Rowan Ophelia

Rowan and Gwen were walking through the forest in search of food as the meagre supplies they had been able to carry with them were beginning to run low. Rowan had her bow out and Gwen was constantly searching for potential prey. Gwen caught the scent of a mouse and bounded off into the undergrowth while Rowan continued on her path through the forest. Soon Rowan came across a small pond that was continually replenished by a babbling stream. She got out several bottles from her pack and after testing the water for drinkability she filled them up. While she rested by the side of the pond she noticed something strange through the trees. It flickered, was spherical in shape and looked extremely pretty.

Rowan got up and headed towards this strange object in the middle of the forest. When she could almost touch it with an outstretched arm Gwen came running through the forest and barrelled into Rowan's legs at such a force that she almost fell over. Rowan quickly came to her senses and pulled her hand back while also taking a few steps back. Up close Rowan could see that it wasn't so pretty in fact the air surrounding it almost felt hungry for more victims. Rowan found a sizeable stone in the undergrowth and threw it towards the spherical object. With a flash it disappeared apart from a small part of it suspended within the sphere.

"Dear God Gwen what it is? I should also be thanking you Gwen, you saved my life." Rowan stood there for a moment, Gwen just looked up at Rowan and meowed. "I think that we should call short the hunting expedition I want to consult the cards on the dangers within this forest. I want to know whether there are more of these spherical things." After a pause Rowan added, "At least we found some water to drink."

David Landerson

The canals seemed endless as Dave snuck his way through them, the darkness of tunnels and sewer pipes a stark contrast to the brightness of day that shone in the open areas of the canals.
A sense of relief had slowly gained on him as he realised he hadn't felt the chill of the woman's eyes on him for some time, but he remained cautious and watched his every step with one eye as the other kept a look out the the almost hidden Lambda 'signposts' that signalled the way to the almost fabled Black Mesa East that was apparently a vital organ in the body of the resistance, even said to be home to veterans of the Black Mesa incident such as Eli Vance and Isaac Kleiner... If this supposed 'Freeman' that he was following was heading anywhere it would be there.
'...And that means the Combine will be too...'
David stopped mid-stride, realising he was at a junction with one path- the one marked with a Lambda -leading to his left and another to his right; towards the outskirts and the forests that surrounded City 17.
'The Combine have undoubtedly heard that this Freeman's journey, probably why they're so pissed off... So if I go after him I'll find myself in a mess of Combine I won't get out of.'
For a while he stood still, contemplating his choices of following Freeman or escaping. His thoughts continuing until they were cut off by a droning that echoed down from the pipelined hallway behind him, causing him to spin 180 degrees to see what it was; Dave's eyes met with the eerie red glow of several Manhacks and their red lights.
"Fucking shitting me!" he exclaimed as he pulled his USP from the small of his back and firmed his stance, ready to fire when they were close enough for guaranteed hits.
"Three... Two... One..." he breathed the words quietly before taking a last deep breath and opening fire on the flying machines, most his bullets ricocheting from their cases but some finding their mark and tearing through the metal into the electrical centres sending them crashing to the ground with a small explosion.
With his first clip empty two of the seven that had come through the hallway still buzzed towards him as he dived to one side, avoiding a frontal swipe from the first. Forcing himself quickly to his feet he looked at the fork in the canal and made his decision.
"Screw this. I'm getting the **** outta dodge."
As he took off at a sprint down his new path he heard the whining of the Manhacks behind him, slowly gaining on him as he fumbled to reload the handgun with his stolen magazines. Just before he clicked the fresh magazine into place he heard the noise of the Manhacks intensify and instinctively dropped to the ground as they flew over him, performing an about turn and heading back his way.
"This isn't a gunfight." he muttered to himself as he pulled the stolen CP Stun-stick from his jacket and got to his feet, taking up a batter's stance and focusing on the closest of the Manhacks.
It's approach only took a second but Dave's swing was well aimed and smashed the body of the machine apart and sending it sparking to the floor even as the second approached and David sidestepped it and brought the baton around, clipping the back of the Manhack's blades with his swing.
The small machine faltered and struggled to keep itself airborne with a damaged rotor even as Dave stepped towards it and brought the baton down atop the machine and smashed it into the ground.
Looking down at the wreckage he wiped the sweat from his brow and deactivated the stun-stick, placing it inside his jumper once more before sprinting along the new route he had chosen through the canals.
'With luck I can make the forest by nightfall...'
He thought to himself, all worries about the grey clad woman had vanished from his mind.

Sam was just finishing his hunting for the day, with a few fast headcrabs and a squirrel in his pack. Normally, he would have just let the squirrel go, but food was scarce near city 17, and that's where he was going.

However, he came across something he did not expect; a semi-permanent rebel encampment. Nobody seemed to be home.

Hmm... he thought. He waited a few moments, and when nobody came out of any of the tents, he walked into the middle of the encampment and crouched by the firepit. There were some fresh embers in it.

