"That will work I suppose, however don't expect too much, anything this close to the settled areas has long since been picked clean of any old world loot that's worth anything." She reminded him with a shrug after he confirmed he was still able to walk at least. Good, the makeshift brace was also a nice addition. Showed he at least had some basic knowledge on how to survive out here.
As they moved, Cat kept a weapon ready just in case, never hurt to be careful and in this case with them being inside a building, she chose her shotgun, especially doubly so since it had the attached axe head to help with melee strikes if hse so wanted. What a wonderful multifunction weapon it was. It wasn't long before they stumbled upon the result of a pseudogiant hunting grounds... corpses. Rather more than she had expected this far from the proper settled area actually. Very curious.
"So... what's your name?" She asked while they were more or less looting the bodies for anything of worth. He had found some bullets so that was a good thing. Anything eatable was gone, the mutants would have eaten it right away." Mine's Catherine, just call me Cat though. It's easier on the tongue and faster." She introduced herself as she too was now running through whatever remains were left until her hearring picked something as she had narrowed her eyes since she found a metalic glint half burried in the snow." What's this..." She smiled, leaning over and grabbing the thing through the snow, picking up some of it along with the item." Well... look at that, this is unusual." Cat stated, fingers running over the silver watch that was still working, wiping some dirt and grime with the snow." Odd... this isn't something that your regular everyday exile, scaver or even settler would have. Unless they scavenged it up here on the surface of course." Cat stated, eyes narrowing as she put it securely away on the inside of her clothing where she had a few secret pockets sown for special things." We are too far from the settled areas, only thing so far is that exile haven that's being talked about the last few years or so. So where did these folk came from and why?" She was pleased of the find, but worried what it could mean. Her eyes narrowed though, hearing the howls of the storm.
"We should continue on and hopefully find shelter as soon as we could." Cat added, readying her weapon again.
Cat managed to catch the man while he jumped, however he turned out heavier than he looked, likely because of his armor. His mass and momentum simply pulled her nearly down with him, but she managed to grab the ledge and redistribute her weight by going prone right away as he caught himself to the ledge. She saw how the monster couldn't control it's speed and turn and eventually vanished from view, the sound of destruction being the only proof of what had happened to it. She sadly wasn't willing to accept it was dead however." We should either confirm or ensure it's death first or we should bail before it could return. These things are too sturdy and if it's alive, we cannot afford to hang around for too much longer." She told him seriously as she helped him get up.
She rose and eyebrow, looking at the rope bundle in her arms, before shrugging and tossing him the neatly bundled up rope." Sure, you helped me and it's yours to begin with." Cat stated and looked at his leg." Can you stand? We need to move, we can't be certain it's dead or even temporary neutralized and the weather's likely to worsen very very soon. We need to find a shelter before the storm catches us out in the open." She told him as she dusted her pants." I'd suggeest we head underground, however I came from there and only did so becase the tunnel I was following had caved in, so we will need to find another entrance if we are to continue in the underground ways."
"Why did I even come to the surface?" She asked herself as she ran after the man, turning the rope in a rope bundle as she ran. It was a trained subconscious action at this point since she often did it as a soldier. She saw him trying doors one by one, well why didn't he just shoot a lock of or something? Granted loud noise and all that, but with the snowstorm that would likely hit any time now outside, it wasn't likely to make any difference or allow anything to notice it too easily. In any case she felt the floor tremble as the thing fucking jump." How is that thing even moving underneath it's own mass let alone jumping?" She complained as she ran forward, seeing the man offering to jump her across.
"Alright!" She called out to him as she ran, speeding her step even further, creating more distance between herself and the mutant as she ran at him, she jumped, stepping at the precise moment needed in his hands and pushed herself out to jump once more, using his movement to propell herself even further as she landed on the other side with little difficulty. She turned right away." JUMP! I've got you!" She called out to him as she reached over her edge of the hole, waiting to grab his arm, though she also still held the rope, just in case he didn't jump far enough to grab his arm, so she could toss him the rope and then pull him back up.
