To the park!
[X] Head back to the park. Have Thundra come with.
With the immediate needs taken care of, you finally pull off your helmet and wince at the damages. You really don't feel particularly happy about how you look at the moment, but it's not like you have a change of clothing handy, and you're not sure what Thundra has available. She's got a spear and her sparse clothing on her, but that's really it. At best you can maybe get a loincloth maybe? The idea's just barely more palatable than running around in your underwear.
Lacking a better idea, you request that Thundra guide you out of the realm you're in. You have a change of clothing back in your travel bag. Hopefully that will be enough.
The way out's honestly just as confusing as the way in. Thundra guides you with surety and purpose, but all you see are trees and plants on the way. You realize your back home about the time when you see the police tape. You blink at it.
"What's that?" Thundra asks as she looks at it curiously.
"Basically a sign saying don't enter." You reply back and look around. It's gotten pretty dark now, and you don't see anyone nearby. You could have sworn that the police would have at least posted a guard here.
After a moment you grunt and take the lead. Thundra shrugs and follows you after a moment. Her hoofs click and clatter on the sidewalk loudly.
The park's not that far away from where you exited. You note it's empty too. You see a parked car nearby though, and move up to it and knock loudly on the door. The car's horn blares loudly, and it's lights flash.
Thundra rears back and hefts her spear at the noise. You turn to her and try to get her to calm down immediately.
"I just startled him." You shout out, and then the car door is kicked open.
"Drop the weapon!" You recognize the officer as your former guide. He's got his gun raised and pointed.
Thundra doesn't hesitate at the weapon. You're not even sure she knows what exactly it is to be honest. Only that it's dangerous. She steps forward quickly and swings her spear, blunt end first. You assume it's a disarming maneuver of some sort. It's the wrong move against a firearm.
The gun fires off, and the centaur gives a cry of pain as she stumbles. You yourself snarl and push the gun down as you yell. "Stop, both of you!"
"Fuck, Hot-wheels?" The officer blinks at you. "What the hell happened to you? Where are you clothes?"
"Don't ask." You mutter out and move to Thundra. The woman has stepped back and looks like she's holding back tears. "You ok?" You ask in concern.
"Think it cracked a legbone." She replies back and flexes one of her front legs painfully.
You kneel down a bit to look at it. The car lights are still on, so you can see well enough to examine it. "Don't see blood."
"Lucky me." She grunts back and you can see her favor the leg as she shifts.
"Holy hell that's a centaur." Timothy breaths out. "I fucking shot a centaur."
"Yeah, you shot me!" Thundra seems to remember that and hefts her spear again.
"No fighting please." You mutter, and then freeze as you see something flash. "Please tell me that wasn't a camera."
The officer behind you starts to yell and move forward. "No pictures!" He puts away the gun and curses as someone starts to run. "Shit, shit. That's going to be on the news in hours."
"Oh god." You cover your face in your hands.
"News?" Thundra tilts her head at you.
"First, I'm getting a change of clothing." You state flatly. "News basically means everyone will have a picture of what we just looked like." You stand up and move towards the car. After a moment of rummaging you find your travel bag and another change of clothing.
"I'm, uh, going to have to take you to the station." Timothy states uncertainly and looks at Thundra. "Her too?" It's more a question.
"If you want me to get into that weird metal thing, I'm not going to fit." Thundra states flatly as she looks at the car. "And I can't run with my leg lame."
"Shit." You mutter. "First, are the kids ok?" You ask the officer.
"When you disappeared there was a bit of a panic, but when nothing else happened we just waited. The kids changed when the sun went down. We had to charter a bus to get them to a hospital with specialized faculties." Timothy replies back. "We could likely catch up. They likely haven't even left yet."
"That's good at least." You muse.
All right, you have options here. Get to the bus and bring Thundra. The centaur could likely fit in there and at least identify how safe the kids were. You could go to the police station, but you can't say how things would go there. Alternatively you think this is a high enough priority to get another hero from the Hero's League here. In particular Patchwork might have been terrifying, but he could verify everything and likely get some good information. As a plus he could treat Thundra too.
Technically everything seemed resolved though, so you could probably just contact the Hero's League and get a few balls rolling. They could handle the PR, and you could get authorization to take Thundra to somewhere to get looked at. As well as keep her from being poked by people because now that you thought about it, you were going to have issues there.
