the_last_resort | (no subject)

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Who: Grainne, and everybody who saw Grainne's post and wanted to go on the exploration
What: Exploring Quadratus, specifically a nice mountain trail
When: Nov 18
Where: Out in the wilderness
Notes & Warnings: There's a mini plot involved with the exploration team, so they will be interrupted along their hike. Feel free to make a subthread for meet and greet, any CR ideas, picture ops, et ctra! I'll make a thread for the encounter where they get ambushed once you guys are done tossing things out, during when they stop to take a break.

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The small expedition had been prepared for. All the items were in place for the group going, and all it took was one step into the transporter to their starting site. Grainne had made the arrangements and asked for the company, so she felt it her duty to wait and greet everyone before they headed off.

She stood nearby idly, wondering if she should take one of the heavier things to carry.

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A small tense knot in the back of her shoulders relaxes ever so slightly, though Grainne stays wary. That had been a bit of a gamble but it paid off, and maybe if she played it right Jade and Elle would make it through. It didn't matter what happened to her, she could likely get out of any situation short of being run through her heart, but the other two were far more fragile.

"Trust me," she whispered back to Jade, "I will make sure nothing harms you."

She nodded to the Orion. "We will not resist." Turning to catch Elle's eye, she gave her a pleading look. "Elle." It was just one word, hoping she would catch on. The last thing these people would want is Elle mapping their hideouts, or wherever they were being taken. She didn't want it being discovered later and used as an excuse to hurt.

Besides, Elle had a good memory, right?

Jade took a few moments to look back at Grainne, taking in her words. She sighed. Realizing that she had no choice, she compressed her staff and put in back in its place.

"Promise," she said to the Orions.

Edited 2014-12-09 14:57 (UTC)

If they're not after violence, if they're not after money (because they would've asked for it already), then Elle's not entirely certain what to expect. Information? ... What definition of "harm" are they operating off of? It's putting Elle more on edge. But at least, wherever they go, she has her Pip-Boy.

It takes Elle a moment to catch on to what Grainne might mean. Maybe to the outside, it looks like Elle is the most likely to resist, but given the fact that she's thinking the same thing as Grainne in that moment... She nods once, slowly. She folds her arms across her midsection in what's normally considered a defensive position, but she's using it to cover up the screen on her Pip-Boy. "Alright," she says with a frown. The words are for Grainne, the presentation for their attackers. "Fine."

Because of what she and Jade were doing before they were ambushed, the map subscreen is what's showing right now. As soon as they start to move, and they aren't being directly stared at, she'll discreetly press her thumb on the button that'll switch the screen over to the health status display.

"A smart decision, humans, to not fight us. Now you must be blindfolded. We can't let you see the way to our lair."

Which ultimatum implied that the Orion expected them to live and to return to Blackway at some point, otherwise keeping the location of their smugglers' den secret from them wouldn't be necessary.

Grainne let out a breathe of relief. As long as they didn't do anything unexpected, they would get out of this all right. She nodded, albeit looking unhappy. Well, there really wasn't much choice, they were outnumbered and the Orions would likely hurt one of the girls. Grainne could have taken care of the entire troop herself if it wasn't for that.

It's a good thing the green men thought she was human.

"I'll hold you responsible if one of us trips, Sir Green." She submitted to a blindfold, only making one growling noise when it covered her vision.

Jade let them blindfold her followed suite, careful to step high as not to trip on anything. There was no way she was letting one of the bandits get near her.

It was incredible: a hero of her planet, and here she was getting captured on another. It was a relief that they didn't notice her S.A.C. hanging on her belt, or at least they were unfamiliar with it. As long as they didn't take it, her camera and supplies digitally stored there would be safe, and at least they still had their communicators in case they were in immediate danger.

It's not a bomb collar. This is what Elle tells herself. She can deal with a blindfold. And it's not like she's going to be truly blind. She quietly flips her Pip-Boy's screen as they start to walk.

Elle circles the question again and again in her mind. What is it they want so badly? She knows there's no point in obsessing over it, she's going to find out once they get there, but... There's no way at all to prepare for this, not even to brace herself. Well. She's going to have to rely on improvisation and her typical sheer, dumb luck. And I've got plenty of practice with that.

Once the Orions have all three of the women securely blindfolded, they lead them off the path, deep into the forest, walking for over an hour over rough terrain.

