The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

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Advance...in the Opposite Direction

Ay...or you could completely ignore me. That works too. Tristan thought, a bit miffed, as he went over Carolyn's orders. If there was one thing he hated, it was being ignored entirely, for no good reason. Regardless, the desertion of four fellow squadmates had put a damper on any attempt to rescue any survivors of Arrowhead, and as much as he hated to leave people behind, having one flank completely unprotected was likely to lead to disaster. Grabbing the radio, he hesitated a bit before opening the communication channel. "Yes sir, putting the AEGIS in reverse." He pulled a lever to let the machine work in reverse, and he worked in tandem with the other tanks to ensure that the whole squadron-what was left of it-was protected from fire from the new front. The man sighed, hopefully the fallout from this failure would not be too severe. Despite Carolyn's assurance that she would take the flak from the higher ups, Tristan was unconvinced. From his experience, the brass looked pretty unfavorably on all members of a mission that had gone awry.

As he awaited the signal to move out, he suddenly heard Jenive's panicked voice noting the presence of a surprise survivor. At least somebody on this ludicrous excuse of a mission cared what happened to their comrades in arms. The man cracked a bit of a smile as she offered to help the man. Tristan likely would have joined were it not for being stuck in a tank and prior orders, as he figured by the time he got out the situation would be resolved. He was interrupted again by a radio signal from Box, one of the deserters. Still, Tristan was more inclined to listen to her than the convict or the nutty foreigner. "Box in, the wolf is in the pen. I repeat, the wolf is in the pen. Box out." was the line that stood out to him the most. It could only mean one thing. "For those of you non-military...personnel types, that means shut your yap unless you have something important to say. And also there may be trouble ahead, that too." With that, he put his communication device down, not wanting to risk any more information leaking to the raiders.

What bothered him next was Kiku's warning that there was something behind the man. He certainly did not understand it, how was Kiku able to see anything in this fog, especially when his own device was going caddy-whompus on signals from all directions. He then remembered something about a "thermal-vision" the squadron reports had mentioned. It may be that she was using that, but Tristan had a decision to make here, keep the cannon in its current position towards the mystery man to incinerate any being stupid enough to use a human shield, or he could turn it around to the other side, and keep fire on the ambush in the "front" of the group. Surely, Kiku was just being paranoid, and there was nothing behind the survivor waiting to attack them when they get close. Right?

...

Tristan decided to keep the cannon faced towards the survivor, just in case. If there was a threat, and he could get a clear enough shot, he'd be more than happy to give it a practical demonstration of the AEGIS's laser.

Tristan starts following Carolyn's orders. Places the others on alert that there's an ambush ahead and that they're being tapped. Keeps the tank's laser cannon, preparing to shoot if he can get a clear shot and there is a threat.
 
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Aleksa gave out a sigh of relief as Caroyln gave the order to retreat. They would do no good here. She then ordered the tanks to roll out in reverse, allowing their armor to catch any spray of bullets. Driving a tank in reverse was about the same as driving it forward. Sure, the directions were swapped but not much else. It was still a pain in a bitch to handle. Aleksa considered herself pretty damn good at piloting her tank, but the terrain was always unforgiving. She remember the day that she'd installed the responsive tracks on her tank that shifted based on terrain. Probably the best day of her life. Well—the third best day.

A figure emerged from the fog. It looked to be a friendly. One that'd barely escaped the scuffle up ahead. Before Aleksa could key anything to help, the infantry was already on him and moving him towards Carolyn's tank. Right. It was probably in their best interest to get moving.

Her screens showed her that one of the tanks was heading backwards, but kept its cannon faced towards the fog. Aleksa decided to rotate hers around to the back. Just because they were heading away from the action, didn't mean that enemies couldn't circle back around and catch them unawares. She didn't know how feasible that actually was, but considering how quickly this entire mission had gone dick-to-ass she wasn't beyond believing that they'd be attacked from a bevy of angel from above.

Still, she didn't roll very fast. The terrain wasn't very smooth, and not many of the infantry had pulled back. If anything they seemed to be concentrating on the fog. She cursed in Russian, not broadcasting.

So, she started a rather lethargic retreat. Box chimed in something over the radio that caused Aleksa to hesitate. Then the other tank pilot more or less spelled out what Box had meant. That was—unnecessary. Were there really those that didn't know the lingo? Maybe. Still, it gave away a clear indication that they knew what the enemies knew, and they had lost their double gambit. Ah well. Not all people were born with brains. It did give her an idea—though.

Aleksa pulled back her drones, and pushed them into their automated docking cycle… except for three. Two she sent in the direction of their retreat. She clicked a few buttons and blew the screen up, keeping an eye on what they'd been warned about. Sure, she might lose two drones, but it was better than losing lives or tanks. The other one she had hover next to Gabriel. "I'll cover you as you get back to your machine."
 
Oh Merci Bon Dieu… It was such a relief to hear the commanding officer going along with the retreat for this mission. As much as they had a task, they couldn't charge in these conditions without taking heavy losses. A lot was happening around, though none was more important, for the time being, than getting to the helicopter and have it go off.

