AU: Germany, 1926 (Trinity/AEon)

[tanyadams]

October 31, 1926: a small army outpost near the Austrian border radioed a distress call, speaking of giant ants attacking. The alert was cut short, and rescue teams found the camp razed... before being attacked by the giant insects themselves

Comments

[aeons_crackshot]

Jake "Danger Ace" Stefokowski and Annabelle Newfield have arrived. There are few bigger guns out there, where the weird and nasty raise their heads.

"There was no need to do a barrel roll that close to landing, Jake," Annabelle growls.

"Would I have done it if I didn't think it was necessary?" Jake asks with an air of wounded innocence.

"Hell yes, if you thought you could get away with it," Annabelle retorts.

[tanyadams]

The stunt drew a lot of attention, for sure... Ingolstadt is a refugee town, tent districts surrounding hastily constructed facilities; a large chunk of south-eastern Germany had to be evacuated in a hurry.

From the air they could see the bridge over the river was destroyed to keep the ants away, but saw none of the invaders yet.

[aeons_crackshot]

"Looks like they've done the best they can to keep the damn things away," Annabelle remarks as they approach the tents.

"I think I've flown over this area before, during the War," Jake remarks, thinking.

"That's something, anyway," Annabelle says with a sigh. "It would be giant bugs. I hate giant bugs. Half the time, the damn things are too stupid to know they're dead."

[tanyadams]

A grizzled man in uniform, bearing captain insignia, is walking up towards them. "Greetings." And he speaks english almost without accent. "I am guessing you two are from AEon?"

Annabelle, of course, receives a wary or disbelieving look, due to her obvious age.

[aeons_crackshot]

Jake's not all that much older, as he's only 21.

"We are, Captain" Annabelle replies. The disbelieving looks have gotten old, although they're not as bad as they were when she was 14.

Jake nods in agreement. "We would have been here sooner, but there was a hell of a storm over the Channel."

[tanyadams]

The older man nods. "We have a hell of a storm here too. Those thrice-damned things razed every village on the other side of the river, six cities and every farm. They like meat, and they like it alive and running. Air recon is spotty at best, the ants are the color of the land, and going low is a bad idea: they spray acid, the bigger ones."

[aeons_crackshot]

Jake nods and extends a hand, "Jake Stefokowski at your service. I can give you air recon readily enough, but I suspect you'll need somebody on the ground to find out what's really going on." The Captain may have heard of his exploits in the World War, if nothing else. Jake fears no acid spraying ants.

Annabelle likewise extends a hand. "Annabelle Newfield, likewise at your service. I can try and find out where the damn things are nesting, but I could use someone who's familiar with the area."

[tanyadams]

He shakes their hands, his own rough and calloused. "Captain Hans Von Eisling. I can find a few scouts who are familiar with the land, and yes, we need to find their nest and kill whatever thing is spawning the smaller ones. Those bugs are armored like tanks, if you are going to shoot them aim for the eyes or joints."

He looks at the plane. "You will need fuel. And maps."

[aeons_crackshot]

"That would be very helpful, and thank you for the advice." Admittedly, she was planning to aim for the eyes or the joints anyway, but still.

"That I will," Jake says with a small smile. "I don't suppose you've got aerial maps, or any of your own pilots in the area that I could talk to?"

[tanyadams]

The old captain just beckons them to follow to the barracks at the edge of the mud and gravel airfield: both will have the chance to talk with pilots and scouts who were close to the ants and survived.

One of the pilots mentions some old bunkers in the mountains, from the time of the war, where they might find refugees or seek refuge if they need to stay longer. "I saw the ants trying to climb the rock face, they seemed to be too heavy for it."

[aeons_crackshot]

"I'd like to head there, first," Annabelle replies after the bunkers are mentioned. "If the ants are trying to get in, there might be people in there."

"I'd like to fly over that area, see if I can spot anything," Jake adds.

[tanyadams]

They can give exact headings and maps for both; two scouts volunteer to go with Annabelle, mentioning small groups are safer when transversing the countryside. "Or we can parachute in."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle thanks the scouts, and they head off. Jake to do aerial reconnaissance, and Annabelle and the scouts to grab some parachutes.

If there's anyone alive in there, they may be running out of time.

One flight and a long drop later, Annabelle is working her way out of the parachute.

[tanyadams]

The scouts are packing theirs; the ledge they dropped into is somewhat below where the bunkers are. "The trail starts again over there, behind those trees, and snakes upward to the entrance of the bunkers. You can not really see it from the air..."

The man is interrupted by a shrill trilling sound: a couple ants the size of ponies are watching them making that horrible sound. Drawn by it, several others are climbing towards the ledge.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle was going to answer them, but there are giant ants that need killing.

Her speed isn't quite superhuman, but the scouts could be forgiven for thinking that it is.

Annabelle has both Hell pistols out and is firing at the eyes of the closest ants within a span of less than two heartbeats.

She did not earn the nickname of Crackshot for nothing.

[tanyadams]

The first shots do not kill the ants, but blind and confuse them. They make a loud shrill cry, and the ones climbing the rock face speed up.

Both scouts drop the parachutes and go for their own guns.