Act 2, Scene 1 - Odds and Ends
Dragontrapper
Homeless Draconis
- Location
- A Tower in the middle of nowhere
((Currently Unbeta'd because my editor is busy playing Bannerlord...))
You and Olena stagger back into the administrative offices with a groan, Aurelia looking up at you with a quirked eyebrow as she sips at a mug of coffee. "Long day?" Olena replies by flopping face-down onto the nearest couch with a groan, her only reply muffled by the cushions. Aurelia walks over to the couch before extending a hand, "Aurelia Armas."
Olena turns just enough to take the hand and speak properly, "Olena Domovoy. A pleasure."
"Now that we're all introduced," you say as you begin to raid the refrigerator, picking through the contents and pulling out whatever still looks edible - mostly sausages and some hard cheese along with a couple jars of preserve. You ignore the preserves for a moment as you begin to cobble together a snack platter for yourself as you talk, "What's next?"
"We need to go after Goodwtich's last location," Aurelia replies as she takes a seat at one of the smaller tables, "The longer we wait, the more likely it is that she'll move."
"Trust me," Olena speaks up from her spot splayed out on the couch, "You don't want to be going out there blind," she jabs a thumb back toward the door you can in through, "You think that was bad? The entire city is like that."
Aurelia gives a small huff at that, "I can assure you that our operations have been monitoring the city quite closely so-"
"The city you can't fly over?" Olena replies, "I'm sure you've got the just of the situation - who's where and the like - but that doesn't tell you much about what you're walking into."
"Well, we're closer now," you say as you shove a chunk of cheese into your mouth, quickly chewing and swallowing, "Could just head up onto the roof and take a look around."
Olena looks like she's about to say something else, but just sighs and collapses back into the couch, waving vaguely at you, "Better than nothing - have fun."
You finish off your impromptu meal before heading toward the door, but as you move Aurelia speaks up, "By the way - if you see anything edible, feel free to grab it. I don't think any of us want to starve in here."
"Got it," you reply with a languid wave as you head back out into the Cultural Center.
Now, without the threat of Grimm hanging over the place, the center was eerily quiet. Dim sunlight poured through skylights into the vast empty spaces. It hadn't been abandoned long - not long enough for nature to reclaim anything. Floors were still mostly clean, little display stands with pamphlets still stocked and waiting at corners.
And Vending machines still stocked, you think as you smash through the front display of one machine you walk by, raiding it for a good chunk of its contents. You hoped the others liked jerky and sweet rolls.
It takes you a minute to find a way up to the roof, but fortunately it's lock is more for keeping people from getting in then out. You pull back the heavy bolt and step out into the afternoon sun.
Plumes of smoke drift skyward from block after burning block, and on the air the cries and roars of a myriad forms of Grimm echo. You slowly make your way over to the edge of the building and look out over what's left of the city of Vale.
Off to the north you can see what used to be fine manors and high-end shops - now most of them are burned or burning, but when you squint you can just make out something rushing through one of the larger roads cutting through the district. It looked like… water? Some sort of water main rupture maybe. The bigger worry for you is the occasional crack of gunfire and flash of a dust detonation carrying from that direction.
Similar sounds and lights are coming from the blocks closer to your little base. The rapid-fire staccato of heavy fully-automatic fire from in about the shops makes you think you're going to be having robot problems for a while to come. Joy.
Further south, the residential district is on fire and looks to have taken the brunt of the attack on the city, outside Beacon itself. You can see several buildings listing in ways you are fairly sure buildings aren't supposed to and as you watch one of the shorter ones collapses on itself. Past it, you can just make out Beacon proper, and there are definitely things moving about the campus. Some of them large.
Compared to that, the Industrial District is positively boring - just a bunch of warehouses and concrete piers with Grimm prowling about them.
You stare out across the city as you thumb your radio, "Aurelia, where did you say Glynda was again?"
"An Upper Class Residential area to the north," Aurelia replies, "Why?"
"That entire area is flooded," you reply, "You sure she's there?"