The occupants are either away... or dead nearby. I wonder which.

(This is the point where the Red Eagles would be returning, I guess)

RP Conversation
Involving: Ivan Zakhaov (Deimenried) and Desekrator (LorgarForneus)
Drafted: 15th Jan 2009 via IM

> The Red Eagles began their arduous trek back to camp, the recent events going around their minds without cease.
"I don't get it, sir..." Andrei shook his head as he looked at Ivan, "What the hell happened?"
Ivan shrugged, "Desek? You've had more experience with these portal anomolies than all of us combined..."
> Desekrator turned to Ivan, "Closest thing I can figure, it could be an effect of the radiation, but then again the Prof said there wasn't any." He didn't want to tell them about the voice he heard, or the odd dreams that he was sure were connected.
> "What about this 'Psi-Radiation' he mentioned?" Valentina asked. "The nomenclature would indicate some connection with the concious mind... but what would generate that kind of psi-radiation?"
"Well..." Ivan shrugged, "It looks like we've been left with more questions asked than answered." He paused. " Although one thing we can be sure of is that Zaytsev knows a lot more than he lets on."

The Red Eagles finally returned to camp. "Well theres another important thing we can be sure of." Sasha smiled, piling firewood onto the campfire. "There is nothing in the world that can't be fixed by a nice roaring fire... especially when somebody is on fire. Then that's two problems solved in one stroke!"
Grigori laughed "You ever consider becoming a pyrotechnician? You're well below the maximum sanity level they tell you on the application form..."
> Desekrator laughed, "He's right though. Nothing better than a roaring camp fire, a bit of ale and the company of friends. Though back at home we'd talk of the old Norse legends."
> "We hear very few legends around these parts." Valentina nodded as she stared into the fire. "Before all this happened, the only think we believed in was 'Mother Russia'. Now we have aliens, superhuman freaks and portals; All of which want to kill us."
> Desekrator smiled "If the Gods look down upon us, I'm sure they will lead us to victory. Odin probably isn't pleased with all these aliens running about!"
> Grigori sniggered to himself. "If I was Odin, I'd let these aliens know that it was.. Hammer Time... eh?" A wave of groans erupted.
Andrei shrugged "I don't get it."
"Some American music that we heard some recruit playing back in Kazakhstan." Ivan explained "It was called Hammer Time, and the Norse God Odin has a hammer as his weapon." Andrei just looked blankly at Ivan and nodded.
"Okay..." Andrei turned back. "Still isn't funny..."
> Desekrator chuckled "Thor was the one with the hammer! Mjolnir. Odin had a spear. And one eye, but that's a different story!" He knocked back some of the beer the Red Eagles had given him. Not as good as from his hometown, but it was still pretty good.
> Ivan shrugged, "I don't know much about the mythologies myself. Something I saw in a film once." He paused, "Come to think of it, it was pretty ****, and the writers didn't have a brain cell among them."
Before anyone could reply, Florian radioed in. "Florian to Eagle's Nest come in. Florian to Eagle's Nest please respond."
Valentina picked up the receiver. "This is Eagle's Nest, go ahead Florian."
"We have reason to believe there is an intruder in the forest. He was snooping around an hour before you returned. Advise you keep your wits about you. Over."
"Roger that, Florian" She replied. "Eagle's Nest out."

Everyone looked at each other and around the camp. "Not that gypsy again, is it?" Grigori muttered, looking around in the fading light of the forest.
>Desekrator looked at the Eagles. "Could be another guy like me? Though he sounds in better shape than when you found me."
>"Let's hope they are as friendly as you..." Ivan muttered...

At this point, Sam was half-asleep in a tree, not even 300 yards away. He had been waiting there for somebody to show up at the camp, and, should they be anything but Combine or Bandits, he had the intention to approach. Who knows, they might have some extra ammo they could trade.

Looking through the scope of his gun, he didn't see any obvious signs of bandit behavior, such as overly-drunk or particularly quiet-seeming people, but instead saw a jovial group of rebels. Mercenaries, perhaps, based on the fact that they were resourceful enough to keep radios on during the night.

He finished off a raw headcrab and packed his things, and slowly climbed down the tree. He was sure to climb on the side opposite the camp, as not to be spotted too soon and become target practice for some startled sniper.

Being of a relatively small build was advantageous when attempting to travel via stealth. His only concern for when he walked into the camp was that these people might mistake his overly-pale skin for his being a Combine soldier. Once he was within 50 feet of the camp, he called out, knowing that he could still get shot if he came in a bit too... unannounced.

"Hello?"