----
What would you like to do?
[]
AN: Sorry no pre-written votes this time, but I believe I outlined what you could do above
With the immediate needs taken care of, you finally pull off your helmet and wince at the damages. You really don't feel particularly happy about how you look at the moment, but it's not like you have a change of clothing handy, and you're not sure what Thundra has available. She's got a spear and her sparse clothing on her, but that's really it. At best you can maybe get a loincloth maybe? The idea's just barely more palatable than running around in your underwear.
Lacking a better idea, you request that Thundra guide you out of the realm you're in. You have a change of clothing back in your travel bag. Hopefully that will be enough.
The way out's honestly just as confusing as the way in. Thundra guides you with surety and purpose, but all you see are trees and plants on the way. You realize your back home about the time when you see the police tape. You blink at it.
"What's that?" Thundra asks as she looks at it curiously.
"Basically a sign saying don't enter." You reply back and look around. It's gotten pretty dark now, and you don't see anyone nearby. You could have sworn that the police would have at least posted a guard here.
After a moment you grunt and take the lead. Thundra shrugs and follows you after a moment. Her hoofs click and clatter on the sidewalk loudly.
The park's not that far away from where you exited. You note it's empty too. You see a parked car nearby though, and move up to it and knock loudly on the door. The car's horn blares loudly, and it's lights flash.
Thundra rears back and hefts her spear at the noise. You turn to her and try to get her to calm down immediately.
"I just startled him." You shout out, and then the car door is kicked open.
"Drop the weapon!" You recognize the officer as your former guide. He's got his gun raised and pointed.
Thundra doesn't hesitate at the weapon. You're not even sure she knows what exactly it is to be honest. Only that it's dangerous. She steps forward quickly and swings her spear, blunt end first. You assume it's a disarming maneuver of some sort. It's the wrong move against a firearm.
The gun fires off, and the centaur gives a cry of pain as she stumbles. You yourself snarl and push the gun down as you yell. "Stop, both of you!"
"Fuck, Hot-wheels?" The officer blinks at you. "What the hell happened to you? Where are you clothes?"
"Don't ask." You mutter out and move to Thundra. The woman has stepped back and looks like she's holding back tears. "You ok?" You ask in concern.
"Think it cracked a legbone." She replies back and flexes one of her front legs painfully.
You kneel down a bit to look at it. The car lights are still on, so you can see well enough to examine it. "Don't see blood."
"Lucky me." She grunts back and you can see her favor the leg as she shifts.
"Holy hell that's a centaur." Timothy breaths out. "I fucking shot a centaur."
"Yeah, you shot me!" Thundra seems to remember that and hefts her spear again.
"No fighting please." You mutter, and then freeze as you see something flash. "Please tell me that wasn't a camera."
The officer behind you starts to yell and move forward. "No pictures!" He puts away the gun and curses as someone starts to run. "Shit, shit. That's going to be on the news in hours."
"Oh god." You cover your face in your hands.
"News?" Thundra tilts her head at you.
"First, I'm getting a change of clothing." You state flatly. "News basically means everyone will have a picture of what we just looked like." You stand up and move towards the car. After a moment of rummaging you find your travel bag and another change of clothing.
"I'm, uh, going to have to take you to the station." Timothy states uncertainly and looks at Thundra. "Her too?" It's more a question.
"If you want me to get into that weird metal thing, I'm not going to fit." Thundra states flatly as she looks at the car. "And I can't run with my leg lame."
"Shit." You mutter. "First, are the kids ok?" You ask the officer.
"When you disappeared there was a bit of a panic, but when nothing else happened we just waited. The kids changed when the sun went down. We had to charter a bus to get them to a hospital with specialized faculties." Timothy replies back. "We could likely catch up. They likely haven't even left yet."
"That's good at least." You muse.
All right, you have options here. Get to the bus and bring Thundra. The centaur could likely fit in there and at least identify how safe the kids were. You could go to the police station, but you can't say how things would go there. Alternatively you think this is a high enough priority to get another hero from the Hero's League here. In particular Patchwork might have been terrifying, but he could verify everything and likely get some good information. As a plus he could treat Thundra too.
Technically everything seemed resolved though, so you could probably just contact the Hero's League and get a few balls rolling. They could handle the PR, and you could get authorization to take Thundra to somewhere to get looked at. As well as keep her from being poked by people because now that you thought about it, you were going to have issues there.
