Once the group gets things picked for the journey, Thunderbird takes to the skies to scout around.

21:55, Today: Thunderbird rolled 30 using 1d20+11. perception.

Crinkles readies himself for guard duty.  He is sad to see to leave the area but excited for a new adventure.

Used to moving a lot ophelia has all she needs ready at all times so as they set off he drops to all fours and races off to scout ahead on foot

"Ok," Bedlam makes a final check of the map before tucking it into his armor. "This should be a pretty straightforward hike."

"Scouts, don't get too far ahead," the giant says. "Crinkles, why don't you grab the second cart. Rose, Zee, feel free to scavenge, but don't fall too far behind."

Picking up the handles for one of the small, two-wheeled carts, he begins pulling it out into the Sprawl.

"This isn't so bad," he comments to Crinkles. "Might be different once it gets loaded up."

OOC: Figuring we traded the big, horse-drawn cart for two smaller, manually drawn carts. May have lost some carrying capacity, but should be a little easier to maneuver through the ruins, and cheaper to feed :)

You head off into the Sprawl, leaving the motorbikes in Compton this time. An hour into your journey Thunderbird spots something big and nasty heading towards the party below, and swoops down to guide everyone down the right alley to avoid it.

A roll of 30 will do that, encounter bypassed

Following your new map, after three hours you reach site of the Exchange & Mart, which turns out to be a heavily fortified mini-mall in the middle of a large, deserted car park that has been cleared of any cover. On each corner of the mall's roof is a seriously heavy-duty machine gun turret, and in the middle is a large and garish neon sign, slowly revolving.

"Tech Bought & Sold"

BTW remember only those with Int 15 or the Science skill can read.

Crinkles looks over the mall. "Seems like a safe place. But Crinkles does not want to be the first person to step out there."

 With a childish glee she moved alongside the troop of people wandering around and looking for anything of possible value to her or the group.


 Scrounging for what ever strikes her childlike fancy.

 As they came near the cleared area she stopped and gazed at the distant building of trade. "O' there it is, good come on, lets go do some shopping". She stepped out and began heading towards the big advertized store.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:20, Wed 09 Apr 2014.

Taking a look for an escape route if needed, Thunderbird flew around the area before landing. "Tech bought and sold" he said looking at the sign. "Looks like a place that I will feel at home. Lets see what they got to offer." he said as he entered the mall.

"We believe caution is advised", Zee beeps out and slowly follows Rose.

OOC: Is it possible to check and see if there are any type of tripwires, mines, and such? Basically...traps! Anywhere around the building? Heck...do those turrets look like they have to be manned or are they auto?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Wed 09 Apr 2014.

The nearest guns on the roof swivel round to track the party as they approach the mall. ZE-5 sees no obvious traps.

Up close, you see all of the windows and doors have been sealed up with thick steel plating, and the front door is heavily reinforced. And shut. Next to the door is a small grill with a button underneath. A notice is affixed nearby.

"Hold the button and state your business"

A set of pictograms underneath the text tries to convey the same information for the illiterate.

Zee hums and rips off one of the buttons from its coat. It studies the button. The button is blue, with silver engravings on it forming a some type of symbol. It then holds the button up in the air for everyone to see, "We come in peace! Exchange of information, possible barter!".
This message was last edited by the player at 16:49, Sat 12 Apr 2014.

Ophelia slows to a gentle run before coming up onto two feet then to a stop and waits for the others. Her eyes darted in all directions looking for danger and feeling exposed but she couldn't help but chuckle to herself at what ZE did

 She is curious at the sign which her former body knew how to read it so she can also read the missive. She smiles the sign and blurts out, "O' i want to look at the shiny objects and things that go fast, maybe some thing to help GROW things."

 Not sure what kind of currency they had but she might be able to pick up something inside.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:37, Mon 14 Apr 2014.

Crinkles shifted back and forth on his feet, waiting to see if their robot is able to prevent them from being shot.

Thunderbird looked at ZE and shook his head after reading the sign. "ZE, I believe in order to speak with them, you need to push the white button where the red arrow is pointing and hold it in place while speaking into the metal mesh, where the green arrow is pointing. Like you are using a walkie-talkie." he said.

Pointing out the pictures to the group, Thunderbird walked them through the pictographs "See the red arrow pointing to the button in the first picture? In the second one you see a finger pushing the button. In the third picture, you see the hand still pushing the button, the green arrow is pointing to the speaker and the creature is speaking into it. See the three semicircular lines that get larger the father it is away from the mouth? That is a visual way of showing speech. In the fourth one, you see the finger is now off the button and the picture now shows the same kind of lines coming from the speaker. That is what the pictures are showing." he said

Pushing the button, Thunderbird spoke into the speaker. "We wish to enter in order to conduct trade with you." he said.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:17, Mon 14 Apr 2014.

"Improper translation and storage of written language into our data banks was detected. Error had been corrected. We thank you for your explanation", Zee nodded its head at Thunderbird and nonchalantly stored the button where its mouth would have been.

A crackling voice issues from the speaker.

"You're the crew that killed the Cook, right? Come on in friends"

The steel door swings open, revealing a small, steel-lined room beyond. In the centre is a set of mismatched old garden chairs around an aluminium table. A fragile looking robot, human-shaped but painfully thin, sits on one of the chairs. It speaks to you in the same crackling tone.

"Take a seat everybody!"

Crinkles walks in, eyeing the thin robot warily.

Thunderbird follows Crinkles in and takes a seat at the table.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:39, Fri 18 Apr 2014.

 She entered the fortress and looked at the tin humanoid looking machine and fought down a desire to go see how the machine works. Finding a seat she sat down and looked over the room. "I dont see many nice things to buy in here, is this all there is?."

Ophelia enters with the others but only stands behind one of the empty chairs not wanting to sit until she was satisfied there was no danger to them

"All our stuff is locked away elsewhere my green freind" says the robot cheerfully. "I can show you anything we have in stock"  - and here the robot projects a holographic image of some sort of rifle on top of the aluminium table - "so you show me what you have to trade and we can make a deal. And if you are indeed the crew who took out the cook, we might have a special offer for you"

 She looks at the robot and the shimmering image of a rifle displayed over the table in wonder and would really like to know the secret behind the way the image is generated but she is dealing now with the machine.

 She helps drag in the material that Bedlam said we could use for trade with this clan that salvages material and items.

 "Well, my other body was killed fighting the swine men at the bad mans place..the cook and anyway i was sprouted after the fight, so i guess we are the group your talking about. Now you said you had something special for us?."

Rose, I don't think Bedlam intended for you to bring loot back into the Sprawl. You can negotiate with any tech you have that isn't much use to you.

Bedlam leaves the pushcart outside and ducks through the doorway. He puts a big hand on the seat of one of the the old lawn chairs, applying some pressure.

"Thanks, might be better if I stood," he grins at the robot.

The giant nods appreciatively at the rifle. "Looks impressive. And yes, we are the crew which took out the cook. Unfortunately we also had a bit of a disagreement with the porkers, as I'm sure you heard, and were unable to keep the kitchen in working order."

"We still managed to pull some good swag out of that. Of course we spent pretty much all of it back in Compton," the giant shrugs. "We're just on our way back out for more salvage and thought it would be good to check in here. We've heard good things about this shop and your crew. Figure you deal in just about anything tech, but there might be some particular bits you'd like us to keep our eyes... or ears... open for."