boarded up, and the chimney is partially crumbled, the top having fallen away. The marines and the crew of the Praemia have convened about a mile away, landing in a clearing where their ships will be protected, and they collectively decided to move in via mules. Now, hidden back behind some thick trees and overgrowth, the collective group has assessed the 'hideout' and decided to split up, the marines approaching the Starfire from the west, across an overgrown pumpkin field, and the Praemia folks approaching the house from the east through a mucky pond that's more mud than water.
The Praemia folks hunker down about half an acre east of the house. Twilight is upon the farmstead, the dinner hour approaching with frogs and insects and birds offering a nature-like chorus around them. There are some lights on in the house. The Starfire is blocked from view behind the house. Between the group and the house is a sludgy, muddy, expanse of pond muck.
It's a bit too far to see the marines on the opposite end of the property in this fading daylight, (both a help and a hindrance), and Anya is quick to realize that now that the groups are split up, that all communication with the marines is failing. Either there's some kind of jamming field in place, or they've already fallen into trouble. Only static comes over the comm.
Anya and Ellis seem to be the only representatives from Praemia today, and as they hunker down on the edge of the mucky pond Anya checks the clip in her Sig one last time before slipping it back into its shoulder holster. "Starting to wonder if only bringing stun ammo was the way to go but..." she shrugs, looking to Ellis. "Nothing on the com, they must be jamming. Ready to go?" she asks, before looking over to the pond again. Do they really have to go through the pond? Can they go around it?
They must've gotten the short end of the straw for them to be coming in from the east where it's all muddy around. Ellis doesn't complain though. Ellis notices nothing except for Anya's attempts to raise the Marines on the other side, "This ain't lookin' pretty." He speaks with his voice low. His breath filtering through the NBC Mask that he wears. It might look stupid but he won't be getting in the way of stray nanobots if he can help it. Of course, that doesn't really help if there's an open wound. "Yeah, I'm ready." He says, satisfied with his own Custom Sig for now, which he keeps concealed under his brown coat that's seeing a lot of muck today. "Ugh, m' paw'll kill me if he sees I'm ruinin' his coat." Is it really time for jokes?
It's possible to go around the pond, maybe. The mud hole extends northwards a couple of acres, bleeding into a field of overgrown weeds and untended vegetables left to their own devices, but it would take a few minutes to go all the way north around. To the south is the front yard of the home, with the driveway that has a couple of trucks parked out front on the gravel driveway and a lot more exposure. The choice is theirs.
Anya nods her agreement to Ellis, and lowers her own mask with a resigned sigh. "So, next time we need to pack hip waders.." she mumbles, though probably hopes there won't be a next time. Motioning for Ellis to come with her, she starts to advance across the pond, hoping it's not too deep. One can always hope! Ellis nods, keeping his hands at the ready for anything, "It's the quickest and the least exposed it looks like." He follows after Anya, watching her back.
As they start crossing the pond, their feet sink in past their ankles, the wet sloppy ground grabbing at their footwear. It's slow-going and the mosquitos are absolutely swarming, biting and divebombing their faces, buzzing by their ears and getting in their hair. As they make their way, some kind of rope? Wiring? *Something* becomes visible along the smudge, stretched out. Anya manages to traverse it, but Ellis discovers rather quickly that it is in fact barbed wired that's been staked along, grabbing at his ankles.
Anya's boots sink into the mud, but it's a good time for her to be wearing boots. She makes her way cautiously along, frowning as she notices something in the mud. "Careful, there's something in there," she cautions Ellis, but so far seems to be making her way along without too much difficulty. She keeps a close watch, though. It is good to be wearing boots, to some extent. "Yeah, looki-" His voice stops dead in its tracks as his padded boots catch up with the barbed wire and causes him to trip over and face first into the mud. Now he can scratch having a mudbath off his bucket list. Hopefully the NBC Mask is made of sturner stuff than his EVA Suit back then. "I think I caught on something." He says, not pained, just hushed trying to keep the element of surprise going as he tries to free himself from the barbed wiring that dug in to his boots' ankle.
So far there's nothing from the house. It's still tranquil and buggy, and now Ellis at least has some protection from the mosquitos. Leeches? Well, hopefully he has thick clothing on. Getting his foot untangled will be a bit tricky.
Anya hears Ellis go down and turns quickly, her eyes wide. She manages not to make any exclamation, a need for quiet well-ingrained. But she does retrace her footsteps and attempt to help him up. "I think it's barbed wire. Don't panic, we'll get you out." She smiles reassuring at her mud-caked boyfriend. "You know, they say mud is really good for your skin," she comments quietly, as she tries to help him free his foot.
Ellis would laugh at her joke if it wasn't for the fact that he just pricked his muddied hands trying to free himself from the barbed wire, "It dug into my boots pretty good." He tells her, wiping his hands down on any part of clean fabric that he can find on hismelf. Hopefully it won't cause an infection by the time they're done here. His mind's set on freeing himself though, so he tries a reapproach that won't cut him any more than he already is.
Things are still quiet at the house.. no change... Nothing from the marines.
"It'll be okay," Anya ssures Ellis, as she continues to try and free him from the muck, trying to maneuver his leg rather than reaching down for the barbed wire. No gloves, and all that. She grimaces a little at the mess but there's not much to be done for it. "Sorry," she says, not sure why but feeling like she ought to apologize. She did get them into this mess, after a fashion.
With Anya's help he finally gets free, though his boots have those marks along the ankle. He'll live though, as long as nothing happens with his open would. It bleeds, mingling with the mud on his hands, but it's not gushing. If anything the mud's keeping it clogged too. "Sorry, we wasted enough time.. let's go." He mentions, wanting to advance on Anya's ready.
