[gilga]

"Yelena... I can hear you loud and clear through the daemon you speak to him, he speaks to me."
... I am laying on the cold ground, cammufledged as part of the mountain controling my breathing when the van goes down. So far so good... now I need to make sure that nobody dies inside the van.

A loud crush sound disturbs my inner peace. I slowly shift my head not to blow my exact position and can see a car - the Ford being smucked down. This is not good, I daze out for a few seconds only  to discover the big troll handing me a knife and rolling her bike toward the road. "Not an accident..." was all I could parse at my emotional state. Arc and Subaru might be in trouble and Yelena might need some guidence here...  It all seem to happen so fast.

I watch with dred as Tuskaloosa fearlessly dashes toward danger, all I can do myself is pray for them. "How did that knife get here?!" the knife snaps me back to the real world, I am praying and Yelena  needs to capture a mage right now. I focus my mind and contact her through our demonic mediator.
.
"Yelena, can you spot the mage? the Daemon have transfered a mental image to you."


I cannot beleive that THIS is actually happening... I wish it was all a bad dream or a simulation like we did before.

[SgtBoomCloud]

If Arc wasn't being pumped full of adrenaline right now, she would swear she would feel like death.  It took a few precious seconds to fight through the fog in her brain until she could process the images her eyes were relaying to her brain, and when they did she almost wished they never were.  The sight of the human teen sitting back unconscious, the corner of the door wrapped and pinned into the right side of her chest, through the jacket, with blood seeping out over her front, was something she did not expect or think she would ever be ready for.

"..No..."

The mechanic tried to move, trying to undo the belt pinning her to her seat, but found the latch mangled and stuck, keeping her there.  Trying to force it, she cried out in pain as her head and chest felt like they were going to explode.  Part of her vision started to take on a red haze..  Blood?  This is bad...no...this is my fault.  Hell to the frag no, no one is dying because of me  She looked at her left arm, the movement causing her too much pain to use it properly, and then she looked at her right..the chrome was marred a bit, but she could still use it.  What once was a mark of what she lost was now about to turn into the gift that could salvage this situation.

Working as quickly as she could, she fumbled with her cybernetic hand to her hip pouch, pulling out the freshly bought medkit she had brought alone.  Her movements were unsteady and she knew it, so she knew she was less than capable of handling the job herself.  Instead, she pushed the big red button, hearing the automatic doctor VI boot up as she got to work.  Using only one hand was tedious, and fighting through her mental haze proved difficult, but she managed to pull the teen's jacket aside enough to slap the biomonitor on her neck, connecting it to the kit as she followed the instructions.

Grabbing the compressor cloth, she made a point to wrap it around the wound by the doc's instructions, pressing it to try to stop the bleeding as she then grabbed a syringe of a cocktail of adrenaline, clotters, and stabilizers.  From there, it was a simple matter to follow the instructions best she could, trying to get Firefly on an even keel as she called for help, rebooting her link and sending it out.

@Team: Two hens in the foxhouse, One dropped all eggs, other most.  Need carton...

Cryptic, but should get the point across.  Arc could not worry about this mission now...as far as she knew, she did her part.  Now it was all about survival, and the difference between the blood mage and now?

Now she could do something about it...

r6 medkit (self-use) Stabilize: 12d6t5 4
This stabilizes Firefly, effectively
If given time, she will spend time waiting for help to try to fix Firefly up best she can...
r6 medkit (self-use) First Aid: 12d6t5 5
This will cure 2P, due to her at armor, placing her at 1 HP...

[ismilealot]

Marco hears an amused. sardonic voice say, "They fear. But she is worthy." And in a moment that lasts an eternity, the RV slowly, inexorably, tips over the shattered bridge railing to begin it's inevitable slide into the waiting waters. An unseen force blows open the back door of the huge vehicle and then it plunges straight down into the sound, lost to sight almost immediately in the geyser that welcomes it.