----
What would you like to do?
[]
AN: Sorry no pre-written votes this time, but I believe I outlined what you could do above
- Location
- That light in the sky with a decaying orbit.
We need a Vet (preferably one specialized in horses) and a doctor for Thundra, we need a lawyer from our sponsors to put the specifics on our verbal contract and make sure that it doesn't violate US law, we another lawyer from our sponsor to get Thundra some documentation from the State Department (they'd be happy to get something working in return for intelligence on the Faerie).
- Location
- That light in the sky with a decaying orbit.
We need a horse trailer to mover her anywhere. This will probably be the one owned by the veterinarian contacted by the league until further notice.
We need a veterinarian because her leg is broken and horses take that much worse than humans. Being a fairy she will probably deal with it much better than a mortal horse, but she still needs medical assistance from someone who knows horse anatomy.
Treatment and Finishing up.
[x] Call the league and inform them of the situation with the kids and fae, as well as Thundra and her situation, need for transportation and healer.
-----
You don't have a cell phone. It seems a bit silly, but to your understanding heroes were expected to handle communication themselves. Mostly because they were deployed all over, and often times not in places where your standard lines would work. Also apparently it wasn't uncommon for the heroes to break their phones. You had protocols instead. And a number to call.
Borrowing Timothy's phone wasn't that big a deal, and Thundra watches you make the call with a mix of fascination and amusement. When she's not wincing in pain. After giving the appropriate authorization, you find yourself surprised when your word is taken at face value and things start rolling.
An hour after your call there's a truck with a horse trailer pulling up. The man driving the thing gives Thundra a double take though.
"Holy shit." He breaths out and gives the centaur a nod and then looks to you. "Was wondering why I was pulled out of bed. Wow." He nods to Thundra again. "Ma'am, I'm apparently your ride."
Thundra looks at the coach speculatively. "It looks large enough at least?"
"Yes ma'am, it's for horses." The man states and opens up the back. "Not going to be particularly clean since I just used it, but it means we can get you to a doctor real quick."
The woman wrinkles her nose and edges close to look in. True to his word it doesn't look particularly clean. "Better than walking I suppose." She grumbles and steps froward.
It's just a bit painful watching her get in to be honest. With one leg bad she has to edge into it, and more than a few times she shifts wrong to get up. Finally she's in and the man closes the door.
"Well, I can official say that this is one of the stranger things." The man states with surprisingly good cheer and then turns to you. "Now, I know where a good vet is that handles horses. They also do emergency calls. I can make the calls now, and get a doctor in too since we don't know how the poor girl's made up."
You nod and turn back to the officer who's been watching quietly. "All right. I'm going with him. The children should be fine, but you know where I'm going if they aren't. I've got to handle this."
"Yes sir." Timothy nods and continues apologetically. "Tell her I'm sorry later all right?"
"I will." You nod.
With that you're on the truck and heading to the vet. The man makes the calls as he moves, calling Thundra a 'special patient.' Which is fair enough. You're not sure if someone would believe you if you told them they had to handle a centaur. The most difficulty is the doctor, which has you taking over the call and pushing a bit as a 'hero'.
To everyone's credit, Thundra is eventually diagnosed and treated with minimal exclamations and poking. She has a fractured foreleg, and seems in good health otherwise. They end up following what she knows about her people's treatment apparently. Her leg is set into a cast and then set into a sling. Thundra can hobble on three legs, though it's not easy.
That takes most of the night and pushes into the day. While Thundra's doing that, you're working with the league on PR. A lot of PR. The children look fine, and there's no problems anticipated after they're checked up. That doesn't mean the aftermath promises to be pretty.
Basically at the moment you are the primary source of information on things. The children have stories, but frankly the stories of children don't have that much weight. The only serious evidence at the moment is your testimony and Thundra's presence. Which you figure might become a problem quickly.
You end up arranging transportation out of the city very quickly. Thanks to how unique the circumstances are, you get an exclusive plane with extra space for Thundra. Not a moment too soon, as you're already starting to see people panicking and rumors of Thundra starting to spread.
By the time you land there's half a dozen pictures of the centaur spreading around. Including the damnable one of you in your underwear. It's not a good PR moment frankly.