As they slog through the mud, Ellis now sporting a convenient set of camouflage in the fading light, they reach the side yard. There's weedy, overgrown crabgrass between them and the house. It looks to be free of barbed wire. The house itself has a big front porch at the front, and there are three windows on the side facing the infiltrators. There are lights spilling out of the back two windows, the one closest to the front porch is dark. So far, it's been about four minutes getting across the mud field and to the edge of the yard...
"It's okay, we'll make it," Anya assures Ellis, offering him a smile before turning to continue across the pond, reaching the other side without further incident. She scans the house once they arrive, deciding that it's probably best to approach in the direction of the unlit window. Making sure her bracer is ready to go, she starts to work her way in that direction, expecting Ellis will follow her lead.
Ellis was just about to suggest exactly what Anya is doing, keeping to the shadows. And he too pulls his sleeves up to reveal an Alliance grade bracer wrapped around his wrist, ensuring it's armed and ready before hiding it again and reaching for his pistol instead. No sense in running around unarmed now that they've gotten this far. Once at the window he ducks under and slips over to the other side so he can lean against the wall and take a peak without disrupting Anya should she want to do the same.
Both of the Praemia folks reach the house, hunkering down quietly under the unlit window. When Ellis rises and peeks inside, he's going to see a very dark bathroom, currently not in use by the looks of it. The window is closed.
Anya waits by the window while Ellis gets into position, not wanting to expose herself to potential threat until he's in position. She peeks with him, then reaches up to try the window, see if it opens. If not, well, they'll have to figure out a Plan B. She also keeps an ear open for the Marines, in case the com should start working again.
Unfortunately, the window seems to be locked...
Ellis' eyes look over to Anya's hands, figuring that he doesn't have to do the same thing. Instead his eyes glance about to try to figure out plan B and C. For plan B he looks towards the direction of the porch, probably more lit than others? But he also glances over towards the other window which is lit completely, but what's more his interest seems to lie with the crashed ASREV and the working reactor, he knows it's there, he just probably can't see it from here. He frowns a bit then nudges his head towards the Porch in question.
Investigation of the porch shows it to be a dilapidated, rickety, thing, the wood showing signs of rot and some newer boards look to have been hammered down over older decaying ones. There's a hanging swing and in it, it looks like a person is stretched out, their body shape visible in the failing light. The porch is very dim, no lights on in the front part of the house to illuminate it through the windows or otherwise.
Anya creeps toward the porch for a peek, but doesn't like what she sees. Namely, someone on the porch. So she creeps back, giving Ellis a shake of her head and whispering, "Someone's on the porch. Let's check for a back door."
Ellis' reaction is to grip the pistol a little tighter and then he nods, "On the way over here I saw that crashed ASREV.. they could be using it as a power source.." He whispers in suggestion, "If anything we could gain us some shadow to work with, but they'll likely send someone to check on it."
As the two head towards the back of the house, they have to pass under two windows with light flooding out of them. A quick peek inside shows a kitchen. There's a woman at a stove, stirring something in a pot. It looks like there's a back door leading out of the kitchen, a smaller wood porch off the back of the house that's little more than a platform to get to the yard with a couple of steps.
Ellis' suggestion gives Anya pause, and she nods slightly to him. "Good idea, let's see if we can figure out where it connects to the house," she suggests in return, glancing around but not seeing anything here. And since they can't see the ASREV from here at all, she moves along toward the final side of the house they haven't investigated yet.
As the pair move around the corner to the back side of the house, the sound of bullets firing suddenly fills the air. It has an echoey, muffled sound, and seems to be coming from the western side of the house. It sounds like assault rifles. From inside the kitchen the woman yells, "Turn off that damned movie! Did you hear something??" She must be yelling to someone else, unseen at the moment.
Ellis is quick to duck against the wall, trying to camoflage himself to the shadows and keep his gun at the ready, a hand extending out towards Anya as he silently mouths a few numbers, as if he's counting how many he thinks are present. There's one on the porch, someone apparently watching a movie, and a woman listening for the assault rifles, and only two of the Praemites here. His eyes glance over to Anya as if to ask her what she wants to do since they're still hidden. <OOC> Anya says, "Ok, which side is the western side? The front, the back, the one we started on or where we're going?"
So much for the element of surprise. Anya blinks as she hears gunfire and plasters herself to the wall of the house, just shy of peeking around the corner. It must be the marines, but if they're already shooting...things are about to get messy. Plus, Anya hasn't been in a lot of gun fights and generally specializes in hiding when bullets start to fly. But she has to be brave, here, so she counts to ten and then ducks around the corner, making for the back door. The woman in the kitchen doesn't seem like a very big threat, so after examining the door to make sure there are no obvious tripwires she'll test the handle and failing that, give it a sturdy kick. It works in the movies.
About fifteen seconds pass while Ellis does his mental tally, and Anya is making her silent count, then she gets around the corner. It's a few more seconds of checking the door for any booby traps, and then the handle is checked. The door is unlocked. Anya easily pushes it open. The scent of canned beans and Vienna sausages rolls over the gypsy and her mud-caked companion. Inside, the kitchen is in a rough state, but serviceable. There are a couple of bags of what look like groceries on a small table. Some dishes are piled up in the sink. There are thick power cables running along the floor from the western side of the house, through the kitchen, and disappear into a small pantry-looking room. And there, standing at the stove is the woman that yelled, a stirring spoon still in hand. She looks over at the door, "What the hell is going on out there, are you doing fucking target practice at d-" Her eyes widen when she sees the unfamiliar person in the door and she makes a wild grab for a revolver laying on the counter as she sucks in a breath, about to yell.
