A Fine Solution: Welcome to the World 2 - The Mississippi

[Beowulf85]

After four days of travel The Nameless arrive at the assigned location. Starting here you have a few hundred kilometres worth of sweeping the area from north to south. The area you're expected to chart is roughly 120 kilometres (75 miles) long following the snaking Mississippi river, doing a five kilometre sweep on both sides of the river (basically from tri-state to tri-state). You arrived late yesterday afternoon and decided to camp before starting on the actual mission this morning.

Not much is currently known about the region, it could be lush with resources or it could be nigh untameable wilderness. It's a hostile no man's land pinned between the loosely controlled southern Coalition states and the vast Federation of Magic. Much of what was farm land has been reclaimed by the Mississippi, with vast swathes of marshes and swamps on either side of the river.

For those of you in vehicles, if they are not amphibious, they were provided with an ingenious dwarven invention they like to call 'floaters'. MD material, similar to an inflatable white water raft, can be inflated and deflated in order to facilitate movement through swampy areas.

If anyone has survival skills, go ahead and roll on them to see what food you may have found on the way here.
How will the task be split up?
Don't forget about perception rolls in each post.
Also, if anyone knows of anything of present day interest (or from Rifts Lore) that might be found in this region and might be salvageable after the apocalypse, PM me. I'm not sure what kinds of industries, military bases, prisons, valuables, etc... are in the area.

[Leonidas Alexander]

As the caravan progressed, Leo kept an eye out for edible flora and fauna.

----
Survival: [dice]0[/dice]
Wild: [dice]1[/dice]

Survival Total: 4

Notice: [dice]2[/dice]
Wild: [dice]3[/dice]
Ace (Notice): [dice]4[/dice]

Notice Total: 8

[Spellweaver]

Notice
skill [dice]0[/dice]
Explosion [dice]4[/dice]
wild [dice]1[/dice]

Spellweaver has little in the way of survival skills so he offers to stay in the air and provide overwatch. He also scans the area with his mystic senses.

Detect Arcana
skill [dice]2[/dice]
explosion [dice]5[/dice]
wild [dice]3[/dice]
Explosion [dice]6[/dice]

[Chevy]

Notice: [dice]0[/dice]
Exploding: [dice]2[/dice]
Wild Die: [dice]1[/dice]
ATV Sensor Suite grants +2 bonus

Chevy concentrates on using the Bop's sensor array to search for any unusual energy, RF, or audio readings from the surrounding area, basically anything that pings on the "Huh, that's funny..." meter.

He chimes in on the team click, "How do you want us to do this, Chief?

[Ulrich]

The coms crackle to life as Ulrich contacts everyone. Zhe first day uf our recon uf zhis area vill be on zhe solid ground along zhe edges uf zhe swamps und river. Tomorrow ve vill venture into zhe swamp areas vith amphibious vehicles. Zhen zhe fallowingk day ve vill do zhe same on zhe uther side uf zhe river."

"Awtech und Spellweaver, please continue doing aerial recon around zhe squad as ve map zhe area und report any out uf zhe ordinary sightingks"

"The rest of the collum, turn your sensors up to full power so ve can get more data in our records. Mein 3-D image mapping system vill be on active to record as much as possible. After each recon shift ve vill fill in zhe maps zhat are in zhe Blitzkrieg Bop during our break. Everyvon keep your eyes open"

Notice roll
Skill [dice]0[/dice]
Wild [dice]1[/dice] Exploding die [dice]4[/dice] Total of 9

Survival
skill [dice]2[/dice]
Wild [dice]3[/dice]

[Architect]

Notice: [dice]0[/dice]

Wild: [dice]1[/dice]

Knowledge (Electronics): [dice]2[/dice]

Wild: [dice]3[/dice]

Knowledge (Engineering): [dice]4[/dice]

Wild: [dice]5[/dice]

Explode [K(Eng)]: [dice]6[/dice]
Total 14
Explode [W[K(Eng)]]: [dice]7[/dice]
Total 11

Searching for anything that stands out as either Electronics and Engineering.

