"Alrighty, seems I missed something. Ya'll going on and on about vampires but I ain't seen none yet today. Somebody want to fill me in?"

Joran volunteers to go outside with Nathaniel, stopping for a moment with the CS troops.  Than you for not attempting to kill us like most of your fellows would.  I also apologize for using my powers on you before.  Like I said, I just wanted to avoid a big fight between us all, and I will not do that again without your express permission.
He then continues out of the cave, being careful to avoid messing up the protections set at the entrance.  Holding the mirror in hand, he marvels at Nathaniel's abilities every time he sees them in use.  Especially when he absords or produces one of his "brothers"
When Nathaniel returns, the ogre queries, What have you figured out?

"There was a few, I think, back where we were in that basement, but they might not have been.  Something was off about them."  Cade informed Cole.

"And, someone worked to make this, I assume, a refuge from vampires.  Strung garlic all over the entrance, plus, obviously..."  She finished motioning towards the cache of anti-vampire equipment.

"Might be this area has a vampire problem.  It'll make it harder to get back to Dallas if that's the case."

Chaplain spoke quietly into his radio, nearly a whisper, directly to Julia. +When you have a moment, I'd like your professional assessment of this cave's value as a weapon's cache. I might need to lighten my load a bit, but I intend to return for it.+

He was glad the faceplate was down, because Zeke's transformation caught him off guard and he did not want anyone else to see what would have probably been an expression of surprise. He took a note of chanting, words, gestures - and if none, he resolved to keep a closer eye on Zeke, because he didn't know of any psychic powers that did that.

He was also taken aback by Joran's admission of power usage, and he quickly zeroed down what that power was, given where his mind was already going. No waving or strange chants, or I would have blown him up immediately and we would not be talking. Psionics, probably mind control - likely why I couldn't find the emotions needed to properly interact with him until just now.

"Don't mention it. It was crazy in there." He kept his tone flat and lacking in surprise. No need to be antagonistic, and I can swallow my pride for now. If the big psion decided it was time to seize his mind again, he was wondering if he plausibly could stop it - although he hoped he'd put up a better mental fight next time, so that he could simply kill Jozan if they ever tried that again.

Of course, given what they were dealing with, Jozan might not be the first suspect if he felt his mind under assault.

He decided to add to Joran's report to Cole. "The leeches talk a big game and fancy themselves wolves, but they don't normally fight to the death, and when they find out they have met someone packing silver who's as hard as them, they piss their pants, change their shape, and flee like the coyotes they really are. Or at least the ones I've dealt with in the past did. These ones didn't do any of that."

"And whatever the hell they were, they could come in here the same way we did. The garlic wouldn't have stopped them from doing anything except leave through the front entrance, if that, and the vampire killing weapons would be on their side, in their hands. This might not be a hiding hole for a desperate survivor or a resistance. It might be a terror cell, a base, for those things back there."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:43, Sun 19 July 2020.

Cole tips his hat back at Cade's words. He had known the strange Dog Girl for a while now and she wasn't one to spoke easy or kid about something like that. She also knew a thing or two about Undead critters. All of that told him he should take her claim seriously. Which left him with a problem, since from time out of mind, his people could feel whenever Vampires were nearby, and he hadn't felt a thing.

"So maybe they weren't true vampires or at least not the vampires we are used to," he thought to himself. "Not that it matters much right now. They are there and we are here." He proceeded to remind his companions of that. "Well, whatever they were, and I ain't saying they weren't vampires, they are back there and we are here, wherever here is exactly." He jerks a thumb at the cave entrance, "and where here is, has a whole lot of sunlight right now. Ain't no vampire made yet that can handle that much sunlight."

He tips his head at the chest and its still unclaimed items. "This whole place is just the next stop on the path to wherever the real treasure is." He holds up the scroll and map contained on it. "We might not know where we are but we do have a map on how to get to the treasure. We don't know if'n those vampires or whatevers can follow us so rather than stand here yaking about it, let's get out and use the sun to put as much distance between us and this cave as we can. We'll find the treasure, then get back to Dallas and then maybe back to Worth." He looks at the two Coalition soldiers. "Ya'll are free to go about your business. We came here to collect on a treasure, not fight you boys. You want to leave peaceful like, I ain't gonna stop you."

