2017-02-19: Investigating Lahan
- Log: Investigating Lahan
- Cast: Kent Hauch, Kahm Yugh, Kahran Ramses
- Where: Ruins of Lahan
- Date: February 19, 2017
- Summary: After establishing what they thought was a secure perimeter, Commander Kahran Ramses leads a small expedition for an initial probe into Lahan. They are immediately beset by unexpected visitors.
<Digger Challenge: Military Checkpoint> The damage that has been done to the town of Lahan has attracted a number of unscrupulous types, and as a result Adelhyde has set up a military checkpoint to try and keep looters from wandering up and tearing apart what's left of the village. The checkpoint is currently manned and the sergeant in charge looks less than amused with any disturbances. The party will need to find a way past, either via convincing the sergeant or finding a way around the rocky hills nearby.
<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.
The deeper expedition begins! Kent Hauch and Kahm E. Yugh are the most qualified hands available to Solaris at the Lahan theater, and as such the duty of scouting the more dangerous portion of the ruins fell to them.
Kahran Ramses likely realizes about five seconds after they're out the door of the dropship that, if not supervised, they are GOING to kill each other.
Kent steamed on ahead, eager to get a few moments to light something on fire before Kahm could come around and make it hard for him to light something on fire. He got all of fifty feet away from the dropship - Adelhyde troops have wandered in, and Kahm and Kahran walk up to find that Kent and all three of his lieutenants have weapons drawn and he and the troops are immediately in a standoff.
Kent is waving Red River and shouting something like, "GERROUT OF MY FOOKIN' WAY OR I'LL MAKE A WAY OUTTA YER ASHES!" and the head of the troops is shouting something like "HOLY MOTHER EVERYONE PUT YOUR GUNS AWAY THIS IS WAY MORE ESCALATION THAN ANY OF US WERE EXPECTING"
DG: Kent Hauch has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Military Checkpoint.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Myyah would probably like to watch Kent and Kahm kill each other. Which means that Kahran should probably prevent them from doing that when she isn't around to see it.
Well, and he also has to be a good Gebler Commander. That's important, too.
Kahran walks out of the ramp, and is immediately annoyed. He sees shouting and weapons drawn, but he's come to expect that by now. No, the annoyance is that some other country is moving in on Solaris turf. Or at least, Kahr is considering it Solaris turf since they parked nearby. They could have at least waited for Solaris to leave. The nerve.
Kahran walks up to this situation as if he isn't bothered at all by the fact that there are ARMs drawn and people shouting. This is probably just a fact of life for him at this point. He looks over the Adelhyde's leader, coolly sizing him up as his eyes scan from head to toe, and gives him a friendly smile.
"Gentlemen, this is surely a misunderstanding. We're on a rescue and recovery mission. We simply want to look for a few of our own who may have been forced down here. Surely that isn't too much to ask, is it?"
Because if it is, well, he could just leave them with the lava guy and let the natural thing happen.
DG: Kahran Ramses has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Military Checkpoint.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Kahm had recalled the troops maintaining the perimeter for what felt like five minutes, and in that time Adelhyde managed to roll up their own forces and cause a headache. The Captain might find their swift action worthy of complement were Kent not there to make the situation infuriating.
Kahm stomped out towards the brewing hostilities aside Ramses with a look of carefully laid, placid displeasure on his face that only hinted at his urge to launch in his gear and send these lambs running to the nearest underside of a rock they could find.
"Put away your weapons." He spoke the command with an icy fury, fists clenched and eyes glaring like a white fire in Kent's direction, "This is not how we operate." Unless they suddenly do, and if so it was because someone in proper chain of command made the decided so, not a bunch of...contractors.
The Commander takes to lead and tries to talk whatever sense has from surface dwellers, and as he does Kahm notes that one of the soldiers standing information seems to have taken a modest injury to his leg-whether from a scuffled with Kent's group or some other incident on the way here, he cannot say.
Wordlessly, he raises one of his field rations slowly the air, so that all can see what it is, and tosses it to the officer who seems to be in charge as a punctuation to the Commander's point. "For your injured man," He explains.
DG: Kahm Yugh has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Military Checkpoint.