[Zima]

Notice

Skill: [dice]0[/dice]

Wild: [dice]1[/dice]

Knowledge (History)

Skill: [dice]2[/dice]

Wild: [dice]3[/dice]

Tanya trooped along merrily in her rear-guard position, vigilant for any threat or other approach. Having made it a point to get to know her new home after she'd arrived here, she reflected on the bits and pieces she'd picked up about the area they now traveled through. So much history was fragmentary or based on rumor, especially since before the cataclysmic opening of the rifts, she couldn't even be certain whether this Earth was also hers--or 'merely' another close copy (there seemed to be so many). That aside, she could hardly complain. Piloting a Glitter Boy was certainly more comfortable than a bi-plane. Although she had to admit she missed flying sometimes, it got damned cold in those open-air cockpits.

[Chevy]

Notice: [dice]0[/dice]
Wild Die: [dice]1[/dice]

Chevy set up the sensor algorithms to do full scans, configured the screens to alert him in case of any anomalies, played another hand of video poker, and generally fiddled around to keep his mind form wandering back to his earlier embarrassment.

When the team had stopped for camp, he'd bounced out of his ATV, eager to meet an honest to goodness Glitter Boy, and had stopped dead on his tracks when this beautiful woman clambered out of the cramped cockpit. I guess the correct term is Glitter-Girl, his brain had stuttered while it tried valiantly to reboot. Unfortunately, he'd been unable to get back in gear in time to keep his mouth from opening wide enough to insert his foot.

"They let girls have Glitter Boy armor?" he'd asked loudly, with quite possibly the stupidest expression on his face.

That pretty much set up the rest of the encounter. Chevy gently pounded his forehead against the steering wheel. I wonder if Ulrich will let me spend the rest of the patrol in the Bop.

[Jaxus Skarro]

At about 5 miles out, Jax radios the team to let them know he's about to meet up.
"Hey new teammates, don't shoot when you see a speeding hovercycle coming up on the horizon! I forgot my coffee this morning so I'm gonna ride on the rumble strips along the side of the road all the way in just to be safe."
Heh, he chucks to himself, I'm a comedic genius.

Off on the horizon a small cloud of dust rolls up into the sky as a small speeder gradually gets closer.
As Jax joins up, he smoothly glides into place between the cargo ATV and the giant walking precious mineral with the biggest gun he's seen in a long time.
Geez, he thinks to himself as he stares fixedly up at the Glitterboy armor as he drifts out of the column and almost into a tree, I haven't seen one of those in person before.

After settling in place, Jax introduces himself, apologizes for being late, and settles in for the long ride.

Upon reaching the designated area, Jax will just sort of follow Ulrich's lead.

"Sorry folks, I'm not much of an outdoorsman. I spent most of my life in the confines of big cities. I can, however, see and hear VERY well so I'll set up point for any scouting action. Oh, and Ulrich, my little scooter here handles the amphibious environment just fine so I'm up for any ground, or nasty stinking bog-based, scouting and ranging."

Notice (Sound) [dice]0[/dice]

Exploding Notice (Sound) [dice]5[/dice]

Notice (Sound) Total - 12

Wild [dice]1[/dice]

Notice (Vision) [dice]2[/dice]

Wild [dice]3[/dice]

Survival [dice]4[/dice]

[Ulrich]

On the first break, Ulrich calls both Zima and Jaxus over to the hood of the Blitzkrieg Bop. He has the maps that were provided to them by the tomorrow leagion layed out over the hood.

"Specialist Zima und Specialist Jaxus, I just vanted to speak vith the two of you directly about zhe mission since you missed zhe briefingk."

"Our mission..." points with the rod on the map and moves in a line along what was the boarder of Arkansas and Tennessee. "...is to conduct a two veek mission in zhis area. Von week out und von veek back. We are to scout und scavenge vhat ve can. As you can see, zhe map is rather barren so ve are to cartograph zhe area as ve move takingk note uf any areas uf improtatance."

"Zhis is also to be a humanitarian mission. If ve find any peaceful beingks seeking refuge ve are to assist in any vay ve can. If ve find resources zhat ve do not haf ve capabilities to transport ourselves ve are to repost zhem to high command for pick up by an expedition if at all possible."