Location:Mess Hall(C)(M2)-> Education Center (M) Skills: N/A
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The meal was an extremely pleasant experience since she had it with Riley form the start to finish. All in all it passed way too quick for her to not be disappointed when it was time to take the trays to where the used trays were left. The old saying that time flies when you are having fun seemed to as always be true. With a sigh and a bit of reluctance, she stood up and accompanied by Riley, dropped off the trays before leaving the Mess Hall without hurrying too much. They had time and they would arrive in time even without rushing.
They exited Mess Hall without much fuss since they avoided the flood of people leaving by waiting a bit and then proceed to walk over back to the Education Center. People were gathering there, but with a bit of patience they were inside the building soon enough. She all the familiar faces taking their previous seats and she and Riley went back to theirs. Amelia smiled when she saw Chase return. She was one of the last, but she was in time, she wondered what she had found out while performing her duties during mealtime. Hopefully the weather will be good from now on. The rain as enjoyable as it was, wasn’t the most nice thing to walk out there in, so she hoped when they were back to work it would be back to sunny or at least not raining during the delivery times.
In any case, she refocused her attention back in front of them as the trial was starting anew. She wondered who they will be calling for the next part. The whole group was in quarantine proper so they might call everybody to testify again for what they’ve seen, heard or experienced during that period. It would be kinda awkward if they did call her for it only for her to say she didn’t really pay him much heed or attention during that time, but whatever happens happens.
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Lisa Mason
Location: Hospital(B)(J4) Skills: N/a
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“Hey the past when those fairy tales took place was a magical time!” She smiled.” They say that magic likely faded and we were left with the world as we see it, but hey the stories remain!” Lisa added with a kind expression. Yeah the world of fairy tales was a better one. A more beautiful and magical one.” Sure you can, Lucy. Here.” Lisa replied and quickly brought a glass of water over, carefully handing it over and waiting to make sure the girl drank as much as she wanted and then put the glass away.
“Baba Yaga is an interesting character, Lucy. Sure she’s often described as an evil witch, but at times she’s not as evil for the sake of evil. Who can really tell what she was like originally. In any case, Baba Yaga welcomed the prince at her house, she set the bath for him, let him dine with her until he had his fill. Then they began talking. The prince explained his woes and mistakes, how he had found the frog after his father’s advice on how to find a bride. How the frog had done the impossible tasks and how he had foolishly burned the skin causing Vasilisa to flee into the night. He retold his meeting with the old man and his journeys following the yarn until he found her home.’ I see, I see, foolish thing you did, Prince Ivan, foolish indeed. Vasilisa the Wise is smarter, kind and in time will be stronger than her father, Koschei the Deathless. It is for that reason she earned his ire and he cursed her to live as a frog for 7 years. Now that he’s taken her back and imprisoned her elsewhere, you shall not find her as long as he draws breath!’ The old witch cackled and Ivan became sullen. He looked at her with pleading gaze.’ Can he be killed, Baba? Can I save my bride from his clutches, if he’s deathless?’ The princess asked, holding into hope that there was a way to accomplish the impossible for at least one last time.”
“The old woman cackled for a moment and looked at the young man.’ Ahh, you can, you can. Koschei feared his death more than anything, so he took it and sealed it away from his body and as long as it’s hidden away, you cannot kill him! However despair not, I know where his death is! His death is hidden at the tip of a needle! The needle is in an egg! The egg in a bird! The bird in a rabbit and the rabbit in a chest! As for the chest, it’s hidden on top of a millennium old tree in this very forest! Tomorrow come morning, I will show you the tree, young Prince. From there it’s all your responsibility!’ She cackled and went and prepared him a bed for the night. Ivan rested well and indeed in the morning after giving him breakfast she brought him to the ancient gigantic tree and left. The tree was truly beyond all reason! He tried to climb it, but always slid back down, for hours he tried and never reached even a single branch! Finally after the sun had passed the peak of it’s path across the sky, he sat down and began thinking. Suddenly he recalled the bear.’ If only my bear was here now to help me, I am sure it would have rocketed the tree and make the chest fall!’ He uttered and as if by spell the bear roared in the distance and charged through the forest. The huge bear slammed into the tree! The ground shook, the surrounding trees trembled and the impact deafened the prince. Then the ancient tree also trembled and swayed and as the bear left the chest came crashing down from far above. It hit the ground with huge thunderous impact and moment’s later a rabbit faster than any he had seen jumped out of the smoke and ran!”