<Digger Challenge> Turning a corner, the party comes across an awesome sight - a ruined Gear, lying amidst the wreckage of a nearby building and covered with debris. The Gear is damaged beyond all repair, with one arm ending in a jagged stump, a hole punched through its torso showing only wreckage and dried fuel where its Slave Engine used to be, and the head nowhere to be found. If the cockpit can be cleared, there are likely maps or the burned in images on screens from the Gear's last moments that can help point the way to more valuable treasures within the town.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Kahran tries to be calming, yet authoritative. Yet somehow this doesn't work out. The Adelhyde soldiers get increasingly nervous. There's a guy threatening them with some kind of ARM. Someone else is throwing something at them. One of the Adelhyde's soldiers gets nervous and starts opening fire.
Kahran is quick to start cutting them down, but they shot first and fighting these people doesn't actually do Team Solaris much good. They retreat, and Kahran pursues, attempting to at least drive them out of the area so that he can complete the investigation, but after a short pursuit he starts to worry about being led into an ambush or a trap, and so calls it off. "Let them run. I think they learned their lesson."
He peers at the corner they just vanished around, some kind of ruined house on a hill, and as he nears it he slowly peeks around the edge.
He raises a hand, checks quickly for any -Lambs- who aren't on Solaris's payroll, and then gestures for the others to follow.
The gear itself is kind of a wreck. It's hard to tell whether it was a Solaris gear or a Kislev gear from how wrecked it currently is. He starts to climb the gear, trying to get to the cockpit, popping open a potion and drinking its contents just to give himself a short boost.
DG: Kahran Ramses has used his Tool Igissol toward his party's challenge, Wrecked Gear.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
You just can't reason with these people.
Kahm had his weapon in his hand a split-second before the first soldier on the other side started firing, summarily backing up the Commander with precise, relentless cover fire. By the time he's emptied his clip at least a few men lay dead on the ground, and Ramses is pursuing the rest. Having the same thought as the Commander, he's about to voice a warning when Ramses breaks off his pursuit.
"You provided every reasonable deterrent to force sir; i'll ensure to put that on the record after the fact." Reloading his pistol and holstering it, Kahm leaned down to pick up the field ration he'd tossed, dusting it off and placing it back into his pack.
No point in wasting perfectly good resources.
Once they find the gear the Captain will set about to trying to pry open one of the leg panels. Although he couldn't quite tell the make, if his hunch was right there ought to be an internal dataport he could hook into and extra some combat information from, assuming it still functioned...
DG: Kahm Yugh has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Wrecked Gear.
<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.
Kent's fine with this outcome.
The Black Ties are at least good in a fight. Fargo Foobach in his white suit sprints forward and tackles the commanding officer the moment guns start firing, who screams. Samuelh the Molotov, as might be expected, swings his arm once and hurls three flaming bottles in an arc. Ribaldy had vanished - the German Shepherd beastman explodes from an alley with both flamethrowers blazing, flanking them and scaring the holy hell out of them.
Kent laughs uproariously and fires Red River into the air, sprinkling the entire affair with little droplets of Liquid Hot Mag-Ma (lava, yeah, i know, magma's only if its underground)
After the festivities are over, Kent clips Red River away again and directs the Ties to make sure they don't slink back in. "Hahaha! C'mon, every boring scout job oughta start with a good fight!" He slaps Kahm on the shoulder. "Gets the blood right heated up, innit?"
Then they get to the Gear, and Kent stops short. It's the first time the people here have seen him legitimately impressed.
"Cor," he mutters. He doesn't really know where to begin. Gears aren't something you really... encounter in the Badlands all that much. Kent doesn't know where to begin, so he absently steps up behind Kahran, crouching, and knitting his hands together. He boosts the commander up, though it's kind of more like 'hurling vertically'.
DG: Kent Hauch has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Wrecked Gear.
DG: The party led by Kent Hauch has passed this challenge! The party gained 16 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Digger Challenge: Kobold Scavengers> The damaged buildings have been quiet for a time, but a faint squeak reveals that the party is no longer alone. Kobolds are a small type of demi-human who generally avoid conflict when caught in the open, but this group seems to have discovered something in the ruins that they feel is worth fighting over. The kobolds tend to be cowardly, and attack with thrown stones and other crude projectiles unless they sense they have the upper hand, in which case they tend to charge in a rush. If the party doesn't scatter the vermin, they will likely harry the group for a time, trying to steal anything they can get their hands on.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Kahm was just about to get the panel off (or thought he was) when a well-timed backslap from Kent causes the Captain to lose his grip. "Because they were fools, they died needlessly." He glowered at the larger man, "A common story in this land."
