Galileo's Burden, Phase Beta: In Avani's Name

[cityship]

(Plot Post!)

The sun was starting to sink towards the horizon as the emergency pod landed down on the surface of Orya, deep in the thicket of a jungle a few miles north of the village.

It was all unknown and uncharted territory... but if Stacy's crew ever wanted to see a good half of their doctors and scientists again, there was no other choice but to stage a rescue mission.


(ooc: SUBTHREADS ARE FIIIINE. Have at!)

Comments

The Jungle

[cityship]

Aak aak. Eek eek. Tooky-tooky.

Re: The Jungle

[metalwebhead.livejournal.com]

"George, George, George of the Jungle. Strong as he can be~!"

Bounding from one tree to the next, Spidey helped pave the way through the jungle, watching out for what may come their way... and resisting the urge to let out that yell as he sung.

"Watch out for that tree~"

Re: The Jungle

[hit-girl-mindy.livejournal.com]

It was the usual drill: blah blah we fucked up, these people are hostile, we need help. There were details, and Mindy had them sort of in the back of her head, but right now, it was time to act. She knew enough that the scientist types were being held against their will, that some religious mumbo jumbo was making all the inhabitants of the planet turn against the geeks and imprison them.

Bad terms. Death for those involved, hell, death for THEM maybe.

She liked those odds.

So Hit Girl chose to move on the ground for now, moving faster than she had ever before, thanks to Chase's sessions. Now was the time to use everything in the place as leverage. She was silent, swift, barely making a sound.

Let's see if these nuts would see her coming.

Re: The Jungle

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

Normally, a jungle would have the quiet sounds of animals frolicking, as well as nature going on, right? Well, sorry nature. You were gonna be interrupted by what sounded like a motorcycle racing through your terrain, along with a very fast eagle.

Specifically, said motorcycle was the HardBoiler, something that Hoshi had borrowed from Phillip for this mission. It was faster than walking through the jungle was, at any rate.

She positioned the motorcycle to jump over an overgrown root or two, already having a plan in mind of how to go about this -- DoubleDriver or not!

Snipers!

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi caught the glint of metal through the leaves of one of the trees up ahead, immediately identifying it for what it was. He ducked to the right as the firearm went off, visual systems already tracking the projectile as it whistled through the air, identifying composition, calculating ballistic capabilities. A sapling behind him took the hit instead, erupting into a cloud of sawdust and wood splinters.

Well, guess they weren't playing around.

He slid his pistol easily out of its holster, aiming and pulling the trigger in one swift motion. Abruptly, the branch supporting his attacker disappeared at the base, as if some invisible creature had cored a perfectly round tunnel out of one of the trees in an instant. The sniper fell some thirty or forty feet before he hit the ground -- alive, of course, but probably not in any mood to continue attacking just yet.

Re: Snipers!

[metalwebhead.livejournal.com]

Spider-Sense going off like crazy!

Spider-Man's been through this situation before so many times: hostage situation involving a bunch of people wanting ransom. Nine times out of ten, they had the place surrounded and armed to the teeth. Acting stealthy wouldn't of helped, especially in a place like this!

Using his Spider-Sense to dodge the shot aimed at his own head, he turned and fired two weblines and pulled, one taking the sniper gun his attacker had and another to pull his attacker into the path of his fist.

"...sniper guns? Y'know, for a group of people espousing the lack of technology, I find their lack of faith disturbing." Spidey said, hoping no one would hit him for the lame Star Wars ref. To make sure he didn't get up, the web-slinger webbed up the attacker on the ground.

Re: Snipers!

[death_adept]

Moving with stealth and precision as he scouted the area ahead, his sharp senses with the aid of the spy-masks advanced systems picked up easily on the growing number of trees ahead. Darting unseen from tree to tree before moving smoothly into a crouch behind a large moss-laden log to scan the path ahead for other threats, picking up on a considerable number of heat signatures moving their way. With but a thought the magnoculars build into the spy mask gave him a closer view of the potential threats, all clearly armed.