[Mercy Merchant]

Even though Yelena is waiting for it, the sudden arrival of the RV is a bit of a surprise.  She gathers herself and jets to the back door, using two of her long arms to cling to the side of the vehicle as it sinks into the water, once again reveling in the beauty and utility of this assassin of the sea.  Yelena expects that those inside that are capable of movement will be exiting shortly, shedding heavy armor and weapons in an attempt to reach the surface before the icy waters of the Sound claim their lives.  She knows the demon is supposed to alert her to the mage but she is not relying on that alone, but is looking at everyone who might fit the bill.  **Demon.  Which is the mage?**  The remaining tentacles of the large octopus are ready to grab the mojo slinger as she exits.  She may even be first through the door if she did not have anything heavy to take off.

[gilga]

Marco observes the crush in great detail using his vision augmented glasses and his entire attention.
If anything managed to miraculesly escape this crush Marco tries to be aware of it.

Observe the crush in detail + actively looking: 12d6t5 3
The dice lords do not like Marco very much let's hope it is enough.

He thinks at the Demon "Time to go fishing... and cheer up a little bit you get to swim next to a proffessional assasin. One that mystically cheated death for many long years. Nobody can remain indifferent! comon! "

[Duck N. Cover]

Tuskaloosa felt her heart re-start at the com-message.  It wasn't good news, but she was happy just to get news at all.
It also sound like something Arc would say; the troll only hoped her fellow rigger and the car were in shape to retreat.

Traffic in the opposite direction was only mildly affected: most dog-brained vehicles ignored the other bridge's mess completely.
The route of the convoy  was a different story as the autopilots of the innocent bystanders  struggled to move them into unaffected lanes.  The convoy's rapid stop had thrown the two lanes closest to the rail into a practical parking lot however.

Tuskaloosa had no such traffic obstacles, but she was on the wrong side of the road.  She urged the massive  bike in a desperate race to reach the crumpled Americar quickly.

[ismilealot]

As the Jade Dragons converge on the scene trying to see into the waters below the first few of the gangers in the van begin exiting and Yelena hears, "There she is." Even without the daemons affirmation Yelena would have guessed that this was her target as even in the survival mode of thinking the gang had to be in the mage was being carried by one of the gang. Slung over his? her? shoulder as they struggled to swim in the maelstrom. As Yelena swam over a few of the bodies were beginning to float and then bob on the surface of the water face down.

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena feels the adrenaline pump through her octopus body as she launches from the side of the van.  She surges against the ganger carrying the mage, using her jet speed and mass to bump him, reaching some tentacles out to wrap around the mage, using the suckers to hold on to her.  The other two tentacles push the ganger away.  IF this works, Yelena squirts ink into the area to cover her escape and jets away as fast as she can, using the ink cloud to obscure her direction.  Her speed is about 25mph with the jet.

[Duck N. Cover]

Tuskaloosa hurdled  the median and threaded her way across  traffic.
Savagely she halted the King in front of the car's front bumper.   The damage looked deceptively light, but she knew better: the worst of it was still facing the wall.
She slipped over to the driver's side, where the window was lowering.
It seemed to take forever.  She resisted to urge to force it.

Arc was trying heroically to follow the medkit's instructions one-handed.   She didn't turn back and her voice dripped with scorn.  "Well, I fragged this to high heaven.  How soon before we have company?"

"Not before you're gone--they have bigger fish to catch."
"Huh."
"How about you?  Think you can drive?"
"I have to."
Tuskaloosa pulled out her own medkit and toggled it on, then slipped it under the left side of Arc's coat. 

[ roll 13d6E5 = 1  ones:2 6s:1 ] #6 for Ranks in Groundcraft, 5 for Gearhead Imporved Handling, 2 for Gearhead.

[ roll 6de5 = 0  ones:6 ]  Medkit in Wireless mode, Operating itself.  Rating 3, Limit is 3.  Critical Glitch.