He went back to fiddling in with the panel, but the combined efforts of the Commander and Kent bear fruit before Kahm could make further progress. Shockingly, Ramses will find that the cockpit of the wrecked gear still functions on that flickering reserves of auxiliary power remained without the slave generator. Although it doesn't last long, the group is able to note that the radar picks up an interesting signal not far from their location; something worth investigating.
As they hone in on the location, Kahm insists on taking the lead. He'll hold a hand out the halt further progress when he hears the sound of squeaking, leaning around the corner and ducking back quickly. "Kobolds, sir." He addresses the Commander, "Quite a few, and-" A rock whizzes by his head, "More determined than usual. I think they found whatever it is the gear's radar picked up."
Kahm quickly grabbed a sonic grenade from his weapon belt and armed it, primed to throw, "This should scare off a number of them, and we can clean up whatever's left." He waits for a break in the flying debris, then hurls the device around the corner, "Clear!"
DG: Kahm Yugh has used his Tool Sonic Grenade toward his party's challenge, Kobold Scavengers.
<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.
"Aw, don't be like that!" Kent grins. "Now their bosses know not to slag around with us! That's a needful death, that is. A good bit of job, leavin' some of 'em to tell stories." He tilts his neck left and right as the smartboys figure out the robot, stepping back and just kinda lookin' at it. He experimentally kicks at the armor. "Oi, how much scratch for one of these? Do they come in shooting fire or summat?"
The smartboys figure it out and go off through the homes. Kent's face lights up when he hears the squeaking. He takes a step, hangs for a beat when Kahm pulls out a grenade, and charges forward right after it blows. A rock caroms off his head, knocking his hat off. Kent digs into the satchel on his back, coming up with two old beer bottles, still labelled, rags stuffed into them.
He vanishes around the corner, screaming, "WHAT COLOR'S YOUR SMOKE YOU DIRTY BASTARDS?!" There is the sound of glass breaking and a pillar of flame briefly jumps up into the sky.
DG: Kent Hauch has used his Tool Molotov Cocktail toward his party's challenge, Kobold Scavengers.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
The boost does help Kahr get into the cockpit, and it's not as if Kahran can't handle being thrown into the air.
Kahran actually doesn't keep track of how much a gear -costs- because his views of what a gear costs is skewed heavily by the fact that he and his close subordinates tend to get the best stuff that Aveh can unearth. So instead he gives a wishy-washy answer in a way that doesn't really answer it but still somewhat sounds like he actually has an idea of what he's talking about. "A lot. In fact if you want a military-grade gear you're probably better of stealing one from the enemy. If you want it to shoot fire you'll likely have to get it refitted."
He looks in the cockpit, finds the radar still working and announces it to the rest of the group. "It's tracking something. Let's go."
Later on, there are kobolds, and they seem to want a fight. If they were a bit smarter they might not want this particular fight with these particular three gentlemen, but sometimes you have to just let natural selection do its thing.
Kahr doesn't even have to give the order. Kahm and Kent know what to do with unruly Kobolds. After the grenade and molotov cocktail are thrown in, he follows in after to cut down whatever Kobolds are foolhardy enough to charge the line, and then any other kobolds that are still crazy enough to hang around after all of that.
DG: Kahran Ramses has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Kobold Scavengers.
DG: The party led by Kent Hauch has passed this challenge! The party gained 27 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Digger Challenge: Ruined Buildings> It is difficult to tell how many buildings used to stand in this stretch of town, because they have all been blasted into pieces. Now only battered skeletons remain to testify to the presence of people's homes and lives in this area, some parts burned and others raked with gunfire and marred by explosions. However there are bits of treasure to be round - valued possessions hidden under rubble, or weapons and other military equipment abandoned or buried among the detritus - for those who are agile enough to reach them without causing the wrecked buildings to collapse.
<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.
Yeah those Kobolds made a mistake. While they were staggering, Kent came screaming around the corner, hurling explosives into the thickest knot of them. Kahran, being a hardened milfic hardboy dispassionately dispatches the lingering flaming kobolds until they all stagger.
"Stealing? Mate, you've just said my magic word." Later, his as-yet-unapped logistics person will take note that Kahran may have just accidentally given Kent clearance to keep any Gears he manages to seize. It takes a hot second for Kent to pull his attention away from the pile of flaming kobold corpses he's made. He crouches down, watching the blaze gutter out. The tension goes out of his shoulders.
He has the sort of expression you usually see on parents watching their children play. It's incongruous.
Finally, he starts, looking into the building the kobolds were clustered around. "Bloody hell, it's a wreck, there's a hole clean through." Kent goes marching in, and alarmingly, declips Red River and points it directly at the house's main support beam.