Nathaniel is able use a team member's reflective surface to turn to light and shoot up into the sky. He can tell that they are no longer in Dallas. For that matter, they are no longer in America. Stretching out in every direction is rocky desert dotted with settlements, villages and what look like some larger cities.

Meanwhile, Julia is able to surmise, based on the landscape and vegetation, that they must be somewhere in Mexico.

But why did a portal from Dallas lead here?

GM: What do you do?

"At least it will be true when I describe you as scavengers." Chaplain's tone indicated a casual relief. He pointed up. "That - unfortunately - is holding our most likely way back, and I'm not sure if you all understand exactly how we got here in the first place. So step one, get information. I'm going to see if anyone's chatting on the airwaves."

He started fiddling with his headjack, listening to radio frequencies, starting with CB ranges, and slowly expanding along the FM ranges. AM was hard to trace locally.

His own message to Corporal Hart would have been nearly impossible for anyone not on a Coalition channel, and in their case, they'd have to been almost right there, listening.

His current objective was simple - find any existing radio frequencies, track them to a source, and don't throw up any signals that would accidentally be overheard by anyone else.

He popped his face-plate up to look at Cole, although he was looking past him, concentrating on something else. Still, he felt Cole might need to see a face to realize there was, in fact, a human being under here. "So, I'm sure we have something we can bond over while we are together for the moment. For example, in the states, even among enemies, it is considered rude to not introduce yourself. Is that true out here?"

OOC: 22:05, Today: Chaplain Wolf rolled 40 using 1d100.  Radio: Basic - base TN 75.
22:07, Today: Chaplain Wolf rolled 100 using 1d100.  Electronic Countermeasures - base TN 60.
Well. At least to my knowledge, critical failures are not a thing. In another game, that roll would have amazing for a different reason. I can probably find a working signal if there is one, but my tracking of it is "no", unless some circumstance is giving me a high enough bonus to ECM that rolling was unneeded.

"Alright, so we either need to leave now, and try to make it to the spot on the map before sunset, or we commit to staying here and trying to gather more information."  Cade stated.

"It won't do us any good to waste hours fucking around with the magic shit that brought us here, then decide to leave.  If we're staying, we're spending the night."

Cole wasn't sure what to make of lieutenant Wolf. All of the Coalition soldiers he had ever met were always the shoot first, shoot again and if anything is still alive, shoot some more, types. At least when it came to anything or anyone non-human or human but magic. Of course he seemed smart enough to know he was way, way out of range of any help from the rest of the Coalition. Maybe that was why he was playing all nice like, going on about introducing yourself to your enemies.

OK fine, if he wanted to pretend to be nice, Cole could pretend too. "My name is Cole, lieutenant, Cole Adamos." He tipped his hat towards the man, in recognition of Wolf having lifted his helmet's face plate.

The bare minimum of courtesy having been observed, Cole turned his attention to Cade. "Whether we make it to the treasure before night or not, don't matter much. We can't stay here though. We got no clue if those vampires can use the same way we did to get here inside this cave. Kinda hard to defend against a threat that can just suddenly appear with no warning right in the middle of you. We also lost out rides so unless someone has a trick up their sleeves, we are walking. Best we put as many steps between us and here as we can, maybe find somewhere to hole up we won't be worried about vampires or zombies or whatever just magically appearing right up on us."

+Anything you leave here you're never seeing again,+ is Miss' reply over the channel as she stands up, turning back into the cave.


"Good news! We're all gonna die in the desert!" she declares to the other residents of the cave as she looks them over. They seemed to be peaceful enough. At least, they were before they knew the situation.

"Far as I can figure, based on the landscape, some of the plants I know, and just my own overwhelming optimism, is we're a good three to four hundred clicks south of where we were, oh, I dunno, fifteen minutes ago? That puts us way off the map, LT," Miss explains, a little laugh following it.

"If we start walking north now, today, and don't get eaten by... Something? It's weeks on foot. And that's for those of us have got a cooling system," she raps her knuckles against the white rib cage of her armor. "For those of you in leathers and fur? Fucked if I know, but good news is you'll have less of a ways to walk."

"We need to take an inventory. What we have for supplies, water especially. Ammo. Trade goods. Probably establish an engagement stance toward the locals, LT."

