The Recovery (post-apocolypse RP) [IC]

[Enigma]

Ax-woman had managed to cram herself in uncomfortably, and her axe handle was pressing against his thigh. He prayed this wasn't going to be a terribly long flight.

Sudden movement on his other side was the Wolf-woman. She was yelling something at the officer but whatever it was, Tanner couldn't make it out over the engines and the propellers. Maybe she was asking about smoke grenades for signalling the 'copter? A part of him hoped they didn't have any, which meant they'd have to walk back. This flying was for the birds.

[Acaelus]

For his part Raylan say a little more comfortably at ease then they did. Whether it was nerves before the mission, a general discomfort with flying, or something more obscure he couldn’t say, really. Having never met them he couldn’t dream of guessing what made them tick just yet. They certainly seemed capable, at least, and their gear was well maintained. That axe the big woman held looked as though it could cleave a man clean in half and she liked plenty strong enough to make it happen.

The turbines were revving up to and even faster spin and with a rap of his knuckles upon the pilots helmet he signaled they were ready to leave, there was a sensation of weightlessness, of gravity suddenly being rendered obsolete, and they were rising in the air. Raylan was just about to lean back and tilt his hat down over his eyes for a little siesta when Gerena addressed him, her voice raising to be heard over the thrum off the helicopters blades.

“They haven’t told you?” He asked, surprise coloring his tone. How did people find themselves eagerly joining these sorts of things without knowing what it was they would be doing? Wanderlust, he supposed.

“Well it’s pretty run off the mill from what I’ve been told about the Recovery Force so far.” He began then, his gaze moving to Tanner and Jenny in turn to include them in the conversation as well just in case. “This chippier is going to take us to an old city. Someplace from the old world before everything went to shit. We’re to establish a secure base of operations, explore the area, and deal with whatever local threats and/or potential allies we may find.”

The camp they had all been staying at had already faded in the distance, Trents and structured giving way to dense green forestry for miles upon end. Who could say what manner of creatures existed even down there so close to where the RF operated? Raylan knew better than most you never really knew what threats lay in wait until they were on you, the waiting finished.

“More than likely we’ll be in the field for a couple weeks so it’s up to us to look out for ourselves and one another.” He continued, putting aside those dark thoughts until later.

The briefing he had received, if indeed the tiny bit of information he has been given could be called that, had listed an old, broken and overgrown stadium as they’re landing zone and drop location but Raylan already took care of that. Speaking to the pilot directly, he’d informed the man that he wanted to be dropped a mile or two outside city limits where there was less likely to be hostile eyes watching them. What sort of idiot ride a chopper down in the middle of a city in unexplored territory anyway? He knew they wanted him to fail but damn... they didn’t have to insult his intelligence too.

One more Raylan leaned back, comfortable despite the constant motion of the helicopter and the cramped space. “Your all capable or they wouldn’t have sent you out here.” He told them even as he pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes to take that nap he’d been seeking moments before. “... and I’m more capable than most. We’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

They had quite a distance to travel, plenty of time for them to get their heads on right and in the mindset to succeed.

[Highland Sniper]

Gerena looked at her new commanding officer in his laid back manner and wondered for the second time what kind of man he was.
he looked rough, at ease, he is a gambler. But the way he squinted at the light, even with that hat, made her think something else was going on.

after a while in the helicopter, she unbuckled and went to the door and dangled her feet out, enjoying the feel of the rushing air as she looked at the rushing ground bellow.

-------------------------------------------------------

They set down about a mile outside of the city they were supposed to be exploring and Gerena hopped out as soon as they hit the ground.
"I'm going to check the area," she said. "unless you have something else you want me to do."

if there were no arguments or suggestions, or orders, she started off, ready to raise her gun if she needed to use it. her ears twitched to catch all the sounds of the breeze rustling the leaves and her nose twitched with the scents of animals or the lack thereof. she kept a close eye out for anything as she went deeper into the woods and started to circle the camp.

[Enigma]

Tanner hadn't caught most of what the officer was trying to yell over the sounds of the turbine, just a few words.

"Recovery"
"City"
"Base"
"Operations"
"Explore"
"Weeks"
"Ourselves"
"Another"

The officer was looking sorta relaxed about it, so it wasn't anything urgent, but it sounded almost like they were going to be out here for weeks, maybe picking someone up. Not that he minded, but he wasn't seeing much in the way of supplies, so he hoped whoever they were going to see had some, otherwise he'd have to go out hunting.

The Wolf-girl had spent a lot of her time sitting on the floor, dangling her feet outside which made his stomach cramp up, and Ax-woman's half-fetal curl just looked too painful for words, so he just closed his eyes until the helicopter was on the ground again. Wolf-girl had already hopped out, so he slung his gun over his shoulder, grabbed his bag and hopped out after her, keeping his head low and his free hand clamping his hat on his head.

He paused to see if there was anything else to be unloaded, and noticed that they hadn't landed at a base. They were going to be walking.