He clicks his thumb on the side of the gun and the barrel folds out into a nozzle, the molten rock streaming out glowing only dully. It begins hardening immediately upon contacting the support beam, shoring up where it's beginning to sag. "You're both well fit," he comments. "Go see what's up there, yeah?"
DG: Kent Hauch has used his Tool Red River toward his party's challenge, Ruined Buildings.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Stealing is Kent's favorite word? Kahran never would have guessed.
Kahr took a few hits from that nonsense with the Kobolds and pulls out another potion, downing it before realizing what it is. Oh, it was a Speed Star? Whatever. It just so happens to be exactly what he needs.
He presumes that whatever they're looking for, it's in this set of buildings that the kobolds were being defensive about. It's looking a bit rickety, Kahran thinks, and then... Kent starts to set it on lava?!
Oh. Oh! Well, that's a lot more sane than it looked at first.
"Right. This way," he says in a matter of fact tone, hopping up to the now more stable support beam and starting to take a look around. Hopefully they can find that treasure before something collapses on them and buries it.
DG: Kahran Ramses has used his Tool Speed Star toward his party's challenge, Ruined Buildings.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Kahm stifles a hissed curse in Solarian when Kent lets fly with his IEDs, thinking they could well do as much damage to what the kobolds were guarding as to the sniveling beasts themselves. The Commander marches in and, as before, Kahm follows after, once more laying cover fire with several crack shots while the blade of Ramses makes short work of the stragglers.
Once that was dealt with, the captain observed the crumbling building with a critical eye that grew no less so when Kent was able to deploy his curious weapon to do something that was...well, the opposite of destruction, for once.
Color Kahm surprised.
He steps forward in time with Kent's suggestion, though not because of it. "The Commander is not one of your gang, nor am I." He replied curtly, then lifted his head with a narrowed gaze. There could be Solarian equipment among the debris there; they should endeavor to keep it out of the hands of any future scavengers.
"Careful sir, there's no way to tell how long these ad-hoc repairs will hold." Kahm cautions, then bounds up the building himself with an abundance of natural reflexes, searching and scraping where he may.
The Commander's surely innocent suggestion that Kent /steal a gear/ is something Kahm will just leave to plague him on some other night's fitless sleep.
DG: Kahm Yugh has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Ruined Buildings.
<Digger Challenge: Blocked House> The damage to the town has left a number of buildings shattered into pieces, and the wreckage has been tossed about, leaving the streets a maze of blocked roads and alleys. Rubble piled up on the road means the only way forward into the town is through a nearby home. However, the door does not easily open, and it is clear that rubble inside is obstructing the path through the building. There's no choice but to clear away the debris, although the home seems sturdy enough that a new doorway or window won't cause it to fall down. Right away, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
"If they fail then we'll just have to think on our feet, Captain." Kahran wouldn't be surprised if something like that collapsed, which is why he's hurrying through it at a brisk pace. It's actually a bit more surprising when things hold together.
The party seems to get through the ruined building easily enough, but beyond the ruined building is a sturdy door. The glimpse that Kahran got from the radar wasn't terribly precise, but it did point to this general area. Could it be in the locked house?
Actually, considering that no one has grabbed it yet, it's very likely.
He tries the door. It's locked. Of course it's locked. When he downs another potion (Solarians and their drug use) he walks up to the door and plants a firm kick into it, breaking it down like he owns the place. (He pretty much walks into any room like he owns the place, to be fair.)
What lies beyond is... more rubble. He frowns, then looks back at Kent and Kahm. "Well. Looks like we've got work to do."
DG: Kahran Ramses has used his Tool Igissol toward his party's challenge, Blocked House.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Fortunately the building holds, and Kahm's caution proves to be simply that: caution. As they traverse through the network of rubble and debris that once were homes, the scale of the destruction becomes to come together for the Captain. This was not the product of a systematic and thorough extermination, he thinks, but a single, unilaterally destructive blow.
Unfettered power, the mark of a wild animal. Kahm has known its like before.
Meanwhile, yet another obstacle interrupts the officer's reverie. He'll stand aside while the Commander makes short work of the door, nodding his acknowledgment of their next task, "Sir."
Though this was kind of the work they enlisted lambs for, he was not about to question an order from Gebler's supreme leader, and set about to lifting rocks and clearing a path.
DG: Kahm Yugh has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Blocked House.
<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.