Once Nathaniel is back down, enters his armor as light in just the right position, and then turns back into his normal self. Grabbing his helmet he heads back down to the rest and tells them all what he saw. Looking at the map he lets the others know about what kind of overall terrain they will be slogging through. He seems much more animated than before.

He shares that on his back is an extra drum of ammo, a extra battery for the armor, two ration packs, one canteen a gulp or two low on water, and two thousand credits. He explains the credits are mostly for bribes, when needed on a mission. He notes he has only 4 days worth of power for the armor without a recharge, which takes 1 hour per two days worth of battery life.

A high pitched squeal comes from Chaplain's headset as he fiddles with it. He swoons a bit, the sound even bothering the others.

"Well, that's an unpleasant sound," says a gravelly voice. An old, reptilian mage in a light brown robe has entered the cave.

He emanates magical ability, but for those sensitive to it he does not appear to be evil.

GM: Chaplain - Critical fails are totally a thing in my games. -1 to strike, parry and dodge for a few minutes, hehe.

All - Are you all at the mouth of the cave? If so, that's where reptile man is too. If not, he is inside with you. I got a little fuzzy on who is where.

What do you do?

Nathaniel swings around to face the reptilian mage looking being. The railgun in his hands does not point at the mage, but it swings with him, pointed towards the floor.

"Greetings friend....who might you be?"

Joran brings his hands up to his ears at the feedback sound from the CS soldier's radio, not even thinking about how loud it had to be to Chaplain Wolf, since he is wearing the helmet.  At the sudden appearance of the mage-appearing lizard, Joran turns to look at him, or her, in surprise, though he did not seem to be worried.  His Sixth Sense had not gone off to warn him of danger.  He keeps a hand within easy reach of his Big Bore, neural mace, and knife, just in case.
Would this be your safe-place and cache?

Cole had listened to the Coalition woman speak her piece and wondered what in the hell she was going on about. "Leathers and fur? Something wrong with her eyes?" Everyone, including Cade, was wearing body armor, though to be fair, she did have fur underneath it what with being a Dog Girl and all. It was also true he wasn't wearing his helmet at the moment but he did have it handy, preferring to wear his hat and not close himself off from the air.

When she had said what she was going to say, he ignored most of it and focused on the one part that made sense. "We are good for water, if'n you don't care about it coming from magic," he says to her. "So it sounds like you two are fixing on joining us, is that it?"

And right about then was when the strange lizard man showed up with no warning, radiating magic. What he had said would happen, did; someone just popping in with no warning. Fortunately they were all awake, armed and he didn't seem like he meant to cause much trouble. Cole split his attention between the lizard mage and the CS soldiers, making sure to keep himself out of a line of fire between them. He didn't try to talk to the mage though, he figured Joran and Nathaniel were talking to him enough, no point in badgering him more.

OOC
Today: Cole rolled 18 (19 for vampires) using 1d20.  Perception.

Cole still has his rifle in one hand but it isn't being aimed at anyone, just held in the low ready.

Wolf and Julia: Me the player has nothing against you guys, just to be clear. Cole is not a fan of the CS as you might have guessed though so that is why he isn't especially friendly towards your characters. Give it time and some trust building episodes.

"Sounds more like they want to start walking north, and leave us to get fucked."  Cade commented to Cole.

"Which, fine by me, since I'm guessing we're not heading back north to get where we need to go anyway."

Since there hadn't been a consensus as to whether some or all of them were leaving sooner versus later, Cade unshouldered her pack and squatted down next to what was left of the contents of the chest after everyone else had claimed whatever they thought would be useful against the implied threat the gear represented.

She unbuckled the slim armored vambrace she wore over her EBA on her right arm and restrapped it to the left, then from her pack she pulled out and reassembled what looked like a TW version of a Coalition FIWS and strapped it in place in the space she'd just made vacant.

Cade then began dealing with the remaining anti-vamp gear, either loading it into her pack or strapping it to the outside.

Waste not, want not.

Chaplain winced, and simply - and quickly - flipped the face mask back down. Sound filtration upgrades would not have held that little malfunction off. He caught most of what was said, at least.

So he sat tight. For now. Cade seemingly just straight up did not care about the new being's arrival.