[StarButterfly]

Ika kept walking, She began getting closer and closer to the end of the tracks and started getting a little bored. She entered the little forest area and saw they were gone and the considered leaving. Then strange colors caught her eye. She turned to her right to find a colorful, tall tree. She wanted to climb it but didn't know if it was safe. Scratching her mosquito bite again, she used her other hand to touch the trunk of the tree. It had orange, blue, and green moss at the bottom that got caught under her short nails. The tree itself was a mix of red, pink, and purple. Then the leaves were yellow with strange fruit growing from them at the absolute top. Ika was eager to climb the tree now, She clamped her arms on the sides and placed her left foot on the front, then she reached for the nearest branch with her right hand, grabbed the branch and pulled herself up. She kept climbing until she reached a huge branch. She sat on the branch for a few minutes to catch her breath then went back to climbing. She finally reached the top and stuck her head through the top where the leaves were like a ceiling made of beads above her head. She looked around and saw the top of the forest jungle and to her surprise, there were many more trees like this one. She smiled in delight then started climbing down so she could look for more places, forgetting about the footprints.

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

Jenny was relieved to land. As she got out, her joints made audible pops. The helicopter rocked slightly as she exited. She rocked on the balls of her feet and stretched her arms. More pops. Her bat-like ears swiveled, picking up the sounds of the environment. She regarded the landsite for a moment before circling the helicopter. She wanted to familiarize herself with this area. After a few minutes of studying the trees, rocks, and other bits of the landscape, she rejoined her teammates next to the helicopter.

She elbowed Tanner in the shoulder. " 'Sup." It wasn't said like a question, more like a statement. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, taking mental notes of him. The scarring on his throat interested her, and she secretly wished to know more about that.

[Enigma]

Somehow the Ax-Woman had managed to unfold herself from the back of the helicopter without hitting the blades. Seemed like she was getting the lay of the land, and he felt it was a great idea too.

Then she came up beside him and goosed his shoulder with her elbow.
"Sup," she said to him, giving him the eye.

"No contact!" Mr. Stubbs roared, bringing the lash down once more on his naked teen back. He could feel the leather slicing into his tender flesh, making him scream. Instinctively he tried to pull away from the lashing post, but the ropes were unrelenting.
"Didn'..." he sobbed, "Didn't do nothin'..!"
"And you're not gonna, either!" Mr. Stubbs roared back, bringing the lash down again. "Sins of the flesh, Tanner! You're growin' inta a man, so we're gonna teach you proper! I don't want you even ta look at one of the students like that again!"
The lash cut into him again, wrestling another scream from him.
"I'm warnin' you Tanner, iffen I catch you again off with any girl without my say-so, you gonna lose more than just the skin offa your back, ya hear me?"

Panic flashed on his face, and for a moment, he considered leaping back into the helicopter to fly him away from here. Shame filled him at the thought.

He glanced back at her and grunted, one of the few noises he could make, then faced forward, hoping nobody noticed that. Already he could feel the scars on his back beginning to ache.

Did the officer see? He turned his eyes to look at him for a split second, then focused them straight ahead, possibly straighter than the moment he saluted him back at the base. During 'orientation', one of the sergeants had read some of the rules out of the Recovery Force handbook about 'fraternization'. Tanner didn't want him to be marked in the officer's book as a troublemaker.

[Moonlit_Fae]

As the bird woman appeared to leave, Joanna let down her guard. She removed the arrow from her bow and placed it back safely with the others and re strapped her bow to herself. Her mind was still on her fresh kill from about an hour ago before this little distraction took place. Note to self be more aware of surroundings and remember to hide your tracks. This time Joanna did a round about way back to the clearing where the dear carcass was. She stuck to the plants to hide her and kept off muddy ground to prevent more foot prints. Finally she reached the carcass and lifted it easily throwing it over her shoulder.

Once back at the village she hung the deer and cut it open like an autopsy and harvested the organs. She let the coagulated blood spill into a bucket underneath. This part was easy and her favorite. It was mindless because she had done this so many times. Joanna knew where to cut and how to utilize every part of the animal. The meat portions she cut skillfully and placed in the storage shed. Some would go to market the following day and other pieces would be dried out as jerky as rations for the coming months. The skin of the animal would make for a good pelt to keep others warm in the cold. She could get bargaining advantage with this item. The fat of the animal could either be used for soap or candles. This kill definitely would help sustain her and her mother.

After spending the afternoon prepping the deer, Joanna cleaned up and decided to meet with the tribal leader, Pablo. He was a harsh but fair man. However, he was a norm and sometimes his prejudice against mutants would come through.
Joanna pushed the flap open to his tent and entered, hesitantly announcing herself.
"Um, Pablo. There are some concerns I would like to discuss with you."
Pablo turned, a look of annoyance upon his leathered face. A deep scar running diagonally across his face and intercepting through one of his eyes, giving it an opaque milky look. The eye could only see slight shapes through.
"What is it hunter?"
He never used her name, he always reminded those in his tribe of their rank and duty.
"I wanted to report a sighting of another mutant. A bird woman was around the perimeter when I was making my rounds hunting. I also heard a helicopter..."
Pablo put up his hand to stop her.
"Do you think I am not aware as to what happens around my village? My duty is to protecting the remainder of our tribe. You are just a hunter, stick to hunting and leave your noise in business it doesn't belong."
Joanna still stood there, awkwardly. "But...I tho-.."
"Enough! Can't you see I'm busy? You came into my tent unannounced, perhaps if you called a meeting like the rules of our tribe suggest, then I would have more time for you. As I recall you have failed to catch as much as the other hunters to provide for your people. Maybe next time join the group hunt instead of always going off on your own. It is not good to be a loner. It sets a bad example. Now I am ordering you to leave me be and don't come back again unless it is urgent." He waved his hand one last time, dismissing her. He then turned back to the table he was studying with various maps laid out upon it.
Joanna's blood boiled with anger and she turned on her heel to leave. She could have sworn she heard Pablo mutter "Fucking mutant." underneath his breath as she left.