There's some good news though. Thanks to you calling the league quickly, you're able to get ahead of the news and make an official statement before people have a coherent story-line. Combined with the children being cleared fully after about a day and it's not turning into a complete disaster. Just a very amusing story that does you no favors.
The biggest star of the entire thing ends up being Thundra though. She gets an official photo-shoot, cast and all. You apparently also get half a dozen offers for examinations, more photos, gifts, and even more. Most of it goes through the Hero's League and is rejected. Even the gifts. Those come with 'expectations' of sorts, and at the moment you're not particularly interested in that.
About a week later your first assignment is officially done. It's not your best showing as a hero, but it is a finished job with no casualties. There are worse ways to complete a mission honestly.
As a reward, you get a big pay bonus. You also get some free time if you want it. You just have to figure out what you want to do with it. There are a lot of options, and no real priority thankfully. You're going to be called in if the Fae come back though. The forest you indicated had the entrance is barricaded at the moment, but there might be people trying to get through in the future. That won't be for awhile yet.
----
Choose one of the following:
[] Take another mission
-[] Gold Hunting
There are reports of newly empowered people hunting down gold in Europe. There have been reports of violence and one incident of murder, but no reports of theft. Rumors suggest that's because these 'gold hunters' have been looking in rather criminal places.
-[] Radiation Warning
There are rumblings in 'the Abandoned City'. After Calamity had it nuked, the place was irradiated enough that no one wished to live there. Your power can actually allow you to negate the radiation enough to head in without issue. This is important because there have been significant signs of movement inside.
[] No mission, instead get more money by doing a few shipping jobs.
[] Power experimentation with Thundra!
In addition, you have a decision on Thundra
[] Study the girl. There's doctors beating down doors to get more things on the centaur. You're outright banning anything dangerous or painful, but they at least want x-rays and the like.
[] Let her head back home for a bit. She wants to get her stuff and bring it back. It's all replaceable, but needed.
[] Have her do a small PR tour. Honestly at the moment she's considered almost a hero. A bit more PR, and she'd become a household name.
-----
You don't have a cell phone. It seems a bit silly, but to your understanding heroes were expected to handle communication themselves. Mostly because they were deployed all over, and often times not in places where your standard lines would work. Also apparently it wasn't uncommon for the heroes to break their phones. You had protocols instead. And a number to call.
Borrowing Timothy's phone wasn't that big a deal, and Thundra watches you make the call with a mix of fascination and amusement. When she's not wincing in pain. After giving the appropriate authorization, you find yourself surprised when your word is taken at face value and things start rolling.
An hour after your call there's a truck with a horse trailer pulling up. The man driving the thing gives Thundra a double take though.
"Holy shit." He breaths out and gives the centaur a nod and then looks to you. "Was wondering why I was pulled out of bed. Wow." He nods to Thundra again. "Ma'am, I'm apparently your ride."
Thundra looks at the coach speculatively. "It looks large enough at least?"
"Yes ma'am, it's for horses." The man states and opens up the back. "Not going to be particularly clean since I just used it, but it means we can get you to a doctor real quick."
The woman wrinkles her nose and edges close to look in. True to his word it doesn't look particularly clean. "Better than walking I suppose." She grumbles and steps froward.
It's just a bit painful watching her get in to be honest. With one leg bad she has to edge into it, and more than a few times she shifts wrong to get up. Finally she's in and the man closes the door.
"Well, I can official say that this is one of the stranger things." The man states with surprisingly good cheer and then turns to you. "Now, I know where a good vet is that handles horses. They also do emergency calls. I can make the calls now, and get a doctor in too since we don't know how the poor girl's made up."
You nod and turn back to the officer who's been watching quietly. "All right. I'm going with him. The children should be fine, but you know where I'm going if they aren't. I've got to handle this."
"Yes sir." Timothy nods and continues apologetically. "Tell her I'm sorry later all right?"
"I will." You nod.
With that you're on the truck and heading to the vet. The man makes the calls as he moves, calling Thundra a 'special patient.' Which is fair enough. You're not sure if someone would believe you if you told them they had to handle a centaur. The most difficulty is the doctor, which has you taking over the call and pushing a bit as a 'hero'.
To everyone's credit, Thundra is eventually diagnosed and treated with minimal exclamations and poking. She has a fractured foreleg, and seems in good health otherwise. They end up following what she knows about her people's treatment apparently. Her leg is set into a cast and then set into a sling. Thundra can hobble on three legs, though it's not easy.