"It's where the message triangulation pinpointed the origin to," Aurelia says, "It's the best we've got."
You sigh as you turn away from the edge and head back to the door, "Alright... " Whatever else you were going to say is cut off by a massive yawn.
"When was the last time you slept?"
"Don't remember," You reply as you make your way back downstairs, "Still need to find some food."
"It can wait," Aurelia assures you, "Get back to base and get some rest."
You debate arguing, but end up deciding against it, "Fine…"
When you awake the next morning, you find Olena already up, strapping her shield to her arm and large bag slung over one shoulder, "Going somewhere?"
"Miss Armas said yesterday we needed food," Olena replies as she finishes adjusting her equipment, "And I'm quickly growing bored of sitting in here. So I figured I'd make myself useful."
"Oh, cool - we can go together," you say as you roll off the couch and stretch. After spending so long in full-armor, some time out of it was nice. You really had needed that down time. As you go through your morning stretches, you notice Olena staring at you, "...yes?"
She blinks owlishly before quickly turning away, "Nothing… just trying to figure out where you put all of those sweet rolls you had for dinner."
"I only had five!" you shoot back before picking your armor up from the corner you dropped it in. It's scuffed and scratched, but in otherwise good shape, "So…" you say as you pull your armor on, "You looking for anything besides food?"
"Maybe some spare equipment," Olena says with a shrug, "why?"
It was your turn to shrug, "You mentioned yesterday that you were looking for something. Thought I might help if it was here."
"If only it was that easy…" Olena says with a sigh before shaking her head, "Come on," she says as she scoops up her blade and heads toward the door, "We've got work to do."
The hallways this morning are much like they were yesterday - creepy silent, dimly lit, and mostly pristine. The two of you systematically move from room to room, anything of use going into a bag or pocket before you move on, "So…" you say as the two of you dig through what looked like a supply office. You pull open drawers and cabinets, digging through piles of paper and pens. You do manage to find a box of instant coffee at least, "...What are you looking for, anyhow?"
Silence from Olena for a moment, only the sound of shifting boxes coming from across the room, before she sighs and begins to speak, "My family has a debt, and I pay that back by retrieving things. This time He sent me into Vale to see what was left behind. Usually he either just points me in a direction or wants something in particular, but this time…"
"This time was different?" you finish for her, as you glance across the room.
Olena nods as she pauses briefly, a box of energy bars half-way between a desk drawer and her bag, "This time he made a few suggestions - the Cultural Center's basement, the Beacon Armory… and the home vault of an 'old friend'."
You raise your eyebrow at that, "He say what he was after in any of those?"
"For the first two?" Olena says, "The usual - 'get inside, and take anything of value'. The house though…" she frowns as she thinks about it, "It was more like a little addition, the way he said it. Said that his friend had something personal in the vault, and he'd 'appreciate it' if I could get it for him."
"That sounds…" you think about your wording for a moment before settling on, "Really fucking sketchy."
"Everything about my life these days sounds sketchy," Olena says with a shrug, "What else is new?"
"Well, whatever it is must be valuable to him, if he wants you to go into Vale for it, right?" You suggest, "Might be just what you need."
"...Maybe," Olena says after a long moment, "Come on - we've got more rooms to check."
You're sweep ends up being impressively productive - you find plenty of (still-edible) food, albeit mostly of the junk variety, along with a variety of blankets and pillows to make your current bedding situation more comfortable. The real boon was when Olena found a room marked 'Security Annex' - the door was locked and not on Aurelia's system, but a shotgun slug fixed the access problem quite nicely. Inside you found what looked like the supply room for some EMTs - bandages, painkillers, gauze, gloves, Defibulators, boxes of medications - they even had some of those portable O2 tanks with the little mask.
