After working with her teammates to remove the metal sheet, Iona sees the camera at the end of the hallway. Looking over to Diego, she whispers. "Do you want me to step inside the hallway and power down the camera? Or would you rather maintain our identity as "normals" breaking into the drug lab and deal with it some other way?"
OOC: If Diego gives the nod, then Iona will step into the actual hallway so that those on the outside cannot see her. She'll then use her "Shutdown" power to turn the camera off.
After Iona unwinds the metal tethering the metal plate to the opening, John lends his muscle to removing the plate. After struggling mightily to move it aside, the veteran soldier stands behind Iona and Diego as they discuss how to deal with the camera.
"I could use my pistol on it...", John adds in a low voice. "...or I could also use my combat knife to shatter the lens and other, fragile parts of the camera. You two got anything better?"
OOC: Again, John will wait until some plan of action is given the green light. If he's called upon to destroy the camera, then I'll make the rolls for him, if necessary.
While still processing the onlookers movements, his mind snapped back to the situation at hand. "If they didn't know we were coming, they do now. Just shoot out the camera and get ready for an attack. Keep eyes on the backs of your heads as well. Try not to kill the important people who may have info on what we want.", says Diego as if he was ordering a pizza. There was a chilly quality to how factual it sounded vs the typical military style commander. using other words, he might as well have been saying it was a nice day and the flower were blooming well.
Before progressing down the path, Diego does a quick visual sweep and keeps his ears primed for any sounds of people waiting when the camera is taken out, which he fully expected. If not for pissing of Chen potentially, Diego would send John in as a meqt shield. In his shaken state, that might just snap him out of it.
Iona proceeds down the passage until she gets about 5 feet from the camera. All the while, her eyes look for tripwires, uneven floor, or discoloration in the floor that might indicate a trap. Raising the suppressed pistol, she squeezes two separate rounds into the "sphere" of the camera.
After shooting out the camera, she moves closer to the edge of the hole in the ground. She squats and uses her keen hearing to listen for any sounds of commotion or speaking.
OOC: Let me know if I need to make an attack roll with the pistol. Otherwise, I'll just include a Perception roll: Perception Roll in the Dark Tunnel: 1d20+1028. So, a 28 total.
Before entering the hallway, John takes the two pistols from the dead Jaguars. Waste not, want not.
Then following behind Iona, he gives her a good 30 feet head start before slowly moving in after her. The veteran soldier gets more anxious as the cyborg approaches the proximity of the hole and camera, fully expecting some kind of trap to activate. He squats down and leans into the wall, and his breathing is noticeably deeper and more nervous.
He levels his pistol at the hole in the floor, ready to provide gunfire ins support of Iona should someone "pop up".
Diego takes the time to measure the reaction and demeanor of the homeless people that he has seen observing his team's assault on the Jaguar guards. While there are a handful of people paying attention, lurking in shadows, or hiding behind obstacles in an effort to conceal their presence, he doesn't see anyone pulling out communication devices. He sees tension and fear, though not hostility. No one appears primed to retaliate against Diego, Iona, and John for their killing the two Latino men.
After the metal sheet in removed and the decision is made to press on, Iona takes point. The walls of the hallway are damaged. There are cave ins where debris blocks out routes that would have originally lead into rooms or other hallways. Venturing forward a carefully, the woman notices footprints in the dust. Most of the hallway itself is cleared of rubble, expect for one patch. A small mound just in front of the hole. It feels out of place.
It was a decent location for a base. Whether it was a drug lab, some secret super science facility, or red rash spewing factory Diego wasn't sure. John was doing ok so far physically, so it couldn't be poisonous. It was curious their wasn't a welcome party yet, but maybe everyone was waiting on the other side of the hole. Diego took a follow up look at the foot prints and the mound. Someone was here, so maybe a mine the person walked around? To be sure, Diego tried to trace the foot prints from the location Iona noticed to where they might have gone or came from. It reasoned that if the foot prints were ok where they stepped were fine as well. Maybe.
"Keep your eyes open. Someone is around. With the camera gone, whoever might have been on the other side knows we are here now. Watch out for that mound as well.", remarks Diego in tones low enough as possible so only his teammates heard. "Don't shoot it either.", added Diego for good measure.
Perception 25 for the path of the foot prints such as did they avoid the mound, where did they go to/come from, etc
The young cyborg walks cautiously forward. Here eyes focused on the mound in front of the hole. "Watchout for that lump in the floor just before the hole! It could be trap of some kind."
OOC: Are there any wires or apparent "tripping mechanisms" protruding from the hole?
