riverviewlogs | Naughty Kitties (Closed)

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Naughty Kitties (Closed)

who: The team assembled for the mission (Ivar, South, Sif, Aeacinos, Ronan, Shiro, Osomatsu, and Lauren)
what: The Pride of Pestilence mission
when: Nowish?
where: Out in the farming area
warnings: Animal violence, human violence

When it came up that there was a group of predators wreaking havoc out in the farmlands just inside the secondary fence, it was clear something was going to have to be done. The animals had only been attacking farm animals and pets thus far, but if they got a taste for human flesh, things could turn disastrous. So a team was swiftly assembled to deal with the problem.

After some observation, a few simple facts emerged. There were three females and two males, plus three cubs. While the cubs didn't present much of a challenge, the pride of cat creatures did. They were highly territorial and difficult to deal with. They were also intelligent, making it hard to predict what they were going to do next.

It was clear something was going to have to be done about these creatures. Let's just hope the team could manage to work together long enough to subdue them.

(OOC: Feel free to tag into any of the parts written up below! It's just rough outlines of what's to be done, feel free to interpret that however you see fit!)

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Careful study and observation of the animals was needed before anything was done. Groups were sent out in pairs of two to observe their habits, where they tended to roam, and where they were sleeping at night. The culmination of all this data would help when they went up against the beasts.

Eventually, it would be decided to subdue and relocate the beasts rather than killing them outright. A plan was drawn up on how to do this.

For some reason, the young viking had deemed Osomatsu fit for this missing. Why? Osomatsu wasn't quite sure. He'd never been on any of the missions that took people outside of the quarantine's walls. Hell, he'd never been on a mission period. He was so unfit for this task, and he looked around at the other people who had decided to join and wondered why he was even there.

Well, I might as well make the most of things, he thought. He would try his best, and hopefully he wouldn't die! The first part of the mission seemed simple enough, breaking into pairs to simply observe the beasts. Osomatsu could make observations!

"Man, this place is crawlin' with gross bugs," he said to his partner. "I've got bites in places I didn't even know I had." Wrong observation entirely.

Really, the whole reason Ivar had deemed Osomatsu good to go for this mission is he wanted to toughen the NEET up a bit. He figured that anything involving fighting other people or some of the bigger monsters was out of the question. That's not to say these cat aliens weren't large, but at least they seemed manageable with the amount of people they have.

Ivar was currently lying down on the ground with a pair of binoculars pressed up to his eyes in the long grass downwind from the pride. He'd left his wheelchair a ways back, afraid the cats might spot something large and shiny from where they were at. "Focus here. Otherwise, you'll find yourself in one of those cats' bellies."

The cats appeared to be feasting after a successful kill. The smaller male tried to approach, but was quickly knocked down by the bigger male, who bared his teeth at him. Two of the females didn't even contest the largest and what looked like the oldest female, who had a large scar running parallel to her left shoulder. "It looks like those two might be the leaders of the group. We can work with that. Take them out first and the rest might be confused long enough to take them down without too much fuss."

Ivar was already thinking about his personal agenda. He wanted to acquire one of these beasts for himself. The fact the acquiring process would put any of them into a trace that would leave them open to be tranquilized was also something to take into consideration.

Right. Focus. Osomatsu could focus! Maybe! He swallowed thickly, then hunkered down beside Ivar to watch the scene. For some reason, that smaller male feline made him think of Ichimatsu. He wasn’t sure why.

“You’re sayin’ we’re gonna kill ‘em?” he whispered nervously.

"Kill them? No, I hope not. It would be a shape to have to destroy such spirited beasts. If we can sedate them all, that would be much better. I can put any one of them into a trance if I can touch them." Only Ivar would consider trying to touch an animal that looked like a cross between a lion, a hyena, and a bull with saber-tooth teeth as long as his arm an acceptable risk. He was just as fearless as these alien animals were.

"Here, you take a look, and tell me what you see." He passed the binoculars over to Osomatsu, continuing to squint at the animals with his own eyes. A pair of fresh eyes would be good to get a full grasp on the situation.

Ivar could... put the animals into a trance? Sounded fake, but okay. He took the binoculars and then turned his attention back on the beasts. It was a lot easier to see them now! He could see the bigger ones feasting, while the smaller ones waited.

"Heeeh... those leaders sure are greedy," he muttered, as a plan began to form in his mind. "Maybe if we left them some food as bait, they'd be easier to take down. That's how it'd work with me."

"There's an idea. I wonder if they'd take bait that has tranquilizers in them or if they'd smell them out." It was definitely an idea to consider. That way they could get these creatures wrangled without too much fuss.

Then Ivar notices what appear to be three little fuzzballs peeking their heads up from an outcropping of rocks not too far away from the adults. "Huh. They have cubs." That'll add a new wrinkle into this plan. "At least they shouldn't be too difficult to deal with." Sure, they had claws and teeth too, but they were also a lot smaller

Osomatsu turned his head and the binoculars in the direction Ivar was looking. He saw the cubs, and his heart melted instantly. They couldn't kill this family!