Ellis falls in with Anya, hugging the wall and keeping his pistol trained downwards. Really, Ellis couldn't do anything even if he wanted to. He remembers there's someone in the kitchen but she could've ran off. Plus the door, only one person fits through at a time, but he does follow Anya in well after that woman inside pulling for a revolver.
Anya is already bringing her arm up as she comes into view, clenching her hand into a fist and jerking it upward to trigger the bracers to fire a volley of stun darts at the woman. Hopefully she can drop her before she sets to hollaring for help. Or firing that gun. Who cooks with a gun on the counter? Well, criminals. Okay, that makes sense. The smell of food cooking reminds her that she skipped lunch, but there's nothing to be done for it now, and her stomach is way too uneasy to eat anything at the moment anyway.
The woman sees Anya's hand leveled at her and manages to drop low, "Craig!!!" She shrieks, then points the revolver at the gypsy and squeezes off a shot. Meanwhile, more gunfire can be heard outside, different styles of rifles emptying clips.
Ellis' eyes go wide when he hears a shot go off so close to him. Anya in front of him leaving him just a small window of opportunity to react. He's too late to save her from the bullet but is he too late in pushing past and getting a shot in himself? Hopefully the woman only expects Anya, but here is Ellis, twice her size aiming his gun with both hands and shooting off a round into the crook! Or that's the plan anyway!
Anya utters a curse word in Romani as the darts go wide. Again! What use is this bloody thing if she can't hit anything with it. She attempts to get behind the open door again before the woman can fire, but isn't entirely successful. The bullet takes her in the arm, but her armor soaks the worst of it. It still hurts though, and Anya grimaces in pain as Ellis pushes her behind cover and she leans against the door, lifting a hand to clamp it over the wound. "<<Be careful!>>" she calls to Ellis in Romani as he rushes forward.
As Ellis shoulders in, pushing his woman aside, he levels his Sig at the woman and pops off a shot square at her chest. It hits her hard, the rubber bullet punching into her flak jacket and toppling her back against the cabinets behind her, her head rebounding off of them. She slumps down, unmoving. The revolver spills from her limp fingers to clatter on the floor. Then Craig appears in the doorway from the side room and swears, "Shit!!" He raises a Reising M55 at Ellis and fires off a burst of bullets at the man and the gypsy both.
Ellis, mostly standing in front of Anya, gets the heat of Craig's bullets. It catches straight into his ribs and jams up into his armor knocking him over against the nearest cabinate. He hits his head but not quite enough to knock him out, just enough to daze him a bit and send his copper gear necklace falling out from under his shirt into view. Without thinking he lifts his gun and peppers a few rounds of suppressing fire in hopes to hit craig. "Gorram pain!" He yelps still feeling the aftershock of the armor and the bullet.
Not really trusting her bracer at this point, Anya reaches under her coat to draw her own Sig, frowning as she racks the slide and eases out from behind the door enough to return fire in Craig's direction. "<<Get back!>>" she calls to Ellis.
Craig is shot by Anya's Sauer and the man yells out in pain, stumbling back and disappearing into the other room again. On the floor, the woman that was cooking groans and starts to come around, eyes flicking open and hand groping blindly for the revolver on the floor. Now the pair are in the kitchen, with the woman on the floor, reaching for her gun. Craig is in a room off to the west, and there's the sound of some floorboards creaking to the south, through an open hallway towards the front of the house. It could be that person that was on the porch creeping in. Also, Anya's keen hearing can pick up something coming from that pantry-room behind her, drifting up from under a cellar hatch that's not quite closed on account of the thick cables running down into it. There's what sounds like a walkie-talkie: "... -ow.. dead... ..apped.. !!" And another voice answering, "..-house too! Defend the g-.."
She says get down and that's pretty much all Ellis can do. He ducks for cover, hearing the bullets wizz over head, "He's getting away!" He calls out after Anya but over on the side he sees the woman coming to. His gun still in hand he winces a bit as he points his gun over at the Woman, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Can Ellis reach her revolver from where he lies on the floor? He'd totally make a grab for it with his free hand if he could.
Ellis tests his Agility against a 30 difficulty. The result is successful (32). Just as the woman's fingers start to wrap around the revolver, Ellis's hand darts in and he snatches it away. She slumps back and holds her hands up, still looking to be coming around, her face drawn in pain. There's nothing from Craig in the other room. No sound, good or bad. A figure appears in the hallway from the front of the house, a bigger man with a pistol held out in front of him, "Drop the weapons!" He demands in a low, commanding voice. Suddenly, there's a *BOOM* that resounds from outside. A grenade?
Anya does her best to take all this in but it's all happening so fast! "<<There's a cellar!>>" she says to Ellis, peeking back around the edge of the door as the newcomer arrives. The boom distracts her before she can get a good look at him, and she jerks back behind the door again, breathing heavily now as she tamps down the urge to just run right back out the door.
There's still nothing from Craig, and the woman is held at bay by Ellis's pistol pointed at her. The man arriving from the hallway is a big fellow, pointing another one of those revolvers at Ellis, waiting to see if the mud-covered man will comply.
Outside, another, bigger *BOOOOOM* resounds from the west.