Kent Hauch has scooped up a rifle once the team managed to dig out some of the scavenge. Lagging behind, the two Solarians may not realize the [Lamb] has gotten his hands on something good until he experimentally fires it off through a distant window, the gun rattling as Kent doesn't quite get control over it until the clip groans dry.
Kent is laughing. "I fookin' love it! Bloody well puts the old gunsmoke weapons to shame, innit? How hard is it to make the bullets?" He wants to keep it, shoving it roughly between his lava tank and his back.
He found a gun, he set a fire, Kent's in a GREAT mood. He doesn't even put up a token rude resistance when they encounter all this rubble - he starts hefting and tossing rocks with relative ease, having lived a hard, grunting sort of life.
DG: Kent Hauch has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Blocked House.
DG: The party led by Kent Hauch has passed this challenge! The party gained 12 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Digger Challenge: The Shattered Cliffside> The path through Lahan's ruins has been difficult, and getting to the center of town doesn't seem possible along this route. This doesn't mean that all hope is lost, however - because along the north edge of the town lies a cliff face that appears to have been broken and shattered by the fighting. Large craters pocket its face, with strange glass-like ribbons of rock running down to pool at the bottom of the cliff - testament to the power that had launched several Gears into the cliff side. Their shattered forms protrude from the rocks, while another lies atop the cliff, seemingly in better shape than the others. It is a formidable climb, but rewards await those who can assail the cliff and succeed.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Kahm's hackles raised the second he heard gunfire, reaching for his sidearm in the same instant that Kent's laughter told the rest of the story. He exchanged a look with Ramses that might best be termed 'stricken', but otherwise said nothing. Whether to refuse or allow the man to keep technology never meant for his hands was not the Captain's call to make here.
The remainder of debris is cleared in thankful silence. It is arduous work, and Kahm keenly felt the soreness in his shoulders and back once they had finally cleared enough space to continue, finding in the process a few works of Solarian design: Commlinks, ID tags, and another pistol. All were stowed to be appropriately redistributed (and kin notified, in the case of the tags) upon their return.
Pressing onward, the broken cliff offered itself before them as a final, declarative certainty to the private analysis Kahm had made earlier on the nature of Lahan's destruction. Shattered rock and crushed gears formed a crude, if not altogether confident path to cliff's makeshift summit. Though Kahm's sore muscles ached their protest, a quick consultation of his handheld scanner steeled his resolve, "According to the data the Commander secured from that wrecked gear, we should find something up there."
Rolling up his sleeves, Kahm began a slow, careful ascent up the cliff face, quietly wishing he'd had the foresight to commission a grappling kit. Nonetheless, he finds the time to consume a ration before his ascent, restoring some spent energy.
DG: Kahm Yugh has used his Tool Field Rations toward his party's challenge, The Shattered Cliffside.
<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.
"Bloody hell," breathes Kent, as the group comes upon the blasted cliffside. He takes a while to just... take it in. "Right. So something's capable of blowin' all these Gears into these rocks, and we're chasing after it?" The [Lamb] pulls off his hat, digging his cloth from his breast pocket to wipe it over his bald head, suddenly breaking out in a sweat. "Holy Mother."
Finally he shakes himself, looking dubiously at the cliffside. He takes a few moments to drop Red River off of his back, throw some unimportant debris into the tank, and shrug it back on. Something in the harness keeps the loaded tank from feeling any heavier than, say, a school backpack, which is a great boon for moments like this.
Pulling the gun, Kent uses Red River to make hand-and-foot holds as he goes up, similar to a rock-climber banging pitons into the stone. He has to move somewhat quickly, as the tephra tends to crumble when it gets cold enough.
DG: Kent Hauch has used his Tool Red River toward his party's challenge, The Shattered Cliffside.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Kahran is blissfully unaware that Kent is armed with Solaris tech until he suddenly and decidedly isn't. He immediately turns around and reaches for the hilt of his rapier before hearing Kent's laughter and just... frowning at the whole thing. Well, it's out of bullets for now, but he can't dismiss the possibility that this -Lamb- might figure out how to re-arm it.
He exchanges a look with the Captain that expresses annoyance more than genuine fear, though the event is certainly a clean reminder that he really should be keeping a close eye on that -Lamb-. Wild and unpredictable, and also armed. Myyah really does pick strange allies.
"Very," he says, unhelpfully, to answer Kent's question about the bullets.
When they reach the cliff side, Kahran frowns. Kent gives voice to his concerns and Kahran nods. "We're chasing it because it's capable of this. If the wrong person gets a hold of this kind of technology, you can imagine what kind of havoc they'd cause."