RP Conversation
Involving: Ivan Zakharov (Deimenried), Desekrator (LorgarForneus), Sam Tilgan (Lulzertank) and David Landerson (MyNameDidntFit)

> Upon hearing the voice, the once-peaceful scene around the campfire quickly changed as the entire squad grabbed their weapons. Soon every rifle and light machine gun was pointed at the figure stood at the edge of the camp. Seeing the newcomer in terran camouflage was a reassuring sign of humanity, but the pale skin and eyes made Ivan think twice.
"Who are you?" He called out. "What are you doing here?"
"Я не доверяю ему..." Grigori whispered loudly. Ivan merely gestured him to quiet awaiting the stranger's response.
> "Call me Sam. I'm a long-time resident of the area. I don't see other people often, and those I do normally aren't people anymore."

He stepped further into the camp, revealing an FN SCAR across his back, and a pistol at his side, in addition to his... skin complexion.

"I was hoping I could trade some ammo off of you, if possible."
> Desekrator glanced at the others. Apparently, the newcomer looked untrustworthy. He wasn't sure why, but things would probably explain themselves as they unfolded. Another part of this foreign time he thought to himself. He threw a questioning look at Ivan.
> Reluctantly, Ivan lowered his L85A2. The rest of the group followed suit, except Grigori who kept his RPK trained on the stranger before finally following Ivan's lead.
"Looks an awful lot like a Combine to me..." Grigori blurted out. Andrei shot Grigori a disapproving glare. "What? He does!"
"Then why is he not shooting at us?" Andrei retorted. Without glancing back, Ivan raised his eyebrows and subtly shook his head.
"Well..." Grigori continued, "He isn't human. Look at the skin-"
"Ladies..." Ivan interjected. "Thank you. Alright... Sam. You can trade, maybe grab a beer with us, but I think Grigori might have his eye on you..."
> "Thanks. Would you happen to have any .700 Nitro Express rounds, or some 6.45's... or any of the experimental .773 Hypernova rounds? If so, I've got enough 5.56's and 7.62's to supply an army."

Walking forward, he opened up his pack and began removing about 500 rounds of the aforementioned ammunition. He even chucked a smoke grenade into the pile.

"Let's see... 9mm... more 9mm... would anyone happen to need any .223's or .30-06's? I can never find the rounds I really want."

He proceeded to place all the rounds he had up for trade next to him, and sat down near the fire.

"And you would be correct in saying that I'm not human. I'm an escaped transhuman."
> Grigori sat opposite Sam, eyes rarely away from him with his MR444 in hand.
Andrei simply gave Sam a questioning look. "Those are some seriously obscure cartridge types you are after, most of which untendable or abandoned after the experimental phase." He raised his arms in a defeated shrug. "All we have around here are Warsaw-pact and a little NATO ammunition..."
As Sam fiddled with his cartridges, Ivan placed a beer next to him as he passed. "You know how much a Sabot costs these days?" He asked, opening his beer bottle. "Common as dirt before the war, quartermasters sat on surplus and each could support an entire armoured regiment without running dry. Now? We have enough problems getting in rifle ammunition." He gestured Grigori's pistol. "For two months we had to run without sidearms when the Combine began hording for the 'Metro-Cops' USPs. All that experimental stuff will be gone, or worse, destroyed. Either you've been lucky in your salvage, or your failed trranshuman operation has altered your memory..."
> "Damn. I was hoping that I could at least find a few .700's. I only have a handful left..."

He picked up the beer and examined it for a moment.

"I actually have come across a few hidden stockpiles of Sabots, though. I found'em near White Forest Missile Base. I couldn't carry'em, so I hid them in a hollow tree. I could get'em for you if you need them that badly."

He downed a few gulps of the beer.

"Too bad that place is run by a complete ****. They have ammo coming out the *** in that armory, and I have one of the few firearms capable of using them. But no, good ol' ammo nazi won't trade them to me. He can't even use the damn things! I offered him a whole cache of Combine Balls, and I couldn't even get one off him!"

He took a headcrab out of his pack, speared it on a stick, and held it over the fire.

"...anybody hungry for headcrab?"
> Desekrator sat down at the other side of the fire. Grigori seems a bit overcautious he thought to himself, as he picked up his drink. He took a swig, and pondered over what Sam had said. Not knowing what a transhuman was, he decided to ask Ivan later. He took it as a reasonable explanation for Sam's odd looks, but other than that he seemed to be okay.
"Headcrab, eh? So THAT'S what that thing is called. I was attacked by a load of those things near my house, way back when. I assume you're a hunter, seeing as you caught the thing?"
> "I'm a little bit of everything. I just like to refer to myself as a... survivalist."

He withdrew the headcrab from the fire, examined it, and found it unprepared.

"At least there's no known negative side effects of raw headcrab..." he mumbled, and stuck it back over the fire.
> Ivan looked confused. "Wait wait... you say theres someone who actually runs that place?" he looked back to see similar perplexed expressions in the others. Can't be rebels... Ivan thought. They're the ones that hired us to FIND the place... Can't be Traders either. Florian's map wasn't even complete.. if anyone knows about other traders around here it would be him... Unless it's Combine agents? "Who is it?" he finally managed. "Combine?"
> "No, it's actually a group of rebels. I'd try to kill them all if they were Combine. Anyways, they just captured it two weeks back. They had a scout following a Combine patrol. That group happened upon that base, and started to set up shop. The scout reported back, and they decided to take the place right then."