The only real concern, other than that, was the transmission from Box, which meant they'd have to be careful retreating. Good thing they had gone forward first… He could imagine what kind of resistance they'd met if they never saw it coming. They'd still have to be careful, since the helicopter would be making a lot of noise.

The pilot moved along with the tank, right up until the heli was at least visible. The man smiled as he ran over to the flying war machine, speaking quickly on the channel. "Much appreciated, Aleska. I'll keep an eye on the proximities of the tanks." He quickly went climbed up into the cockpit and started the engine up, setting up his ATS into manual mode, where he would have to use the normal targeting system by hand, on the screen.

Once he would reach the air, he would make sure to do a quick 360 to see if he could see anything in the immediate, then proceed to keep an eye out for anything approaching the tanks that wasn't friendly.
 
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As Hewitt moved out to gather the injured soldier, Shlan moved over to the eastern side of the street for a better vantage point. If something hostile came out of the fog, she wanted to be able to shoot past Hewitt, not through him. She absently checked her tear gas canisters with familiar quickness, though she suspected they would find little use today. If this fog was as lethal as claimed, any hostiles that showed up would already be wearing gas masks. But the familiar motions gave her hands something to do while she scanned the fog-laden street, where otherwise they'd be drumming alongside her rifle.

As Box and Kiku radioed in, however, her fingers started fidgeting nevertheless. Trouble ahead, trouble behind, and them stuck in the middle. Rarely had so many things gone so thoroughly wrong so quickly, in Shlan's experience.
 
A Collab with @Sai Zhang
​
When Florence mentioned God, Ozzy turned to face her, eyes lit up with interest. "I'd love to have a theological discussion with you later, or perhaps now. What do you think?" he asked with an open-faced smile. Florence listened to Ozymandias' inquiry and chuckled at the thought. A sinner who knew nothing about the holy fires of God expecting to engage in a theological discussion with her in the middle of a retreat. If it wasn't for the crucial fact that they'd been given new orders to evacuate by Carolyn, she'd be almost willing to enlighten the man on the true nature of God. However, it appeared that their assistance was needed covering the flank, since some of the other infantry were choosing to assist some poor soul who'd stumbled out of the fog for some reason, as if they could change what God had in store for him. "As much as I'd love to teach you about the holy fires of God, O King of Kings, it appears that we have more urgent matters on our hands. The western flank needs to be guarded while we retreat, and guard it we shall." After she spoke, Florence adjusted the tank on her back and moved towards the vehicles, gun extended and eyes wary. Ozzy chuckled, the sound almost completely muffled by his mask. "Indeed, Agent of God, that we shall." He pulled out of the room he had selected, mildly disappointed that today was not looking like his day to shine, but grateful to be leaving the damned fog. It had taken him a while to notice that he could hardly make out the tank from his vantage point, he was watching so intently for enemies from the north. He rushed to the ground floor and made haste to join Florence by the west flank.​
 
"I'm about to prime weapons, so those riding my tank, you might feel a little warmth. I assure you it isn't the Devil heating up you backsides to take you to Hell. Not yet, anyway."
-Aleksa Volkov, Page 1​

Retreat!​

As the stranger is picked up into a simple carry position, he nods thankfully, and closes his eyes. His breathing was heavy, though starting to slow to something more calm. Kiku would notice the occasional, indiscernible colours in the distance cease pursuing them, as though now merely watching what they were doing. Jenive turns around and looks down the scope of her rifle, only to be dismayed by the lack of information. "What the hell is this fog?" She says aloud, before backing up to catch up to Carolyn's tank.

It didn't take long with Hewitt carrying the stranger to get him to Carolyn's tank. Noticing this, Carolyn switches to her tank's intercom system, rather than using the radio, so that she could speak to everyone in the immediate area, without having to take off her gas mask. It was a simple affair to put a megaphone in a tank, really. "Stranger, come inside the tank, it's safer in here than out there. We'll need to debrief you later about what happened." The top hatch of the tank pops open. She pops out of the open hatch and offers her hand to the stranger, who hops out of Hewitt's arms and onto the tank. He takes her hand and climbs into the hatch, and closes it behind himself.

Carolyn engages her tank and points the main gun backward, toward the source of trouble warned about by Box. Her frontal armour would hopefully absorb enough damage to allow her to turn the main gun in time, unlike her weaker rear armour, that might need firepower there immediately. Once again, she chooses the intercom over the radio. "We're moving out now! We cannot wait any longer, I just lost contact with the last radio signals beyond us. Whatever is out there is coming for us next. Move quickly!" With that said, Carolyn's tank starts moving in reverse, keeping her frontal armour facing the unknown enemy deeper in the fog.

Jenive uses a mix of her grappling cables and jet pack to maintain her vantage points aboard rooftops, and to move quickly from point to point, staying on par with the tanks so as not to get ahead or behind them. She remained silent.