She put her hands on her head to imitate the rabbit as she continued the story.” The prince called onto the rabbit that promised him aid and the rabbit came as fast as lightning and wrestled the fleeing one. The rabbit holding Koschei’s death burst like a bubble and from it came the duck as the flew far into the sky. The prince chased after it and called upon the bird who old him a favor. It flew over like the wind and descended onto the duck yet the duck burst like the rabbit and there fell an egg, right into the sea the duck had flown over. Ivan despaired as he fell on his knees by the shore and watched into the endless expanse of water and the waves. Then something came from the water! It was the fish he had encountered first! It had kept it’s promise, even as he had forgotten, and brought him the egg. Now that he had it, Ivan broke it and from it took the needle. At the very tip of the needle he saw a tiny white glowing grain. It was Koschei’s death! He hurried and broke off the needle’s tip and a horrifying sound spread far and wide as the deathly throes of the sorcerer filled the skies.” Lisa smiled at Lucy.” With the evil Sorcerer dead, the illusions over his palaces lifted and Ivan could see them in the distance. He rushed there as fast as his legs would hold him. There at the front gates awaited him his bride. Vasilisa smiled at him and embraced him, having seen him for the first time in so long. He kissed her and apologized for everything he did, for not trusting her when she helped him so much and that he will never doubt her again. Then they went into Koschei’s palace. They found the fastest horse in the stables, filled a sack with the best riches in the treasury and returned to Ivan’s kingdom. “ The woman spoke, her voice slowly growling less animated and more soft and kind as the story was reaching it’s end now.” Ivan’s father welcomed them back, welcomed Vasilisa into the kingdom properly this time and proclaimed that a true royal wedding would be held, fit for his heir who had returned from a most grand and perilous journey. And a wedding and feast were held, for whole two weeks the festivities went on… and I too was there, ate, drank and danced and this is how the record for Ivan the Royal Prince ends, as written by the scribes and passed down into legend and myth.” She finished the story softly, checking if Lucy had fallen asleep.
@Lucius Cypher and posted I know I said I iwll yesterday but I found this webnovel and I kinda got too into reading... for like hours... until 5 am and then I just crashed. xD
Cat reacted as soon as the thing fell from above." Fuck!" She cursed and bolted, her excellent kinetic vision allowing her to recognize the beast in the moment it fell before the dust and debry cloud exploded. Of all things to run into, it had to be one of those! Of course she hadn't seen this exact one before, but as a soldier she had seen similar ones that all fell under the same category and she sorely regretted not getting an anti-material rifle before leaving. Sadly those were held under lock and key in the armory and only used when taken on missions, so she couldn't just grab one. Cat knew she could outrun this thing through difficult terrain and she could easily outclimb it, the problem came if it tried to have the wall she was climbing destroyed while she was on it. That would be unpleasant. She had ran at a slightly different direction from the man she had just encountered. Yet another thing that made this day weird.
Turning a quick glance at him, she noted he was going up a pile of rubble. Yeah that was a decent plan, she was planning to just make a move downwards back into the underground where the tunnels were tighter and this thing would have difficulty chasing her, however going up also worked. Suddenly with her periferal vision she could something as the mutant had decided to chase after her since she wasn't immediately going up. The guy threw a rope! She made a shift in different directions, making it hard for the creature to use it's powerful 'legs' to do a straight charge at her.
"Well..." She mumbled and made a sudden shift in direction, weaving around a pillar as she ran towards the rope. She used a bit of the rubble to jump higher as she grabbed the rope and rapidly pulled herself up with a trained ease, while also bundling some of the rope as she went to not allow the mutant to grab it and pull it down since where it would snap is anybody's guess." Thanks!" She called as she pulled herself over the edge.