But what got you excited was the Heavy-duty crate sitting in the back. You unlatched the heavy fasteners for the lid and pried it open to find boxes and boxes weapon components - alloy plates, micro-actuators, receiver and firing mechanism assemblies, and more. There were also more colorful boxes - cases of dust in a variety of fun types, both pre-made ammunition forms and the more versatile powder form. "Score!" You announce as you look around for anything else. On the nearby shelves are a couple of tool kits, and a quick look confirms their weaponsmithing kits. You hold one up for Olena to see, "I'm not complaining, but why is this here?"
Olena shrugs, "Delivery mix up? Security plans for a future event? Part of a display plan? Who knows. The real question is…" she gestures widely as the contents of the room, "...How are we getting all of this back to base?"
You blink as you look around, "Uh…"
It ends up taking you many, many trips, but after a few hours you have all the loot back to base.
Also, you are exhausted.
"Good haul," Aurelia says with an appreciative hum as she pokes through the boxes, "I got some preliminary work done while you were gone, working out approaches on the signal site. Want to take a look?"
You really don't, but might as well get this over with. You hold a hand out, "Lay it on me."
She drops a display slate into your hand and you take a look over your options. "Straight up the main road?" you ask, "That looked flooded when I was on the roof yesterday."
"Yes, but it remains the most direct route to the target," Aurelia replies, "Of course, option two has you circle around. Longer, but more discrete."
"Is there an option three?" Olena asks, sounding unenthused by options one and two.
"Rooftops," Aurelia explains, "Very fast, but highly visible. Plenty of mobility though so low chance of being cornered by anything."
Olena groans as she collapses onto a nearby couch, "These all sound like good ways to get ourselves killed."
[ ] Make your way up the flooded main street. Footing will be tricky for you, but it'll also be tricky for anyone else.
[ ] Any strategy notes?
[ ] Stick to the back alleys and side-roads and swing around. Much more subtle, but also longer.
[ ] Any strategy notes?
[ ] Roofhopping! Fast, flashy, and flexible. Somebody will definitely spot you, but at least you can move around.
[ ] Any strategy notes?
[ ] Write-in
[ ] Any preparations? (Weapons work, talks, etc.)
(A/N: 'High-Grade Hunting Equipment' Aspect added to Cultural Center; Can now use Create Advantage while at Center to Craft bonuses for weapons and gear.)
You and Olena stagger back into the administrative offices with a groan, Aurelia looking up at you with a quirked eyebrow as she sips at a mug of coffee. "Long day?" Olena replies by flopping face-down onto the nearest couch with a groan, her only reply muffled by the cushions. Aurelia walks over to the couch before extending a hand, "Aurelia Armas."
Olena turns just enough to take the hand and speak properly, "Olena Domovoy. A pleasure."
"Now that we're all introduced," you say as you begin to raid the refrigerator, picking through the contents and pulling out whatever still looks edible - mostly sausages and some hard cheese along with a couple jars of preserve. You ignore the preserves for a moment as you begin to cobble together a snack platter for yourself as you talk, "What's next?"
"We need to go after Goodwtich's last location," Aurelia replies as she takes a seat at one of the smaller tables, "The longer we wait, the more likely it is that she'll move."
"Trust me," Olena speaks up from her spot splayed out on the couch, "You don't want to be going out there blind," she jabs a thumb back toward the door you can in through, "You think that was bad? The entire city is like that."
Aurelia gives a small huff at that, "I can assure you that our operations have been monitoring the city quite closely so-"
"The city you can't fly over?" Olena replies, "I'm sure you've got the just of the situation - who's where and the like - but that doesn't tell you much about what you're walking into."
"Well, we're closer now," you say as you shove a chunk of cheese into your mouth, quickly chewing and swallowing, "Could just head up onto the roof and take a look around."
Olena looks like she's about to say something else, but just sighs and collapses back into the couch, waving vaguely at you, "Better than nothing - have fun."
You finish off your impromptu meal before heading toward the door, but as you move Aurelia speaks up, "By the way - if you see anything edible, feel free to grab it. I don't think any of us want to starve in here."
"Got it," you reply with a languid wave as you head back out into the Cultural Center.