Fight?​

After a few deep breaths, Morai opens his eyes. His pupils were dilated as he climbs to his feet and puts his syringe kit away, keeping his back against the wall so as to remain out of sight from the chain gun in the next building over. He glances toward his allies, briefly, then double checks the ammunition in his firearm. His hands shook a little, though he seemed to maintain control over himself. "You will get one chance, a few seconds. Do not miss." He states simply, as he slides along the wall to the side door. He takes a few more deep breaths, then dashes out of it, moving toward the burned out husk of a long dead vehicle from the old world, located out on the street. He moved startlingly fast as he got behind cover. Gunfire started to erupt, yet...

It wasn't directed at him.

He looks up over the edge of the burned out vehicle, and though the fog obscure his vision of the garrisoned structure a bit, he could hear men screaming and guns firing, only to go silent, rapidly, one after another. Someone or something was killing all of Bosho's Men. He then hears the sound of a helicopter and tanks approaching, and the sight of a pair of Aleksa's drones leading the convoy. Though it took him a moment, Morai quickly connected the dots. "Méiyǒu xìngcún zhě. Tāmen zhuīgǎn wǒmen. Cōngmíng. (No survivors. They chased us. Clever.)"

He pulls out his radio and rapidly barks out commands, though his thick accent held a slight sign of strain, as though he was repressing something. "WE WERE FOLLOWED! We will have to fight our way out the last few blocks! Convict, save the RPG until we get to see whatever it is! Carolyn, I did not know this would happen. Turn back, find another way out."

After a moment of silence, Carolyn's voice breaks out onto the radio. "We can't turn back now. We're being followed too, Kiku mentioned something behind us. We're being encircled. We'll just have to punch a hole big enough to escape. We should be coming up on you now." Morai looks up the north side of the street, and turning around a corner a couple buildings down was Carolyn's tank. "Understood. There are EMP traps ahead. Turn off your electronics. Zhù nǐ hǎoyùn. (Good luck.)"

Carolyn switches from her radio to the intercom, to communicate with everyone around her without using the radio. "You heard him. Turn off all electronics not necessary to operations. Infantry, come in close to our left, right, and rear flanks. My tank has heavy defensive capabilities, I'll lead the breakthrough. On my order, infantry will break away from the tanks to the nearest points of cover and open fire ahead of us to try and break a hole in their lines. Once we do, infantry will run back to the tanks and hop on, and we'll gun it. We're faster than infantry over a prolonged period, we stand a better chance that way. Tanks will focus fire on anything that looks like a rampant mutant... It is ugly that we need to use tank guns on people, but, considering reports, they may not be people anymore."

With a thud on the roof over Convict, Box, and Peter, Jenive made her presence known as she drops down and readies her sniper, examining the building across the street and getting ready to fight. "I am in position. Jenive out."
 
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Hewitt Ziegler
@Holmishire​
Hewitt hopped off Carolyn's tank as the neared Morai's position, eyeing the building where the deserters had apparently holed up. It was good to hear they were still alive, but he hadn't quite gotten around to forgiving them yet. At least he now knew that if they ran into trouble, he wouldn't be able to count on them for help—and he could therefore plan accordingly.

As per her orders, the man moved in close to the tanks' left flank—close enough that the tank itself would provide him cover from all but the flank he was defending. He quickly loads an explosive grenade into the under-barrel of his gun, before rapping his fist against the side of the tank to let them know he was there. "Ziegler on the left flank," he said.[/hr]
 
Monsters Under the Bed

Tristan shook his head, and rotated the tank turret towards their intended destination. Clearly the stress of the mission going bad was getting to his head, and causing a bad sense of paranoia. There was definitely something odd going on, but that was not an excuse to leave his own reason behind. Monsters behind the survivor...right. he thought.

It was then that he got some rather dreadful news, at least to him. In order to keep the AI from being more scrambled than scrambled eggs, the pilot was going to need to turn off all non-essential electronic functions. With a bit of hesitation, he said "AEGIS, recall Scrapper 1, then initiate EMP Safe...uh...Mode." One beep later, and the Scrapper bot he had deployed to automate the turrets came back into the tank. "Ay, what a pain." he said. At least his bots were not going to be totally useless, with any luck those turrets would slow whatever - no, whoever - was stalking them. He then said, mostly to himself "All right, time to go." when the AI shut down, going into EMP Safe Mode. Things were going to get a little tricky from here, as he'd have to stop before shooting. He then used his own megaphone and said "If anyone wants some extra armor for the event ahead, my tank has a seat for a gunner open."

Hopefully, he wouldn't get one of the crazies offering to help.

Tristan turns the tank's turret around, to the same direction as Carolyn's turret. He recalls his Scrapper Bot and puts his tank into a mode safe against EMP Blasts. Offers Gunner spot to people in the main party.
 
Kiku - Expert in Shapes, Colours, and Shiny Things.

Kiku watched the strange dancing colours in the fog, her head turning to stare at them; even as they stared back at the group. For some strange reason, she wondered if they could see her as she was; hidden by her mutation. Normally, she'd have assumed herself completely in the clear, but some animal part of her was made extra cautious by these strange figures in the distance. They were alien, and hard to trust.