 

[SgtBoomCloud]

As she was administering some adrenaline and painkillers to the unconscious, impaled decker next to her, Arc was barely registering that someone was tapping at her window.  She was pissed..not at anyone in particular, but herself, and the situation she--in her mind--had let come to pass.  And now there was blood spilled from it.  She knew she was hurt: the fact that it hurt her to breathe too deeply and her skull throbbed was the biggest indication of that.  But, he didn't have a spike of metal through the right side of her chest and bleeding profusely.

At least THAT part I'm able to fix..  She says contemptedly to herself as she saw the blood flow slow to a stop, the compressor cloth and clotting agents doing there work.  The tapping again made her snap her head around, the girl wincing as she saw the lumbering figure outside: Tuskaloosa.  Hitting the window control, the piece of cracked glass descended and opened into the night air and the face of the concerned troll.  She was focused on finished her administrations to Firefly as she spat out a mouthful of blood on the floor.

"Well, I fragged this up to high heaven.  How soon before we have company?"  Her frustrations at herself were barely hidden, as well as her underlying fear...she was doing everything she could not to freak.

"Not before you're gone...they have bigger fish to catch.  How about you?  Think you can drive?"

The mechanic glanced at the recovering girl next to her, and then at her state.  At least I can focus now..   It would appear the dumpshock and the disorientation of the crash was being shaken off as she held up her cyberarm, gesturing to the wheel and then at her passenger.  "I have to."

Then she looked down as the troll was applying her little medkit to the human's chest, under the armored jacket.  She looked up at the biker, shaking her head.  "I'm fine, don't worry about me."  But the troll insisted, holding it to her flesh as the human continued to protest.  "Seriously, Firefly needs some help.  I've got her outta the red, but she needa get to a hospita-AAHAHHOSAHHAHAHA!!!"

A series of sparks arcing against the troll's hand was the only indicator of what happened.  In the jostling, or maybe even from Arc's resistance, the kit had inadvertently created a fault, shorting out before their eyes and arcing through the mechanic's chest.  Her body spasmed, muscles tightening despite her injuries as her head slammed back against her seat rest.  Her teeth clenched as the energy coursed through her before the troll could pull away, what part of her skin and shirt exposed showing black arcs where the electricity met flesh.

The girl's breath started getting drawn in ragged, uneven breaths as she tried to move, her arms twitching a bit as she gasped for air.  "Hnn...f-fraaaag.....wha....wasat...aaagh...."  If she was in a state to drive before, she sure as drek wasn't now, her eyes wide and darting around, the girl certainly looking like fear was about to supercede her resolve...

[Duck N. Cover]

Tuskaloosa toggled off the Medkit and scrambled to remove the offending device.

Wrong diagnosis dummy!  NO Paddles!  Bad Kit!  Bad!

Finally, she pulled it free.  Sensors twisted and wiggled like legs on a beetle tipped on its back, then stopped.

[Shaman_Yuri]

Screaming...

What...what?

I'd been in the 'trix playing games with the van's accessories when...something...

I blink my eyes and turn my blurry vision to see sparks flying from Arc and her screaming.  The troll is doing...something...

The world is a kaleidoscope and my head is spinning.  I try to turn myself but...something...

Why is it always something!?

Dancing lights are everywhere and the smell of scorched flesh assaults my nostrils.

The troll turned on us?  It's all my fault for not getting to my research on her!  And Arc is going to die because I failed!  Damn, damn, damn!

I ready a stunbolt but the attacker pulls away from the window before I can cast it.  It would kill me to cast it anyway, but maybe it might buy us time...

For what?  Marco and Yelena are taking a midnight swim right now.

Damn, damn, damn.  Think Subaru!

Arc is twitching and clearly is not doing well.  But between the two of us, she's the better in a fight.  Our survival...her survival...rests on my actions right now!

I reach out my hand to touch Arc's and do the only thing I can.  It's in her hands now.  Hopefully she'll survive my failure...