That takes most of the night and pushes into the day. While Thundra's doing that, you're working with the league on PR. A lot of PR. The children look fine, and there's no problems anticipated after they're checked up. That doesn't mean the aftermath promises to be pretty.
Basically at the moment you are the primary source of information on things. The children have stories, but frankly the stories of children don't have that much weight. The only serious evidence at the moment is your testimony and Thundra's presence. Which you figure might become a problem quickly.
You end up arranging transportation out of the city very quickly. Thanks to how unique the circumstances are, you get an exclusive plane with extra space for Thundra. Not a moment too soon, as you're already starting to see people panicking and rumors of Thundra starting to spread.
By the time you land there's half a dozen pictures of the centaur spreading around. Including the damnable one of you in your underwear. It's not a good PR moment frankly.
There's some good news though. Thanks to you calling the league quickly, you're able to get ahead of the news and make an official statement before people have a coherent story-line. Combined with the children being cleared fully after about a day and it's not turning into a complete disaster. Just a very amusing story that does you no favors.
The biggest star of the entire thing ends up being Thundra though. She gets an official photo-shoot, cast and all. You apparently also get half a dozen offers for examinations, more photos, gifts, and even more. Most of it goes through the Hero's League and is rejected. Even the gifts. Those come with 'expectations' of sorts, and at the moment you're not particularly interested in that.
About a week later your first assignment is officially done. It's not your best showing as a hero, but it is a finished job with no casualties. There are worse ways to complete a mission honestly.
As a reward, you get a big pay bonus. You also get some free time if you want it. You just have to figure out what you want to do with it. There are a lot of options, and no real priority thankfully. You're going to be called in if the Fae come back though. The forest you indicated had the entrance is barricaded at the moment, but there might be people trying to get through in the future. That won't be for awhile yet.
----
Choose one of the following:
[] Take another mission
-[] Gold Hunting
There are reports of newly empowered people hunting down gold in Europe. There have been reports of violence and one incident of murder, but no reports of theft. Rumors suggest that's because these 'gold hunters' have been looking in rather criminal places.
-[] Radiation Warning
There are rumblings in 'the Abandoned City'. After Calamity had it nuked, the place was irradiated enough that no one wished to live there. Your power can actually allow you to negate the radiation enough to head in without issue. This is important because there have been significant signs of movement inside.
[] No mission, instead get more money by doing a few shipping jobs.
[] Power experimentation with Thundra!
In addition, you have a decision on Thundra
[] Study the girl. There's doctors beating down doors to get more things on the centaur. You're outright banning anything dangerous or painful, but they at least want x-rays and the like.
[] Let her head back home for a bit. She wants to get her stuff and bring it back. It's all replaceable, but needed.
[] Have her do a small PR tour. Honestly at the moment she's considered almost a hero. A bit more PR, and she'd become a household name.
- Location
- United States
-[X] Radiation Warning
There are rumblings in 'the Abandoned City'. After Calamity had it nuked, the place was irradiated enough that no one wished to live there. Your power can actually allow you to negate the radiation enough to head in without issue. This is important because there have been significant signs of movement inside.
[X] Have her do a small PR tour. Honestly at the moment she's considered almost a hero. A bit more PR, and she'd become a household name.
There are rumblings in 'the Abandoned City'. After Calamity had it nuked, the place was irradiated enough that no one wished to live there. Your power can actually allow you to negate the radiation enough to head in without issue. This is important because there have been significant signs of movement inside.
[X] Have her do a small PR tour. Honestly at the moment she's considered almost a hero. A bit more PR, and she'd become a household name.
[X] Take another mission
-[X] Radiation Warning
There are rumblings in 'the Abandoned City'. After Calamity had it nuked, the place was irradiated enough that no one wished to live there. Your power can actually allow you to negate the radiation enough to head in without issue. This is important because there have been significant signs of movement inside.
In addition, you have a decision on Thundra
[X] Let her head back home for a bit. She wants to get her stuff and bring it back. It's all replaceable, but needed.
-[X] Radiation Warning
There are rumblings in 'the Abandoned City'. After Calamity had it nuked, the place was irradiated enough that no one wished to live there. Your power can actually allow you to negate the radiation enough to head in without issue. This is important because there have been significant signs of movement inside.
