Rbz8: The Camp
General Summary
The crew get into position as the other vehicle's headlights play over the ceiling, the distant rumble of its engines drawing closer as the rover approaches from the far side. Reinhard takes the high ground, setting up his auto-rifle on a coral ridge. Saskia slinks off into the shadows, gun in hand. Benesh fumbles with his binoculars when Quinn remarks, "Shouldn't we talk to them?"
After a moment, Benesh agrees, "Yes, that's a good idea. Why don't you do that."
Quinn gives him a look before grabbing Echo to go with him. Benesh watches them go but suddenly feels left out and hurries after them.
The trio stand on a coral outcropping by the improvized road and wait for the rover to stop. As its blinding headlights pan over to the three, the rover does exactly that, slowing to a stop a good distance away.
"Who-- who are you? What are you doing here?" a gravelly voice calls out. Through his scope, Reinhard could see the the man had partially gotten out of the rover. His profile loomed large over the rover's side dark, and it cut a distinctive silhouette for its missing left arm. He also looked unwell, his skin gleaming with sweat and a sickly pale complexion.
"He looks sick. And I think there are more of them in the car," Reinhard calls out as he levels his sights with the driver, "I can take them out. Just give the word."
Benesh isn't sure what to do, but Quinn talks him down. "You sound sick. We're here to help, son." he calls back to the driver, "There's an illness going around and we've brought a cure."
While the trio talked, Saskia creeped up to the far side of the rover. She sees movement inside. Moving closer, she can see several figures within the cabin, and with distinctive tree-like arms.
Quinn continues after an uncertain pause, "We can help you, son, if you let us."
The figure slumps slightly. "There are others. Can you help them too?"
Quinn agrees and turns back to the fire engine to retrieve the supplies. The figure shouts something back to the vehicle and the others emerge one by one. They were much further gone than the first, and Benesh shuffles uncertainly, wandering whether the antidote would work. "Echo, why don't you help him sit down. Sir, what is your name?"
The man introduces himself as Jihun as Quinn returns with the treatments. They were with a research team when the plague struck, and got orders to push deeper into the station to look for some way to treat the disease. But before they were attacked by a monstrous crab-like creature called a Parasect. The crew nodded along, realizing they were talking about the same creature they were looking for, and that they were likely employees (former employees?) of Khosla's lab.
The treatment takes hold and Jihun immediately begins to feel better. The other refugees too show signs of improvement, despite their more advanced symptoms. Benesh is greatly relieved, and the group are able to relax around a camp stove and a pot of improvized stew. The refugees open up a bit more about their predicament, even as Reinhard paced around the camp with a suspicious gaze and his finger on the trigger.
They were indeed Khosla's employees, though perhaps not for much longer. They had been tending to the crab creatures for quite some time now... looking for something special among the eggs. Whatever they were looking for, they were still looking when the plague struck. The symptoms were mild initially, but they knew something was wrong. The director ordered them to take a convoy and search deeper in the station for a source of the disease and hopefully a cure. They thought this would be a simple job, but as the illness took a turn for the worst as they ventured deeper. And by the time they decided to turn back, they were suddenly attacked by a monstrous specimen of the crab creature. The Parasect tore through the caravan, and they were the only survivors.
The refugees' story seem to fill in some of the missing gaps that the crew had found, and so they were mostly convinced. At the very least, they seem to be on the road to recovery and can be sent back to the Habitat. In gratitude, the refugees sketched a few maps of their route and where they encountered the Parasect, and to everyone's surprise, Jihun volunteered to travel with the crew to hunt down the creature.
As they retire for the evening rest period, the crew's conversation turns back to the Seedbalor. No one can agree on what they saw. Saskia is still very uneasy about her experience -- why had she seen the vulture? What did it mean? Reinhard thought the meaning of his own vision was clear to him, but why did Benesh see a seahorse?
"I know something about seahorses," he pipes up, "Don't male seahorses rear the young?"
Benesh reddened slightly but shrugged his shoulders, "I just thought the seahorse was majestic. That's all!"
The conversation turned to his choice of video entertainment, but he remained tight-lipped on the subject as he crawled into his sleeping bag. "You all need to learn something about people's privacy!"