Now, without the threat of Grimm hanging over the place, the center was eerily quiet. Dim sunlight poured through skylights into the vast empty spaces. It hadn't been abandoned long - not long enough for nature to reclaim anything. Floors were still mostly clean, little display stands with pamphlets still stocked and waiting at corners.
And Vending machines still stocked, you think as you smash through the front display of one machine you walk by, raiding it for a good chunk of its contents. You hoped the others liked jerky and sweet rolls.
It takes you a minute to find a way up to the roof, but fortunately it's lock is more for keeping people from getting in then out. You pull back the heavy bolt and step out into the afternoon sun.
Plumes of smoke drift skyward from block after burning block, and on the air the cries and roars of a myriad forms of Grimm echo. You slowly make your way over to the edge of the building and look out over what's left of the city of Vale.
Off to the north you can see what used to be fine manors and high-end shops - now most of them are burned or burning, but when you squint you can just make out something rushing through one of the larger roads cutting through the district. It looked like… water? Some sort of water main rupture maybe. The bigger worry for you is the occasional crack of gunfire and flash of a dust detonation carrying from that direction.
Similar sounds and lights are coming from the blocks closer to your little base. The rapid-fire staccato of heavy fully-automatic fire from in about the shops makes you think you're going to be having robot problems for a while to come. Joy.
Further south, the residential district is on fire and looks to have taken the brunt of the attack on the city, outside Beacon itself. You can see several buildings listing in ways you are fairly sure buildings aren't supposed to and as you watch one of the shorter ones collapses on itself. Past it, you can just make out Beacon proper, and there are definitely things moving about the campus. Some of them large.
Compared to that, the Industrial District is positively boring - just a bunch of warehouses and concrete piers with Grimm prowling about them.
You stare out across the city as you thumb your radio, "Aurelia, where did you say Glynda was again?"
"An Upper Class Residential area to the north," Aurelia replies, "Why?"
"That entire area is flooded," you reply, "You sure she's there?"
"It's where the message triangulation pinpointed the origin to," Aurelia says, "It's the best we've got."
You sigh as you turn away from the edge and head back to the door, "Alright... " Whatever else you were going to say is cut off by a massive yawn.
"When was the last time you slept?"
"Don't remember," You reply as you make your way back downstairs, "Still need to find some food."
"It can wait," Aurelia assures you, "Get back to base and get some rest."
You debate arguing, but end up deciding against it, "Fine…"
When you awake the next morning, you find Olena already up, strapping her shield to her arm and large bag slung over one shoulder, "Going somewhere?"
"Miss Armas said yesterday we needed food," Olena replies as she finishes adjusting her equipment, "And I'm quickly growing bored of sitting in here. So I figured I'd make myself useful."
"Oh, cool - we can go together," you say as you roll off the couch and stretch. After spending so long in full-armor, some time out of it was nice. You really had needed that down time. As you go through your morning stretches, you notice Olena staring at you, "...yes?"
She blinks owlishly before quickly turning away, "Nothing… just trying to figure out where you put all of those sweet rolls you had for dinner."
"I only had five!" you shoot back before picking your armor up from the corner you dropped it in. It's scuffed and scratched, but in otherwise good shape, "So…" you say as you pull your armor on, "You looking for anything besides food?"
"Maybe some spare equipment," Olena says with a shrug, "why?"
It was your turn to shrug, "You mentioned yesterday that you were looking for something. Thought I might help if it was here."
"If only it was that easy…" Olena says with a sigh before shaking her head, "Come on," she says as she scoops up her blade and heads toward the door, "We've got work to do."
The hallways this morning are much like they were yesterday - creepy silent, dimly lit, and mostly pristine. The two of you systematically move from room to room, anything of use going into a bag or pocket before you move on, "So…" you say as the two of you dig through what looked like a supply office. You pull open drawers and cabinets, digging through piles of paper and pens. You do manage to find a box of instant coffee at least, "...What are you looking for, anyhow?"