Ok, there's a guy with a pistol and he's got a gun pointed at the Woman. He gets to his feet, as his eyes glance back and forth between the woman and the other man. If he lowers his guns he knows he could be outnumbered, maybe. "Ok." He says as he tries to get up. "So you can just shoot me after I lower my gun huh?" His eyes flitting about as he tries to nudge more distance in between the two of them. "It doesn't have to end this way... You shooting me and me shooting her. And her shooting you..." His other arm, the left one slowly raising up, open palmed in the direction of the man with the revolver as if he's about to give up. Does his hand get far enough? High enough? It almost works so perfectly in lining up his arm with that other man.
The fellow in the hallway doesn't look like the type to screw around, unfortunately. They're under attack, that much is obvious with the explosions going on outside and the gunfire. When Ellis starts to get to his feet, the man fires off a shot at the mechanic, then will rush forward at him looking as if he's going to kick him whether the shot connects or not.
Gut check. Successful. At the sound of another gunshot, Anya leans out of cover again and her eyess widen as she sees the big guy charging toward Ellis. Lifting her gun again, she fires on the man rushing toward her/Ellis. Since she's really not far away and all.
The man charging from the hallway misses Ellis completely, and then in near simultaneous attacks, both Ellis and Anya shoot the man, one with the electrical charge of the highly-effective Aequitas bracer, the other with an electrical stun round from a Sig Sauer P220. Electrical currents pulse through the man's body, causing him to stop and jerk weirdly in mid-charge, twisting and contorting in a spasmatic fashion before he crumples to the floor in a heap with a heavy thud. A couple of seconds later, the lights in the room flicker out, then back on, then off and on again and remain on. The woman on the floor makes a leaping grab for the revolver that Ellis tossed out of her reach. There's some creaking from the room that Craig disappeared into.
It all happens so fast. He didn't think for one second that a crook would even care about Ellis' and Anya's life. It would've been forfeit the moment he dropped his sig. He rolls the instant he sees that trigger finger pulling, dodging that bullet out of pure luck, and in that same instant balls up his fist with his left hand and pulls back to unload the entire bracer's ammunition in a burst. Little does he know how lucky he is to have dodged Anya's bullet as well, watching it whiz right past and being a dead-on hit as well! Well ok, he doesn't see the shots, but he can definitely hear the impacts! The lightshow distracts Ellis enough that his only reaction to the woman going for the gun is to charge for Anya and duck into cover down the Cellar.
As Ellis makes his rush for cover, he grabs for Anya on his way, a muddy hand grabbing the gypsy's arm and pulling her along towards the small pantry. Meanwhile, the woman on the floor grabs for the revolver and fires a sloppy shot their direction, "Craig!!" She shrieks again, finally finding her voice. From the other room, ".. Coming!.."
Anya makes no protest as she is grabbed, as long as it's Ellis doing the grabbing. The gypsy is towed along toward the pantry, soon disappearing inside with Ellis. Still breathing heavily, too, her heart racing. "<<Is this going well?>>" she asks, hearing the gun bark one last time as they duck into the pantry together. She's really not sure at this point.
Ellis ducks behind the frame of the entrance into the pantry, well out of way. "<<It'd go better if these rounds would keep them down.. how much did you pay for them?>>" He pulls the slide on his sig to check to see if he still has rounds in his gun, satisfied he points his gun out fromt he side and peppers a few shot out in the open to waste a few bullets. "<<Got a plan? Because I'm about to load up lethal rounds...>>" Again, he peppers a few more rounds of those electrically charged bullets for suppression fire to keep them at bay and from advancing in on their position.
"<<Too much, apparently. Or not enough,>>" Anya mutters, loooking down at the hatch while Ellis fires off some suppressive rounds and looks to reload. "<< I didn't bring anything else, >>" she says, squatting down to check the hatch for traps. If it seems clear, she'll pull it open. Time to go down the rabbit hole, Alice.
As Ellis unloads the leftover ammo in his weapon out into the kitchen, there's a scream from the woman, a thud, and a heavy metal clatter. There's no further sound for about twenty seconds. Then there's the squeak of a floor board that sounds like it's JUST on the other side of the wall from them, and a soft 'click'.
Ellis empties the clip until his pistol echoes those soft *click* *click* clicks. The screams are heard, but he doesn't dare poke his head out until he gets a new cartriage in. With a swift motion he unlocks the cartriage, letting it slide into his hands and pocketing it while fishing out another. He defied Anya pretty much when he stocked up on ammo and if she happens to look his way she'll notice that telltale delay of staring at the loaded up ammo cartriage. It's only about a five second delay before he loads up and cocks the gun backwards. He barely manages to do it too. "<<Did you hear that?>>" He whispers in the silence, glancing a peek over the frame of the door to get a view of the kitchen again.
As Anya struggles with trying to get the hatch door open at her awkward angle of standing over it and Ellis reloads his gun with lethal rounds, things are eerily quiet for a few moments. Then, Ellis whispers to Anya and there's a **POWPOWPOWPOWPOW** of a submachine gun going off on the opposite side of the wall as Craig fires directly through it. Plaster and debris explode into the pantry and a chalky dust cloud mushrooms up around them, obscuring vision. Their masks keep their breathing air clean.
Well, that was unexpected. As holes start appearing in the wall and bullets ping off the walls and shelves in the pantry, Anya grabs Ellis and hits the deck. Now she *really* can't get the trap door open because she's on top of it. And Ellis is probably on top of her. Which in other circumstances might be hot. For now, she tries not to think about using him as a meat shield, just hopes that neither of them get hit.
Ellis screams out when the submachine gun goes off, piercing through the walls of the pantry and to the total oposite, he can't think of anything BUT using himself as a human meatshield for Anya. He hits the deck, practically throws her self on Anya with his head low and burrying into her hair. It's not until the shots stop that he tries to nudge her away and get the damn door open before Craig raining in hell comes looking to varify their dead bodies. Act quick! Provided he gets Anya out of the way and gets the damn hatch open he reaches to pull her down into the rabbit hole and jumps in right after and ends it with closing the hatch! Ellis. This is the stupidest idea ever, not knowing if there's even a way out in the cellar!