Cat stands at 5'8" tall and weights roughly 148 pounds. Her skin, extremely pale due to living underground for all of her life, is riddled with number of scars that never faded out completely. Cat's eyes are a pale shade of blue that's almost grey and her hair is a dark unusual shade of crimson instead of ginger possibly as a result of being born during the cataclysms
Age: 20 Occupation: Soldier, Slave. History: Catherine as she was named was born mere days after the initial cataclysm struck. Honestly history at that point was a complete mess and nobody knew exactly what was happening for the civilians, but point was that her mother was one of those who survived the initial wave by following hte masses underground, so Catherine could proudly proclaimed to be the first official underground born of the entire area as contact with locations outside the former city were lost as the surface became inhospitable. Soon after followed the many other aftershocks of the cataclysm including a few earthquakes, shortage of food, riots in the crampped underground access and metro tunnels and of course the new caverns that formed because of the shocks. Her mother survived with the rest of the group she was at and eventually after the mass panic, confusions and despair passed, people started to arrange a living. However survival underground was hard, resources were scarce and as the surface rapidly cooled down to a frozen hellhole so did the underground start to get colder. First it was food that was scarce then clothing. Scavenging became the norm as the rush to collect as much of the leftover resources from before the end began, however even with all the scavanging done, there was never enough.
The 'settlement' as they began calling it offiically had to prioritize to keep afloat with the resources. They were lucky to a degree since they had decent supplies so as long as it was managed well, it would last while they set up other means of survival, but humanity is at it's worse when survival as a species is on the line after all. Those with guns and who were in charge to maintain order soon assumed complete control. She was barely 3 or so at the time, so she doesn't remember anything, but castes were formed in the settlement. Castes to indicate one's position in society and of course priority to resources. Her mother lacked any special skills so she in the end became one of the 'General Workers', or in other words slaves. Those who had the combat skills were assigned as more soldiers to protect them from external dangers which mostly consisted of other survivors at that point, those with engineering backgrounds became the engineers, others farmers and so on. It was a segmented society based around what you could do and she grew up as a child of a 'worker'. Didn't take long for the facade to fall compeletely as the 'General Workers' became 'Servants' and then assigned to belong to others of higher castes, then came the brandings to indicate their status to avoid attempts of subterfuge. All the servants had their family names to 'Serve', just to make the point.
Cat as a child was surprisingly spared some of the worst of it initially however when she became 5 she was put in the workforce and by that point, 5 years after the apocalypse, the system was already working. Indoctrinations for the servants was in place, slowly and methodically convincing and brainwashing them where they belonged and how they should act. Her own mother was at that point little more than a doll that followed the commands of her master who was a high ranking military comander. Cat was a bright young thing, pretty as her mother and showed a very keen talent at fighting and balance from a very young age as she easily walked tight ropes or beams, climbed walls or wrestled other childern. The ruling caste had realized that they cannot maintain a 'military' only with their own members, after all, it was a dangerous job, what if they got shot? So the plan was put in motion to form slave soldiers, indoctrinated to serve as their purpose with the promise of better life at the end of their service and the chance to leave their castes. It worked, though Cat herself didn't have much choice in participating, she was made to as were other children who showed promise. Eventually she even forgot what her mother looked like after being forced to move into the new barraks for the 'cadets'.
She survived, she learned, trained and excelled. What she lacked in raw strenght, she made up with cunning and dexterity. She had keen senses and proved that even a girl could be an effective soldier. As she aged and her body matured, she continued to get only better, faster and stronger. Eventually she was one of the best from the settlement even at the age of 20. What she didn't expect was however the news that she was being freed from service early. While some might not see the tiny font on this order, she realized it. While she had lost many things in those years, including many of the memories of her mother, she never completely fell into the brainwashing. She wasn't a complete puppet and she realized what that meant. If they freed her early, it meant she wasn't fulfilling her serving quota, meaning she will be reduced back to ordinary servant and given that her direct commander was making eyes at her, giving direct suggestions and invitations... She was being made into a personal servant like her mother was! Some others might prefer the security that provided, the lack of fighting and the knowledge you will always have food and warm bed, just for the simple sacrifice of your body to the mercies of another... she wasn't willing. All the struggling at the army was so she could be free!