"Our travel vill be in three shifts a day. Zhe first two three hours long vith zhe last vone beings two hours. Zhere vill be von hour long breaks between shifts shifts von and two und two und three. After zhe third shift ve vill set up camp for zhe night vith each uf us taking turns keepingk vatch."

''Any questions from either uf you?''

Ulrich stands and waits for their response.

[Zima]

Tanya had acknowledged their incoming new colleague as he approached, throwing in her own contribution to the banter. One thing she had discovered she enjoyed about the Legion was that her co-workers had been laid-back with a predilection for snark. It was a habit she'd gotten into with the Witches, and she hadn't realized until recently how much she'd missed good banter.

"Rest easy, Jax, if you fall behind, I'll just give you a shove with my foot to get you back up to speed. Gently."

At the briefing, she'd affected a manner that was relaxed, but professional. Protocol in the Legion seemed difficult to nail down. A fighting force made up of people from dozens (or was it hundreds already?) of different worlds, all with multiple cultures, and their own customs ... was difficult to get a handle on. Thankfully, the Legion's command structure seemed to be made up of pragmatists who were less concerned with essentially meaningless gestures, and more with getting the job done. (Ulrich, at least, was from a culture she recognized. She felt she'd gotten off easy there.) The mission seemed straightforward, and she had few questions. There was, of course, a lot of potential for trouble--whenever you didn't know what you were walking into, that was always the case. But she knew her role if it came to a fight: protect her friends, rain destruction on their enemies (judiciously). The suit itself could be a powerful weapon too, if needed.

Notice

Skill: [dice]0[/dice]

Wild: [dice]1[/dice]

While she remained vigilant, at the moment there didn't seem to be a great deal going on and her mind drifted back to the first face-to-face meeting with the Quick-Flex Operator--right as she pulled herself out of the suit, as it had happened. She'd shot back with a mildly amused half-grin.

"Yes, they're letting us delicate flowers do all sorts of things these days. I hear some even build castles."

[Jaxus Skarro]

Notice (Sound) [dice]0[/dice]
Notice (Wild) [dice]1[/dice]

Notice (Sight) [dice]2[/dice]
Notice (Wild) [dice]3[/dice]

"You got it, boss! I may not pilot a bright and shiney walking tank... or an actual tank.... or fly..." he says throwing a quick wink to Zima and then nodding towards Ulrich's walker, "but I'm your man for wet-works. I'm quiet, I'm precise, and I get things done. So you can count on me."
Jax snaps a quick two-fingered salute and then taps his temple a few times.
"I've got a lot of good hardware in here and I can record live video as I'm mapping for future playback. For the time being, I'll dial my scanners up to 11 and get to scanning."

Jax takes a quick snapshot of the maps laid out on the hood of the bop with his internal camera for later reference and then, once dismissed, walks back to the team to introduce himself.
"hey everyone, I'm Jaxus Skarro but you all feel free to call me Jaxy.... just as long as you call me."
Heh... that comedy gold again, he thinks to himself.

[Spellweaver]

Spellweaver salutes with a tap of the temple with his spear shaft.

"Well met...Jaxy. I appreciate what you bring to the desk. I think subtly is something this group lacked"

[Ulrich]

Spellweaver salutes with a tap of the temple with his spear shaft.

"Well met...Jaxy. I appreciate what you bring to the desk. I think subtly is something this group lacked"

Ulrich lets out a a quick single laugh "Agreed, Ve vill haf a hard time sneakingk up on anyvon und not beingk noticed. Iz goot to haf somevon skilled in zhe more silent aspects uf our trade in zhe group. Over specialization breeds in veakness uf zhe squad. Ve haf a goot group zhat seems vell rounded from vhat I can see uf us on zhe surface."

[Spellweaver]

Spellweaver salutes with a tap of the temple with his spear shaft.

"Well met...Jaxy. I appreciate what you bring to the desk. I think subtly is something this group lacked"

Ulrich lets out a a quick single laugh "Agreed, Ve vill haf a hard time sneakingk up on anyvon und not beingk noticed. Iz goot to haf somevon skilled in zhe more silent aspects uf our trade in zhe group. Over specialization breeds in veakness uf zhe squad. Ve haf a goot group zhat seems vell rounded from vhat I can see uf us on zhe surface."