In addition, you have a decision on Thundra
[X] Let her head back home for a bit. She wants to get her stuff and bring it back. It's all replaceable, but needed.
[X] Take another mission
-[X] Radiation Warning
There are rumblings in 'the Abandoned City'. After Calamity had it nuked, the place was irradiated enough that no one wished to live there. Your power can actually allow you to negate the radiation enough to head in without issue. This is important because there have been significant signs of movement inside.
[X] Let her head back home for a bit. She wants to get her stuff and bring it back. It's all replaceable, but needed.
-[X] Radiation Warning
There are rumblings in 'the Abandoned City'. After Calamity had it nuked, the place was irradiated enough that no one wished to live there. Your power can actually allow you to negate the radiation enough to head in without issue. This is important because there have been significant signs of movement inside.
[X] Let her head back home for a bit. She wants to get her stuff and bring it back. It's all replaceable, but needed.
Radiation Warning
[X] Take another mission
-[X] Radiation Warning
[X] Let her head back home for a bit. She wants to get her stuff and bring it back. It's all replaceable, but needed.
-----
It's surprisingly hard getting Thundra around the country. For just you, you can do a flight and be there in a few hours. She's a bit harder. She's not as large as a full horse, but she is large enough that she can't fly on a standard plane. You're at a bit of a loss until you're hooked up with what amounts to military freighter flights. There are a good half dozen flights apparently going around at any one time, and if you don't care about comfort you can manage. Combined with essentially strapping her into the back of a rented truck and you manage.
Admittedly you get pulled over once, but Thundra's presence explains a lot, and she apparently enjoys feeling the wind through her hair and all that. You get more than a few people staring and pictures being taken too.
Getting Thundra's equipment turns out to be the easiest part of the entire thing. You manage to finagle your power into getting your truck through the woods with a bit of judicious driving, and then just load up the entire thing. She's got a large tent, quite a few hides, her weapons (spears mostly), some clothing, and her warpaint. The last bit's the most valuable to her apparently. You can probably sell the hides to scientists later and get a pretty penny for the woman since she planned to do so to other fairies anyway.
That task done, you're on your way to the Abandoned City. Thundra coming with.
The place isn't a welcoming place. There are military checkpoints on all the roads to it, as well as large and obvious signs indicating radiation on this road. There are more than a few abandoned cars on the way, and you have to maneuver your borrowed truck quite a bit to get to the checkpoint. It brings to mind apocalypse films that you saw long ago.
The military guys aren't particularly happy to see you or Thundra honestly. You're waved past the guard with a sour face and then are forced to wait for more than an hour before a captain comes to meet you.
"You're the person they called in the check the city?" He asks with a grim expression.
"Yes." You state with a nod.
He looked you over in your riding leathers and then at Thundra. The centaur's leg healed up by this point in time, and had been doing small laps while you waited. She trots in when she realizes your being spoken to.
"A horse and a rookie. Lovely." The captain gives a grunt and looks sour. "All right, I can't stop you thanks to orders from above. We don't know what's in there, we don't know what's going on. We've done high altitude fly-overs and haven't spotted anyone, but we're getting reports of movement from the guard around this area. So that's where you come in. You're able to get in and out with the least risk. I'll call it a good decision if you don't get injured, which I'm not confident about."
The man delivers the statement in a matter of fact tone that makes it almost more bruising than if he had been yelling.
You grimace. "Anything else I should know?"
"You know what the bomb did to the city? The pictures don't do it justice." The captain asks and then continues at your shake. "All right, most of the buildings were damaged. In the center of the city they were leveled. Further out they're mostly tilted and ruined. Don't trust anything not solid ground. We can catch sight of the rubble shifting every now and again as it re-settles. The radiation is apparently not a concern for you, but you're still going through a scrubber afterwards. The horse coming with?"
Thundra rears back at the statement. "Horse?!"
"What, you want me to call you a mule?" The captain asks dryly, and Thundra looks like she wants to the hit the man. He doesn't back down. "I'm assuming you've got a plan for her. Otherwise I can lodge her at base. Also your power works with wheeled vehicles right? I can loan you a Humvee. That's going to be your best bet to get through the place, and it would have room for the slab of meat you're bringing with."