Joanna decided to head back out into the forest. Even though she had brought in a good kill that Pablo did not know of, she had to get away to clear her mind. After about two hours she came to her favorite spot. A small clearing beside a river. She sat down underneath a twisted and warped tree, its large leaves giving her some coverage as she laid down and looked up into the sky.

[StarButterfly]

Ika looked over her head to see something noisy and huge flying. It hurt her ears to be by it so she started running in the way the tracks were. It was open there but she wanted to get a better look on what it was. It had something spinning on top, shiny eyes and...living creatures inside. She wanted to go in but didn't want to get hurt so she started stretching her wings again. She opened out the right one and extended it farther than she would when she's flying and then closed it tighter then she would fold them in when she's walking. Then she did the same with her left wing. She scratched her bite again and looked at her cut which was... healing... maybe it's normal? Ika wondered if the large flying animal with creatures inside was from the camp she saw earlier. She leaned back, popping her back and then she popped her knuckles. After she did that, She started running in the direction that the big noise animal was and she jumped in the air, extending her wings out straight. This time, instead of flapping her wings, she glided with them. it was fun, how she barely had to do anything except keep her arms and legs straight together. She wondered if the late animal would hurt her. I mean, It sure was noisey and It had spinny, choppy things on the top. The creatures inside looked mean and tough. Maybe she didn't think this through. She decided to go back down except, she was almost right in its path and she froze up. She stopped gliding and was flapping now but the wind from the animal's choppy spinner things were making a current strong enough to knock her off of her flight pattern. She started flapping harder but she couldn't and her wings froze up. She was getting pretty close and adrenaline Was rushing through her like lightning. A large metal animal passed her and the wind gave out. She started spiraling downwards before she realised what was going on. She pulled her wings out, then in and flapped again right before she almost hit the ground. She landed shaking and scared. She looked at her arm and fell to the ground, her arms holding her up, She sat down and took some deep breaths. It calmed her down and she turned around to see the choppy thing is still in her vision but super far away.

[Acaelus]

Though the clearing they had landed in was flat and open the surrounding forest was anything but. Dense trees and thick foliage cast the entire woodland floor in deep shadows that made it difficult to see more than a few feet beyond the trees. Even as Raylan emerged from the helicopter he took note of his surroundings, amber eyes gleaming in the bright daylight sun. Lots of places to hide amidst all that shadow and natural cover, and their bird wasn’t exactly subtle. He closed his eyes, turning the majority of his attention upon his sense of hearing, listening. It wasn’t a super power or anything special as such, but he had learned the value of listening at a young age. Shut out all the noise, all the distractions, and it was amazing just how powerful the human ear could be.

He heard the chirp of crickets all around them, the whisper of grass as it slipped aside to allow passage for Jenny while she circled their ride and got a basic understanding of their surroundings. Birds chirped in the distance, wings fluttering audible as they flitted from branch to branch together. Normal… Exactly the kinds of things you’d expect to hear in the woods. He didn’t think they had to worry about an ambush just yet.

“Don’t wander too far.” Raylan replied to Gerena as she shoulder her pack and started venturing out to scout ahead of them. “Better that we remain unseen until we get ourselves set up, anything you see try and get back to us so we can handle it as a unit.”

He turned back to the helicopter then, the blades now beginning to slow as the pilot powered it down but still it ran, ready to fire back up and lift off in only a few moments should the need arise. He grabbed his pack and the soft case which held his rifle and shouldered them both, careful to keep his gun hand open and free to move should he have to draw down on something.

“Keep your eyes open.” The pilot called back from his seat in the cockpit. Raylan looked up to see the man turned back toward him. “Don’t know what it was but I damn near hit something out of the air on our way here. Could be its still close by. Maybe it has friends.”

Raylan nodded and turned back to his squad, Gerena had already reached the tree line and her slight form was even then beginning to disappear within the shadows. Jenny had completed her circuit as well, it seemed, for she came abreast Tanner and nudged him with a casual greeting. Though he suspected her nudge was more like a light shove from most people. There was a moment that passed before Tanner grunted in reply, but it was the tension of that moment that interested Raylan more than anything he noticed otherwise. Rigid muscles, vacant expression if only for a moment. They had told him Tanner had been through some shit… Raylan supposed that was proof enough of the truth.

“Lets start making our way toward the city.” He told them calmly, nodding in the direction Gerena had already gone. “Pilot says there may be things about, so be ready.”