As she listened to all the chatter and the communications between Carolyn, the new guy, and eventually Morai. It seemed they were all being penned in, and Kiku was starting to get a little nervous. She didn't like how few things were going to plan. She didn't enjoy being the prey here. She liked it when she had some control to exert. She'd spent enough time not having control, that wasn't her role anymore, dammit!

When given the order though, Kiku nodded and moved in closer to the left flank of Carolyn's tank. When she was in position, she dropped the invisibility, perhaps freightening anyone not expecting it as suddenly the pretty, short woman seemingly shimmered into existence. "Kiku in position, lets get out of here, boss." She said across the radio to no one in particular, before she turned off the electrical device and lifted her gun up; pointing it towards the rear, at least until told otherwise. She might be the only person who could see whatever the hell was coming from behind, and that meant she refused to take her eyes off of it. Those colourful shapes weren't going to get her! Not before she had Bosho's head, anyway.
 
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Peter​

From his vantage behind the dilapidated refrigerator Peter could only eke out a glimpse of what Morai was putting into his body. Whatever it was though, the pawner knew he wanted some of it. Even his breath quickening to an unhealthy pace and his subsequent suicide charge across the street did little to hamper Peter's newfound curiosity for the foreigner's strange drug. Unfortunately for the pawner it seemed that he wouldn't be seeing the substance in action at that moment as they had apparently been followed, at least according to the very same drugged foreigner. Then further confirmed by the sudden onset of radio chatter. "Glad you all were able to see reason."

The threat of being torn apart by machine-gun fire abated for the moment Peter ran out onto the street, quite willing to follow Carolyn's orders. He saddled up behind the brutish merc looking fellow and gave a couple bangs against the flank of Carolyn's tank just as he had seen the man do, "Peter on the left flank with Ziegler, I'll make sure to keep him safe."
 
Ozzy was already in position with Florence by the tank's right flank. He briefly considered Tristan's open offer to man the machine gun on his vehicle, but decided against it. Automatics aren't exactly my fortissimo. "Ozzy on the right," he said.

By the ancient Nameless Lord, this fog is terrible. Maybe I should have manned the machine gun. He shook his head slightly. No, I'd rather be close enough to see our enemies die.
 
Bob was perfectly happy to comply with the retreat order as Carolyn gave it. The mission was fucked, so the best course of action was to run the hell away and live to potentially un-fuck it later. He jogged alongside the tanks and thought he was out of the woods until he heard that foreign deserter on the radio. He listened along in disgruntled silence, and as much as he wanted to suggest leaving the idiots to whoever or whatever was surrounding them, he couldn't deny that more bodies and more guns meant a better chance for everyone to get out alive.

After Carolyn called for everyone to form up, Bob headed toward the right side and made his way forward. He initially intended to make sure that side was all properly coordinated when it came time to rush and clear a path, but then he heard one of the tank pilots, Tristan, call out an open gunner spot. Bob hadn't made it through nearly three decades of combat by rejecting positions of extra security. Besides, his back was already sore from all the marching around, so he could do with a good sit.

Bob called out his intention over the radio. "You've got yourself a gunner, Tristan. Looks like we're light on right and rear guards, so I'll focus thataway unless something pops up in front of us." With that said, he clambered up onto Tristan's tank while it was still moving, taking care to avoid the treads, and managed to get into the gunner seat feeling only a little winded. He gave his gun another once over, running his thumb across the name carved into the stock: Ann. It was a relic of an old joke, something about how he was married to his gun, so he'd named her Ann. Bob chuckled at the memory and gave the gun a little pat, murmuring to it under his breath and off the radio. "Well Ann, time for me to do some work. You sit tight and I'll get us out alive." Finished with his moment of introspection, Bob let the gun drop down to hang from its strap and grabbed hold of the controls for the laser cannon that was the tank's main weapon. He wasn't the most familiar with controlling this kind of heavy weaponry, but he had enough of a passing familiarity that he figured he'd be fine. Bob swung the cannon round to face slightly right of the rear, trying to watch both their right and rear flanks to be able to blast the first baddie that popped up from either direction.
 
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Boxed Chicken



Box struggled to resist the temptation of food in her bag. If it wasn't for her body burning energy in the blink of an eye, she would probably be three times her current size. However, she had taken on the bad habit of eating whenever she felt nervous, to always be on top of her game, never feel weak even for just one moment. Biting her lip anxiously, she got to her feet and watched her comrades run their separate ways. Box listened to the radio chatter, mentally trying to map where everyone was now.

The tall woman was strong, armed, and uninjured – she could not think of one reason to remain in this store with Jenive on its rooftop. She left by the front door after checking her mask again to reassure herself. This fog was fucking terrible, and she was pretty sure now that it was not something manufactured by Bosho and his gang. Would they even have the kind of technology for this? Or the manpower to set it up everywhere? She highly doubted this. Shaking her head and steadying her hand on her automatic pistol, she radioed in her intentions, "Box in, ain't gonna waste away time, I'm gonna stay out on the right and flank. Ain't a soldier if ya ain't a tough meat shield. Box out."