Careful to follow the path of the footprints, Iona circumvents the mound, careful not to step on it, and peers down the hole. Her eyes adjust to the dim light of the area as she points the suppressed pistol down into the opening in the floor.
John had set up many ambushes in his life. By default, he assumed that the mound was some kind of explosive, rigged with a tripwire, infrared sensor, or even a remote detonator.
He stayed well back....back near the opening of the tunnel. He allows Iona to close the distance alone, while he himself remains squatted down against the wall. Trying to make himself as small a target as possible should there be an explosion. John peers back over his shoulder with gun in hand to make sure than no "inquisitive" onlooker approaches the group from behind as they proceed down the passage.
With John hang back, and to the side of the entrance, Diego and Iona press on. Being careful to follow the route taken by the dusty footprints they cautiously advance on the hole. Iona pays careful attention to her surroundings, looking for tripwires or more sophisticated triggering systems. She notices a distinctive lack of any such items. You once the pair are within thirty feet of the hole your primed and keen ears hear a soft voice urgently utter a single word ..
"Now."
Then the hallway erupts in a wave of kinetic force as the mound of rubble explodes violently. A hailstorm of shattered debris flies at them in the wake of the explosion.
OOC wrote:Diego and Iona make a DC 20 Dodge check. If she fails she rolls against a DC 25 Toughness check. If she passes the Dodge the Toughness check will be 20.
Good news for Diego, the lights will be out in the hallway. Though you'll note some light coming from the hole in the floor.
"Get out! Get out! Fall...", exclaims Diego in a voice as if he was about to run doing the requisite actions as well. His voice trailed off as if he had ben shredded by the explosion and covered by some of the rubble. He tried to sell it was the practiced ease of the Ascendent of Deception. Based on what he saw, the lights were rudimentary, so when they burst and no back up lights came on he planned figured he could safely shift into his native form and head over to a place hidden well enough to get the better of whoever was going to come up the hole. People didn't set off explosions than just not check on if it worked.
Free of the confines of a physical form, Diego stuck to the dark places and looked for a place he could rematerialize while still being hidden. Maybe some big mound to hide behind, dark corner close by, or something of that sort. He kept his eyes peeled for whoever would come up. Hopefully Iona would see him vanish and get the hint of the ruse if she wasn't too damaged.
The powerful blast sends metal and fragments of rock tearing through Iona's clothes. But every significant piece that makes solid contact is halted by her super-science skeleton. On the outside, her clothing and flesh are lacerated in various areas, but serious damage to her frame or components occurs.
Still she feels the shockwave of the blast and hears Diego's call to "fall" just before the explosion erupts. She allows the blast carry her backwards a step before falling onto the floor. The suppressed pistol is still in her grasp as she lies motionless...seemingly dead. The prone cyborg listens for her attackers or someone to emerge from the hole and assess the damage.
OOC: Here are the Deception and Perception Rolls requested by Sakuro. Deception first: Deception Roll for Iona: 1d20+822. So, a total of 22. Here's her Perception roll: Perception Roll for Iona: 1d20+1019. So, a total of 19.
Last edited by Supernaturalist on Tue Aug 24, 2021 12:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
When the explosion occurs, John instinctively goes from squatting near the entrance of the hole to lying prone. With the lights out in the passage, he struggles to see anything through the smoke and darkness down at the end of the tunnel.
Unsure if anything could have survived that blast, he once again glances back around him to see if anything is approaching from the outside area around the entrance. With his pistol still in hand he eyes search the immediate area, lit only by the light from the trash can fire. I'll give it a few moments to see if they survived. If not, my ass is outta here.
OOC: Here's John's Insight roll requested by Sakuro: Insight Roll for John: 1d2017.
SO, a total of 17.
Last edited by Supernaturalist on Tue Aug 24, 2021 12:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
From John's perspective the hallway is like the barrel of a shotgun blasting out a wash of flame and debris like scatter-shot. He hears cries of warning and distress from Diego. Then nothing. Outside he is a lone figure huddles in the cold shadow of dimmed flames. Darkness swallows the majority of his world after the brief and brilliant explosion.
Inside the hall there are occasional sparks from a couple cords in the ceilings that had been feeding power to the lights. There are brief stuttering glimpses of parks of Iona's prone body. Never the full picture of her perfect form marred with gruesome wounds. Her form bloodied and lacerated. Her clothes shredded. There is no sigh of Diego. Suggesting worse happened to him.
OOC wrote:Diego and Iona, make a Deception check and a Perception check.
Make an Insight check for John. If Diego and Iona's Deception is higher, he buys into their ruse of being dead.