After the firing stops, the hot bullets raining down around them, along with some cans of pickles that are leaking pickle juice and a box of instant rice that's slowly spilling out, things are quiet again. Ellis is making some noise, shuffling around to get the hatch up and open. There's the sound of a magazine getting dropped to the floor and fresh one loaded up into the machine gun. The hatch is shoved up open and Ellis rolls in, haphazardly dragging Anya down with him as they both topple down about ten feet past a ladder to a hard-packed dirt floor beneath, landing in a heap and the hatch door falling down (mostly) closed again above them. There another *BOOM* from outside, this one more dampened by them being underground now. The two are laying in a cellar. The ceiling is low, only ten feet high, and there's a sump pump off in one corner, an old rusted out washer and dryer in another. On the far side a man is hastily stuffing papers into a bag from a table. There are charts and diagrams all over the wall, pinned up around the room. Maps.. photographs, schematics. All the things one might expect of a terrorist cell. JUST like in the movies.
Anya is all too eager to get that door open and go down the hatch, despite the fact that they really have no idea what they're walking (or tumbling) into. She lands hard at the foot of the ladder, grunting but managing to roll aside before Ellis lands on top of her and scrambles to her feet a moment later, drawing her weapon once more. She had to put it away to tug at the hatch earlier, you see. "Stop right there! You are bound by law!" Whoever you are. And under whatever authority Anya can borrow for this particular (mis)adventure.
The man that's hastily stuffing papers into the bag looks up at the sound of people hitting the floor. When Anya raises her weapon and points it at him, his eyes widen before he blurts out, "Don't shoot!!" He tosses the bag down onto the table and backs up, hands held high in the air. "Don't shoot me!"
Ellis has to think fast. Boots press to either side of the ladder as well as arm and hand chafing as he seeks to break his fall on the way down to come up with a fairly soft landing. "FFfffuck!" He blurts out as he waves his wounded and chafed and burning hand back and forth while the other grips the gun tightly. Seeing Anya with a gun gets his attention back to the task at hand, this time though, his eyes mostly keep a glance up to see if anyone follows down. Or worse.
Anya takes a few steps forward, her weapon still pointed directly at the stranger. Though her concern for Ellis is high, she can't afford to look away right now. "Don't make any sudden moves. Up against the wall, and keep your hands where I can see them." She's been watching too many cop shows or something, but...it's at least applicable to the situation. In the hatchway above, the door is dragged open again and some of that plaster and pickle juice spills down into the cellar. Craig is squinting through the dusty cloud, M55 pointed downward but he's not firing just yet. The man at the table shakes his head, "No.. no no.. I won't, officer." He says soothingly, holding his hands up where they're visible. He backs towards the wall, but there are some shelves and other tables pushed up against it that he bumps into. On the tables are various papers, tools, some lamps that are plugged in and lighting the cellar, and some other small mechanical looking odds and ends. The man's eyes flick around, falling very briefly on a small wooden door on the side wall, between him and Anya. He looks back at her quickly. "What brings you by?" He asks.
Ellis squints up, his glasses riding down on his nose only to be pressed up the bridge again for better aim. A man shoots to kill, he deserves what he's about to get. His pistol raises up high, aiming up at the bottleneck that is the hatch that Craig peeks down, and without warning he pulls the trigger. For many it's just another gun fire, but this round is much louder than what his electrical bullets were firing off. Much louder. So loud that the sheer sound of it echoes of the wall and passage that leads up into the pantry. Hit or miss. Ellis shot a live round.
What brings them by? "What the fuck do you *think* brings us by?" Anya snaps, a little testy on account of being shot, shot at, and who knows what all those explosions are. For all she knows, the marines are a pasty smear on the landscape right about now. "Get away from that table!" she barks, not liking him anywhere near anything that he might be able to grab and throw or...whatever. The sound of Ellis' gun discharging gives her a start, but she keeps her eyes rooted forward.
Ellis's shot resounds loudly, almost deafeningly in the cellar and up the tunnel. Craig is hit in the chest, the bullet sliding right through any armor he's wearing and into a lung. The man gasps once before he slips, tumbling down into the hole with a yell. He squeezes the trigger on his machine gun on the way down, spraying blindly before he hits the ground with a hard *whump* and lays still. Over on the other side of the basement, the man that Anya is snapping at holds his hands very still and he eases away from the table. "Okay.. okay... officer. Nothing to be alarmed about... I'm cooperating." He says. Then there's the walkie talkie again. Decker?? Decker? Are you there?! What do I do?! Do I blow the lab?? The man's eyes flick towards the walkie that's sitting on the table before he looks back at Anya. "Better let me answer that. If I don't, he's going to follow the-" Suddenly there's another **BOOOOM** outside and the stranger winces, as if personally pained by that explosion.
Suddenly, everything. Goes. Dark.
All of the power is shut off, the lights all go out. The cellar is drowned in inky blackness.
Ellis just shot a man with lethal rounds and on the way down his victim just sprayed him with all he had. Those bullets will hit. And they hit hard! It causes Ellis to collapse, blood running down the side of his arms and even from his lips. Who knows how that happened. But then he hears that thud, and the last thing he sees is the body that collided with the floor from where he himself lies, clutching at the side of his arm. He panics. "Fuck.. fuck fuck fuck... not again.. not fucking again..."
