mission - computer part retrieval

[amachinemind]

WHO: Everyone (reply to your corresponding team thread. Teams are here).
WHEN: A few hours after dawn.
WHERE: Starts off at the sub before branching to four different locations; two teams in the city zone, one fairly near to the Meat Factory, and the housing district to the north of the Sub.
SUMMARY: Shade issues his first mission - to retrieve

Comments

[thealchemyotaku]

“Boost me up?” He repeated lowly. Under a normal circumstance he would have exploded in an aggressive rant about how short someone was calling him but he could understand how serious the situation was, they weren’t out of harms way just because they had gone underground. He fixed Squall with a dirty look before walking past him, making a point of knocking his shoulder against him in the process just to let him know that whilst he’d remained quiet about it, implying that he was short just wasn’t acceptable. He stepped up onto Ranulf’s cupped hand, awkwardly balancing himself as he was boosted up before he pressed his palms flat against the manhole cover to lift it off and hoisting himself up.

Crouching beside the hole and scanning the area for any signs of danger before he gestured to the pair, rising to his full, non-impressive height. The tension in the air was thick, being this close to the Meat Factory was risky enough because of what that building represented alone, he wanted to focus on the mission and get started as soon as possible. “All’s clear. C’mon, move it.” He instructed, keeping his voice low.

[lolcurtsy]

Throughout the entire time he'd been in the waterway, he'd walked silently along behind Squall without any witty remarks. He hated these waterways. There were small, and often filled with water to an extent where it made his skin crawl- his ears drooped, and anytime his tail touched the water he'd hiss slightly in pain. Perhaps the fact that his change power didn't work down here made him edgy- either way, as Squall announced that they were under the right manhole, Ranulf had quickly sprung into action, helping Ed up, seeing the light peek in through the gaps to the side.

Hearing that it was clear, his face flicked to Squall, his cap swaying slightly. "You next. I can get up fairly easily," he tilted his head to one side, calculating the distance, before continuing, "Want a hand?"

[hislionheart]

"Fine," Squall answered curtly, climbing up with a little more difficulty than Ed. After he'd hauled himself out, he double-checked the area to see if it really was clear, and then checked his sword to see if it slid easily out of its sheath. The Overlords hadn't toyed with the weather today, which meant the chances of battle were lower. But where possible, he never took chances.

Once Ranulf was out and the manhole cover had been replaced, he set off, one hand on his sword. "We're taking the longer route around to the warehouses instead of a direct approach. The Overlords could have their own uses for the parts Shade wants, so the area may be dangerous. Keep your guard up."

[thealchemyotaku]

Edward rolled his eyes as he raised his hand and used it to mimic every word he said before he quickened his pace, striding past the pair of them and pivoting sharply on his heel so both of his teammates were in his line of sight. “Geez just listen to yourself. We know it’s dangerous, you really don’t have to tell us that but lighten up! Stop thinking about what could happen and just concentrate on the mission, if we get caught we fight; if we don’t we count ourselves lucky.” With all that said he turned back around and marched on ahead.

[lolcurtsy]

He nodded in response to Squall, eyes scanning the area briefly, before concentrating back on the path in front of him.

Ranulf watched Ed for a moment, raising an eyebrow and sighing, place his hands on his hips for a moment but he continued walking. "Definately a first timer. Doesn't have a clue what could happen--" he paused, his ears twitching momentarily, usually an intication that he'd heard something, or something was.. off. There was some point in relying on smell, but here it was mostly useless, given that they were so close to the Meat Factory - everything smelt... bad. "-- can't smell anything; or hear anything; at the moment, though."

[hislionheart]

Squall ignored Ed in silent agreement with Ranulf. How old was the shorty, anyway? However old he was, the kid was hardly in any position to be telling him how to run things.

He didn't know Ranulf much either, but he'd heard enough about his rare Change Power. Admittedly he was a little skeptical about it-- he'd never seen a Change Power like his. But now wasn't the time for doubts, so he nodded. "We'll keep close to the buildings, in that case. Less likely to be spotted." The warehouses were only a few blocks away, but he always expected to encounter monsters at least once on a mission.

[thealchemyotaku]

Heaving a sigh, Edward resigned himself to following the pair, wishing he had at least been put in a group where people had a sense of humour. It wasn’t good to be so serious all the time, he always felt that guys like them thought too much about what could happen so when something did happen they just weren’t prepared for it.

