Cities of the Future

[PurpleXVI]

Candiru One, who had just been checking over the buggy they would be using, greeted them by giving each of them a hazard suit. It was a light, flexible thing in desert camo. Each covered the entire body. The helmet part was just more of the same flexible material with a plexiglass window in front.

 

"Put them on now," he said, "Except for the helmet, in case the buggy gets hit or damaged somehow, you don't want to have only five seconds to get them on in a cramped space. They're not armored, mind you, so try not to get hit, but they can automatically reseal small holes after a second or so," he didn't give Knocko a suit, but instead a belt, "It's a Blauwe Wolk belt, has a small holoprojector that'll disguise you as a pile of sand, it's not that I couldn't get another hazard suit, but the one you have is better than these."

 

The ATB was made for four people, but with each of them, One excepted*, bringing a duffel bag full of gear, and Knocko being an exceptionally large person, there wasn't much space left over, "You know how to drive one of these, right, Knocko?" He said, as he got into the front passenger seat, "I'll take a nap now and take over for you when you get tired, we can't afford to stop for the night. A buggy parked in the middle of the desert might also attract attention if someone flies past."

 

Their leader opened the door after the rest of them had gotten in, reached out a hand and made a series of gestures to a nearby worker. In short order the hangar was emptied and depressurized. A few minutes later, the buggy was out in the desert, bouncing it's passengers around as it crossed the large, uneven dunes. One was ignoring it and a few minutes into the trip he was asleep. The sun was right above them, and even in a haz suit they couldn't have been outside for more than an hour without risking their lives. The buggy, though, merely tinted it's windows till they were nearly black and adjusted it's climate control, nothing changed the temperature inside more than a few degrees.

 

Knocko was going to have no problems following the course, though: It was straight north.

 

(OOC: Candiru One is bringing a small, metal briefcase with unknown contents.)

[Evilsincarnation]

Arodom opened his duffel bag and looked through it. He pulled out a pistol, a clip of ammo and a silencer. He put the ammo in the gun, attached the silencer and checked to make sure the safety was on. Next he took out a Stealth belt and check to make sure the battery was at full. Confident that all his equipment was ready, Arodom closed his eyes and took a short nap.

[Captain Andy]

Travis had loaded his pistol prior to all of this. He was going to wait until they had arrived at the crater before he attached the silencer. He sat in his seat and waited. He didn't see how the other two could sleep. He was far too nervous. He pulled out his PDA and began fooling around with a game on it.

[Stampede]

No doubt a buggy in the middle of the desert would attract attention, no arguments there. Knocko was attired in his personalised suit, musing over his new belt and the thought of a big tattooed lug being transformed into a pile of sand.

 

He basically kept to himself, not in an attempt to appear 'mysterious' but mainly because his thoughts were back home and more than occasionally on the controls in front of him.

[PurpleXVI]

The first two days were boredom beyond belief. The landscape was rather unchanging, except that it became a bit more rocky and a bit less sandy, and nothing happened. One and Knocko took turns driving, no patrols accosted them, no raiders came screaming over the dunes, they suffered no punctures at all.

 

It was on the third day, a short while after dawn. They were a few hours from the crater and could see it in the distance whenever they hit the top of a large dune or hill. Only Knocko was awake since he was driving, the buggy jumping across the dunes. Suddenly, their driver spotted something out of the corner of his eye as the ATB climbed a short slope, something metallic to the right of the vehicle, half-way to the crest.

 

When he saw the flash of gunfire he reflexively slammed the buggy to the left, which jolted everyone fully awake as they were thrown around in the cabin. Before anyone could complain, a barrage of bullets slammed into the back of the buggy, tearing holes in the metal of the cabin and shattering several of the plexiglass windows.

 

The shots had hit them just as they came over the crest of the dune, and now the buggy was out of control, rolling down the other side as everyone hurried to get on their helmets and seal their suits.

 

A few minutes later, everyone had gotten out of the stricken vehicle, which was lying on it's roof. Their assailant had managed to blow out most of the windows, thankfully without hitting any of the occupants, and torn open the back like a fragile tin can. If Knocko hadn't swung them around and they'd gotten hit from the side instead, most of their intestines and the contents of their skulls would likely be decorating the inside of the wreck.

 

"The buggy looks unsalvageable," said One, as he adjusted his helmet and cautiously looked back towards the dune they'd just crossed, "Must've been an automated turret programmed to fire on anything without the right IFF code. There'll be security here any moment, it's still a while before the storm is going to kick in. We need to make up our minds fast, just a quick vote, either we stay here, ambush them and take their vehicle, then we can get to the facility before the storm starts. Our alternative is to walk, going in a large arc to avoid whoever's headed here. But we'll lose valuable time."

 

He climbed up the next dune and looked back, "No sign of the turret, it probably only fires on large targets. I can see the crater from here, no sign of security yet, though. What's the call?"

[Stampede]

Knocko was silent for a short while before casting his vote.

 

"I'm no fool, I say we ambush them. We need the time and the shelter, I'm not going to risk everything I have just to die in some storm...question is, what to do with them if we don't kill them? Whatever happens to them, their bosses are going to get pretty suspicious when they don't come back."

[Captain Andy]

"Well. Piss."

 

Travis kicked at the ground and sighed.

 

"Just great. I guess we'll have to make due. I say we stay and ambush them. Like Knocko said, we need the time and shelter. By the way, was there anything in the buggy we can still use? Maps and stuff like that?"

[Evilsincarnation]

"Shouldn't be, unless something fell out of someone bag."

 

Arodom fell quiet for a few moments before he spoke up again.

 

"Lets wait for night fall before we go over there to ambush them. One, there no restriction on lethal force, right?"

[Captain Andy]

Travis turned to Arodom and gave him a confused look.

 

"When Knocko whipped the ATB around, did your head hit something? The sandstorm will start soon. Waiting til nightfall will screw us over. Did you miss One saying that a security patrol will be here soon? We're letting them come to us, not going for them."

[Evilsincarnation]

Arodom shook his head,

 

"I just don't think that attacking an enemy with more firepower, and likely more people, during the daytime is a great idea. We need to at least have a distraction ready."