So Cat decided to leave. Over the years she had been smart. She studied everything around the settlement whenever she had the chance. Memorizing tunnels, vents, accesspoints. She saved aside pieces of her food rations and stowed them away at a secure location. She managed to even snatch out and hide a knife as well. So when her decision to leave came, overpowering the part of her that was indoctrinated to comply, she took a deep breath and fled during her last shift before she was being released. Cat jumped into one of the unsecured vents that led down in the underbelly of the settlement in the old access tunnels. Cat had her weapon with her and she set the few traps she had prepared there, pulled her emergency bag from the old metal locker, she feld into the wild tunnels outside the settlement, closing the metal door of the access tunel and rollng a big rock to block it just in case. She wasn't sure where to go honestly. Nowhere was safe, every settlement around was either allied with her own and would sell her out, allied with the raiders or were canibals... Finally she recalled one detail that her superiors were angry about, there was a congregation of exiles forming a settlement of their own on the edge of the known space, living at the very begining of the unexplored... Yeah that would do. She could head there, see if she could trade some of her supplies for useful things if there was any and then continue onwards into the darkness. Better die out there in search for better life of some kind than stay here and waste away.
Proficiency: Close Quarters Combat(CQC) - Cat was extensively trained in cqc since it's main type of fighting that would be encountered in the underground even if you had a gun. The tunnels were rarely long enough to rely only on long distance shooting to take a number of enemies, oftentimes at most you would have just enough time to fire once or twice before having to resort to melee or firing in melee. As such she's been trained in hand to hand fighting and in knife fighting. She's also decent at using her rifles and pistols in melee if the situations requires it. Her extreme agility allows her to make sure she's always moving when up close to avoid strikes and reposition at blind spots. She's also very good at holding and techniques and strangling her enemy once she latches onto them.
Dexterity - Catherine is simply an incredibly nimble, flexible and agile person. Since young age she had displayed traits that would have made her a natural in gymnastics with her extreme flexibility and speed. A borderline contortionist, she's able to twist and turn her bodies in ways that would make most dislocate or even snap bones. Allowing her access at places where others will never get to. Coupled with her trained speed and she's usually as slippery as a snake and usually just as deadly.
Marksman - Trained from early age to fire a gun, as part of the 'military' they were taught to make every bullet count since making ammo was a tedious and resource requiring process. While she's able to make her own bullets if the need is great enough, it's more of an emergency thing. For that reason she's been taught to aim true no matter the situation. She doesn't rely on spray and pray tactics as she just aims and shoots and usually one shot is all she needs to hit and kill a target unless they are armored or simply bulky enough to withstand a few shots.
Acute Senses. = An inborn gift, Cat's senses are beyond what most people could every hope to have. Suspected as a mutation, but never proven since she lacks the distinct traits of a mutant, her sense of smell, taste, hearing and sight are well beyond what most humans around her have ever displayed. While not anywhere near as strong as those of a mutant or animals, they certainly give her an edge over most other humans.
Mild Mutation - Cat's a mutant, likely a result of being born mere days after the first wave of the cataclysm and relatively close to the surface at the time. She hasn't mutated in any extreme ways however likely as a result of it happening at such an young age, her body has mostly adapted. Growing up she did mature faster than her peers and her senses were always excellent. The long term effects that has on her body are unknown as she's young and also one of the few actually born during the cataclysm.
Equipment: Shotgun Axe - A makeshift mixture of a dual barrel shotgun with an attached axe head at the end of the barrel and an elongated handle. It's sturdy and simple, not one for accuracy for the obvious fact that it's a shotgun and using it as an xe might warm the barrel some. In any case, it's for scatter shot and close range and for that it serves a perfect job. Uses 20 gauge shells.
