Ruby couldn't believe her eyes. Had Bark really jumped out of a moving vertibird? But there it was: a Bark-shaped absence. A cyberhound was generally among the things one could be certain of either having or not having. She stared for a second more in disbelief at the open door and - just barely visible - the tiny figure of the crazy cybermutt. "Sir. We have to go back to retrieve Bark. He needs us."
Gordon was happy with the results of the observation. Noting the effect, results and imagining different combinations to try for more data. 'Fragmentation plus Cryo equals two raider deaths. Next test, Cryo grenade first and fragmentation mine after. Will require a new car and three to four raiders... I should also invest in holotapes for notes.' The Researcher only became aware of the missing Cyberdog when the rest had given voice to it. All things considered, Gordon was pleased with the results. The Rockets and buggy had been eliminated, with Delta only suffering the loss of one Cyberized k9 unit. "We don't know if there are more Raiders out there setting up rockets. We need to land but far away from here. If we stay here we'll only be exposing ourselves, the Vertibird, and endangering our mission. I'm sure its recall beacon can get him back to the Tower before nightfall. One Cyberhound is less likely to draw attention than a squad of armed militants." Gordon said with no concern in his voice. They had survived, that's what matters. The weak die and the strong survive.
"In any other case I'd agree, this isn't that case though. If an enemy could get their hands on B4rk his technology could tip the balance of power. B4rk may not be able to articulate properly but the files are there and if the Brotherhood of Steel get their scavenging hands on them then we're in for some even more tough times. No doubt there is the location for the Tower, access codes and bunch of other goodies they'd love to get their hands on." Pool seemed to be already preparing for an immediate drop from the Vertibird. "Not to mention most if not all of B4rk's functions aren't functional. You can thank the tech boys for their shoddy work, maybe next time they start working on a project they can actually finish it." Pool prepared to jump from the Veribird with his Assault Rifle ready, he was eyeing up the Minigun though, he could easily rip it off and use that on the ground...
@dx144 @PorOborosCain "Wow Pool, that was beautiful, think I'm tearing up a bit here." Jace grabbed Ruby's sleeve and began dabbing away the fake tears from Pools 'sentimental' reasoning for saving Bark. Jace loved the guy, but holy hell was he a cold son of a bitch. Least he wanted to go get him unlike Fly. "And for God's sake man don't jump out of the fucking Vertibird! I'd rather not have that become a new Delta tradition. Also just a quick side note Fly, we don't leave behind one of our own. Ever." Unlike the usual casualness to his voice, there was a tone of finality to it. They were going back to get Bark, and that was all there was to it.''
"Not my intention but your respect for the Enclave is as usual commendable. Rescue isn't essential, could be a search and destroy mission, B4rk either needs to be returned to the Tower or the more regrettable scenario destroyed, completely." Pool let the last bit hang, he wasn't the most open with others but actually voicing the killing of one of his own was much more potent than he though it'd be to him. "We could try to use it to our advantage though... B4rk gets captured and if his tracking systems are working the Enclave can have a direct location on where who other took him is. That is if the Techies actually put that system into B4rk." Pool was now further away from the edge as he seemed to be thinking through things, that wasn't one of his strong points anyway...
Group A @Jorimel @TuskatheDaemonKilla @BuriasDempsey @Keidivh @PorOborosCain @dx144 @Vulpas While Sergeant Jenkins returned to his seat, the rest of Delta Squad was up in arms for turning back for Bark. Jenkins' oath to keep Delta Squad safe and his promise to return everyone home alive was at war within his brain and heart. Choosing his words very carefully. "Delta Squad, Attention! We've just survived an attack. I've no intention of taking that for granted. Private Pool, you will stay in your seat and keep your eyes open for any signs of more raiders and if you have visual on B4RK, notify the squad immediately. That goes double for you, Gunner South." Turning to look at Engineer Stone, then Officer Conners, and lastly Nurse Lee. Then speaking; "I know this is hard, but have patience. Bark isn't helpless and we have ways to contact him. Whether he's aware of it or not, he does possess a radio. I've kept it muted in case he abused that function to ask for treats. While we do have a mission, it is after all a reacue mission." [Sergeant Jenkins activates Bark's Radio microphone - Bark has the ability respond to radio broadcasts... whether he possesses the capacity to understand what that means is another matter] Switching on the com, "pilot, land us as close as you can to the airport. We'll double back on foot for Bark and walk back on our ow..." Before the Sergeant could finish however, something collided with the Vertibird left rotor blade and engine. It wasn't a rocket, there was no explosion or a sound of one firing, but whatever it was it was big and struck hard. Sawcheck shouted over the com, "looks like you get your wish Sergeant, but it's gonna be a rough landing! Brace yourselves, we're going in hot! From the streets, between one of the newly demolished scrappers, a large greenish grey fist clutched a heavy piece of concrete with twisted metal sticking out of it. The owner of the massive hands stared angrily as the Metal Bird fell from the sky. It raised its massive arm again, ready to