Breathing deeply, Box jogged to the spot she mentioned, her whole body on alert and her ears buzzing from the need to hear everything around her. This whole operation was a disaster, a goddamned fucking mess. They had been left themselves, like rats on a sinking ship – even if they jumped overboard, they would still drown. "Chickens ain't got no wings to fly over this fucking fog…" the black woman muttered under her breath.
 
Shlan Fletcher​

After a brief pause to make sure nothing was immediately jumping out of the fog after Hewitt and the injured soldier, Shlan had fallen back in with the rest of the group, eyes still turned towards the unknown north. After Carolyn finished giving out orders, she saw no reason to change position. "Fletcher here. I'll watch our rear. Kiku, if you see anything else, don't hesitate to share with the class."
 
Gabriel - Setting Up for the Retreat​

Glad that the retreat was falling into place, Gabriel got his helicopter going, though didn't put it up in the air quite yet. The announcement that they would need to put down their AI made it 100% harder for him to do anything useful. He wouldn't be able to fire off the auto-cannon nor the mini guns without a gunner in the second seat. Even then, they could only shoot one of them at a time, without aim assist. This could spell trouble... However, he DID have control of his missiles, which were equip to blow holes in just about anything.

"Gabriel here. I have a gunner seat open on the RSH..." He looked around at what he could see, then knew he needed to employ a few of his tools. "... If any of you already forward need something busted, use a flare or something obvious to point me in the right direction with my bunker busters. Make sure you announce it o the comms."

He would go up, after a few moments, rather he had a gunner or not, then look around for any immediate threat.
 
"Language and you better get your head checked if you think that supernatural fuckery is the only domain of the dead,"
-Peter, Page 1.​

The Warning​

As everyone takes their positions, they would hear the sounds of combat cease inside the structure which Bosho's men had garrisoned. Silence overtook it, a melancholy one: Whatever small victory had been obtained for them was replaced by what was most surely a greater threat. As Carolyn's tank ends up between both the corner store that Morai was nearby and the garrisoned structure, there was a loud crash as something burst through the roof and climbed its way through. Before the dust can settle to give Jenive an accurate shot, a voice, sounding relatively human, speaks loudly to the group. "WHERE IS CAROLYN?"

Carolyn's tank comes to a halt. After a few moments, she uses the tank's communication system, and replies. "I am Carolyn. To who am I speaking with?" A few more moments of silence follow, though the listeners in the group could hear whispers through the fog. "The Children of Adam and Eve. The descendants of a superior people." Carolyn replies once more, though there was a hint of doubt in her voice. "What do you want?" The humanoid entity, shrouded by the fog in almost a protective sense, replies. "For you to take a message back to your kind, child of Sodom." Carolyn's tone grew confused, and wary. "What is that message?"

"Leave us alone, and do not enter our domain ever again. Do so, and we will be forced to bring the sword to Sodom." Carolyn pauses, and for a minute, there is further silence. Then, she answers, carefully. "Understood. I will pass along your message to my superiors. Does this mean you will allow us to leave peacefully?" The figure standing on the roof above them all merely turns and leaves, seemingly satisfied enough with her answer to let her go. The figures behind Kiku vanish, though the listeners still hear the occasional whisper: The whispers, though barely intelligible, seemed to convey a feeling that whatever lived here was quite curious about them, and distrustful of everyone else.

Carolyn speaks once more, this time addressing the entire squad. "It seems we have been given an ultimatum to deliver. It's time for us to get out of here. Infantry, hitch a ride on the tanks." With that said, she waits a few seconds to give infantry the opportunity to climb aboard. As she does, the tank's lid opens, and the solitary survivor climbs out. No reason is given for doing so, at least, not on Carolyn's radio, as the solitary survivor climbs down the side of the tank and sits down on its side, staring off toward the ground, yet looking at nothing in particular.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------​

It took only a few minutes to escape the fog-coated parts of the city, and the occasional whisper that only the listeners could hear. Only another few minutes, and they would get out of the ruins altogether. Not having to force themselves into formation at the pace of foot soldiers gave them plentiful flexibility in speed. Yet, the other listeners would find themselves somewhat unsettled by the solitary survivor. He hadn't said word, and had continued to stare off at the ground moving beneath him without focusing on anything. If he was a listener, it seemed he specifically affected other listeners with his powers, whatever they were.

"We're a few minutes away from our radios coming into range of Bunker Chicago. If anyone wants to talk about what just happened, now is the time." Carolyn states bluntly.

"There is nothing to talk about. We lived. That is all that matters." Morai replies back in his radio, seeming to be trying to avoid the discussion as sweat permeated his skin, his eyes were still dilated as he struggled against something.

"Nothing to talk about? What the fuck was that? I tried to switch my scope to detect heat, and nothing came up. The fog wrapped around it, as if protecting it from my sight. That thing knew Carolyn by name. What the fuck do you mean nothing to talk about?! I'll have to look into this children of sodom crap... Maybe my connections can tell me something." Jenive replies, extreme agitation in the tone of her voice.
 