Anya pulls the trigger. She was already aiming at the guy, and finding out he is Decker (or that evidence suggests it) doesn't make her inclined to let him out of her sight. Well, discounting the fact that he is literally out of her sight. But assuming he didn't move too quickly, maybe she'll be able to knock him out. She hears the commotion behind her with Ellis and Craig, but she has her back to them and doesn't really know what's going on.
There's the sharp intake of breath from Decker when the lights go out, as if the man were about to make a lunge. Then Anya squeezes the trigger on her Sauer and one of those electrical slugs is protected out and slams into the terrorist. It's hard to see what happens but there's a flash of electrical current that spreads over a human shaped outline in the blink of an eye, and then everything seems twice as black with the afterimage. There is the sound of a strangled, gurgling gasp and then a body hitting the dirt floor.
Ellis misses the current lightshow that Anya sends off, not being able to see much of anything as he's collapsed on the floor, his Sig Sauer clutched in one muddy hand while the other clutches at his chest. He's breathing hard and a bit labored too, and not to mention borderline hyperventilating. "Gorramit.. it hurts.. I-.. I-.. I think I killed Craig. Oh fuck what am I going to do..."
Anya feels an intense sense of satisfaction as Decker is tagged and drops. It's not until afterward that the sound of Ellis' struggle reaches her ears and she becomes immediately concerned. "Ellis? Baby? Are you okay?" She turns around, holstering her pistol and starting to backtrack in the direction where Ellis should be, following the sound of his voice.
"I'm...nnggh..fine." Ellis says, though his tone exclamating when he hears Anya coming closer, "No! Check on Decker! Make sure he /stays/.. ngh down! The impact just.. fucking hurts." He's clearly gritting his teeth to cope with the sharp pain in his chest that should soon subside and remind him of a wound of a lucky bullet. He starts to shift to his knees, making his way towards where Craig fell. There's one thing he has to do. Trembling, and muddy, fingers reach out to tap at the dark, to locate the body and to confirm the death.
Anya pauses, torn. But Ellis says he's okay, who is she to argue? After a brief moment of lip chewing she turns and goes the other direction. "Okay, well, hopefully I can find him without tripping over him..." she mumbles, mostly to herself, then tags her comm just in case the power going out means whatever is interfering with communications has ended. "Red team reporting, we're in the basement, and we've got Decker." So far.
So far, there's no sound from Decker or from Craig. As Ellis gropes around in the dark and paws at the fallen gunman's body, he'll feel a weakening pulse, the man's breathing very shallow and quick. Anya's voice over the comm gets a response, "This is Gootch, affirmative." One of the marines responds. It's not hard to find Decker after some careful feeling around. He's unconscious on the floor, right where she left him.
Ellis feels a pulse and is that a sigh of releif in his voice? "He's still alive!" The engineer's shaking hands actually stabilize to this news. First thing he needs to do is tie him down. reaches for a zip tie, lines the man's hands, assuming he's weak enough to tie together. "I'm going to try keeping him stable.." With what little First Aid knowledge he has. That's when he gets the bright idea to flip his smartcomms display on to shine some light to investigate on Craig's wounds.
Meanwhile, Anya makes her way to Decker, and if she accidentally kicks him in the process she won't lose any sleep over it. But, you know, it's not on purpose. Squatting down when she finds him, she rolls him onto his stomach (provided he doesn't wake up) and secures his hands behind his back. As a light comes on, she glances in Ellis' direction and smiles. "Smart," she says.
As Ellis tries to assess the damage to Craig via Smartcomm light, it's hard to see how injured the thug is. He's bleeding from the bullet wound and there's blood leaking from his mouth and nose. His breathing is growing faster, in shorter, weaker spurts. Anya's efforts to roll Decker over and secure him are met without resistance. The man isn't stirring yet. There's no more sound from outside, but there is a warning over the com, "This is Gootch. House Team be advised that there are buried incendiary devices in the fields around the property. There are no further hostiles outside, but the ship is not yet cleared. Ellis does start to panic again, but he tries to breathe himself. "Shit... shit.." He knows he's just a terrorist but still. A life's a life! He will try, "Gorramit!" Try! "It's so gorram hard to see in the dark!" He reaches for Craig's sleaves, and attempts to tear of some articles of Craig's clothing to apply to what blood he does see. "There's so much blood!" He calls out. It's really hit and miss to do anything, but his goal is to get the fabric and to press into the wound to keep it from bleeding more. Provided he even finds the wound. He'll just have to push until the man squirms.
Once Ellis is secure, Anya makes her way back to Ellis. It's easier this time, seeing as how the Smartcomm display is the only source of light in the basement at the moment. She can hear the distress in Ellis' voice, and she comes to kneel beside him. "There's not much we can do for him in the dark," she says. "But let me see what I can do." She starts checking the fallen man over, trying to locate his wounds so that they can apply pressure. "There's still one more door, why don't you go check it out while I work here?" Anya says, thinking that maybe if she gives Ellis some distraction he'll be able to calm down.
Craig's bleeding is staunched some by Ellis's efforts, but his breathing stops anyway. It seems there won't be any saving this poor thug. Well, unless Ellis wants to start mouth to mouth. Even then, it would be doubtful. As Anya reaches him, it shouldn't be hard for her to discern that the man isn't going to make it. Not without extreme emergency medical care.
Ellis nods to Anya, his eyes going down to the blood that's on his hands, and pistol, he never let go of his weapon. Before he even knows that Craig ushered his last breath he's already off distracting himself with what Anya asked him to check out. The door. The question is, is his light enough to shine him the way.