He took a swig, and continued.

"I helped them out in taking it before the Combine could destroy the solitary rocket in that place, but no, that guy won't even give me my due compensation. I think his name's Dr. Fagnusson, or something... he worked at Black Mesa before all this crap went down. I don't give a damn, though, I want my ammo."

...and then he noticed the headcrab was burning.

"Aw, hell. Not again!"
> Desekrator shook his head to himself, and picked up his guitar. More stuff to ask Ivan about later he thought to himself as he practiced sweep solos. He had heard of Black Mesa before, on one of Altar's tours he had talked to the bassist of the band supporting them, and he said he was applying for a robotics job there. He'd also heard rumours that this is where all the portal activity originated from. Those things still gave him a funny feeling. He still wasn't sure why, but he knew he'd find out soon enough.
> Ivan shook his head before getting up and walking out of the camp, saying nothing. He walked for what felt like forever, eventually reaching the edge of the forest on a ridge, City 17 merely a mile away. He stood there a good ten minutes gazing out towards the city, the wind in the trees and the distant sound of the Combine announcements were the only noises. He heard footsteps in the leaves behind him.
"What do we do now?" Ivan asked distantly, his gaze still fixed on the drab surroundings. For a few minutes there was no reply.
"What can we do?" Valentina replied, moving to stand next to Ivan, her gaze also on the city.
"It wasn't theirs to take..." Ivan hissed.
"It wasn't ours to give either, Ivan." She replied bluntly. Ivan felt angry at such a response, but he knew Valentina was right. The day they retreated from the lines they forfeited control of the base to whichever miscreants got there first. "Just be happy that the Combine didn't get it. The Rebels may be mostly western foreigners, but their goals are for our benefit as well, even if we do not fight for the same things they do, they still fight for what's best for us."
Ivan stood silent before he finally managed a reply. "I only hope they do a better job of keeping it out of Combine hands than we did..."
Valentina nodded, putting her hand on Ivan's shoulder. "We might not have White Forest, but there is still much to fight for. White Forest was but one battle in a war that is still rages even now. We lost the battle, but the war can still be won."

Slowly they returned to camp. Florian and two of his Woodland Guard had since entered the camp to investigate the newcomer.
> The forest at night was never something David had enjoyed ever since the portal storms, before that he loved it. But now... it was always silent. Not tonight though, the sounds of C17 echoed from behind him... yet, there was something else.

Voices.

They were quiet but still audible. David hurriedly moved behind a cluster of bushes and looked about him, finally spotting two human- or so they seemed -silhouettes standing on a ridge conversing, quite heatedly at that.
A direct approach was stupid. If they weren't Combine they'd be suspicious and shoot him. If they were Combine they'd just plain shoot him.
So, instead he made his way to the bottom of the ridge and started to climb up roughly 50 metres along from the pair. As he pulled himself over the lip and rolled into the bush that started a few meters from the edge he saw the pair walking away, taking it upon himself to follow them he stuck to the bush where they were just visible...

Not that it would have mattered, the crackle of a campfire and the murmur of voices was now evident even from here... seemed like quite the gathering. His suspicions were confirmed as he came into view of the camp; a group of men, and a woman, were sitting, standing and lying around a camp-fire; all armed to the teeth.
Deciding to take a risk Landerson moved around the camp until all the occupants were out of view and quickly dashed from the tree line to the back of a tent and began to wiggle one of the pegs from the ground when something caught his eye; a table scattered with various items, most notably a PDA.
Now that could get me some information...
David sighed, lent around the tent and looked at the gathering; they seemed incredibly pre-occupied with a particularly pale man... all the better for me.
The gap closed quickly as David went prone and crawled to the table, picking up the PDA and rolling back into the edge of the forest.

A good ten minutes passed with David scanning through every file he could access and he gleaned a quite impressive knowledge of these people, apparently the "Red Eagles" mercenary group. Now to see if he could use that knowledge...

Moving quickly he placed the PDA back on the table and circled the camp until he was coming from opposite C17 and strode confidently into the light.
"Ivan!" he paused and stood still as an arsenal worth of weapons pointed at him and assumed his best friendly face, "Zakharov you crazy Rusky, what why didn't you tell me you were in the sector?" even as the confused look on Ivan's face formed David looked to who he assumed was Valentina, "Ah, looking as beautiful as ever I see. Alas, I haven't come to flirt, but I do believe I may be able to help you get what you want... or at least, where you want."
> Desekrator looked around at this new intruder. He put down his guitar and picked up Psyklon. By the looks of it, things just got interesting he thought to himself, and shook his head, standing in a position to cover the newcomer.
> Already having his CZ75B out of its holster, Sam slowly lowered it once he saw that the newcomer was human.