Keying the comms but briefly, --Snipers overhead, ground forces inbound-- Was all they would hear from the cold manner of calm of the Assassin's voice before he cut the communications channel once more. To no one but the Captain he sent --The kids have their attention, permission to engage?-- His tone was clear as just what that would result in. His current objective to scout the village could still be accomplished if he slipped past the incoming forces, should he be directed to.

The Village

[cityship]

Hello, crew members. Meet a hundred or so angry villagers wielding spears. They've been told you're all abominations, see, and they're willing to give their lives to protect their reverend mother.

Make sure that doesn't happen.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

Well, shit.

After all that trudging through the woods and getting attacked, this was not any bit better. The snipers and attackers seemed more trained, more ready for this. But these people ... families were ready to fight. Even children. What they had just come from was one thing, but this...

"Damn it!" Jr. cursed outloud. "We came here to help you! Not to fight you! Why the hell are you doing this?!"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi reholstered his pistol, listening to Jr. while scanning the crowd's armaments. Spears, really? He wasn't going to fight civilians unless he was forced to. And he certainly wasn't going to make the first move against a gaggle of villagers like these.

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

Allenby pulled up short at the sight of all those people. Not just grown men and women, but kids and old folks... and none of 'em looked like they belonged in a fight, whatever their age.

"Whoa. No way," she said, holding up her hands. "You people--you gotta go home! Right now! Okay?" She didn't think they'd listen. They all looked dead-set on battle. But Allenby wasn't going to this. She wasn't going to start pummeling kids, for God's sake!

The Sacrifice

[cityship]

As sunset neared (not that any of the nerds would know when that was, as they were stuck in a cave), the Chosen arrived to re-bind the hostages with their hands tied around their back. They also took the time to paint a few runic designs on their faces with reddish earthen dye. Must have our sacrifices looking nice and pretty, now.

When all was said and done, the hostages were lead to a deep chamber a few halls from the cave-- as it turns out, they've been in the basement of the temple this whole time. And now they get an up-close and personal tour of the sacrificial chamber, where a raging bonfire burns on a pyre as Reda performs some kind of chanting ritual around it.

T-minus five minutes until you all get cut open and thrown into a fire to bless a crazy woman with supposed godlike powers.

Who's got the knife, again?

Re: The Sacrifice

[puny-parker.livejournal.com]

Peter had the knife, and as a consequence had made sure he'd been on one of the ends of the group.

Once they'd reached the chamber, he'd sliced his ways through the ropes, making sure he'd made no obvious movements to reveal the ropes were now loose, and then elbowed the person next to him, handing it over handle first.

[morphitudinous]

While slicing his way to...a slightly higher chance of survival against 20 fully armed guards, Billy kept his head bowed and eyes closed. Hopefully it looked like he was worried about his upcoming death.

That might not be too far from the truth, actually. Being fast and surprising enough to steal rifles and distribute them might help, and the fire might be useful, but the odds sure didn't look appealing.

Next person, you're up.

[timeskip?]

[greennotgold]

Once a few more of his fellow prisoners had freed themselves from their bonds, the knife found its way to Fletcher. He fumbled with it, intuiting what he was supposed to do but lacking the skill to actually do it. He swallowed and was unable to keep the sudden panic off his face. (But maybe that was okay, since their captors thought they were about to...?)

However, unlike the others, Fletcher was unable to cut through his own ropes. As he tried to get the knife into position to cut them, he lost his hold on it and it clattered to the floor.

Oops.

Re: [timeskip?]

[puny-parker.livejournal.com]

The guard nearest Peter glanced over as the knife hit the ground. He only briefly had time to register it's existence before Peter's foot slammed into his crotch, giving the teenager the opportunity to both steal and knock him out with his rifle.

"Move it or lose it guys!"

[Elsewhere in the confusion]

[hi_there_aliens]

A very pregnant silence followed the knife hitting the ground. In what Daniel would later be unable to decide on being a 'horrified silence' or a 'surprised pause', the prisoners all looked to it. Then their eyes went to the guards. The guards did the same, as if unable to figure out where a knife had even come from. Although to their credit, they reacted faster than the prisoners did. As one, the Chosen all started for their weapons. Peter was the first to move, an explosion of motion as he turned around and landing on the guard. It was like a dam giving. Daniel dropped the ropes, just as Billy went for the guard in front of them.