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Gabriel - Safe, but not truly.​

Even as he took the air; it felt awkward to navigate around this thick fog without a flight aid from the AI. He now noticed why his father and mother taught him how to fly this thing without the aid of the AI or the fancy gadgets put in here. They pushed forward; ready to assail whatever was waiting for them... However, nothing came. Even Gabriel, who was gunner-less, was surprised of nothing trying to gun them down or pierce his armor... It wasn't a good sign. Were they waiting?

His worries were answered... well, for what he could hear. The loud shout really didn't come through with the sounds of the rotors overbearing it. In fact, it was only when Carolyn put up her megaphone system on her tank that he was aware that any conversation was happening. Gabriel looked around and finally came to spot... or at least, distinguish a figure of some kind. Unfortunately, to have the missiles aimed at it, he would have to go higher, which he wasn't about to try.

The man made out what he could of the conversation, which had the only thing he wanted; a way out. Once the orders were sent out to hunker down on tanks and roll out, Gabriel just went along casually above them, hoping they were actually going to make it out.

---------------​
The fog would eventually clear at their exit, and Gabriel sighed in relief. Immediately, he turned back on the AI for his ATS and his Flight assistance. They were acting normally, picking up on the people gathered and ignoring those already in the system. It was only that odd survivor that had picked up on his system, to which he inputted the command to ignore him.

The call to get talking about this before reaching the Bunker communications was made, and immediately, one of them said this was nothing to talk about... Ouin, c'est ça, rien à parler… Esti cave (Yeah, that's right, nothing to talk about... fucking idiot). Gabriel wanted to not make a big deal out of it, but some information needed to be cleared up.

"Jenive has a point. A serious one. This fog, whatever it was, was toxic to organic organisms AND was able to disrupt our tech from working properly... Something is terribly wrong in there..." He turned his helicopter slightly to the side to look towards the fog. "I hope someone got a sample of the air inside the fog... And maybe there should be something done about the possibility of this ever expanding. Wouldn't want it to take more space than needed."

There, his two cents. If people would object to it, then fuck them... Gabriel knew this could eb a potential threat worse than just raiders and brigands.
 
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A Rat in the Sandbox


As the group came to a halt and Carolyn spoke with the mysterious figure, Box felt like she could hear something distant… unfamiliar and yet… not aggressive. She hopped on the closest tank, not going in, and looked in the distance as they rolled out of the toxicity of the fog. The black woman couldn't tell if she was actually hearing anything, or if her body was slowly buzzing out of the adrenaline, and slowly running out of energy, since she hadn't eaten in a few hours they'd been out now.

Once the air was clear again, she imitated everyone else and took of her mask and readjusted the earpiece radio. Box removed the cotton swabs that protected her ears, and suddenly everything was much louder. She still heard the strange voices, almost disembodied, whispering once in a while. She had been taught to trust her guts, to set aside her emotions when she was in the field. Taking a deep breath and leaning on the smooth surface of the tank, Box follows the conversation between the druggie Morai, Carolyn, and Jenive. She wasn't proud of herself for deserting the rest of the squad earlier – but she didn't regret it. Her eyes drifted towards the lone survivor and had to repress a shiver as the hairs on the back of her neck rose up. Why had he, a lonely soldier, survived whatever had happened out there?

"I feel like y'all are forgettin' somethin'. We got ourselves a rat in 'ere." She mumbled in the radio, a hint of annoyance in her voice: "How else could they've gotten in our radio channel, and managed to screw us from behind? Someone done fucked up, man."
 
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Kiku, Carolyn, and the Stranger called John - Tank Talk​

Kiku listened with an enraptured interest to the strange human-sounding voice that resonated through the streets and called out Carolyn. She listened to the dialogue with a smile on her face, and barely even stopped to check on the shadows in the fog, who were still there. Eventually though, even they disappeared. She heard the whispering sound in the fog, almost as curious about has as she was about them. A part of her was thinking about running out to try and catch up with the figures, but Kiku knew that such a thing would be nothing short of madness. She'd either die, or be murdered by Maria later.

And then, the conversation was over. She felt a looming sense of emptiness as she was called to mount the tank; but she climbed aboard anyway. Eventually, the man from the mists re-appeared, and joined her on the cabin. She waved at him once, offering a playful smile, but she was seemingly ignored. The young woman puffed out her cheeks in a childish display of frustration, before she turned to look at the mists behind them, wondering what had just happened, and what had just changed.

After the group reached the calm zone a few minutes later, Kiku decided she wasn't happy with the silence above the tank. It bored her, and she wanted to talk to someone. She crawled on her hands and knees towards the mystery man, before sitting herself next to him cross-legged. "Sup, new guy. My name's Kiku. What should I call you?" She said, offering the same broad, cheery smile to the man she had before. She knew he was probably a member of one of the advanced squads, but she was still gunna try and make him feel better about what just happened.

As the tank drove along, the man from the mist slowly turns to face Kiku. He still wore his gas mask, but she could see hints of orange irises underneath it. "John will be fine." He replies, simply.