"Dammit, you scared me!" he said, somewhat perturbed. "I'd suggest calling out from behind a tree next time you do that. Alot of people shoot first, and ask questions later."

He sliced a chunk out of the now-ready headcrab, and began chowing down.

"Who are you by the way?"
> "I hate to be cliché but that's not important, what IS important is that if you want to find White Forest you're going to want to snuggle up to the rebels real quick; I've heard rumours that they're stepping up evacuations from C17 to Black Mesa East, out near Ravenholme... the Combine have got something massive up their *** right now and I have reason to believe, that reason being my own eyes, that the thing up their *** is Gordon Freeman- you guys know of him, right?"

[OOC: woo mammoth post!]

RP Conversation
Involving: Ivan Zakharov (Deimenried), Desekrator (LorgarForneus), Sam Tilgan (Lulzertank), Rowan Ophelia (TeePee) and David Landerson (MyNameDidntFit)


>Desekrator just shook his head.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, so I better ask; who in Odin's name is Gordon Freeman?"

>"I know where White Forest is. I helped take it." Sam remarked.

"And if Freeman is back, all I know is that the Combine are going to make it their number one priority to capture or kill him."

He proceeded to take another bite out of the headcrab.

"What's 'Ravenholm', by the way? A resistance camp?"

>With a wide-eyed look at the guitarist (or so David assumed) and the pale guy he shook his head and looked at the guitarist.
"Gordon Freeman... well, Freeman single-handedly saved earth from the Xen invasion after the Resonance Cascade at Black Mesa... no-one knows what happened to him though... but the rumours fly thick and fast even so long after," David paused and turned his attention to the pale one, "Ravenholme is the most heavily infested place I've seen. Not even the Combine go there now. Black Mesa East is virtually right next to it."

>Florian nodded, "You'd be wise to stay out of Ravenholm. My contacts inform me that the Combine discovered the Rebel outpost there and shelled the **** out of it." He paused, "Nothing human remains there now."
"That's all well and good," Ivan interrupted, "but we need to capitalize on Freeman's return. If he's the hero everyone claims he is, he could prove good leverage in this war."
"You're not kidding." Florian replied, "The whole 'Freeman' story has put the population on edge. It's a powder keg waiting to go off, all it needs is a little motivation and the combine will have a full on rebellion on their hands."
"And THAT is where we can capitalize." Ivan added. "Once the rebellion is underway the Combine will be distracted, and their forces spread thin. It is then we should strike; derail troop trains, attack supply lines; do everything in our power to keep them on the back-foot." Ivan paused to think, "If we can do that then we might stand a chance of destroying them. Let this Gordon Freeman worry about finding a way to close off their portals, we'll worry about picking them off while he does his 'Hero' thing."

>While everyone was busy discussing the prospects of Gordon Freeman being around a black cat slunk into the camp and sat by the fire chewing at the burnt remains of a headcrab. In the shadows of the trees Rowan watched the group too scared to approach them. However, a glimpse of their weaponry told her that she was in the place that her dreams have told her to be. She needs to be here otherwise she will never find herself or her past.

>Sam noticed a small creature nibbling at the headcrab.

...another headcrab? he thought.

He quickly snapped it up, before it could do any harm. It was a good-sized black cat.

"Guys? Do any of you keep a cat?" he announced, before it wriggled free of his grasp.

>"Oh, you must be kidding me..." Andrei sighed, looking up from his labours to see the familiar cat causing general mayhem.
"Looks like our secret admirers are back!" Sasha chuckled to herself. "Old laaadyyyy?" She called mockingly.
"Forget it, she prefers that cat to make first contact." Ivan laughed. He saw Florian's bodyguards nervously scanning the surroundings through the sights of their Saiga 12Ks. "Relax, guys. She's harmless.... I think."
Florian looked around, as if to avail a glimpse of their mysterious new guest. "Friend of yours?"
Ivan merely shrugged, "Of sorts... In the sense that she hasn't done us any specific harm, and in these times that counts for something I guess."

>Desekrator stood in the middle of the confusion, still covering the second newcomer.
"By Thor's moustache wax, we're going to end up having a party here! How many more people are going to turn up?" He had a quick glance around, and saw a shadow lurking on the outskirts of the camp, his hunting skills coming to the fore. He decided to wait for the shadow to show itself, presuming it was the old woman that Ivan was talking about.

>"The guitarist there is right. This is too many people too close to C17," he pointed at the sky in the direction of City 17, "Look, the citadel is lit up like I've not seen before; a group this size will not go unnoticed. So, unless you actually have reason to be here, which I doubt now you have a way to White Forest, I would recommend you get the hell out of dodge."

