Chapter 2: My Brother's Keeper

Lu uses his speed to try and connect a few more times with his blades...

Lu cuts into a ferocious ghoul leaving but it still attempts to scrape at his face the other ghoul tries to get around his back and attack from behind. The four of you make quick work of the ghouls. But just as they fall Wyvern sees from her higher vantage point that 4 more ghouls are coming from the woods and it seems there are another 3 coming from 2 backyards away.

"Drek! The whole fraggin' tribe's on the hunt," Checkmate says. "We need an extraction. I'll make some calls."

He speeds through contacts, growing increasingly loud and agitated as the rejections mount, until he hits Nyx's number. "Nyx, if you're anywhere near the Barrens, I'm calling in that favour. Three of us are cornered by a pack of ghouls and we need out, pronto!" He gives Nyx their coordinates and a quick description of the layout.

Jacked into her Rover Model 2072, Peaches glances over at Nyx in the front passenger seat. "Where are we going in the Barrens? And better yet, why?" Her Elven voice sounds strange, ethereal with a southern accent.

She breaks hard, turns around a pothole, and hammers the throttle, winding up the SUV back to speed. The neon city lights flash across her inhumanly gorgeous features, her eyes intent on the road.

"Alright, we'll be there shortly. Don't get--" A second elf, in the passenger seat, checks the coordinates she's just received and sighs. "Don't get ripped apart by the locals. You're lucky we were nearby." She cuts the call and goes back to checking her rifle, slung over the shoulder of the chair. Smartlink working, correct ammunition loaded... etcetera, etcetera.

"Ghoul territory." She responds to her partner (In this case), speaking in a level, curt tone. "Because I owe someone a favor, and it sounds like they did something stupid. Messy and stupid." She sends Peaches the coordinates and finishes working on the Crockett EBR, smirking as the Smartlink kicks into life on her display. "Faster the better. Floor it."

"That's it there!" she points at a small wooden house down the street. "Where the hell ah we, Nyx? Have we entered the fah past of anitquity?" she drawls ridiculously. "Are we fightin' or extractin', sugah?"

"Extraction. Small team. I'd be ready to bolt." Nyx looks down the street, then rolls down her window and swings out of it, rolling onto the roof and reaching down for her rifle afterwards, taking up a crouched position on top of the the van. She activates the rifle's embedded commlink and contacts Checkmate again. "Coordinates sent, Fedora." She says, keeping her eyes on the street. "Move your asses, I'll cover you as best I can."

The Rover drives up onto the lawn of the house. Within just a few feet of the tree house. Grass and dirt flies all over Lu and Cheese eye as Peaches brakes. Nyx successfully covers the group as they hop in.The team is able to fit within the van but it does feel a bit tight.

Cheese eye whistles as they close the door. "Whooee! Now this is how it's done." He then looks at Lu and says, "Now how about that drink?"

The doors are barely closed before she pops the revving engine into reverse and chews sod back to the street. Sliding to a half turn stop, the Rover lurches forward down the street the way they came.

"Don't leave lil ole me hangin', Darlin', introductions are in order. Unless this is one of those 'less said' situations, o' course."

The cargo area of the Rover is loaded with what appears to be a variety of drones. Some armed, heavily.

"Thank you ladies, you have impeccable timing!" Checkmate says as the team piles into the car. He makes quick introductions and relates the events so far.

"The one lead we have is this shady doctor that operates around the Port of Tacoma. We know Gerald was in contact with this doctor, and Ray was looking for Gerald. The two could well have crossed paths.

I'd hoped to get confirmation that Ray made it to the Red Eye, but I don't feel comfortable saying that we did. If I was still with the Star, this wasn't the Barrens and we hadn't just culled the local fauna, I'd say we should canvas the area until we had a confirmed sighting. But after what just happened we're all persona non grata around here.

So, I think we should lean on this doctor. Hard as it takes. If that's a bust, this case goes back to square one, trying to trace Ray's movements from when he was last seen. If Ray's still alive, we can't afford that. He can't afford that.

Wyvern, do you think you could shortlist some possibles in the area? I'll bet this doctor is rough around the edges, maybe had his license suspended, maybe a minor rap sheet, known to be a criminal associate or has a track record of ethics violations."

"Or maybe our new friend cheese eye over here has some more info for us while I find a less messy way to maybe give him a double portion ?" Turning to the newcommers," Thank you for the extraction, I don't suppose you'd have a spare medkit for me to draw some blood ?"

"A med kit I do not have. I'm afeared I just wouldn't know what to do with one. Do you need me to stop by an all-night pharmacy on our way to, the Port of Tacoma, was it?"

She looks at Nyx. "What about you, dear?"

"Actually, yes. Just a pocket one though. Don't know if it has a syringe or anything." Nyx digs around in her coat for a moment, then pulls out the medkit and tosses it into the back of the truck nonchalantly. "So, missing persons, right? Not normally my kind of contract, but if that encounter was anything to go by, you need all the help you can get."

"Yeah, stop at a pharmacy when its safe. I'll buy some syringe, tubing and some sugary drink for me."