“Well then at least lighten up, huh?” He said to the pair of them, slipping his hands into his pockets. When he had first met Ranulf he couldn’t help but stare at his more unusual features, he’d heard that his Change Power was quite unusual but he hadn’t really gotten the details as to what it was. A part of him still wanted to try and swing by the Dorms after the mission, he didn’t think that would go down too well either.

[lolcurtsy]

He nodded in agreement to Squall. "If anything- well, moves, suddenly makes a far off cry or whatever my senses associate as bad," he half smiled, "I'll let you know."

As Ed spoke again, he turned to him, his eyes thoughtful. "Ed, was it?" He didn't wait for a response. "I'd love to. Just here... it's difficult. Especially with that.. place-" place obviously indicating the Meat Factory, "-close by. You have no idea how bad it reeks right about now," he said, smiling weakly again, his nose twitching this time and his tail seemed to recoil slightly. "But that's really something to be discussed when you're relatively safe, and not prone to being rounded up by Trackers any minute, right?" he looked at Squall for back up. He hadn't talked to Squall much, but he seemed like... well, the reserved type. The type to mostly back up what someone else said and let them do the talking.

[hislionheart]

Squall nodded in reply to Ranulf, but resisted a sigh of exasperation. One of them wanted to pretend the mission was all sunshine and daisies, and the other was complaining about being near the Meat Factory. His reason said they couldn't be blamed for either... but still. People were so annoying.

Without even looking at them, eyes still fixed on the street they were passing through, he replied shortly, "Just stop talking about it and pay attention."

[thealchemyotaku]

“Who the hell put you in charge anyway?” Ed retorted hotly. He was paying attention but he didn’t see why everybody had to be so tense; yes the mission was dangerous but if they were worried about a bit of danger then they should have stayed behind. He chose to ignore Squall for the moment and turned his attention to Ranulf. At least he was willing to have a conversation. “Yeah that’s right Ed’s my name,” he remarked before his brow furrowed. He couldn’t smell anything too terrible. “You smell stuff like that?” He asked in disbelief.

[lolcurtsy]

Ranulf smiled- well, to be more precise, it looked more like a smirk cross smile, but it was mostly a smile. "Yes," he grinned. "Comes with the attire... well, it's not really attire. It's as real as a Winger," he indicated his ears, and his tail swished into view once again. "You certaintly do get outcast by it, but... it has its advantages. I can smell, hear, see, better than a lot of people." The last part sounded humble- Ranulf wasn't a person to biggen up his ego by saying he was better than everybody else. That wasn't in a nature. "But trust me, this is one thing you wouldn't want to smell..." he sighed, realizing he was talking too much. "Better catch up with him," he indicated Squall, speeding up slightly to catch up with Squall.

He knew what Squall meant about paying attention - but really, it was more eerie without any noise.

[hislionheart]

Squall wished he had a mute button to shut people up; their conversation behind him was distracting. They had all the time they wanted to chat on the Sub, so why was it always missions that people decided to be all buddy-buddy with each other? Silently, he paused at a corner where he was still hidden.

Around this corner and across the street there should be the warehouses, according to Shade. It was just a matter of finding out how heavily guarded they were, and which warehouse was the right one. Were they owned by different companies? How would he even know which one to enter? All that old world information was useless, generally, so he was clueless. Not that he'd admit it.

Instead, he gestured for Ed and Ranulf not to round the corner just yet. "We're going to check each warehouse for the parts. We'll just take the bare minimum of what we need and get out. We don't need extra weighing us down if we need to fight. Are you both ready?" His gaze lingered on Ed in particular.

[thealchemyotaku]

“Yeah I’m ready! I’ve been trying to say that all along!” Ed retorted quickly as he fixed him with a look. Ranulf was okay enough and perhaps could become someone who he would get along with in time but Squall... he couldn’t see himself getting along with him; he reminded him too much of somebody else. “Why don’t we split up?” He suggested “We’d cover more ground and this way we wont be slowing each other down.”

[lolcurtsy]

Ranulf nodded to Squall, but he frowned slightly at Ed's suggestion. He wasn't being dismissive- quite the contrary, really. As a strategic person, there was one big flaw with that plan. "Getting split up means we're easier to pick off," he said simply. "Staying together would have its advantages; and if one of us finds a warehouse, we can't alert the rest. But, it's not my call," he looked at Squall. "What do you think?"