There was a radio signal in the area, but nothing that made sense yet. He couldn't add much to the conversation, yet, and no one else was pulling weapons. And he didn't know if this new being was friend or foe yet, so he was going to be tight lipped, with one exception. "Lieutenant Chaplain Wolf, CSA. Nice bolthole you've got here."

Zeke's revolvers are in his hands faster than even he realizes, aimed at the lizard mage, "You ain't tried to kill us yet buddy, you aimin' to? If so get on with it, we got shit to do. If not, how's about we all make nice and figure out a way for us to get back where we were and kill these vampires that took our friends from us."

The old lizard mage looks at our heroes with friendly amusement. He then glances at the cache and then up to Joran. His expression grows serious. "It would appear you used the compass. Tell me...how do you feel?"

Our heroes suddenly feel a weight on their shoulders, as though they are ships that have dropped anchor. Then the sensation is gone.

"Ah," says the mage gravely, "the compass has been damaged."

GM: What do you do?

This was not Chaplain's area of expertise. He knew nothing of the magical device that had brought them here. He was grossly out of his depth at the moment.

He almost wished the reptiloid had been openly hostile. It would have simplified things immensely. But he was CSID first, and a frontline soldier second.

"Fucking magic shit."  Cade muttered out loud.

"Old lizard man, you want to tell us what's going on, or do you want to ask us 20 more questions that sound like you already know the answers to?"  She asked him as she finished with her bag and swung it back onto her back.

Cole had been fine with the others speaking but now that the mage had let them know he knew about the compass, implying this was his cave, the Gunfighter decided he would enter the conversation.

"Howdy," he said to the Lizard Mage, tipping his hat at the man. "What my friend means is, yah, we used the compass to get here. Was it yours? Is this your place and stuff?" he gestures at the chest but keeps his eyes on the mage. "If it is, we didn't mean any harm. We thought it was legit salvage. We are guns for hire, not thieves." He looks sidelong at the two Coalition soldiers. "Well, we are, they are something else but it weren't their fault they got here. They just rode our coattails."

OOC
OK so still not saying Cole will be the leader but he will step up. I'll still keep him as a man of few words and no "big words" but will be more active in decision making. I do actually like the idea put forth by our GM. That could work out for the group, which honestly, all I care about is everyone having a good experience.

The moment the lizard man appeared, Miss' hand was on the pistol at her hip. It didn't leave- but she also didn't draw. Turned and ready should anything go south. But everything seemed to be playing out peacefully enough. For now, at least.

"We're soldiers. Lost is all. For the moment," she adds to Cole's introduction. "But we're not looking for anything like trouble. So- let's just keep it calm. Maybe you can explain what's going on here? Or where we are?"

The lizard mage stares hard at Cade then bursts into genuine, and kind, laughter. Once he has collected himself, he says, "Oh I like this one."

He shifts his gaze to the group. "This place is one of six doorways into the vampire kingdoms. The compasses are used to access them. They are very difficult to come by, as the adventurers that carry them are usually of some power and skill and would not let them go without a serious fight. This is not my cave, but is rather a sanctuary for those passing through the doorway. My own compass reacted when you came through. That's how I knew you were here. If the compass has been damaged, then I am afraid leaving Mexico will be very difficult. How did you come by the compass?"

GM: What do you do?

Wolf chuckled through the pain, a strange, forced sound from behind the spiked skull helmet. "A round of introductions would probably be the best start before we start volunteering information."

He hadn't put a hand near his weapons, although he was confident he could react faster than nearly everyone in the room, with maybe the exception of Cole - that one carried himself different from the others. There were few faster than him, he'd probably draw the correct weapon for the situation as it developed, and he knew it. As soon as the ringing in his ears passed and he could see straight again, he'd be back in control.

He recalled the condition of the compass upon their arrival, and realized this strange being had a functional compass - the shortest and most obvious path out.

However, working CSID had taught him that the most obvious path was generally the most heavily defended. That this reptiloid had survived out here in vampire country with no obvious means of defenses - Impossible. "Weak" was only reserved for those beings which didn't live on Earth as he understood it, and many of them didn't meet that qualifier.

So, he chose to wait. At least, until he knew what he was talking to. Hopefully, if the gunfire was needed, the ringing would stop first.