>"****..." Florian muttered. "I don't mean to be a discourteous host, but I do think anyone who shouldn't be here should get the hell out! I don't want a Combine assualt team in my forest! Last time that happened it got rather messy."
"Something has them on edge..." Ivan said, gazing at the floods of Scanners and helicopter gunships pouring out of The Citadel. "Which prompts a bit of scouting. White Forest may not hold redemption, but if we can make life even harder for them we may yet win this war."
"Just make sure you don't drag them through here on this quest of yours." Florian retorted as he shooed the strangers from the camp. He took his radio, "All perimiter callsigns, go to alert level 2 until further notice. I say again; All perimiter callsigns, alert level 2, out."

Florian's bodyguards got into their UAZ at the edge of the clearing. He turned to Ivan "Oh, and one more thing; If that old woman is your friend, she had better announce herself soon." His gaze turned cold, "I can't vouch for her safety when my guard are on high alert." After pausing to make sure it sank in, he got into the passenger side of the UAZ and was driven off back to his base of operations.

>"In this case, then I'm off to White Forest." Sam said.

"If crap's about to hit the fan, I can't risk being outnumbered fifty to one. If you need to find White Forest Missile Base, there's a road about two miles northwest of here. Follow it north till you come upon a small industrial park, then turn east. You'll come upon White Forest Village. Proceed along the road South for a short period, till you come alongside the river, and follow it north. You won't need any directions after that."

And with that, he gathered his ammunition and began trekking towards the White Forest Missile Base.

>David was almost laughing as man left in his UAZ; what was he on?

A smile passed over his features as he looked to Grigori; "Whatever's up that guy's **** he best get it out; whether we're here or not there will be Combine in 'his' forest and when they face the resistance of his guards- who, apparently, aren't the best seeing how many strangers you've just encountered unannounced -they will send more forces," he looked about the remaining faces, "They won't just leave you mercs alone any more; you know that Freeman's disturbance makes striking vital points easier for you... don't think they don't. If you're wise you wont be between the Combine and White Forest unless you feel like dying."

David turned on his heel and started away from the camp before stopping and glancing over his shoulder and laughing, "Oh, and winning this war? You're joking, right? We can hardly deal with Overwatch; what do you think will happen when they get back in touch with their buddies? The 7 Minute War?"

>"Thanks Eagle-Eye." Sasha muttered quietly as David walked out of the camp. "Like we don't already know that..."
"He's a rebel." Andrei whispered back, "They love to make a big song and dance about everything. Makes them feel big."
Grigori laughed "Well he scores a round 9 on my asshole-o-meter." He began stroking his RPK, "If he shows up again?.... I think I'll shoot him."
"I don't doubt that." Ivan chuckled, "Remember Mikhail?"
Grigori erupted in a bellowing laugh, and soon everyone but Andrei was laughing uncontrollably. "Mikhail?" Andrei enquired.
"Tell him!" Sasha implored, trying to get her breath back.
Grigori attemptd to compose himself, "It was back in City 14, when we were clearing out a Combine outpost in a railyard. Some Rebels had tagged along and one of them had the nerve to tell me afterward;" he scrunched up his face so that his eyebrows were lower and his nose and mouth were higher, and in a mocking low voice he said "Hey, gorilla. You're holding that gun wrong." Andrei couldn't help but laugh. "So I picked him up by the neck, got my pistoland shot him in both his legs!" He resumed his bellowing laughter.
"It was so funny-" Sasha ghasped for breath, "For the rest of the mission he kept asking Mikhail if he was holding his gun right, and he always said 'I think so!' in this really squeaky voice ."
As the laughs died down, Grigori sighed. "Seriously, though. If I have to listen to him for a second longer, he's going to catch a bullet."
"He'd better pray he's useful to us, then" Ivan chuckled. "Well then, let's find some combine installations to uninstall...."

>Desekrator picked up his things, slung his guitar over his back, and headed over to the Eagles. Quickly checking over Psyklon, he turned to Ivan.
"So, are we following those guys? Or do you have a different plan?"

>Striding through the forest, Sam began to plan in advance for any Combine he might meet upon the road to White Forest, and how he would be able to avoid or kill them. As long as none of the... 'specialized' units meant for capturing high-value targets were along his route, he should be fine.

But just then, something caught his eye...

Just out by the road, he spotted multiple red orbs and blue pairs of eyes heading in his direction... and towards the merc camp less than a mile back Fast.

"Aw, hell."

Running back towards the camp as quickly as his legs would take him, while remaining reasonably silent. Finding most people still there only alarmed him more.

"You people need to get out of here, or get ready to make one damn good stand. You've got a few dozen Combine footsoldiers on the way here!"

>Hardly fifteen meters into the forest David heard rushing footsteps a second before the pale man sprinted past him back into the camp and hurriedly- and urgently -reported that a sizeable Combine force was headed their way.

