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[Illgeo]

Missed me

Crouch close to the ground. Throw bolts inside and outside. Check for difference in sound of hitting ground.

[Nikitian]

:So much for Mad Hatter. Well, at least it should map the area for us. Anyway, thank your for relevant testing, Konrad.:

:All right, visual contact on the mob. We have sentient company and that means things might get funny.:
I don't like the way they are there.

:I want eyes on that area and a possible flanking force. Pancaek, you have that invisible skin, right? I'd like you to make a sweeping maneuver and approach them undetected from side. Maybe take a couple of people from either teams, maybe not, but I would really prefer us to approach that mob intelligently and with caution. And cut off their means of escape, if needed.:
Why are they gathered there? What are they all doing there?

:Everyone, be careful. It appears that there is no ambient mind-influence inside the anomaly boundary, but we might not yet be feeling it. Especially if there is any connection between that place between the buildings and the mob. Mission 2 replay is unlikely, but still possible: be careful not to be charmed, paralysed, brainwashed or whatever by anything in the vicinity of the current location of those people - they might have been lured or kept there by it. And, for the newer troopers here: in Mission 2, the soil itself was mind-influencing the people. Just a little food for thought and fuel for sound paranoia.: Maurice chuckled.

:Everyone not in the Pancaek's flanking detachment, we are going in as we went. Morul, Eddie, keep your "Brisants" ready, they should be the best option against this many foes, should it come to open confrontation. Can't say whether brandishing weapons would be that bad, but better safe than sorry and they are anyway unlikely to see such details at this distance.:

Snap faceplate down, and use Mad Hatter 0%-altered visuals from the team (specifically, people with cameyes and similarly good cameras) to get a better, zoomed-in look at that large group of people. How do they look like, what are they doing, is there anything special about the place they are gathered in?

We walk towards them. Oh, and yes, if it has not yet been done, observe and conduct the testing of objects leaving the boundaries of anomalous area ((Illgeo's reposted action, AoshimaMichio's new one)), but do this briefly. We are moving [this turn], not staying at the boundary.

[Doomblade187]

"I can go with him to provide close support as needed."

[AoshimaMichio]

Ulrich Leland
"Shouldn't we test if can leave this area first?"

Try to contact Steve through QEC unit.

Check our footprints in snow. Do they seem normal and can I see our shuttle? See what Mad Hatter tells when looking outside.

Tie some nuts and bolts into a rope and throw them outside (but keep hold on one end of the rope).
If it behaves normally then pull it back. Tie the rope on my arm, give other end to someone, turn my back to the anomaly boundary, close my eyes and walk out backwards slowly until I think I'm outside. Open eyes and look around. Try contact to our team and Steve via radio.

((Nik, invisiskin is almost useless in snow because you leave very suspicious footprints in snow...))

[Dorsidwarf]

Be prepared to lob 50mm fragmenting death if fired upon. Continue to follow behind Maurice


"Snow? That was unexpected."

[swordsmith04]

Zoom in on the group of people with CamEyes. Is the snow as undisturbed around the group of people's feet? Are they wearing any sort of winter clothing?
Scan the group of people for thermal signatures. If they've been standing around outside for as long as this anomaly has been around, then they should have frozen to death by now. Scan the buildings for thermal signatures, too.
Visually search the crowd for anyone who looks like the previous researchers who entered the anomaly and vanished.

When Maurice tells us to approach the group, follow behind the team at a distance of several meters.

"Snow? That was unexpected."

"Why is it unexpected? There's as much of it outside the anomaly as inside it."

[Nikitian]

"Shouldn't we test if can leave this area first?"

:We should, and we are doing so. Just don't take too much time doing it - they might have seen us, they might have not seen us, they might be unable to see us, but people are less reliable to remain where they are than static anomalies, and so far this one has been fairly static. Not to mention the possibility of being actively, sentiently hostile.:
:Finally, I can easily see this boundary being one-way only, so be careful. We might have to blow up its source to leave the place, so that is also a possibility. At least, there doesn't seem to be any bodies littering the boundary, and the snow lies evenly on both sides of the boundary.:

Spoiler: Some OOC (click to show/hide)

((Nik, invisiskin is almost useless in snow because you leave very suspicious footprints in snow...))

((Yes, it's largely ineffective as far as looking at the ground and/or coming very close is concerned. However, and here I might be wrong, Piecewise denied us any specific details about that 'large group of people' yet, and that probably means considerable distance between them and us. At this distance, footprints might be less obvious - maybe even not invisibility is necessary, but I'm not sure - and then they could close in from behind one of those buildings, obscured from sight until they can get very close, and hopefully hide there. Or, if the specifics of the stealthskin allow it (I could see it go both ways, perhaps with slight Aux tinkering), perhaps he could hitch a ride with someone flight-capable, and by virtue of being in front of that person cover them both from naked eye. Or just eschew all high-tech approaches and commando-crawl until they are out of sight - snow, depending on its height, can be quite obscuring.