Then, instead of leaves and twigs and dirt under their feet, there are rocks instead. Shortly after, the blindfolds are removed to reveal a cave, lit by lanterns that emit a steady electric glow. There are chairs set up, eve a few cots, and cooking provisions against one wall. In the back, almost outside of the light's sphere, crates are stacked up high. It's a cozy little smugglers' den.

"Now that we are safe from interruption, I will tell you humans why I have brought you here." He crosses his beefy arms over his chest. "My daughter is missing. You will find her and return her to me."

Grainne blinked, the look on her face clearly stating that was not at all what she expected to hear. Ransom. Maybe. Up to date information about Blackway? Possibly.

"Your daughter?" Her voice is a bit weak and uncertain all of a sudden. "I... I mean, not that we won't help, but..." Shut up, Grainne. "Where did you last see her?"

Edited 2014-12-11 13:01 (UTC)

Jade shot the leader a confused look. "You brought us here for that? What didn't you tell us sooner?"

It wouldn't be the first time she was lied to about why she was going somewhere. Granted, the IRIS Network was an organization hiding from the government and needed its secrecy, but this time it was unnecessary. If the bandits wanted to hide their base, they didn't have to go there.

She sighed. "Whatever. I'll help."

Elle stares at the leader. Wait... They've been kidnapped so they'd help find someone's missing daughter? Really? All this secrecy, and the gunpoint, and... Really? She takes another good look at the cave, finishes by studying the Orion.

All of this secrecy has to have a good reason, because otherwise none of this would be happening. And they seem to have a decent amount of manpower... So, there has to be a reason why they're not putting those resources towards finding his daughter. It could be that, for whatever reason, they just can't spare the people, like what happened a lot with the NCR. But hiring mercenaries is always an option, right? Except, maybe the quarantine makes that harder. And, besides, this is already a pretty heavy situation, maybe they don't want mercenaries involved in case they turn on them. But there's no guarantee that anyone they kidnapped wouldn't try do the same, if only out of spite, even under pain of death. (Elle knows too many people that stubborn.)

Regardless, all of these things she's thinking through, it's bringing her to one conclusion: the likelihood that they feel they don't have much other choice but to resort to these measures is decently high.

(Or, you know, it could be that Orions don't know how to ask nicely for help and kidnapping people is what they know they're good at. But hey, Elle's still new here. She doesn't know to come up with that assumption.)

Slowly, Elle nods. "I know you didn't exactly ask, but it's pretty clear we're willing, anyway." She shrugs. "But... You decided that you specifically wanted us to do it. Why us?" This is something else that's niggling at her, because she can't even begin to guess the answer.

He looks to Jade first and answers her question.

"Patrol. Manhunters. Those cowardly Black Sun spies. Here, it's safe to talk. Not so out there." And kidnapping is what they usually do when they want someone to go to a specific place.

Then, to Elle, "When I saw you in the forest, I knew that it had to be you. You are females."

"Enough with questions. Here is what you must know." This, he addresses to Grainne although he expects the others to listen, too. "My daughter has been missing for one native week. She left from this place to travel to the town, but never returned. We searched for her but could not find her. I think the Black Sun cowards have her. If so, I will crush their deceitful skulls. But first I must have proof, and my daughter safely back with me."

Females. Possibly perceived as less of a threat and able to move freely where obviously these people weren't here by legal means. It made sense to Grainne.

"So that's it... I think I understand." A small flash of pain crossed Grainne's face in remembrance of her own lost children. Not that she approved of the man's methods, but she could understand why one would be driven to measure like that over a child. "We'll need a general starting area to know where to look. It would be useful to pick up her trail where it starts," she glanced around at the hideout, "though I suppose that is out if she left from here."

Really? What was so special about their entire group being women? Jade crossed her arms, a subtle look of annoyance on her face as she listen to the rest of the man's tale.

It didn't take much to convince Jade to search for a missing child.

"I can find my way into their base and find proof." If there was any--Jade couldn't be too trusting of criminals. "What does she look like? Anything important we need to keep in mind when looking?"

Elle doesn't understand what being female has to do with any of this, either, but ultimately, she figures it's not important. She ends up zeroing in on something completely different. "What makes you so sure it's them?" If it's just because they're rivals or something... It'd be really easy for the reason to be something different. There are a lot of hazards out in this wilderness; anything could've happened. Hell, she could've just fallen in a hole somewhere and not been able to get out.