He took a second to take inventory; 9mm USP Match, 2 spare clips and a stun baton.
****. Looks like I'm taking my chances with this lot... which is great because mercs just love rebels like me.
With a grim expression on his face he jogged back to the clearing where the mercs and the pale guy were gathering up equipment. His arrival prompted a severely unpleasant look from Grigori that he responded to with an amused smile.
"So much for your friend's guards and their 'high alert'."
David almost laughed at the volley of looks he caught; the kind often followed by bullets.
Good thing they know how to prioritise...

>"Fucking foreigners." Sasha grumbled loading up her L85A2.
Ivan made sure he had the squad's attention. "Alright! We're doing this on the quiet." Ivan went over to the stores and began taking in the L85A2's and distributed MP5SDs to the team, aside from Valentina who traded in her SVD for a Vintorez VSS. "I know these aren't the most powerful weapons in the world, but the Combine won't know what hit them. And you three?" He indicated Sam, Grigori and David, "If you insist on going loud, you can act as the distraction. Keep them pinned and we'll finish them off." He promptly covered the store structure with camo netting. "Alright, everyone going quiet get up into the treeline, 10 metre spread." Ivan, Valentina, Sasha and Andrei began their ascent into the trees surrounding the camp. Soon they were almost invisible. "Oh, and Grigori." Ivan whispered over the radio headset. "Try not to shoot David until we've killed the Combine."
Grigori turned to look at David. "No promises." He replied, loading a new drum into his RPK and pulling the cocking handle.

>Sam proceeded to eject his 7.62mm clip and insert a clip of 5.56mm into the variant chamber instead.

"Let's do this quick. I saw more of them a few miles down the road."

He stalked off into the trees, and sighted the soldiers through his scope.

"...you have about 2 minutes before they're in range. They're armed solely with AR-2's. I'd say one out of every 8 here is an elite." he whispered into his in-throat radio.

>David shot Grigori a sarcastic smile as he took out his USP and checked the magazine, "Now, I know you hate me, but any chance you could lend a man a bigger gun?"

>Desekrator moved closer, using his hunting skills to stay stealthy. He took up a position overlooking where the Combine would appear, and took careful aim with Psyklon.

>Grigori laughed, putting on a mocking accent. "You want big gun, American?" He handed David an MP-7. "Here you go. I saved this just for you."

>The first soldiers were now in-range of Sam's forward position.

"Firing first shots in 3... 2... 1..."

A 3-round 5.56mm burst rang out, and a Combine Soldier dropped dead, almost completely decapitated.

Almost immediately, many of the remaining soldiers began returning fire on his position. After lobbing a white phosphorous grenade at them, he rolled behind a tree, grimacing at the electronic screams of some now-burning soldiers.

>David cocked the MP-7 and placed his USP back into his pants with a genuine laugh, "Check your facts, Rusky, I'm 'stralian..." he paused and smiled widely, "Mate."

Even as he turned towards the trees a volley of shots rang out followed by return fire then the sound of an explosion and Combine screams.
Dave's running took him around to the opposite side of the Combine column to the pale man where he took cover crouching behind a series of rocks and checked the MP-7's grenade chamber; loaded. He smiled and made a mental note to thank Grigori for the 40mm as he leant from cover and sent a burst of fire into the back of a Combine head as the soldier fired blindly at the hillside opposite him.

Over the din of the fire-fight the low thrum of engines could be heard in the distance; it seemed that this wasn't going to be as easy as cutting down some foot soldiers.

>"Stand by.... Stand by...." Ivan whispered over the radio, "Wait until they are a little closer." The advancing Combine group was almost within the camp itself. It was the first time that they had seen Elites deployed outside of a Citadel, and this alone was unnerving, as if the seemingly increasing number of soldiers advancing wasn't enough. "Weapons Free." Within a split-second of Ivan finishing, a volley of 9mm rained sliently and viciously down on the combine. The combination of the ground fire and the silent fire caused chaos within the ranks of the combine foot-soldiers, and soon it seemed they were falling back.
"Hahaha! That's right, run away!" Grigori jeered over the noise of his own machinegun.
"They're not retreating." Valentina replied, "They're regrouping... ****... anyone else hear that?" The sound of engines was now much clearer.
"We have a slight problem here!" Florian shouted over the group's radio, the sounds of small arms and machinegun fire prevelant throughout the transmission. "We've got a shitstorm of them coming in from the south. I'm losing men left and right! Get the hell out of here! This position has been compromised!" The sound of a Strider's main cannon charging up could be heard in the background "I repeat, get out of here NOW! We can't ho-" The transmission went dead as a distant thump rang out in the air.
"That can't be good..." Sasha said distantly.
"Okay, this is going bad. Everyone grab what you can and let's go!" Ivan replied as he and the others descended from the trees.
Everyone in the group grabbed an AK-101 and put it over their backs, keeping their MP5SDs for the retreat. Grigori grabbed an AK. He got a quizzical look from David. "This is a sidearm!"