It becomes quickly obvious to Anya that Craig is beyond her capability to help him given what she has available. But she does what she can, primarily for Ellis' benefit. She knows how he feels about guns and killing, all too well. Her eyes drift to follow him as he makes his way toward the door, though, keeping an eye out from here as best she can.
As Ellis gets to the door, he'll see by the light of the smartcomm that there's a couple of bolt locks on the inside, easy enough to unhook, but there's also a slim wire that runs under the door, and along the wall towards one of the tables against the back wall. It's hooked up to a little box with a couple of simple switches.
It's Ellis' own fault for loading up with live ammunition, but it is what it is! Ellis currently is distracted enough to study the door. He nearly starts to unhook the bolt locks but he sees the wire that runs under the door. "It could be booby trapped!" He calls over to Anya, just as he begins to retrace the wire. The hunt is on, smartcom held out, eyes squinting to see in front of him and the wire that runs along the wall. Finding himself in front of a little box, he starts to inspect that too before doing /anything/ if anything at all.
The small box turns out to be some kind of speaker. It's plugged into a power strip (that's now dead). It's very simple, looking like it probably does little more than emit some kind of audible alarm or tone. Maybe a doorbell. Either way, the thin wire connected to it can't pull too much power. It's probably nothing inherently dangerous.
Releived it's just a sort of alarm system he lets out a deep breath and sigh of releif. "Good, I ain't ruttin' messin' with 'xplosives..." He mutters to himself then feels the box for the wiring. Tongue gets caught between his teeth and lips and then he pulls. Disconnected. It ain't rocket science. "Are you alright over there, ves'tacha?" He asks in a worried tone.
"I'm fine, what did you find?" Anya asks, though as she sits there in the dark she's not doing all that much. Certainly not giving Craig CPR or anything. She might regret that later, but...given his association with Decker she's pretty sure the Verse is better off without him.
Ellis nods in the dark, it's more out of a habit than anything since it's dark and all Anya might be able to see is his shadow and the cyan glow coming from his smartcomm display. He heads over towards the door then, hands gripping his sig in his right hand and holding it towards the door as his left hand extends for the bolts and then the knob. Time to go see what's behind door number three, shal we?
On the floor, Decker lets out a little groan, shifting around on the packed dirt. There's some scraping and shuffling around. He's trying to sit up, pulling and tugging at the zipties. "Let me loose!" He demands suddenly, voice cutting through the dim light. Meanwhile, Ellis is opening that door. It creaks a bit as he pulls it open. Dust sifts down, but there are no alarms or explosions. The ceiling doesn't cave in. There's just a small, narrow tunnel that looks like it goes to some cellar doors that open out into the yard, judging by their location.
No answer. At least, not from Ellis. As Decker starts to make noise, Anya shifts her focus in that direction, peering into the darkness. "Shut up and lie still or I'll put you out again," she warns, and to make good on her threat she wipes off her hands and pushes to her feet, drawing her weapon and moving over toward Decker to keep a better watch on him. Her eyes are starting to adjust to the low light level by now, aided at least in some small part by Ellis' smartcomm.
Ellis is silent for a moment, probably not productive if Anya's asking what he found. He checks the passage for a moment longer until he's satisfied the coast is clear, "I think I found a passage out.. Or deeper into the ground.." Hard to tell without traversing it. He turns his head to look over his shoulder at where Decker lies, "Sounds like the coast is clear..."
Decker falls quiet, watching the trigger-happy gypsy. He doesn't stop wiggling at the binding on his wrists, but he keeps his trap shut and stays put. For now. Ellis's passage actually isn't that deep. The doors that open upward into the yard outside are easy to see. On the floor, that wire that ran under the door connects to a simple alarm trigger -- one of those little infrared beams that chimes when someone walks past it. It's not functioning at the moment.
"Great, it'll probably be easier to get him out that way than up the ladder," Anya comments, as she takes up a position near Decker, turning her Smartcomm display on so she can keep a better eye on him. "I guess there's not much else for us to do but hunker down and wait for the other team to catch up. Come back to the inner door and help me keep an eye on the exits from in here?"
Ellis nods, and comes starts back towards Anya, "Hunker down it is." He says, chewing on his lower lip. He best not ask about Craig. Out of sight, out of mind. "Jacy and her team better not forget we're down here and shoot us on sight... Crazy navy chick." He glances over towards Decker then, squinting in a menacing manner.
Some time passes, Decker watching quietly now, eyes shifting between Anya and Ellis as they discuss hunkering down in the basement. He's stopped struggling. The marine's voice comes over the com, "What's the sitrep in the house? Is it secure?" She asks, short and to the point.
Anya's arm is starting to pain her more the longer that it goes untended, but there's nothing to be done for that now. She just waits, keeping an eye on Decker until another communcation comes from the marines. "Still holding in the basement. Upstairs isn't secure. We left two in the kitchen, they were stunned but may be up again." She looks over toward the trapdoor for any signs of, well, anything.
"Copy that." Comes the marine's voice over the com. After a few minutes of silence, there's the loud *boom* of a heavy rifle going off, something powerful. A couple more minutes pass and then there are footsteps upstairs, some shuffling around. "House is secure, approaching basement." A tactical light hooked to a rifle is shined down into cellar hole. "Everything okay down there?" A moment later, the marine is dropping down into the basement, shining the light over the three hunkered down there. She speaks through the comm of the full Alliance tactical suit she's wearing. "Let's get outside." She'll move to the other exit, following it and pushing the outside door open, taking the steps up into the western yard. It's dark outside now, the sun having set. There's smoke pouring out of the crashed ship where the cargo hatch access door is hanging open. Jacy and the other marine are about thirty feet away from there, the Lieutenant over the limp form of the other soldier laid out on the ground. She has her gun pointed at the access door.