One of the Chosen was coming right for the other man, spear raised to impale Billy in the back as he landed. Daniel did the only thing to come to mind. He grabbed the guard by a shoulder and roughly spun him around, enough to see his face. Daniel punched him as hard as he could.

OW! He'd some training on some hand to hand by now, but actually remembering to get every single pointer in during the heat of the moment was something he was working on. Daniel had laid him out but nearly messed up his own hand in the process. He didn't think he'd broken the carpals or anything but OW.

The guard stayed down, which was a good thing, because the archaeologist didn't think he could do it again. He bent to pick up the spear. Daniel didn't see another Chosen coming up on him until he was getting slammed into one of the walls. The archaeologist impacted hard on his shoulder with a grunt, just as the breath was knocked out of him.

Daniel felt a Chosen grab his BDUS. For a moment, they recognized each other. It was the very guard he'd cajoled his way past to see Reda days ago. It didn't seem to matter. Daniel could see the fervour in his eyes, the same way in the most fanatical followers for Aphophis. The Chosen hauled him away from the wall. Daniel couldn't squirm free, much less even struggle. He was too busy trying to learn how to breathe again and try to deal with the agony in his shoulder, and could only watch, stars swimming across his vision, as the guard dragged him over to the fire pit and the runes there. The man dropped him like a sack, then grabbed his hair and pulled his neck back harshly, holding him over the sacrificial pit.

He was just starting to breath again when he caught sight of the knife about to slit his throat. Daniel started to struggle.

Daniel is not quite the houdini Eleven thought he was? :P

[makeherblue]

Oh. Oh dear.

The Doctor blinked as one of the humans decided now was as good a time as any to kick one of the guards in the crotch. The Doctor flinched, feeling almost sympathetic as the guard crumpled right there on the floor and oh -- yeah, there went Billy, doing his Power Rangers thing and resorting to a lot of blunt force that the Doctor wished wasn't necessary in a situation like this.

What happened to sitting it out and talking?

The Doctor wriggled free of the remnants of his ropes like a fish trying to slither out of a net fin first, shaking his hands free of the scraps as he bounced to his feet. He half expected either a few bullets shot at them or a particle disruptor (or two) but no, that was the wrong planet for even one particle disruptor, so bullets it probably was then. The Doctor immediately ducked down into a pre-emptive crouch, incidentally giving him a great view of Daniel getting dangled over the fire pit. Trust Daniel to be an overachiever and aim to get himself sacrificed! He almost expected the human to save himself like he had with the otter.

The Doctor kicked off the last bits of rope and ran toward the edge of the pit, glad once again this regeneration had good long legs. Never knew when excessively long legs could come in handy! The fire pit wasn't quite the belching volcano he'd told Goliath would be much more appropriate but for all intents and purposes, he didn't think Daniel would feel the difference once he got started on incineration. The Doctor grabbed at the guard's arm, pulling back on the knife and --

Ah. He hadn't quite thought what to do after that, because really, violence wasn't quite his thing and he was now busy trying to weave his head away from that knife. The Doctor struggled with the guard -- his height versus the Oryan's weight.

He risked a glance over at Daniel, half afraid he might be seeing the human lying facedown in a pool of blood.

[not_the_philistine]

Once more being stone, Goliath is the last to be removed from the dungeons. Indeed, he is still there while the others are waiting in the sacrificial chamber, the Oryan guards re-checking the chains used to bind him. The guards are still confident in their position as cracks begin to spread across the gargoyle's stone surface.

The guards have made one mistake, though. They've put their faith in chains that were able to bind Goliath - barely - when he was weary from a day spent recovering from a poisoning.

He stands, and the chains binding him snap like paper. His roar fills the dungeon, and the guards that manage to hold their ground find themselves face to face with a free - and very angry - gargoyle, only their guns keeping him in place. And even this is only because Goliath, quiet now, is gauging how Oryan reflexes compare to human ones.