Notice
Skill[dice]0[/dice]
Wild[dice]1[/dice]

"I'm not without my own subterfuges though" Spellweaver flicks his spear through a rapid set of motions. "Fog of Sethen, conceal me."

Spellcasting: Disguise
Skill [dice]2[/dice]
Wild [dice]3[/dice]

A fog envelopes Spellweaver and then dissipates, revealing a perfect Doppelganger of Corporal Ulrich. In a fair approximation of Ulrich's voice and accent, Spellweaver says, "Gutan Tag, mien comrades."

[Ulrich]

"I'm not without my own subterfuges though" Spellweaver flicks his spear through a rapid set of motions. "Fog of Sethen, conceal me."

Spellcasting: Disguise
Skill [dice]1530:2[/dice]
Wild [dice]1530:3[/dice]

A fog envelopes Spellweaver and then dissipates, revealing a perfect Doppelganger of Corporal Ulrich. In a fair approximation of Ulrich's voice and accent, Spellweaver says, "Gutan Tag, mien comrades."

Ulrich laughs "Goot... goot. Magic iz a usful tool vhen a proficient practitioner iz at its command"

"Ve all haf our contributions to zhe squad und I am confidant ve vill vork vell together und overcome anyzhingk zhat comes our vay."

Notice roll
Skill [dice]0[/dice]
Wild [dice]1[/dice]

[Jaxus Skarro]

Jax stares with his mouth gaping open at the feat Spellweaver pulled.
"That is some seriously impressive talent to someone in my line of work. Well, I suppose to my previous line of work anyway. I learned from a young age that speed, stealth, and subterfuge are the best ways to escape a nasty situation alive. I would've found that kind of ability particularly useful. We should talk more about the finer points of infiltration."

[Spellweaver]

Jax stares with his mouth gaping open at the feat Spellweaver pulled.
"That is some seriously impressive talent to someone in my line of work. Well, I suppose to my previous line of work anyway. I learned from a young age that speed, stealth, and subterfuge are the best ways to escape a nasty situation alive. I would've found that kind of ability particularly useful. We should talk more about the finer points of infiltration."

"I appreciate the complement. Though I admit I lean more heavily on my more destructive abilities. I generally call on the Fog of Sethen when I need to enter a place unobserved and then, "Bring the cabin down."

[Ulrich]

Ulrich looks over at his Robot mecha and nods.

Zhere iz nothingk subtle about Gepanzerter Skorpion. I pretty much haf to muscle my vay around in it for zhe most part. I do try und mix a healthy bit uf pilotingk vith it's firepower to try und find zhe most efficient vay to handle a situation. I actually prefer talkingk first. Even zhough I am not to terribly skill socially I try to be logical vith people. Zhis seems to vork fairly vell. If fightingk does not haf to happen zhen zhis is alvays for zhe best. Some situation unfortunately require conflict zhough und zhat... zhat I am goot at"

"Iz goot to know zhat I haf some squad mates whom haf more subtle abilities."

Notice roll
Skill [dice]0[/dice]
Wild [dice]1[/dice]

[Architect]

Standing in camp, a small boy watches, others show off talents and magic. With in the hour he gets up and heads to a clearing a quarter mile away. To himself, "Best not to destroy the foliage. This opening should be big enough." Heading into the cave he lays down and allows his body to retake its natural shape after which he curls his tail under his chin and just sits there allowing his body to readjust.

Thoughts of random things pass his mind and soon he is asleep.

[Zima]

Notice

Skill: [dice]0[/dice]

Wild: [dice]1[/dice]

Tanya scoffed as she gathered her kit for the overnight camp.

"I can be subtle! I just ... haven't had to for a while, so I'm a little out of practice. And that armor doesn't exactly lend itself to stealth. Besides, it has uses besides putting holes in things."

She paused, probably enduring some skeptical glances before frowning and waving a hand dismissively.

"Alright, it can creatively make holes in things.