Ellis whinces as he hears those booms. "Sounds like..." No just don't think about it Ellis. "Ruttin' feds.." Is muttered under his breath just before the marine comes down the ladder. "Yeah.. We got the.. uh.. package." Really Ellis? You're watching way too many spy movies. He nudges his head towards the exit in guesture for Decker to move ahead. "Go on.. I ain't lettin' you out of my sight."
Anya taps her fingers against her leg a little anxiously while they wait. The boom from upstairs, causes her eyes to shift upward, but since they get warning before the rifle and flashlight poke through the opening she just keeps her own weapon trained on Decker. She lets Ellis speak for them, nodding at his words and then bending to help haul Decker to his feet. She walks behind him, proding him along with the muzzle of her gun if he starts to lag. Eventually stepping out into the evening air, she draws a deep breath and lets it out slowly, fingers tightening on the grip of her gun as her hand threatens to tremble. Is it over? It seems to be over. And they made it. She looks toward Ellis, smiling.
Decker gets to his feet, tensing as if he might try something, but the gun muzzle that's prodding him along has him thinking better. "You don't understand what you're doing.." The man mutters. "My cause is something greater than what you're seeing. *Someone* has to do something.. Just let me go." As they step onto the overgrown, weedy lawn, they all enjoy that one fine breath of fresh air. Just when Anya turns that smile onto Ellis, two things happen. First, another man comes racing out of the crashed ASREV. He makes it four steps before Gootch puts a bullet into his leg and the man topples to the ground with a scream. Then there's an explosion more thunderous than all previous, the Starfire shuddering as it's insides are torn to pieces by the C4, the glass of the cockpit blowing out and tears in the hull forming and belching out smoke and flame. The blast is enough to knock Jacy off her feet, but those by the house are far enough away to maintain their footing. Decker just stares, then looks at his captors, "I need a mask!"
What's Ellis reaction when the explosion goes off? It's to fricking hug Anya and put his back towards the blast. Stupid, since the blast is far enough, but people always do stupid things for love. Luckily enough the blast radius doesn't reach them at the house. His arms hold Anya in that deathgrip as if for dear life, nearly crushing her. Well not really but it's a pretty tight squeeze. When the blast dissipates and Decker asks for a mask he turns his head and seethes, "Suck it!"
Anya blinks at the explosion and takes a step back instinctively, but though they can probably feel the concussive force of the blastwave it isn't enough to knock them off their feet at this distance. Then Ellis grabs her and she blinks, squeaking softly behind the mask she wears as he hugs her tightly. "It's okay, I'm okay...we're okay..." she assures him, and as Decker chirps up about wanting a mask she shoots him a tiny glare. "Breathe deep," she suggests. That would be justice, oh yes.
Decker looks between the pair, then at the aftermath of the explosion. He stares up at the smoke, which is now lit by some of the flames and sparks from the burning ship. It's starting to drift their way. His eyes go back to the two Praemia people and he snarls, "Fuck you!" He turns and tries to escape down into the cellar again, presumably where some gas masks must be stored.
Ellis loosens his hold on Anya when she says she's ok but then Decker starts to make a run for it, "Oh no you don't fucker!" He makes a leap for him to tackle and throw him to the ground.
Anya is let go as suddenly as she was grabbed, just looking on in surprise as Ellis moves to tackle the guy. Figuring that he can handle Decker, she starts to run over toward where people were knocked down by the blast. You know, in case anyone needs medical attention. Meanwhile, she puts over the comm, "There may be bots in the smoke, everyone get your masks on!" Just in case.
Decker is off-balance already from having his hands bound behind him. Ellis slams into the man and he topples to the ground, hitting the dirt hard, yelling in pain. "You idiot! It could be in the air! Let me go!! I'm going to get infected! If I die the cause will die!" Over at the wrecked heap of ASREV, Jacy is getting to her feet and the other marine that had cleared the house is running to apprehend the fellow she captured (who is wearing a mask). "We'll secure the the ship, stay back!" The marine says over the com, waving Anya back. They are wearing better gear for that, from the looks of it.
Ellis digs his elbow into the mans throat, pushing his chin up high. The arm that where his hand holds the Sig. His free hand basically diggs into his jaw to ensure his mouth is open, "Breathe deep. I want you to feel the nanobots curse through your body, eating away at your organs very slowly until there is nothing left but your beating and withering heart for what you caused to me and mine." After a moment he pulls himself off of decker, but not before he whacks him with the butt of his pistol. Hard. "Damn that felt good!"
Anya stops short when she's waved back, and from afar she nods to the marine that urges her to stay back before turning to head back toward Ellis and Decker in time to see Ellis clock the guy with his pistol. She walks over to stand beside them, leaning down to lay a hand on Ellis' shoulder briefly. "<<We should probably find him a mask,>>" she says. Sure, it's poetic justice for him to get infected with his own rogue nanobots but...it's probably not the right thing to do. After a moment's reflection, she has concluded this.
Decker chokes as Ellis presses at his throat and forces his mouth open, involuntarily gasping in breaths of air. He writhes, trying to squirm away. His eyes are wide with horror at the fate the mechanic is forcing on him, and he gurgles, trying to speak. Before he can get any words out, Ellis cracks the butt of the pistol over his head and Decker falls limp to the grass, unconscious. Some time later the marines finish up securing things and the (living) captives and (dead) bodies are gathered up. Decker is left in the Praemia's hands to deliver to DAS HQ.
