[OPEN] Mission 156

[soul_mods]

Characters: Open to participants who signed up here.
Location: Lake Tahoe, CA
Rating: Various.
Time: March 27th, late morning.
Description: The second of the three Madness emitters outside Death City is the target for this mission. Bundle up, everyone -- it's gonna be a cold one.

The mission begins late in the morning, to allow the mission-goers as much sunlight as possible in the warmest part of the day. Not that it'll help much… Temperatures are well below freezing already -- unnatural even for early Spring in the mountains -- and a howling snowstorm threatens to blot out the sun, beginning up the mountain where the slope just begins to rise sharply.

The slopes themselves are fairly barren: a windswept-looking tree here, a cabin that may have once belonged to the snow patrol there, maybe a Madness-crazed bear or mountain lion. Those braving the storm are lucky enough to see five feet in front of their face in these conditions!

Those brave few who manage to make it to the top (enduring falling temperatures and defeating the corrupted fauna and hulking kishin yeti along the way) may come across their goal at the very summit of the half-mile-high mountain: the Madness emitter itself, in the eye of the storm… And one last obstacle: the Witch guarding it.



OOC NOTES.
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Comments

[coolest]

[Masamune looks over the mechanism once again. It seems to be working fine, and he fires an experimental shot into the air. His aim and handling is good, but those are in controlled circumstances.

It takes him a while to respond to Tem's question as he continues holding the rifle.]

I've been practicing.

[When he goes out to tend the little patch of Oshu in the desert, he more often than not has some target practise. IT'S SOMETHING.]

[shendefeng]

[He gives him a nod of approval. Any amount of experience should help.]

Let us hope then that it will be of great help in our mission.

[He stood up, tongue tasting the air with a couple of flicks.]

Well then, Masamune. Shall we?

[coolest]

Tell me about the wind.

[said Masamune as he moved so that he stood beside Temeraire, in a position so that he could mount his back when it was all good to do so. To tell the truth, he was very excited. This is his first proper mission and he wanted to do great on it. To do it with Tem was a great honour.]

[shendefeng]

I taste different things in the air. It seems like we might be expecting a lot of company aside from what we've come with.

[With that, he takes a couple of steps back to be mindful of his partner, and then opens up his wings. He shakes them out a little as he tests the air for a couple of moments.]

It seems like we might deal with some variable winds and gusts, I might have to backwing it at times in order to get to where we want.

[He tucks his wings back, and steps in beside Masamune once more.]

Ready?

[coolest]

[What Temeraire had said only confirmed Masamune's instincts. When you've been on battlefields long enough, you get a sense for danger. With a nod, he puts the rifle under his arm.]

Yup. Our orders is to clear the air for everybody else.

[With that, he clambers to get on Temeraire's back. It takes him a little longer to get settled properly because he hasn't ridden Tem before, but it feels no different from riding a horse. Once he's properly on, he crosses his arms with the rifle in his lap and looks confident as anything.]

Come on, dragon! Put your guns on!

[shendefeng]

[He only hopes Masamune is mindful of the straps and other things on his rigging, to have him secure while in mid-flight. He didn't want him to go off when he needed to do different sorts of complicated aerial manoeuvres.

Still, with his words, he couldn't help but be moved to give a defiant roar into the winds before leaping into the air, and beating his wings furiously to give them the needed altitude.

Once he was comfortable enough, he leveled off for a moment to survey the mountainside. Yes, the snow was a problem for visibility, but nothing his keen sense of vision couldn't manage.]

There's something there...

[He said, as he hovered for a moment, looking in the general direction of the mountainside.]

[coolest]

[Riding Tem is really no different from a horse. Once he settles in the straps, Masamune places fastens the rifle alongside his swords on his belt and looks at the direction where his fellow dragon was indicating.]

They're going slowly, Temeraire. Like they're sentinels.

[Masamune squints. He can't see what they are, but he can tell that they're moving slowly. The chances of them being sentinels were being high as the mission details indicated that the fauna had been affected by the madness wavelength. Which did include birds that lived at this altitude. No doubt that they'd be here protecting the madness emitters.]

[shendefeng]

They will be troublesome for all others that are going to come up here by foot. Do you think we should help them out and deal with them?

[Not impossible, considering what they were sent there to do, after all.]

Or do you think you could have a clear shot from here in order to shoot them down? I could get closer if you would prefer.

[Steeling himself as he went on and not get affected by the mad due to the wavelength was something he was keeping is damnedest and his best from happening. As a dragon, he had enough of the courage for battle, yet still knew how to draw the fine line between all of that, and savagery that was associated with the wavelength.

He would not let himself go down the deep end of that, ever. Or so he was telling himself. So far, so good.]

Either that, or I could jump them from above and crush them. I think I could do so.

[He'd seen Maximus do it against a Petit Chevalier, and killed it after applying all of of his weight on the dive and on the particularly grisly landing on the other dragon.]

[coolest]

We should get rid of them!

[yells Masamune through the howling wind, holding onto the gun with one hand and one of Temeraire's harnesses with the other.]

Dive in and crush them! I'll shoot them down and then... they should be done for.

[He's not entirely sure whether that plan works but it's a plan anyway! Masamune grips onto the straps with both hands now, the rifle tucked into its holster but in a position where Masamune can grab it and fire with one hand when Tem gets close enough after a dive. He has enough faith in his skills that it will work. There's enough ammunition in there for a good few rounds.]

Let's go!