'Lover's touch' - A handmade from avaible parts rifle that fires .223 or 5.56 ammo. Reliable and sturdy semi automatic rifle. The loose standard in her original settlement where most rifles for the grunts are handmade from avaible parts, but following a general design type. Calls it 'Lover's touch' as a running joke because her colleagues joked about her loving her weapons over other humans.
Handmade Revolver. - A simple handmade revolver that she uses as a sidearm, nothing too fancy about it. It fires a .45. Usually pulled as last resort or to bash somebody's head in with the butt as a makeshift club.
Combat knife - A handmade combat knife from an pipe. Cheat and easy to make, a standard equipment for soldiers like Cat. SHe's very profficient with it and any other knife of similar size really.
Gas Mask - a standard issue gas mask that she nicked off one of the armories.
Makeshift spark lighter and tinder -Scrambled together from parts and an old big caliber casing, it's a simple lighter that creates a spark to use with dry tinder rather than create fire with fuel. She carries it along a small box that holds cotton that has gunpowder mixed into it for better ignition.
Canteen - canteen with water and alcoihol mix.
Nutrient Bricks - She carries a number of the tastless bars of survival food. Cat has long since stopped caring about the lack of taste.
With a happy chirpy sound at the sight of destruction caused by an extremely well placed grenade, Medaira aimed her bolt gun at the Chaos Spawn that finally decided to participate in their merry party they were all having here. He aimed at the eyes and fired, which wasn’t hard for once! It had eyes, EYES FOR DAYS! It’s entire front was more or less covered with eyes! Though despite the combined fire thrown at it, it didn’t seem to be affected much.” Cheat~” She chirped, readying her power axe, only for the thing to decide that range combat was the name of the game and start shooting spikes at them. She made a mental note to work on possible armor upgrades for similar situation in the future. Next time when they encountered quills shooting beastie, she'd be ready!
Medaira’s immediate reaction was to power up the power axe and use it to block the attacks coming at her head, using mechadendrites to take the shots at her core body as she dove for cover behind another pillar in manner similar to the psyker. Originally she planned to use the psyker as cover due her reality bending schenanigans, but Adrianne dove away for cover before Medaira could implement her plan. Status report after the initial barrage was positive, she had taken minor nicks to her main body, one of the mechadendrites was pierced through though, she felt bad, but that one was mean, so no tears spilled over it. There was also a minor damage to her leg, however it wasn’t anything impossible to repair or work with as she pulled a spike from between the armored plates of her leg that had pierced through her robe.” Joly~ thank be to you, psyker friend~” She chirped happily as a pair of KRAK grenades fell into her waiting loving arms as she caressed the things like newborns. Medaira handed her bolt gun to her mechadendrite that had an grab arm at the end that could hold a gun and fire and she used that to immediately begin her vague annoyance fire at the Chaos Spawn.
She tilted her head to the side, avoiding some chunks of stone blasted by a spike from the pillar she was hiding behind as she stole a glance at Stukov. An impressive act of bravery, one that made her burst in song of all thigns.
“I need an armsman to save me now I need an armsman (save me now) I need an armsman to save my life an armsman’ll save me (just in time)~”
Medaira happy sung in her slightly computerized voice that came from her breather device as she played with the krak grenades.” Too bad the armsman’s in the line of fire~!” She added in a high singing voice as as she primed the grenades at the same time as her servo head that was hovering high and above the mayhem, did a straight dive right before the thing’s head through an angle bevoid of quills. The servo head’s mouth snapped open and extremely loud noise blasted out of the hidden sonic weapon from point blank. It was time to see if the thing’s senses were as resistant to sonic attacks as his hide and carapace was to bolter fire! The noise happened to be an extremely amplified version of the song that she had just sang, coupled with actual musical score. The moment the sound blasted off, she turned around and threw the grenades with a calculated precise angle at the Chaos Spawn.” I need an armsman to be brought out of the fight~” She sang as she did.
Fetzen
Arty Fox
Izurich
Valchyrie
Tim the Yeti
Sho Minazuki
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