Local Conditions wrote:
CS Lonestar?
- Location: Outside Boy's Ranch
- Population: ???
- Date & Time: 1425 Wednesday, September 10 110 PA
- Ley Line Activity: Distant
- Weather: clear sky, 75 degrees F. 75% humidity, light breeze
- Visibility: very good
Overview Map:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Kl_3I ... sp=sharing
HEY YOU, GET TO WORK
With his engines throttled down as he's "hiding" Freeman can start to hear things going on in the environment. He's far enough away he can't see the gate or the main group of buildings. So the steady "tink, ting, tink, ting, tink, ting" that he can faintly hear coming from somewhere not far away is definitely not from the main camp. There may be other sounds as well, but they are still muffled by the jet engines by his ears. The high pitched, sharp noises continue. Then deep in his bones hie feels the ultrasonic rumble of some heavy equipment moving across the earth. It's the crack, or whatever you call it, it's all coming from there.
Freeman and the Behemoth team pick up a transmission that is quite disturbing, slight garbled through the patchwork decryption it says:
"We're ready....waiting for Boss' signal...place...countdown...minutes....secure the guests...and the real guests hahaha...copy...Boss's signal, right."
"Hmm, boy, you ain't one of them can'bals, is ya? You ain't seem like one. Yer weird." The man shifts in the saddle.
"When is it you are gonna finish? I want to see this contraption work." the man says, even Carlos can tell the man is genuinely interested. Then he sits up straight and a muffled,
"Yeah, roger that." The man's whole posture has changed. He's not longer watching Carlos is doing, he's watching Carlos. Carlos notices the change too. It's not often he gets that sort of open interest and not just fear, so when it abruptly changed, it raised the hairs on his neck.
A LAID BACK LIFESTYLE
As Reiko goes through her ritual, the Boss watches George. George notices that the obsequiousness of the ninja sidekick does not go without notice and the Boss's lips smile ever so slightly at the display of a master-servant relationship.
"Size isn't everything, as you and I both know." the Boss says with a refined chuckle, lifting his mint julep in salute to George.
"Huck, you're done now," he says in a much more commanding and harsher tone. Huck scampers out, all the swagger and bravado she'd displayed before completely concealed or maybe just gone.
Looking back to George after dismissing his underling, the Boss resumes his polite, civilized conversation,
"Your 'associate' is quite stunning. I'm sure beyond beauty she provides other services." He chuckles as if he had made some hilarious joke,
"All I mean good sir is that I suspect she is quite the capable body guard." He smiles, and takes a dainty nibble of another sandwich.
"Company, well spoken especially, is a gift, but we are men of business. I believe we should get to it. What is it you have to offer me?"
Attempted charm and real charm are vastly different. Both George and Reiko have been around the real movers and shakers of the world and it's painfully clear this guy will never be one no matter how much he tries. It just doesn't fit. He has his people cowed, but his charisma is not the reason. The man is however, not completely under George's thrall, but he is certainly curious. Judging by his micro-expressions and his language, he is impressed by George. George might reflect the idea of power that this man craves. Size isn't all that matters, that is true, but George has a gravitas this man envies and craves. Not to mention a gorgeous assassin bodyguard. The lust is clear to both George and Reiko, and it's a lust for power over people.
Reiko's eyes roam over the back yard area. Her ears attentive to the smallest sounds. With her face plate open, she can feel the breeze. There is an ozone smell in the air, some or all of these fences are electrified with a high amperage. She can hear the buzz. The rods are indeed mysterious, but she thinks she knows what they are. Some areas are plagued by supernatural energy beings, entities
1, that are invisible to the human eye. She doesn't know a lot about them, but she does know that some folklore states that iron staves will hinder the entity, and keep it from entering an enclosed area. As she follows the line of staves around the camp, from what she can see, the iron staves protect the living quarters.
As the conversation continues, the Boss seems perfectly amenable to George. But he makes a small motion at one point, innocuous really. Reiko would have dismissed it as a careless gesture, but as soon as he made it, the two guards looked at each other and shifted into a more ready stance.
What are you doing?
GM Notes:
- Entities are described on page 76 of Rifts Conversion Book 3: Dark Conversions if you want to learn more. But the really horrific entities are found in one of my favorite Rifts Worldbooks, WB 29: Madhaven pg 109.