[Ulrich]

Ulrich laughs goodhearted "I haf many of zhe same problems you haf Specialist Zima."

After speaking Ulrich lurches to the side and has a bit of a coughing fit pulling out a rag to cover his mouth as a gentleman should.

Notice roll
Skill [dice]0[/dice]
Wild [dice]1[/dice]

[Chevy]

Notice: [dice]0[/dice]
Wild Die: [dice]1[/dice]

Chevy, sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle, notices the group arranged around the Bop's front plate, studying Ulrich's map and listening to his briefing. He quickly turns away before catching Zima's gaze, fiddling with the sensors to make himself look busy. His sound system keeps blaring out random music selections, loud enough to be heard through the reinforced windshield.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ4p3mJ2BlE

[Ulrich]

Notice: [dice]0[/dice]
Wild Die: [dice]1[/dice]

Chevy, sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle, notices the group arranged around the Bop's front plate, studying Ulrich's map and listening to his briefing. He quickly turns away before catching Zima's gaze, fiddling with the sensors to make himself look busy. His sound system keeps blaring out random music selections, loud enough to be heard through the reinforced windshield.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ4p3mJ2BlE

Ulrich chuckles and walks over to the side window of the Blitzkrieg Bop and knocks on it.

Notice roll
Skill
Wild

[Architect]

The morning finds AwkTek carefully stepping his way through the forest, making his way back to the others camp site. Not easy for a 7 ton dragon to move quietly but AwkTek manages it. Nearing the dieing embers of the fire, he pokes them with a claw and stirs them back to life. Placing some wood upon the stirring fire, Awktek nurses the fire back to life.

Carefully he maneuvers between sleepers and vehicles until he is easily visible outside the fire light. A few mornings earlier, he had gone and stoked the fire and then become entranced by the sleepers. They woke to him staring at them and the camp came alive and noisy really fast with lost of screaming and shouting and mostly directed at AwkTek. Something about violating personal space.

As Ulhrich gives his brief, AwkTek is craning his neck over top of the Bop from the back towards the front.

[Chevy]

Notice: [dice]0[/dice]
Exploding: [dice]2[/dice]
Wild Die: [dice]1[/dice]

Ulrich chuckles and walks over to the side window of the Blitzkrieg Bop and knocks on it.

Chevy opens the hatch and leans out. "Wassup, Chief?" he asks nonchalantly, just loud enough to be heard over the music booming from inside.

[Ulrich]

Chevy opens the hatch and leans out. "Wassup, Chief?" he asks nonchalantly, just loud enough to be heard over the music booming from inside.

Ulrich smiles "I now know vhy you couldn't hear me over zhe coms before."

Ulrich then tosses a flask of somthing into the driver seat on his lap

"As you vere Chevy" Ulrich says with a nod.

Notice roll
Skill [dice]0[/dice] Exploding die [dice]2[/dice]
Wild [dice]1[/dice]

Total notice roll 14

[Chevy]

Notice: [dice]0[/dice]
Widle Die: [dice]1[/dice]

Ulrich smiles "I now know vhy you couldn't hear me over zhe coms before."

Ulrich then tosses a flask of somthing into the driver seat on his lap

"As you vere Chevy" Ulrich says with a nod.

Chevy nods and waves to his commander with a touch of confusion on his features. He picks up the proffered flask and takes a tentative sniff of its contents. Beware of Russians bearing drink.

[Ulrich]

Chevy nods and waves to his commander with a touch of confusion on his features. He picks up the proffered flask and takes a tentative sniff of its contents. Beware of Russians bearing drink.

Ulrich tossed a flask that keeps his personal brew of bear that he makes himself cool and fresh. It's a good dark German bear.

Notice roll
Skill [dice]0[/dice]
Wild [dice]1[/dice]

OOC: Oh... and Ulrich is German ^_^

[Chevy]

Notice: [dice]0[/dice]
Wild Die: [dice]1[/dice]

Chevy takes a testing sip of the brew and smacks his lips. Now that's the kind of leadership attitude I can work with.

He lifts the flask in Ulrich's direction in a sign of gratitude then stows it away in the emergency cooler.