"I mean, if it comes down to it and we do have to break into their base, that wouldn't really be a problem for me, either, but..." She nods at Grainne. Finding a track of some sort is what she wants to do, too.

The Captain takes out a thin metal disk from one of the many pockets on his tattered and colorful vest. He holds it flat and pushes a button on it with his thumb. A holographic picture of a very beautiful green-skinned young woman appears hovering above the disk. He offers the disk out for one of the girls to take.

"The Black Sun Syndicate and the Blood Pack do not like the Orion Syndicate. But the Blood Pack, rivals though they are, they are proper warriors. If they had taken her, they would have announced their intentions openly. The Black Sun deals in dishonor and lies."

Grainne studied the imagine, taking it from the green man and kept it held steady for Jade and Elle to look over.

"She's very beautiful. I tell you now that while we may be able to move more freely than your people, none of us are overall familiar with the terrain or territories of these... factions. We will need at least where she was seen last..." Why this, Grainne was so very not good at these kind of things. Sure, so far nobody's been hurt... but that didn't mean it couldn't change. "What is her name?"

Jade turned to Elle. "We don't know if they're telling the complete truth, but we can't tell unless we go there ourselves. It's a fact that they aren't working together against us." Besides, she told herself, they could finally see how two of the criminal groups operate.

The image catches her attention. The woman could have been around their age, and she was most likely in danger. "If she's been captured, she'll mostly likely be hidden away in a secret room." Just like how Double H was locked in a small room that was hard to enter when he was captured.

Elle quickly holds up her hands in a no wait please don't shoot me fashion. "I'm not trying to imply they're lying," she says. "But there are a lot of things that could happen to someone out here. This world isn't exactly safe. I just think it'd be best to start from the beginning, like Grainne's suggesting, y'know, where she was last known to be, instead of locating and charging off to this group's base. If it really is some kind of misunderstanding, and it's one of the natural hazards keeping her from coming home, then we could be making a war worse. That's why I asked. Not everything is always what it looks like. I want to be sure before taking an action like that."

The Orion captain grumbles. He doesn't like trusting humans, with their strange colored skin and lack of proper pheromones, but if he's to get his daughter back, and have them bring her back to him here, he has to trust them a little. He speaks his daughter's name quietly.

"Inev. She was first going to some caves nearby, to the southeast. We sometimes keep supplies there. Then to town. I sent a scout to look at the caves and he said that many spiders have moved in recently, but he couldn't find her there. But that is where you should first look to seek out her trail."

Edited (name acquired) 2014-12-13 07:11 (UTC)

"Inev." Grainne repeated, memorizing the name, and then quickly turned her attention to what else he was saying. She nodded. Caves to the southeast. Perhaps the girl ran into trouble with the spiders down there. It was worth a look and perhaps they could pick up a trail down there if she wasn't there. "We will start there. If spiders are involved, it may be nothing to do with the Black Sun and she had trouble with the spiders. I hear the venom can cause memory problems... but I swear I will not stop looking for your child, on my own honor as a mother. We'd best hurry, though."

Spiders. It sounded like they would have to be on guard anyway. "Then we don't have any time to lose." She took a step towards the first exit she could spot, turning back at the Orion. "You want to show us the way out?"

Memory problems?... Memory problems? Elle tenses immediately. She'll... She'll wait to ask more once they're alone, because she... No, she's not going to expose something about herself here, in front of someone who had no qualms with kidnapping her, even if it was just to ask for help.

"And how do you want us to get back in touch with you if we find her, or if we have information?" Because they obviously don't want them to know the location of the cave, but... That makes it hard to come back when they have news.

"We will let you know the location of this cave so you can return swiftly, with no time wasted. It was soon to be abandoned, so little is lost." The Orion Syndicate never keeps one smugglers' den for long.

"And if you betray us to the patrol, the Orion Syndicate will find you and exact revenge."

"I have no doubt..." Grainne's tone was dry, but she had no particular reason to want to betray them. Someone was in trouble and that was enough for her. It wasn't like she hadn't defied convention in the past...

"If there's nothing else, may we start? The longer we wait..." If this man was as worried about his daughter as Grainne suspected under the gruff exterior, she didn't really need to fill in the blank.

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i'm sorry i lost the notif like a winner

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