"Maybe we can subdue th'big ones, an' take them somewhere else. Then the little guys'll follow."

"That might work. Baby animals will generally go where they see their parents going." The little ones all tumbled down from the rocks pell-mell and ran over to the kill. The leaders made way for the cubs, allowing them to gnaw on the meat with bright white needle-sharp teeth that had only just recently come in.

"If we split up into a couple of different groups, and all focus on taking just one of them down, we should get the whole group of them fairly quickly." He knew not everyone in the group was going to be happy with the idea of relocating them, rather than outright killing them, but they couldn't just orphan these cubs or kill a trio of little ones just because their parents had developed a taste for cattle and sheep.

Osomatsu nodded and handed the binoculars back to the viking. He liked the sound of this idea much better than just killing everything. Ivar was really a good guy!

"Should we report back with our idea, then?"

"Sounds good. Go slow now. Don't attract their attention." The last thing they needed was for the cat aliens to notice them now just as they were about to head back. He hung the binoculars around his neck after giving the cats one last look while they continued to gnaw on the fallen cow they'd taken down.

Ivar shifts around, crawling back towards where he'd left his wheelchair further back in the long grass. He's surprisingly adept on the ground for someone unable to use his legs, able to crawl nearly as fast as a able-bodied person could walk.

Osomatsu stayed low, as well, crawling away from the scene on his hands and knees. Slowly. It made him a little nervous to turn his back on those beasts, but they gradually put distance between them, and Osomatsu felt safer.

Once they were back at the campsite, Osomatsu flopped down and sighed. "Man! That was super scary!"

Ivar had an amused grin when Osomatsu spoke of their little adventure as being scary. "Spoken as a man whose never had to face anything truly fearful." The words weren't meant to be particularly cruel, just the cuttingly blunt way that Ivar always talked.

He pulled his axe out and began to sharpen it on a whetting stone with slow, careful strokes. "Try being on a battlefield where your life could end at any time, knowing your fate has already been decided for you, facing down enemies that all will kill you or be killed in turn. That's true fear."

Osomatsu turned to stare at Ivar with a flat expression. "Uh. I think I'll pass on that." Coming to Riverview, getting a job, getting asked out by someone, being separated from his family? Osomatsu was already scared enough as it was. At least he was starting to get used to those things by now.

Ivar's words did make him think, though, as they always did, about the tough life the viking had come from. Osomatsu couldn't imagine it. He was so young, and had already done so much. Landing himself in the quarantine must have been a cakewalk for him........ er, a cake ride.

Ivar tests the blade's edge with the side of his thumb that didn't have a callus on it. "Probably for the best. You'd last about five minutes in a battle." Of course, that might have been a generous estimate.

That's what pawns in chess were there for. Weak little things that could be put into the fray ahead of everyone else, so that it didn't matter too much if they got taken out. It's how Ivar viewed everyone around him. Not as human beings with thoughts and emotions, but pieces on a chess board, there for him to maneuver around and manipulate as he pleased.

As Lauren could defend herself, but not actively disable any threat, she was paired with someone more capable at fighting than her. Which could be pretty much anyone. Almost anyone. She lagged a few steps behind so she had a better field of vision to throw her shields faster. Being limited to what she can see was unfortunate, but her powers were already impressive without being able to influence beyond that field.

Still, first mission for the Guard, she's a little nervous, go easy on her. Whoever her partner is.

Lucky for Lauren, she basically had two partners. Shiro, another member of the Guard in Orientation Support for the most part, and his robotic lion. When the team had split up into smaller groups, Shiro had gone with Lauren. She was still newer to Quarantine and the Guard so he wanted to make sure she was okay on her first mission. This was rather daunting one.

For the observation, Shiro had left Black back a few paces. A robot that could practically put its head on his shoulder was definitely tall enough and loud enough to attract attention. The lion was still close though; if they needed him, he could come to their aid.

He moved slowly so as not to make a lot of noise. Still she was behind him and he glanced back at her.

Lauren Strucker seemed to be giving the large robot lion his space. Mostly there was this thing, with robot spiders used to attack her and her family. So that was in her head along with it being a large robot lion that could definitely kill a person.

He was also somewhat distracting, as she kept glancing back at him, it was not a curious look. Still, Lauren was good at staying quiet in the woods. She didn't have a lot of practice but she was used to being hunted. Any noise was her being distracted by glancing back at the lion.

Shiro hadn't realized Black would be so distracting. Whenever he caught a glimpse of Lauren out of the corner of his eye, she was looking back at Black even though the lion was staying to keep from attracting attention. He knew Black could be intimidating, but he wasn't being threatening as far as he could tell.