All in all, there are many ways to do it, and I trust Pancaek to succeed whichever approach he picks.))

[Pancaek]

"Right, just, you know." He says as he goes invisible "I'm just going to casually stroll a bit closer to a place where I can see the entire group. Not like I need anything more than line of sight to hurt them. Thanks for the offer Han, but you stay here with the group. Also, if any of you chucklefucks try to start shooting without either them shooting first or Maurice giving you the go-ahead, I'm going to be mighty pissed. Just saying."

activate stealthskin and flank around in to a place where I can see the entire group of people. Zoom in with cameyes and try to see what we're talking about here exactly.

Should the group of people get any hostile ideas, throw up a shield in front of my team. Unless they've got lasers, in which case just start heating up one foot spheres in center mass in the hostiles.

[kisame12794]

"Not surprising people are in here. Curiosity is a powerful thing."

Load a Frag round into the Brisant, and get it ready. If they become hostile, wait until the other grenadier has fired, in case his grenade gets them all.

[Corsair]

deactivate hatter, then look at the snow around their feet if disturbed then follow maurice. Otherwise turn mad hatter to 35% and re observe, use the 3D camera thing if necessary/helpful

[piecewise]

Missed me

Crouch close to the ground. Throw bolts inside and outside. Check for difference in sound of hitting ground.

Someone else was already throwing bolts. If it had produced a different sound, I would have said so. And you couldn't have done the "throw from the inside to outside" part until the team moved into the area, which was the last action of the turn.

Now that you're in, however, I can tell you that first, the entire area appears to be under an enmormous mirrored dome; the "invisible" area being much more easily noticeable. Second, the bolts can't penetrate the wall, they bounce right off.

:So much for Mad Hatter. Well, at least it should map the area for us. Anyway, thank your for relevant testing, Konrad.:

:All right, visual contact on the mob. We have sentient company and that means things might get funny.:
I don't like the way they are there.

:I want eyes on that area and a possible flanking force. Pancaek, you have that invisible skin, right? I'd like you to make a sweeping maneuver and approach them undetected from side. Maybe take a couple of people from either teams, maybe not, but I would really prefer us to approach that mob intelligently and with caution. And cut off their means of escape, if needed.:
Why are they gathered there? What are they all doing there?

:Everyone, be careful. It appears that there is no ambient mind-influence inside the anomaly boundary, but we might not yet be feeling it. Especially if there is any connection between that place between the buildings and the mob. Mission 2 replay is unlikely, but still possible: be careful not to be charmed, paralysed, brainwashed or whatever by anything in the vicinity of the current location of those people - they might have been lured or kept there by it. And, for the newer troopers here: in Mission 2, the soil itself was mind-influencing the people. Just a little food for thought and fuel for sound paranoia.: Maurice chuckled.

:Everyone not in the Pancaek's flanking detachment, we are going in as we went. Morul, Eddie, keep your "Brisants" ready, they should be the best option against this many foes, should it come to open confrontation. Can't say whether brandishing weapons would be that bad, but better safe than sorry and they are anyway unlikely to see such details at this distance.:

Snap faceplate down, and use Mad Hatter 0%-altered visuals from the team (specifically, people with cameyes and similarly good cameras) to get a better, zoomed-in look at that large group of people. How do they look like, what are they doing, is there anything special about the place they are gathered in?

We walk towards them. Oh, and yes, if it has not yet been done, observe and conduct the testing of objects leaving the boundaries of anomalous area ((Illgeo's reposted action, AoshimaMichio's new one)), but do this briefly. We are moving [this turn], not staying at the boundary.

The people appear as though they are probably students, they look to be about the right age for it. They look fine and healthy, uninjured, normal skin tones, but they're wearing very light clothing for being knee deep in snow. You wouldn't have expected t-shirts, at the very least. They aren't covered in snow like a statue would be, but they're remaining completely still. You can't see anything special about their gathering place.

How close do you actually want to get through? Are you maintaining any distance or just walking straight up?

Ulrich Leland
"Shouldn't we test if can leave this area first?"

Try to contact Steve through QEC unit.

Check our footprints in snow. Do they seem normal and can I see our shuttle? See what Mad Hatter tells when looking outside.

Tie some nuts and bolts into a rope and throw them outside (but keep hold on one end of the rope).
If it behaves normally then pull it back. Tie the rope on my arm, give other end to someone, turn my back to the anomaly boundary, close my eyes and walk out backwards slowly until I think I'm outside. Open eyes and look around. Try contact to our team and Steve via radio.

((Nik, invisiskin is almost useless in snow because you leave very suspicious footprints in snow...))