[puny-parker.livejournal.com]

So far Peter had gotten through this without too much freaking out. After all, it wasn't the first time he'd been threatened to be killed, nor was this his first prison break. He was fairly confident they'd be able to get out of this alive.

"Hey! Larry, Moe, Curly, Shemp. Ya sure you guys wanna stick around guarding one prisoner while there's a mass breakout goin' on?" He snarked at the guards surrounding Goliath as he entered the cell.

Distraction was one of Peter's greatest strengths. Unfortunately for him, it worked best when the distraction was very, very good at dodging. Which, due to being depowered, he wasn't.

Avani's Wrath

[cityship]

(Is laaaaate...)

In the front, the villagers had finally agreed to let things go peacefully... though not without some sincere questions of faith and the circumstances around Mother Reda.

In the back, the hostages emerged from the temple, blinking in the bright sunlight and getting their first scent of fresh air in quite a while.

And off to the north of the village, Mother Reda was speeding through the jungle, eyes narrowed, hurrying to something. She needed to reach it before anyone else did...

Re: Avani's Wrath

[fieldpromoted]

<<Almost back at the temple, Captain - what's the situation with the hostages->>

Trudy stopped short, hearing crashing underbrush. <<Captain we've got a runner from the back of the temple, heading to the ship - I am in pursuit.>>

She rose from her relatively stealthy crouch, using her rifle to push vegetation and the occasional reptile-looking thing away from her face as she ran after the Oryan.

Re: Avani's Wrath

[hit-girl-mindy.livejournal.com]

Now that everyone was starting to make nice, Hit girl had excused herself after noting Billy, Ronnae's squeeze, was all good, and went back to that girl who was pretty much Leon's right hand throughout the mission. After all, they were still looking for mother fuck face who started this all in the first place, right?

And seeing her move, Hit Girl followed, moving deftly through the flora with almost no noise. There was an asset to being small sometimes: one you were trained enough, you know exactly how to make yourself almost invisible.

Avani's Wrath - (PURSUING REDA FROM THE TEMPLE)

[hi_there_aliens]

Daniel had a chance to snag one of the alien firearms on the mad dash out of the building, but didn't fire it yet. He was reasonably sure he knew how to work it. Probably not as well as his gun, but he could figure it out. He'd prefer to take Reda captive without having to fire it, but he also didn't plan to confront her unarmed either.

The sunlight was blinding after being stuck inside a cave and temple for several days. Daniel stumbled for a second. He squinted, eyes stinging. There wasn't any time to cover his eyes or head: the boonie hung against his back as they both staggered forward. They had to keep moving. The Doctor let go of his hand and barreled forward after the shape that flit in and out of the trees up ahead.

So much for her believe in her divinity. Reda tried to slip out the moment the tide turned. Daniel vaulted over a log with some difficulty. Normally it would've been a smooth motion, but normally he wouldn't be hampered by his shoulder. The Doctor gained a foot's lead because of the delay, and Daniel hurried to catch up. It wasn't hard to see Reda amongst the trees, flashes of blue and white. The archaeologist pushed himself even more.

She seemed to have somewhere specific in mind, which probably wasn't a good sign. They had to stop her from getting there.

Re: Avani's Wrath - (PURSUING REDA FROM THE TEMPLE)

[makeherblue]

The Doctor led the way, pushing through brush and ducking low hanging leaves slapping at them.

So! False prophet, false goddess, and all these things weren't any more surprising than "Mother" Reda deciding to do a runner for what he assumed was going to be an escape ship or some big flashy weapon. A bomb, maybe, or something that the locals could mistake as a good, old fashioned smiting. The Doctor dashed through the forest after Reda, hearing the cracking of what sounded as if could be other pursuers -- others, he hoped, chasing after Reda and not them, because at this rate they were going to catch up, what with Daniel Jackson running so slowly. The Doctor risked a glance over his shoulder and saw Daniel floundering a little with that gun of his and lagging further and further behind.

"Do keep up!" The Doctor called back over his shoulder.