Kiku nodded, as she reached up and unbuckled the gasmask. She took it off and gasped, feeling the fresh air against her skin for the first time in a little while was very, very pleasant. "Oooh, I love feeling the fresh air on my skin-" She said. For a moment, she almost seemed to have forgotten about John in favour of her little moment in the sun. After that though, she turned to face the orange-eyed man with a grin. Her own unusual yellow eyes glinted in the light; giving off an almost cat-like predatory appearance. "So then John, you up for talking with me for a bit? I'd like to know a bit about what you know. The fog, what happened to your squad, those freaky whispers…that sorta thing." She said, sounding as nonplussed as someone discussing the weather.

Flopping backwards, Kiku reached out and pulled open the hatch of the tank. She leaned her head inside it, to shout into the cockpit. "Yo, boss! I'm talking with the new guy, John. Wanna join us?" Kiku was unaware whether the Tank could run on auto pilot, because she wasn't really tech-savvy. She knew that some vehicles could basically self-operate though, right?

Carolyn jumps in surprise as the tank hatch is opened suddenly, but seeing it was just Kiku, she shouts back at her nonchalantly. "NO, GOTTA FOCUS ON THE ROAD! DON'T NEED TO RISK GETTING SNIPED BY RAIDERS AWAY FROM HELP! MAYBE ANOTHER TIME, KIKU! NOW WOULD YOU CLOSE THE DAMN HATCH?"

John simply stares at the interaction between the two, and manages a small, hollow looking smile. "My squad was annihilated by unknown assailants and I heard voices in my head telling me to run. So I did. What more is there to tell?" The answer almost sounded as though it had been recited many times before.

Kiku notices the visible jump from Carolyn, and when she turned to face the Listener, she'd see Kiku smiling, despite hanging upside down. "Alright boss, we can knock boots another time~" Kiku said, before up and closing the hatch again.

Looking at John as he spoke, Kiku gave a fairly nonplussed shrug at the man's tone of voice. "Well, that's new information at least, handsome. I believe you, by-the-by." She said, before pointing to her own unusual eyes. "These things are for more than just looking. I can see further than any normies, and most listeners; and I can see in funny colours. The docs called it Thermal, I think…" She said, before pausing for a moment. She than sidled herself closer to John, moving close enough that their legs were touching before she continued. "What about you? Your eyes don't look like anything but a Listener special. Maybe that's why you survived." She paused again, visibly looking around before leaning in to whisper. "Maybe that's why you could hear the whispers too."

The man seemed entirely unphased by her approach and continued conversation. He stares off at the road underneath them, as dust is disturbed by the tank treads. "I have seen things. Things you cannot imagine. Not yet, anyway."

Kiku felt herself pouting as John remained ambivalent to her flirtatious advances. "Truth be told, I saw some spooky looking shapes in the mist. It was like they were…watching, y'know? They definitely seemed to notice me watching though." She said, pausing for a moment as she followed his gaze and looked down at the dusty road. After a moment, she gave the man a light punch to the arm; nothing too weighty though. "But it's fine. These children of Adam or whatever don't seem like they actively wanna get us. Maybe we can talk it out with them, you know?"

"I hope so." He replies, simply, in a monotone fashion.

Kiku pauses again, as the man continues his sombre ride back to the bunker. Feeling like she was slamming her head against a brick wall, the Asian Listener shimmied away from the man. "Well, I'm gunna go and have a chat with Carolyn. If you need the company, or you want to talk about anything else, just knock." She said, smiling as she patted the man's leg in an attempt to offer some comfort to the obviously affected man.

After that, Kiku slid backwards towards the hatch again. This time, instead of opening it up, she knocked on the hatch and opened it just a crack, shouting in to Carolyn. "Hey, boss; do you mind if I come and join you in there? It's starting to get a little quiet up here."

Carolyn stirs from her driving, looking up at the hatch. It was stuffy inside, and hot, but she motions for Kiku to enter. "COME ON THEN!"

Kiku grinned as she was invited into the cabin, and she immediately lifted the hatch up and slid inside of it, before closing the small seal behind her. As she looked around the stuffy, cramped cabin she instantly felt the need to peel off the upper layer of her armour, dumping it on the ground so that she was left with a much thinner black top on. She scooched up closer to the pilot's seat, taking in all the bright lights and the fancy buttons and the weird controls with an obvious awe. She whistled quietly before breaking the silence. "Wow, guess you're a smart cookie as well boss." She said, looking at any of the monitors that might indicate what was outside. "The fella outside seems pretty spooked. Dunno what he's gunna be able to give the big-bosses. We might be getting our asses chewed out after all"

"They have a way with..." Carolyn glances over her shoulder, and noticing Kiku had stripped off most of her armour, she immediately turns back forward and flicks a couple of switches. "... Words. They'll do fine. They just might need to calm him down for a couple days, I'm sure."