You interject before Thundra kicks the man, and she looks like she wants to. "I'd like that. Thundra's resistant to radiation without my powers, and with it we're both immune."
"Good enough." The captain replies back and gestures to a building nearby. "Paperwork's there. Bring a radio, they'll tell you how to use it. We expect regular reports, otherwise we'll have to assume you got killed. When you get back, expect a scrubbing. We don't know if you'll be contaminated, and we're not chancing it."
With that the captain starts to practically stalk off. You watch him go for a moment and then gesture to Thundra to follow. Reluctantly the girl does, but not after glaring at the man's back.
Inside the room you're greeted by a few other soldiers. They're far more friendly and practically fill out the paperwork for you. They then drive up what looks like a stripped down jeep. Aside from the windshield and a single seat it's got a lot of open space. You don't even see a door on it.
"It'll run fine." The mechanic explains as you look at it. "We just removed everything so you can fit Thundra in the side instead of in back. Even jury rigged a seatbelt." The man points to several straps. "She'll have to sort of lay down, but it should be easy to take on and off."
Bemused, Thundra goes in first and just barely fits into what would be the normal place for a passenger seat. Her tail drapes off the end of the car, but the rest of her almost looks comfortable. She shifts a bit and then pulls on the straps as directed. It takes a few seconds, but looks almost secure.
"Hope that works!" The mechanic states cheerfully.
Thundra shifts a few times more and then pulls out a few spears she had strapped to her side. You hadn't even noticed them, but she sets them next to her. "It will work." She states with a nod.
"Thank you for this." You state with real warmth. It actually solves a serious issue you've been having transporting the centaur.
"Not a problem!" The mechanic gives you a salute. "Get back safe! Radio's in the dashboard and tuned to the proper frequency. Just pick up the mic and we'll hear you."
"All right." You grin and start up the humvee. It's time to get going.
---
[] Go 'around' the city. This will take awhile, but probably be the safest.
[] Poke into the ruined parts and then do a small circle. Will be risky thanks to the rubble, but will be relatively quick.
[] Head towards the center. Hardest and most dangerous, and will likely take a fair amount of time.
[]write in
Also, you got a bonus from your last mission. Did you want to buy anything with it? If so, vote here. Anything in real life you can get, and about as expensive as a new car if you care to.
[]
-[X] Radiation Warning
[X] Let her head back home for a bit. She wants to get her stuff and bring it back. It's all replaceable, but needed.
-----
It's surprisingly hard getting Thundra around the country. For just you, you can do a flight and be there in a few hours. She's a bit harder. She's not as large as a full horse, but she is large enough that she can't fly on a standard plane. You're at a bit of a loss until you're hooked up with what amounts to military freighter flights. There are a good half dozen flights apparently going around at any one time, and if you don't care about comfort you can manage. Combined with essentially strapping her into the back of a rented truck and you manage.
Admittedly you get pulled over once, but Thundra's presence explains a lot, and she apparently enjoys feeling the wind through her hair and all that. You get more than a few people staring and pictures being taken too.
Getting Thundra's equipment turns out to be the easiest part of the entire thing. You manage to finagle your power into getting your truck through the woods with a bit of judicious driving, and then just load up the entire thing. She's got a large tent, quite a few hides, her weapons (spears mostly), some clothing, and her warpaint. The last bit's the most valuable to her apparently. You can probably sell the hides to scientists later and get a pretty penny for the woman since she planned to do so to other fairies anyway.
That task done, you're on your way to the Abandoned City. Thundra coming with.
The place isn't a welcoming place. There are military checkpoints on all the roads to it, as well as large and obvious signs indicating radiation on this road. There are more than a few abandoned cars on the way, and you have to maneuver your borrowed truck quite a bit to get to the checkpoint. It brings to mind apocalypse films that you saw long ago.
The military guys aren't particularly happy to see you or Thundra honestly. You're waved past the guard with a sour face and then are forced to wait for more than an hour before a captain comes to meet you.
"You're the person they called in the check the city?" He asks with a grim expression.
"Yes." You state with a nod.
He looked you over in your riding leathers and then at Thundra. The centaur's leg healed up by this point in time, and had been doing small laps while you waited. She trots in when she realizes your being spoken to.