After an evening rest period, the two vehicles parted ways. The crew, with Jihun guiding the way, decided to take a shortcut that would bring them near the convoy's abandoned camp. This would save them time and they could pick through the camp for supplies (and info). The convoy had chosen a good site for the encampment. It was set up on a raised dias so that it overlooked the concourse roadway, with an improvized ramp that led up the cluster of orange tents. The abandoned camp looked eeriely peaceful as the fire engine pulled up the ramp and came to a stop next to the nearest set of tents. No one came out to greet them, but no one shot at them either. The crew in the cabin chatted amongst themselves as they grabbed their gear and disembarked. Saskia had already slipped away, scouting the encampment. Reinhard was in his "gunner's station", scanning over the camp, when he felt the hairs on the back of his head stand on end. Something was not right. He narrowed his eyes as he looked through the camp. He thought he saw movement but he couldn't be sure. "Something might be out there," he warned through the radio. Saskia was also noticing something was amiss. As she stared at a part of the station wall, she could have sworn that it didn't have quite the same shape as before. Unbeknownst to her, however, the pathway behind her had inexplicably become littered with odd bits of equipment. Still not sure what he was sensing, Reinhard decided to take a warning shot with this rifle. Benesh cursed as the sudden shot ran loudly out from the roof of the fire engine. The round seemed to have hit something, but Reinhard couldn't tell what. Saskia, however, suddenly found herself facing an unexpected piece of the bulhead as she turned, which suddenly lunged out at her, revealing briefly the outstretched limbs of a tree zombie. The zombie knocked her down, but at least her armor took the brunt of the blow. All around her, the camp seemed to stir to life. Nothing revealed themselves, but it seemed like the equipment of the camp started moving and converging on her! Reinhard was the first to act, springing from the rescue bucket with sword in hand to charge at the camoflaged zombies attacking Sakia. His expert swings carved through several tent poles and tripods, revealing the cloaked tree zombies as they dropped to the ground in pieces! Quinn swivelled the engine's hose around and fired the extinguisher foam at the zombies. However, the pressure was not right. Rather than blasting into zombies, the foam splashed around Reinhard and created a slippery hazard between Saskia and the crew! Benesh backpedalled and brought his ornate rifle to bear. He couldn't quite make out the zombies, but he could see their steps as they charged over the foam. He snapped off several shots, dropping a handful of the creatures before retreating to the rear of the engine. Echo was caught out, however, and suddenly found himself surrounded by the zombies. He grabbed his trusty glowcat and flung the creature at the zombies. The cat's keen senses were not fooled by the visual camoflage, and it clawed out at the zombies, sowing chaos as Echo slipped away behind nearby crates. The situation was turning dire for Reinhard and Sakia as they found themselves fighting back to back. Reinhard took out several of the zombies before he gets blindsided by one. The zombie tackles him to the ground and sends his sword sliding away in the slippery foam. Saskia blasted her pistols, but the creatures were swarming her relentlessly. At the back of the fire engine, Benesh fiddled with the engineering panel and yelled at Quinn to fire again. Another burst of the foam knocked the next wave of zombies back. The tide turned for a moment before the foam died to a dribble -- they were out! The zombies regroup quickly and were charging at the engine again. Cursing, Benesh grabs a reel of spare hose and hurls it at the charging zombies, knocking some of them back. In desperation, Quinn stepped out, shovel in hand to fight off the creatures. Reinhard slugged it out with several of the zombies, trying to get to his sword, but by bad luck, the creatures were kicking his weapon away. He realized with dread that he would have to choose between getting to his weapon or stopping the zombies from swarming the fire engine. His friends (and his ride!) were in danger, and so he shoves a zombie out of the way to rush back to the vehicle. With Quinn holding off the zombies, Benesh dashed around the back of the truck to hop into the driver's seat. In a desperate gamble, he shifts the truck into gear and lurches the fire engine forward, ramming the big truck into the hoarde of zombies. He swerves around Quinn and manages to pick up Reinhard. Limbs and branches fly as the fire engine plows through the horde, and Reinhard climbs onto the top, giving him the vantage point to spray his auto-rifle to cover Saskia's retreat.
Moments later, the battle was over. A dozen zombies, having reverted back to their tree-like forms, laid scattered around the camp. Benesh had crash the fire engine through a pair of tents, and there were several rends along the side of the vehicle. Nonetheless, it was still intact, and everyone was still alive. As the dust settles, Quinn begin to tend to Reinhard and Saskia's wounds. Under anesthesia, Saskia sees a vision of the vulture from earlier, only it was from her own perspective as the vulture -- perhaps she has been too self-centered in the past. Perhaps she has been the vulture all this time. In the meantime, Benesh and Jihun realize they are precarilously low on supplies, and set out to search the camp, but the convoy had emptied out the tents, leaving few useful materials for them. As Quinn finishes treating Reinhard, he also solemnly hands Reinhard his holy shovel, "I know you have lost your weapon, so I wanted you to have this."