The group moved out as quickly as they could northward and away from City 17. There seemed to be no initial signs of pursuit.

[ooc: another mammoth post ]

Rowan Ophelia

From the edge of the camp in the shadows Rowan could suddenly hear a hubbub of noise and see the activity as for some reason everyone started to leave the camp with hushed cries of combine. Gwen rushed back towards Rowan and carried on past her in the direction of the cave they had set up camp in. Rowan started to shakily run after Gwen trying to keep up with her cat.

After a short while they both made it back to their cave but they could still her the noise of gunfire and battle. "Gwen do you think we'll be safe here?" Gwen didn't reply but instead walked over to the back of the cave and started to paw at it to gain Rowan's attention. Rowan walked over and found a small passageway that led deeper into the cave system, "I hope you know what you are doing Gwen" Rowan said before she started to follow the passageway.

Mechanicus Supreme

Deep within the labs of the Citadel, Mechanicus Supreme was maintaining the production lines. As he watched over the productions, a Combine Elite came to him from the shadows.
"My lord, we have tracked some rebels down around the outskirts of the city. We have them on the run." Mechanicus Supreme turned to the Elite.
+++WHY DO YOU BRING THIS INFORMATION TO ME?+++
"My lord, they have in their possession one of the escaped transhuman failures. Also, there are reports of odd portal disturbances in the area, that seem to follow a pattern of retreat." Mechanicus Supreme turned away, cogitating for a moment, then turned back to the Elite.
+++EXCELLENT. SEND THE SCOUT DRONES AFTER THEM, BUT AT A DISCREET DISTANCE. I WANT THEM MONITORED. INFORM OVERWATCH SUPREME OF MY DECISION.+++
"Yes, my lord." With that, the Elite walked away, to pass the orders to Overwatch Supreme. Mechanicus Supreme turned back to quickly scan over his production lines, then headed into the labs once more.

As he got deeper, he reached a part of the labs only he could access. Not even the Advisors were allowed in here. He spouted a blurt of scrapcode binary, and the doors opened. As he entered the door closed behind him, and the entrance lights flickered on, shining a dull red.
+++SOON, WE WILL HAVE OUR MOMENT.+++ He looked up, into the shadows, and a single, glowing eye stared back at him.
+++SOON, THE FLESH WILL BE ERADICATED.+++

[ooc: I stole the term "scrapcode" from the Horus Heresy novel Mechanicum, it's basically corrupted binary.]

Combine Overwatch Supreme
[ooc: Quick post as I seem to have all but forgotten this character x.x]

The Overwatch Supreme was extremely displeased with the news carried by the Elite. Failed transhuman procedures were not commonplace, but they had a habit of becoming very difficult to find.
"What of the rebel group's location?" Overwatch supreme.
"Unknown." The Elite replied. Even through the Overwatch Supreme's sterile expression the Elite could see his tempers rising. The Overwatch Supreme's own failed transhuman procedure had given him an edge no other Transhuman had, but also left a lot of undesireable human traits. He was known for his rage or overzealous "belief" during operations, but if anything they had served him well rather than hindered his progression through the Combine Ranks. "Although," The Elite resumed attempting to avert any unneccessary violence, "We have successfully destroyed the Mercenary nest in the forest. The man known as "Florian" has been accounted for."
"Excellent news." Overwatch Supreme almost smiled. "Return to your duties immediately." The Elite saluted and left the Command Centre. Overwatch Supreme returned his gaze to the tactical readouts. A large number of green dots almost swarming the section of forest. The tip-off they had been given had been right on the money. The Mercenary dealer and most of his guard had been eliminated, though one report had him somewhat troubled; the previously unknown Mercenary Group seen by scouts to be operating alongside the Mercenary Dealer had turned out to be the Red Eagles; a group that had repeatedly hindered and opposed many operations in Sectory 14, and here they were. On his own turf, within striking distance.

This was an oppertunity he couldn't pass up. Whereas the weaker Sector 14 Overwatch were known for badly deploying resources, Overwatch Supreme was well known for dispatching the right units to the right places to get the job done with as few troops outside the Citadel as possible, and without sacrificing efficiency; a quality that would be tested as the uprising was manifesting itself rather violently and the return of Gordon Freeman was only making matters worse.
"Once the troops have finished sweeping the area, have them set up outposts on the road." He indicated the main road which not only lead in and out of City 17, but many old military installations including a nearby rocket base. "Send a small detatchment to hold each and have the rest scout the military bases nearby. If they go to ground anywhere around here, it will be a secure facility." He almost felt uncomfortable watching the position readout. He always felt weak when dispatching more than one Strider, especially now, but in this case it was neccessary to render a massive blow to the resistance movement outside of City 17. "And get those Striders back here. I don't want to sacrifice urban patrols; the rebels might get the wrong idea..."