Heal Spell on Arc (accounting for -2 due to damage): 9d6t5: 4 [9d6t5=2, 6, 2, 6, 6, 3, 2, 6, 2]
soak drain for casting heal on Arc: 11d6t5: 6 [11d6t5=2, 6, 4, 6, 5, 1, 6, 5, 1, 6, 1]

[SgtBoomCloud]

To Arc, the ordeal of the electrical burns and the pain through her chest compounding with her (likely) cracked ribs was nothing short of a living hell.  Or dying, she wasn't sure how she would describe it later.  Either way, she could feel her heartbeat gaining a severely irregularity as she gasped for air, feeling herself unable to move.  This is is..this is how I"m going down..my own fragging carelessness.  Damn...screw it all, I ain't joinin' the ancestors with blood on my hands!

She could see her vision narrowing as if going into a tunnel before something pulled her back to reality.  She felt a warming sensation coming over her arm, as if some foreign energy was bouncing off of it before it connected with her flesh.  Her vision cleared and with a gasp, the mechanic's breathing steadied along with her heartbeat.  The rigger's eyes came into focus as she looked down at the hand of the decker touching her cyberarm, the energy coming from her.  And with a look down at herself, her left hand gingerly came up to touch at her ribs, feeling a few of them set as the scorch marks receded, leaving only a few burnt holes in her shirt fraying at the fabric.

"Wha...holy drek..." she said finally, taking a few heavy, but steady, breaths as she looked at the troll first.  "That was close...but like I said, I'm fine.  We need aid.  What's the status on our chummers?"  Turning back to Firefly, Arc's gaze softened for a bit, her thanks expressed as best as the short human's features could manage, but then she hardened a bit as she grabbed her hand gently, easing it to her side.  "Easy there, omae.  Just stay steady, we gonna get you some help."  She tried not to draw attention to the hunk of metal sticking into the girl's chest, but the presence of the myriad of drug entry points, the open medkit next to her, and the bound compressor cloth would speak for themselves.

Glancing back at Tuskaloosa, Arc grit her teeth as she wiped some blood from her head.  Yep, still hurting..  "I can't move us unless we do sumsomthin' fast.  If our chummers be busy, I gotta get her someplace quick.  I know a place that can help patch up, but we still gotta move for that, ya feel me?"

Thanks to Subaru's actions, Arc's condition bar is now at 9/12

[Duck N. Cover]

I've killed her.  She was too ornery for a car crash, but my incompetence is plenty.
I've killed--

"Wha...holy drek.." Arc wheezed.

She's not dead?  ...How?
She caught sight of the decker's sickly pale hand on Arc's cybered forearm.
Nanotech? Not a chance.  Mojo of some sort then.

Not that the how mattered.  Arc was still kicking.

The troll sagged against the car in relief, then froze before carefully taking her weight back.  The pair were both conscious, but just barely...and Firefly was in no shape for bouncing shocks.

"That was close...but like I said, I'm fine."
Right--and I'm a midget Pygmy.
"We need aid," Arc continued.  "What's the status on our chummers?"

Tuskaloosa shook her helmeted head. "Yelena was in place and I left Marco as her backup.  Without the Flyspies, your guess is as good as mine--I just know the van took a dive."

Arc muttered something quietly in her passenger's direction, then gritted her teeth as she turned back. "I can't move us unless we do sumsomthin' fast.  If our chummers be busy, I gotta get her someplace quick.  I know a place that can help patch up, but we still gotta move for that, ya feel me?"

"Roger that boss.  What's your medkit say?"
Arc grimmaced.  "Leave the 'foreign body' in the wound.  But we can't leave her attached to the drekkin door..."
"Then I cut the chunk free and secure it.  The door won't complain."
"Damn straight it won't.  I just popped the trunk--there's tools."

[ismilealot]

The ganger carrying the mage wasn't about to give up his target without a fight anda heavily cybered arms reached out to grab Yelena and rip one of her tentacls off