Kiku shrugs as she smiles at Carolyn's little glance. The Listener leans in, draping an arm over Carolyn's shoulder as she smiles. "I think we could all use some stress relief after this mission." She says, laughing a little as she lingers for a moment; until finally she removes her arms from Carolyn. She might have been a deviant, but Kiku knew not to distract the driver too much. "Still, I'm glad we had you out there. Too many people were running around like headless chickens; 'sgood to have a voice you can count on, you know?"

"I'd like to think so." Carolyn replies, not seeming to mind overly much Kiku's touching."Maybe if you're lucky, someone will happily help you work out your stress."

Kiku felt herself pouting at the non-reaction from Carolyn. It wasn't a flat dismissal, but it wasn't exactly an encouraging message either. Sort of a non-plussed refusal to even acknowledge the idea of any sort of tryst or dalliance that might cause a bit of scandal. Kiku shrugged, as she settled in for the long haul. There wasn't much more to be chased after here. "Wake me up when we get to the bunker. I'm gunna rest my eyes for a bit." She said, as she shimmied herself into a corner and got comfortable; or as comfortable as the stuffy, over-warm tank could be. At least here, she wouldn't fall off a fast-moving tank.

"Rest easy, Kiku. You did well. I'm sure Marie misses you." Carolyn replies softly as she then focuses herself on the road ahead of her.
 
Bob and Tristan
Collab between Jorick and Maxim

Tristan had expected the ride back to base to be a very challenging one. There was clearly somebody following them waiting to ambush them at the most opportune moment. But the ambush never came...not really. They were met by something, one of their pursuers Tristan gathered, who decided to leave them alone after giving them a warning. The scientist could barely understand what had happened, "children of sodom?" "Children of Adam and Eve?" What were they talking about? He at least recognized that they were referencing the Bible, and what he could discern it seemed this new faction considered the Bunkers corrupt and themselves pure, but aside from that it seemed to be typical crazy talk.

Realizing the group was not in any danger, Tristan relaxed a bit and let out a sigh of relief. It seemed they were not all going to die after all. Still, he clutched the gear stick, as he realized that his hope of ending the danger to Bunker Chicago was already dashed. Here was the new group of raiders on the block. He thought they were raiders, as his mind could not comprehend why anyone else would oppose the last chance at civilization humanity had, the bunkers. These raiders had mutants that could take down a battalion with minimal to no casualties, a new chemical weapon that said mutants could breathe in, but not the bunker people. Clearly if he was to make his dream of a new civilization a reality, he, along with Bunker Chicago, would need to build some countermeasures before they decide to go on the offensive.

Tristan scratched his head. "I, for one, think Jenive has the right idea. We are going to need some counter type countermeasures in case these guys decide they don't want to play nice in the future." he said. The scientist then craned his neck towards the tank seat, "What's your input on this Bob? I do not think I've seen anything like this in the whole two years I've been serving." He hoped the soldier was not too cramped in there, he had only put it in last minute due to Bunker regulations, and so it was not the most ergonomically designed compartment ever.

Bob kept the tank's gun pointed rearward as the mysterious speaker let them leave. The strange whispers he kept hearing made him feel less than secure in the tank's cramped gunner seat, and the weird feeling of interest in him that those whispers conveyed did nothing to sooth his worries. He kept his hands on the controls, ready to fire at anything that leapt out of the fog, but he expected the ride home to be uneventful from here on out. The radio chatter started up of course, and Bob only paid it half a mind until heard his own name from the fellow driving the tank.

"Ain't seen anything like this in your two years, huh?" Bob let out a snort of a laugh. "I've been doing this kind of shit for, hell, longer than you've been alive, and this is new to me too. One thing's pretty clear though: we got lucky. Whatever killed the raiders also made quick work of the folks who went into the fog ahead of us. Only reason we're alive now is because whoever the hell that was that spoke to Carolyn wanted us to carry a message. You can't always count on getting lucky though, and I wouldn't want to risk my ass by going back into that fog any time soon."

Tristan could not shake the feeling that Bob was mocking him at this point. However, he shook his head and said "Yes I know what you are meaning. If it were up to me we would simply avoid the fog altogether, though depending on a lot of things that could be impossible. I for one would like to know what the fog is made of, particularly what Carolyn's box has. Assuming they'll let me look at it of course. Should we ever have to do this again I'd like to have a much better idea of what we're facing." Then he grunted and said "A whole lot of good that motion tracker did me."

Bob nodded, more to himself than Tristan. "Fair enough. I wanna know more if we have to go back in there, I'd just like to avoid that if possible. Maybe if we can figure out what the hell the fog is then we can also figure out what happened in there. Your motion tracker no working could've been something to do with the fog, but.. maybe it was whatever was in the fog. Might've been some kind of fancy high tech shit being used by whoever killed the raiders, but I've got this gut feeling that it wasn't just normal people who did it, and that scares the hell out of me."

The man's last line made Tristan think. Even the veteran is scared by whatever this is, which was something that made Tristan uneasy. It was a fear of the unknown, that whatever was out there would inevitably destroy him and all he was working towards. Tristan nodded his head and replied "Yeah...I think it scares me too."
 
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