"A horse and a rookie. Lovely." The captain gives a grunt and looks sour. "All right, I can't stop you thanks to orders from above. We don't know what's in there, we don't know what's going on. We've done high altitude fly-overs and haven't spotted anyone, but we're getting reports of movement from the guard around this area. So that's where you come in. You're able to get in and out with the least risk. I'll call it a good decision if you don't get injured, which I'm not confident about."
The man delivers the statement in a matter of fact tone that makes it almost more bruising than if he had been yelling.
You grimace. "Anything else I should know?"
"You know what the bomb did to the city? The pictures don't do it justice." The captain asks and then continues at your shake. "All right, most of the buildings were damaged. In the center of the city they were leveled. Further out they're mostly tilted and ruined. Don't trust anything not solid ground. We can catch sight of the rubble shifting every now and again as it re-settles. The radiation is apparently not a concern for you, but you're still going through a scrubber afterwards. The horse coming with?"
Thundra rears back at the statement. "Horse?!"
"What, you want me to call you a mule?" The captain asks dryly, and Thundra looks like she wants to the hit the man. He doesn't back down. "I'm assuming you've got a plan for her. Otherwise I can lodge her at base. Also your power works with wheeled vehicles right? I can loan you a Humvee. That's going to be your best bet to get through the place, and it would have room for the slab of meat you're bringing with."
You interject before Thundra kicks the man, and she looks like she wants to. "I'd like that. Thundra's resistant to radiation without my powers, and with it we're both immune."
"Good enough." The captain replies back and gestures to a building nearby. "Paperwork's there. Bring a radio, they'll tell you how to use it. We expect regular reports, otherwise we'll have to assume you got killed. When you get back, expect a scrubbing. We don't know if you'll be contaminated, and we're not chancing it."
With that the captain starts to practically stalk off. You watch him go for a moment and then gesture to Thundra to follow. Reluctantly the girl does, but not after glaring at the man's back.
Inside the room you're greeted by a few other soldiers. They're far more friendly and practically fill out the paperwork for you. They then drive up what looks like a stripped down jeep. Aside from the windshield and a single seat it's got a lot of open space. You don't even see a door on it.
"It'll run fine." The mechanic explains as you look at it. "We just removed everything so you can fit Thundra in the side instead of in back. Even jury rigged a seatbelt." The man points to several straps. "She'll have to sort of lay down, but it should be easy to take on and off."
Bemused, Thundra goes in first and just barely fits into what would be the normal place for a passenger seat. Her tail drapes off the end of the car, but the rest of her almost looks comfortable. She shifts a bit and then pulls on the straps as directed. It takes a few seconds, but looks almost secure.
"Hope that works!" The mechanic states cheerfully.
Thundra shifts a few times more and then pulls out a few spears she had strapped to her side. You hadn't even noticed them, but she sets them next to her. "It will work." She states with a nod.
"Thank you for this." You state with real warmth. It actually solves a serious issue you've been having transporting the centaur.
"Not a problem!" The mechanic gives you a salute. "Get back safe! Radio's in the dashboard and tuned to the proper frequency. Just pick up the mic and we'll hear you."
"All right." You grin and start up the humvee. It's time to get going.
---
[] Go 'around' the city. This will take awhile, but probably be the safest.
[] Poke into the ruined parts and then do a small circle. Will be risky thanks to the rubble, but will be relatively quick.
[] Head towards the center. Hardest and most dangerous, and will likely take a fair amount of time.
[]write in
Also, you got a bonus from your last mission. Did you want to buy anything with it? If so, vote here. Anything in real life you can get, and about as expensive as a new car if you care to.
[]
We could get some weapons or armor for ourselves. Perhaps a multi purpose launcher of some sort?
We could also get something for Thundra. A high tech bow maybe? Or some ultra durable horseshoes. Maybe titanium chainmail.
Oh, I'm sure this is never gonna happen, but if Thundra gives us a ride, would she count as a vehicle for the sake of our powers? What if she's wearing skates?
We could also get something for Thundra. A high tech bow maybe? Or some ultra durable horseshoes. Maybe titanium chainmail.
Oh, I'm sure this is never gonna happen, but if Thundra gives us a ride, would she count as a vehicle for the sake of our powers? What if she's wearing skates?
There are ways of having your power effect her actually. Riding directly wouldn't work, and skates wouldn't either
There are ways of having your power effect her actually. Riding directly wouldn't work, and skates wouldn't either
Thundra-drawn chariot?