She was also making noise because she kept looking back at Black. After a moment, he paused, waiting for her to stop as well. He stayed quiet for a moment, listening. He couldn't hear anything at the moment. Finally he leaned in a little closer to her so he could keep his voice low.

"Black's not going to do anything. He's here to help us."

"Sorry," honestly she was wondering if she'd be better off partnered with any of the other people. As opposed to the one with the robot lion. Maybe she should have mentioned the issue earlier. Of course, it helped that the more she watched it, the more obvious the differences were. Sentinels were... well, creepier. They jerked in their movements and had very little problem losing parts.

"I'll keep focused." This lasted, remarkably, four whole minutes. Before she quietly asked, "So... where'd you get a robot lion?"

It was making her uncomfortable, but it was only for a few hours at least. Black was staying back at Shiro's request, both to not attract attention, but also to not make her more anxious at the moment. Lion was friendly, but size didn't necessarily help. He was rather large.

"No, it's okay, honest. He's a big guy and not everything is normal for people."

He's not going to question why she's concerned about him. It wasn't his business. If she volunteered, all well and good, but not his place to ask.

He smiled at her when she said this, turning back to the direction ahead of them. It was still quiet luckily, but Shiro was cautious. When she spoke, he turned back to her. He was okay with talking at least at the moment. Another reason he had brought Black was because the lion could help determine where the creatures were and if they were getting too close.

"I'm his paladin from home. Usually he's much bigger than that and I pilot him. When he came here, somehow he was shrunk in size."

Whoever gets paired with Aeacinos has the joy of following a 30 foot long half man half snake through the farmlands. Although it doesn't appear that he's very worried about being seen. But for whoever is paired with him they might see a strange, almost like a veil, sort of light flickering and blanketing them.

"My illusion will keep us out of harms way. We can observe as close as need be. But don't try to pick any fights." He doesn't want to have to deal with that right now.

Ronan had lost track of the number of times he'd been called a snake. He half wanted to bring those people here, so they could see a real man with snake's skin, and half wanted them to never find out, so he could keep his reputation. Staying out of trouble did not align with that reputation.

"With the cats or you?" He looked at Aeacinos. He'd made it a point not to put much distance between them. Crazy snake-man monster or not, he wasn't going to let anyone so much as think he was intimidated.

"If they keep out of my hair, I'll keep out of theirs." Considering Ronan had a shaved head, this was not the most appropriate saying to use.

Aeacinos will give a fanged smile at that question.

"Both. But I do not condone infighting with my fellow comrades." He gives Ronan a look as he continues to slither along. His movements smooth and sure as he weaves through the terrain unaffected. If he's impressed with the other not being scared of him he doesn't show it.

"That is sure to change when we try to move them. I do not think they will be very appreciative of our efforts."

Ronan rubbed the back of his head reflexively, recalling the last time he'd spied on an animal here. The bump there had gone away after a few days but the bruise to his ego remained.

"Yeah, no shit. Can you use whatever this illusion magic is on them? Get them to come quietly." He had no idea what the extent of Aeacinos's abilities were, but he could think of a few uses for this alone.

Seriously, between snake guy and other members of this expedition, Ronan felt distinctly outclassed and that didn't happen often. Should've brought more than a stun gun and his dream gun, but that was hindsight for you.

"Hm. Perhaps. I could make it so that we appear like them. It would do well in getting them to follow us. However masking our scents will take some practice. My illusions can do that as well but it is tricky to do on the spot."

If anything they could just lead the beasts away far enough that Aeacinos could grapple with them and knock them out too. He too was...rather intimidating a warrior.

"It could buy us some time. Let's see if we can find out how scent focused they are." If they were like dogs or actually most animals, forget about that. So Ronan had to bring up a hypothetical plan b. "Or you could round them up. You can make it look like they've only got one direction to run. 'Course we're fucked if they've got great long term memory," he spoke almost conversationally although his voice still had an edge to it.

Things were probably go to hell so he might as well enjoy a walk with another weird person while he could.

The team was split up into two groups. The first was Sif, South, Aeacinos, and Ronan. The second was Ivar, Shiro, Osomatsu, and Lauren. Both were taking on the cats as they saw fit, breaking off into smaller groups if needed, and generally doing what it took to bring down the beasts without hurting them too badly.

The advantage to having Lauren was that she could restrain one or two cats fairly well, allowing them to be sedated and the next target struck. Provided she was properly protected. Trying to use her powers and watch her own back was just not going to work. And since the goal was not to kill them, it was better to restrain them while sedating them.

Hopefully they could manage to get a few down before any of the critters realized what was restraining them. That was the plan anyway.

So the cats were all sedated. Now it was just a matter of getting them back beyond the city walls and patching up any injuries the team members might have received during the battle.

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Naughty Kitties (Closed)

Part 1: Before The Mission

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Part 2: During The Mission

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Part 3: The Aftermath