Because, you know, Solarians and gangsters are totally the right people to have that kind of tech.
His companions start climbing, and Kahran downs another potion before assaulting the rocky wall. Just a little bit of a physical boost before climbing this wall won't hurt.
DG: Kahran Ramses has used his Tool Speed Star toward his party's challenge, The Shattered Cliffside.
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Kent Hauch has successfully explored Ruins of Lahan!
<Digger Success: Abandoned Military Camp> The ruins haven't proven too fruitful - indeed they look somewhat picked over, as if another group has been scavenging in this area. However as the party continues to search, they come upon an abandoned camp within the ruins - the fire pit here is scattered and cold, and there are large claw marks and the occasional ominous dark stain on the ground. It appears that a military unit had been stationed here to scavenge for spare parts after the battle, but has been driven from the camp by some unknown creature. Their gear is still here, however - Kislev uniforms, spare basic weaponry such as swords and shields, as well as several boxes of ammunition for gunsmoke weapons. There are also other useful camp tools and supplies any Drifter might find valuable, and if packed up and sold in town this will bring in a fair amount of Gella.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
As established by the eyewitness accounts they received the other day, the wrong person already had gotten a hold of such technology, but Kahm wasn't about to let that slip when Ramses had already spoken on the matter; it certainly fell under information the Firebug didn't need to know, anyways.
"The sort of power that can do is thankfully rare in the world." The Captain says from a bit higher up, reaching for a jutting rock, "But it does exist. Standing with us will means facing it some point, in case you're still undecided about whether or not it's in your best interes-"
Suddenly, the hold Kahm's right leg gave, and there was a particularly dicey moment where the man awkwardly fumbled for purchase and, finding it, overextended a muscle pulling himself through it. A fall wouldn't have been fatal, but nor would it have been pretty.
Grumbling in silence, Kahm eventually climbs past the top and awaits the rest of the group there, doing a quick survey while he waits. "Kislev encampment, it looks like. No doubt they were searching for the missing gear as well." He noted the signs of attack, the abandoned equipment, "Local wildlife must've scattered them. Some of this could be re-purposed."
<Pose Tracker> Kent Hauch has posed.
Yeah! Nailed it. With the power of lava, nothing is impossible. Kent is puffing, blotchy, and winded by the time he manages to gain the top of the cliffside, and he just kind of rolls onto it, lying on his back. The climb already dirtied up his vest and coat, and sweat from the exertion has soaked his undershirt. "Hate... climbin'..."
He rolls to a seated position, coughing into a fist filthy with ash and rock dust. He just sorta... breathes for a while. Finally he regains enough FP to push up to his feet and brush vainly at his pants, pulling a face. "'ey now, don't read me wrong. Ain't a matter 'a getting scared. Just a matter of havin' to send back for more boys--"
Perhaps unexpectedly, when Kahm starts to stagger, Kent takes a big step, hand lashing out, grabbing the man's shoulder. Grunting, he helps drag him back into place, though not particularly gently. After making sure he's not about to crack his head open, Kent turns toward a box, kicking it open to reveal neatly packed ammunition. He starts rifling through it. "Oi, now here's a treat." He digs his salvaged gun out and starts fumbling with it, trying to figure out where the bullets go in. "Kislev, yeah? No bloody surprise, with the racket this all made."
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Kahran keeps an eye on Kent, because he now knows what happens when you don't, just to see him help Kahm out of a jam. Well, Myyah's trust in him isn't misplaced, he thinks. Seeing something like that reassures the Commander that bring this particular surface dweller along was a good idea.
Then he's suddenly armed and well... Kahran makes a note of it, but in all honesty he doesn't care. He actually questions just how long it would be before Kent got his hands on Solarian tech, especially if he ends up sticking around on Myyah's payroll.
Kahran starts to survey the scene. He doesn't care that much about the loot so much as the history, or rather he just expects that they'll have time to get to it later.
"Well, then it seems as if the wildlife saved us the trouble."
After all, there's very little doubt in Kahran's mind what would happen if they met Kislev here.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Kent's assistance had earned a begrudging grunt of thanks from Kahm as he came up, and that was all the other man was likely to get; consider it a semblance of progress.
Since the Commander seems unconcerned with what they do with the findings, Kahm goes ahead and begins tagging things appropriately for collection, radioing their reserves to hone in on their location and do some clean-up. Best to make it look like no one was here at all, in his estimation.