Silence from Olena for a moment, only the sound of shifting boxes coming from across the room, before she sighs and begins to speak, "My family has a debt, and I pay that back by retrieving things. This time He sent me into Vale to see what was left behind. Usually he either just points me in a direction or wants something in particular, but this time…"
"This time was different?" you finish for her, as you glance across the room.
Olena nods as she pauses briefly, a box of energy bars half-way between a desk drawer and her bag, "This time he made a few suggestions - the Cultural Center's basement, the Beacon Armory… and the home vault of an 'old friend'."
You raise your eyebrow at that, "He say what he was after in any of those?"
"For the first two?" Olena says, "The usual - 'get inside, and take anything of value'. The house though…" she frowns as she thinks about it, "It was more like a little addition, the way he said it. Said that his friend had something personal in the vault, and he'd 'appreciate it' if I could get it for him."
"That sounds…" you think about your wording for a moment before settling on, "Really fucking sketchy."
"Everything about my life these days sounds sketchy," Olena says with a shrug, "What else is new?"
"Well, whatever it is must be valuable to him, if he wants you to go into Vale for it, right?" You suggest, "Might be just what you need."
"...Maybe," Olena says after a long moment, "Come on - we've got more rooms to check."
You're sweep ends up being impressively productive - you find plenty of (still-edible) food, albeit mostly of the junk variety, along with a variety of blankets and pillows to make your current bedding situation more comfortable. The real boon was when Olena found a room marked 'Security Annex' - the door was locked and not on Aurelia's system, but a shotgun slug fixed the access problem quite nicely. Inside you found what looked like the supply room for some EMTs - bandages, painkillers, gauze, gloves, Defibulators, boxes of medications - they even had some of those portable O2 tanks with the little mask.
But what got you excited was the Heavy-duty crate sitting in the back. You unlatched the heavy fasteners for the lid and pried it open to find boxes and boxes weapon components - alloy plates, micro-actuators, receiver and firing mechanism assemblies, and more. There were also more colorful boxes - cases of dust in a variety of fun types, both pre-made ammunition forms and the more versatile powder form. "Score!" You announce as you look around for anything else. On the nearby shelves are a couple of tool kits, and a quick look confirms their weaponsmithing kits. You hold one up for Olena to see, "I'm not complaining, but why is this here?"
Olena shrugs, "Delivery mix up? Security plans for a future event? Part of a display plan? Who knows. The real question is…" she gestures widely as the contents of the room, "...How are we getting all of this back to base?"
You blink as you look around, "Uh…"
It ends up taking you many, many trips, but after a few hours you have all the loot back to base.
Also, you are exhausted.
"Good haul," Aurelia says with an appreciative hum as she pokes through the boxes, "I got some preliminary work done while you were gone, working out approaches on the signal site. Want to take a look?"
You really don't, but might as well get this over with. You hold a hand out, "Lay it on me."
She drops a display slate into your hand and you take a look over your options. "Straight up the main road?" you ask, "That looked flooded when I was on the roof yesterday."
"Yes, but it remains the most direct route to the target," Aurelia replies, "Of course, option two has you circle around. Longer, but more discrete."
"Is there an option three?" Olena asks, sounding unenthused by options one and two.
"Rooftops," Aurelia explains, "Very fast, but highly visible. Plenty of mobility though so low chance of being cornered by anything."
Olena groans as she collapses onto a nearby couch, "These all sound like good ways to get ourselves killed."
[ ] Make your way up the flooded main street. Footing will be tricky for you, but it'll also be tricky for anyone else.
[ ] Any strategy notes?
[ ] Stick to the back alleys and side-roads and swing around. Much more subtle, but also longer.
[ ] Any strategy notes?
[ ] Roofhopping! Fast, flashy, and flexible. Somebody will definitely spot you, but at least you can move around.
[ ] Any strategy notes?
[ ] Write-in
[ ] Any preparations? (Weapons work, talks, etc.)
(A/N: 'High-Grade Hunting Equipment' Aspect added to Cultural Center; Can now use Create Advantage while at Center to Craft bonuses for weapons and gear.)