After an evening rest period, the two vehicles parted ways. The crew, with Jihun guiding the way, decided to take a shortcut that would bring them near the convoy's abandoned camp. This would save them time and they could pick through the camp for supplies (and info). The convoy had chosen a good site for the encampment. It was set up on a raised dias so that it overlooked the concourse roadway, with an improvized ramp that led up the cluster of orange tents. The abandoned camp looked eeriely peaceful as the fire engine pulled up the ramp and came to a stop next to the nearest set of tents. No one came out to greet them, but no one shot at them either. The crew in the cabin chatted amongst themselves as they grabbed their gear and disembarked. Saskia had already slipped away, scouting the encampment. Reinhard was in his "gunner's station", scanning over the camp, when he felt the hairs on the back of his head stand on end. Something was not right. He narrowed his eyes as he looked through the camp. He thought he saw movement but he couldn't be sure. "Something might be out there," he warned through the radio. Saskia was also noticing something was amiss. As she stared at a part of the station wall, she could have sworn that it didn't have quite the same shape as before. Unbeknownst to her, however, the pathway behind her had inexplicably become littered with odd bits of equipment. Still not sure what he was sensing, Reinhard decided to take a warning shot with this rifle. Benesh cursed as the sudden shot ran loudly out from the roof of the fire engine. The round seemed to have hit something, but Reinhard couldn't tell what. Saskia, however, suddenly found herself facing an unexpected piece of the bulhead as she turned, which suddenly lunged out at her, revealing briefly the outstretched limbs of a tree zombie. The zombie knocked her down, but at least her armor took the brunt of the blow. All around her, the camp seemed to stir to life. Nothing revealed themselves, but it seemed like the equipment of the camp started moving and converging on her! Reinhard was the first to act, springing from the rescue bucket with sword in hand to charge at the camoflaged zombies attacking Sakia. His expert swings carved through several tent poles and tripods, revealing the cloaked tree zombies as they dropped to the ground in pieces! Quinn swivelled the engine's hose around and fired the extinguisher foam at the zombies. However, the pressure was not right. Rather than blasting into zombies, the foam splashed around Reinhard and created a slippery hazard between Saskia and the crew! Benesh backpedalled and brought his ornate rifle to bear. He couldn't quite make out the zombies, but he could see their steps as they charged over the foam. He snapped off several shots, dropping a handful of the creatures before retreating to the rear of the engine. Echo was caught out, however, and suddenly found himself surrounded by the zombies. He grabbed his trusty glowcat and flung the creature at the zombies. The cat's keen senses were not fooled by the visual camoflage, and it clawed out at the zombies, sowing chaos as Echo slipped away behind nearby crates. The situation was turning dire for Reinhard and Sakia as they found themselves fighting back to back. Reinhard took out several of the zombies before he gets blindsided by one. The zombie tackles him to the ground and sends his sword sliding away in the slippery foam. Saskia blasted her pistols, but the creatures were swarming her relentlessly. At the back of the fire engine, Benesh fiddled with the engineering panel and yelled at Quinn to fire again. Another burst of the foam knocked the next wave of zombies back. The tide turned for a moment before the foam died to a dribble -- they were out! The zombies regroup quickly and were charging at the engine again. Cursing, Benesh grabs a reel of spare hose and hurls it at the charging zombies, knocking some of them back. In desperation, Quinn stepped out, shovel in hand to fight off the creatures. Reinhard slugged it out with several of the zombies, trying to get to his sword, but by bad luck, the creatures were kicking his weapon away. He realized with dread that he would have to choose between getting to his weapon or stopping the zombies from swarming the fire engine. His friends (and his ride!) were in danger, and so he shoves a zombie out of the way to rush back to the vehicle. With Quinn holding off the zombies, Benesh dashed around the back of the truck to hop into the driver's seat. In a desperate gamble, he shifts the truck into gear and lurches the fire engine forward, ramming the big truck into the hoarde of zombies. He swerves around Quinn and manages to pick up Reinhard. Limbs and branches fly as the fire engine plows through the horde, and Reinhard climbs onto the top, giving him the vantage point to spray his auto-rifle to cover Saskia's retreat.
Moments later, the battle was over. A dozen zombies, having reverted back to their tree-like forms, laid scattered around the camp. Benesh had crash the fire engine through a pair of tents, and there were several rends along the side of the vehicle. Nonetheless, it was still intact, and everyone was still alive. As the dust settles, Quinn begin to tend to Reinhard and Saskia's wounds. Under anesthesia, Saskia sees a vision of the vulture from earlier, only it was from her own perspective as the vulture -- perhaps she has been too self-centered in the past. Perhaps she has been the vulture all this time. In the meantime, Benesh and Jihun realize they are precarilously low on supplies, and set out to search the camp, but the convoy had emptied out the tents, leaving few useful materials for them. As Quinn finishes treating Reinhard, he also solemnly hands Reinhard his holy shovel, "I know you have lost your weapon, so I wanted you to have this."
Report Date
20 Aug 2021
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