throw the rock at the next wing. Only to loose sight of it as it fell beyond the horizon of its sight. Grunting, it dropped the projectile no human could lift and returned to the shadows. [the Hand of Lud strikes!] ------------ Meanwhile!!! ------------ Group B @GobMaw_HellSmasha @DeranVendar Lucky for Martin, Pool's aim was off enough to miss most of the structurally weak areas. The dead raiders were filled with holes, but their gear was otherwise mostly in tact. [Salvage Acquired: +1 Binoculars, +1 Rocket Launcher, +2 rockets, +1 radio] With a little love and care, the rocket launcher could be returned to working order and the radio only had one massive bullet through it. Still good for scrap and otherwise a successful acquisition. As Martin existed the Scrapper, he would come upon a strange sight. Before him, a Cyberdog was rolling on the ground, completely alone and suffering from only a few bumps and scrapes. Upon further investigation, he would see a familiar Star surrounded "E" emblazoned on a bandanna around the hound's neck. If read further, he would see that it reads "Del Squad" just bellow the Enclave insignia. Bark would smell the new arrival before he saw him. Recognition software would be able to identify the gear and similar "E" on it of a fellow member of the Enclave. That's not to say B4RK would just trust a random stranger... not that he has much choice. While Martin wasn't a member of Delta Squad ouright, he is still an Enclave Engineer and an American. Bark would have the details of the rescue mission and where he was to go, even if he couldn't find it himself. It will be up to Martin to earn the loveable death machine's trust and to lead him to his Squad. Luckily, the smoke trail of the damaged Vertibird engine would be easy enough to follow for an experienced wasteland scavenger. OOC: next post for those is Group A will be outside the airport. Group B will take longer to arrive.
@DeranVendar Bark sniffed the air as he suddenly caught the scent of a new person that didn't smell like a raider or other bad smelly things. He looked over to the new arrival-while still laying on his back-and looked him over. Recognition software identifying the Enclave insignia on the man's gear ensured Bark didn't go into combat protocols and instead barked happily at the stranger with a "HI!" squeaking out of the Cyberdog's translator. Not given much other reason to pay attention to the strange man so far, Bark went back to looking up at the sky and rolling around on his back for more sky treats. No luck so far. Maybe he needed to convince the sky he was a good boy some other way. Bark paused in the middle of rolling around on the ground, contemplating to the best of his ability what he could possibly do to earn himself delicious sky delicacies... ...he came up with nothing. Giving up on trying to get treats from the fickle cloud people, Bark looked over again to the stranger recognized as Enclave personnel. He got up from laying on his back and walked over to the man, sitting down in front of him and looking at his face, one word was uttered from the translator, "TREAT?".
Pool needed no other words to tell him to or not to do something. He could argue the point but it'd be counter productive. Delay Sarge, delay mission. Both we're unnecessary. "Understood, Sarge." Pool sat back down and looked around for any sign of either raiders or B4rk. Just got to hope that the dumb mutt listens to Sarge's orders to the letter. It'd be a first... Pool's musing were interrupted by the Vertibird seeming to jerk heavily to one side. Pool was thankful for the Power Armour as it allowed him to stay upright and not jerk as much as another in his position might have, still wasn't comfortable... Thankfully Pool locked the Suit's knees in position so that it could remain upright through this ordeal. As Pool looked outside for what hit them he could see the Vertibird's propeller mangled but the Vertibird's lurching was too much for him to get a view on them. "Anyone got visual on contact!?" Pool held onto the Minigun ready to use it if the chance came.
Leaving Bark behind left a bad taste in Jace's mouth, but at least he knew there was a way to stay in touch with the poor guy. "As you say boss, just hope Bark doesn't wander in to a Super Mutant den in the meantime or something." While it was meant in jest, there was a sinking feeling in his stomach telling Jace that this wasn't as unlikely a scenario as one might think. But it seemed that worrying about Bark would have to wait as now the entire damned bird began plummeting to the ground, a bit to quick for the Sharpshooters liking. Forcing himself over to the gunners position, Jace tried to locate what had caused this sudden crash landing, and just barely caught a large figure, but that was all. "Saw an unknown, know idea what he's packing though." Jace yelled out as he held onto his own minigun, more for holding himself down than for looking to shoot something, he'd do that when they weren't crashing. OOC: @DeranVendar Looks like it's just you and Bark, you lucky duck you! Also, hope it's ok Jace caught a glimpse of the throwy guy, just figured since he had high perception he might see something
"Yes sir." Frank responded to the Sergeant's words, forcing himself to focus back on the mission at hand, despite agreeing with Jace and Ruby about leaving the canine by himself. Especially with all these savages out in force tonight. Though his thoughts were interrupted when the flying deathtrap got hit by something, making it careen and spin every which way. "OH FUCK VERTIBIRDS!" Frank cursed at the damn thing shook and screamed alerts everywhere. @dx144 "Negative on visual!" he said, knowing he wasn't even looking out of the doors when it happened. Whatever it was had a better aim than the damn savages that's for sure.
