[Csjarrat]

//works for me, I'll hold back till you give me the word//

[JackVII]

Mlinzi sends a silent missive to Wawindaji. "My friend, thank you for watching over us. I have one more favor to ask. Please follow the man-path we have been traveling on to a hole in the earth, one likely bearing the scars of wounds inflicted by man. If you see any men along the way or once you arrive, please let me know."

With her ally dispatched, the elf texts the team.
<<Wawindaji is on the hunt. It should not take him long to report.>>

Nudging Alzmer she says, "We're getting near, Mr. Alzmer. Best prepare yourself."

[Reminder]

A band of the two legs nest in the not-den.

I have done as you asked. My hunt begins.

The spirit fades from this plain, returning to its home.

[JackVII]

"Trouble..." Mlinzi says out loud as she grabs her commlink. She composes a quick message to the team.

<<@Team [RohoRafiki] Alright, we may have a problem. Wawindaji says there are people at the mine, but I do not know their numbers. I believe the road from here to there is clear. We may want to be cautious and use the cover of darkness>>

[Ren]

”If we want a useful recon, I wouldn’t wait for dark. We won’t be able to se either. They are there, know the lay of the land, easier for them to surprise us than the other way around.” Hunter’s instincts kicked in, as he read Mlinzi’s report. The hunt began, and this was his area of expertise. ”Also, they will be able to hear the vehicles from miles. They probably won’t be able to say from where, but will hear it. So if you want reckon on foot, we’ll lose an hour or two. Ultra, that drone you brought with you, is it able to make sharp pictures from high altitude? If you make a single pass over, they may not notice it, or just think it a passing bird.”

[Csjarrat]

//Yep, I'll get it unpacked now//

Ultra brings the vehicle to rest on the track, killing the engine and returning to his physical body.
His legs ached a bit with under-use, and his feet tingled as he jumped clumsily out of the cab onto the track.
It took a couple of minutes to retrieve the drone from under the tarp and deploy its blades, but soon Ultra had the nimble craft in a stable hover, guided from his deck in a beautiful cacophony of AR readouts, sensor feeds and avionics. He opened the AR channel to the team, allowing their Image links to pick it up.

"Hunter, you might want to run your eyes over this feed, i'm going over for a pass now"
Johannes eased up the throttle to gain altitude, pushing 500m and the limits of his sensor's vision magnification before heading towards the mines.

pilot test if needed: pilot air 2, rea 4, AR +1 (7d6.hits(5)=3)
Perception test through camera sensor:int 4, ewar 4, actively looking 3, image enhance 1 (+ vision mag) (12d6.hits(5)=3)
looking for metahumans around the mine

[JackVII]

I sometimes forget they are humans, Mlinzi thinks as the men prepare to reconnoiter the area.

"Wait here in the truck, Mr. Alzmer. The men are checking out the mine before we move forward."

Lacking any form of AR display due to the vertigo such technologies cause her, the elf squats down in front of the vehicles and keeps watch on the surrounding area as the rest of the team focuses on the operation of the drone. Sliding her goggles over her eyes, she readies her bow and sets an arrow to the string.

[Csjarrat]

"Shit. We're not the first ones here. I've currently got one guy on sensors, unloading a jeep"

Ultra dialled up the image enhancement even further, trying to get a good look at what the guy was unloading off the van.
int 4, ewar 4, actively looking 3, image enhance 1 (+ vision mag) (12d6.hits(5)=4)

[Crunch]

Frenchy huffed lightly and smiled vaguely. It looks like we may be earning our paychecks Mr. Alzmer. Please remain calm and we'll keep you informed as we develop more information.

[Reminder]

"Shit. We're not the first ones here. I've currently got one guy on sensors, unloading a jeep"

Ultra dialled up the image enhancement even further, trying to get a good look at what the guy was unloading off the van.
int 4, ewar 4, actively looking 3, image enhance 1 (+ vision mag) (12d6.hits(5)=4)

Most of what is in the back of the jeep is packed in low wooden or plastic boxes, some of which are open and not that hard to see into. Those that you can make out seem to contain varying types of plant material you cannot identify. If this is also what is in the closed containers, you cannot tell.


He isn't unloading everything, but a few of the boxes/crates are being unloaded

[Csjarrat]

Guys, not sure if you are seeing this or not, but it appears to be some kind of plant material being unloaded. Get Alzmer to have a look, see if he can figure it out. We're either going to have to force these guys out or come back when they've finished whatever it is they're doing.
Ultra mentally kicked his trid projector into action, beaming a narrow cone of the sensor displays into the air ahead of him.

[JackVII]

Mlinzi stood up from her crouch as the sun approaches the horizon. It would probably be another hour before the sun fully set. Wondering what was taking the others so long, she headed back toward where they were conferring. Ultra was focused on his cyberdeck, leaning it this way and that as his thumbs flew across the screen. A small device rested on the ground projecting an image of a familiar fruit. Mlinzi had a really, really good idea of what that fruit was; she was certain she had heard stories about it and she was determined to inform the group about it.

"I'm certain I know what that is.That fruit is of the Sangre Del Diablo tree. It's an Awakened carnivorous tree from South America and was involved in a war down there I think. I heard the Corps here were developing them to use on Kilimanjrao to keep eco-warriors out.

[Csjarrat]

Awakened, CARNIVOUROUS plants? What the fuck? No way am I going in there.
Ultra shook his head in despair, this job was going to shit and they hadn't even stepped foot in the mines yet.
He swung the drone around and followed the map-co-ords for the second mine, maintaining his altitude.

Datajack and signal scrub for -3 noise
if the noise applies to sensor tests: perception test with noise (10d6.hits(5)=2)
if it doesn't: perception test with no noise (12d6.hits(5)=6)

[Ren]

”Hm, doesn’t look like a corp facility down there.” An uncomfortable feeling started to creep up Mutumbo’s spine. The fruit of some rare South-American awakened plant. Must be worth something. He said only one word, half a question, half a statement. ”Smugglers?”
[spoiler=knowledge]Note: Mutumbo tries to think what this might be worth on the black market, if there is demand for that at all. Also, if there is, he tries to remember if he heard about anybody doing business with the fruit and/or the plant itself.
INT(5) + Black Markets(3) [Mental(4)] (8d6.hits(5)=2)[/spoiler]

Hearing Ultra he rolled his eyes. "Oh, and for Gods' sake, its fruits in a box, man, not the plants themselves."

[Csjarrat]

Right, and just how sure are you that there isn't an entire fucking farm of the adult ones down there?