You can't get a signal on the QEC. Or rather, you can't get a usable one. And this thing has no method for "tuning". Garbled messages simply shouldn't happen.

The snow is reacting like normal snow. You can't see the shuttle because of the mirrored dome effect of the wall.

Can't do that.

Be prepared to lob 50mm fragmenting death if fired upon. Continue to follow behind Maurice


"Snow? That was unexpected."

"Not surprising people are in here. Curiosity is a powerful thing."

Load a Frag round into the Brisant, and get it ready. If they become hostile, wait until the other grenadier has fired, in case his grenade gets them all.

deactivate hatter, then look at the snow around their feet if disturbed then follow maurice. Otherwise turn mad hatter to 35% and re observe, use the 3D camera thing if necessary/helpful

Waiting.

Zoom in on the group of people with CamEyes. Is the snow as undisturbed around the group of people's feet? Are they wearing any sort of winter clothing?
Scan the group of people for thermal signatures. If they've been standing around outside for as long as this anomaly has been around, then they should have frozen to death by now. Scan the buildings for thermal signatures, too.
Visually search the crowd for anyone who looks like the previous researchers who entered the anomaly and vanished.

When Maurice tells us to approach the group, follow behind the team at a distance of several meters.

"Snow? That was unexpected."

"Why is it unexpected? There's as much of it outside the anomaly as inside it."

As far as you can see from this distance and angle, the snow around the people appears undisturbed, smooth and flat, as though it fell naturally and wasn't touched.

They have heat signatures but they're rather weak. It's above ambient temp but only by 20 or so degrees. You scan around for other thermal signatures but can't find any. Instead, you notice something different. One of the dormitory buildings appears to have a large, rather crude banner hanging from its upper floors. You can't make out whats on it from this angle though.

There are a few that stand out as probably not being students. There are some that look like they might be professors, but also a few that look like they really don't belong. In particular there's a group of three men in rather heavy winter gear near the edge of the group, facing inwards as though they were walking towards it.

"Right, just, you know." He says as he goes invisible "I'm just going to casually stroll a bit closer to a place where I can see the entire group. Not like I need anything more than line of sight to hurt them. Thanks for the offer Han, but you stay here with the group. Also, if any of you chucklefucks try to start shooting without either them shooting first or Maurice giving you the go-ahead, I'm going to be mighty pissed. Just saying."

activate stealthskin and flank around in to a place where I can see the entire group of people. Zoom in with cameyes and try to see what we're talking about here exactly.

Should the group of people get any hostile ideas, throw up a shield in front of my team. Unless they've got lasers, in which case just start heating up one foot spheres in center mass in the hostiles.

You can see it from where you are, and I'll assume the descriptions from all the others will be enough.

That question was answered already so...you just deactivate your silly hat.

[swordsmith04]

((20 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit? Also, what's baseline, about -10C? Answered, thanks!))

:Dr. Sanctor. It looks like one of the local teams that attempted to investigate this anomaly before we did are in that group, and whatever's affecting the students and faculty are affecting them, too. And I'm not sure, but there looks like a few who are neither students, faculty, nor obviously part of a rescue/research team.
Also, the snow around the group's feet is undisturbed, but their body temperatures have fallen fairly sharply. About 20 degrees above baseline, though I'm not sure what temperature scale is set as default.

I can also see some sort of makeshift banner hanging from one of the buildings over there, but I can't get a good look at what it says from here. Permission to investigate with my MkIII?:

EDIT: If the banner would be visible from any point on the edge of the anomaly, fly at non-breakneck speeds and altitude around to that position and get a better look at the banner with the CamEye zoom function. Stay on the edge of the anomaly unless I have to move further in to get a better look at the banner. If CamEyes can transmit what they see wirelessly without an Auxiliary roll, transmit the footage to my teammates.

If I do have to go further in to get a look at the banner, do so while tossing nuts and bolts in front of me continuously to make sure the path is clear of non-mental effects.

No matter what, do not fly over or near the group of people.

[piecewise]

((20 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit? Also, what's baseline, about -10C?))

:Dr. Sanctor. It looks like one of the local teams that attempted to investigate this anomaly before we did are in that group, and whatever's affecting the students and faculty are affecting them, too. And I'm not sure, but there looks like a few who are neither students, faculty, nor obviously part of a rescue/research team.
Also, the snow around the group's feet is undisturbed, but their body temperatures have fallen fairly sharply.

I can also some sort of makeshift banner hanging from one of the buildings over there, but I can't get a good look at what it says from here. Permission to investigate with my MkIII?:

Lets go with -10C for ambient, around 0 to 3 C for their bodies.

[AoshimaMichio]

Ulrich Leland
"QEC doesn't work. We are on our own now."

So QEC receives messages, but somehow completely twisted ones? In that case try using morse or similar signal length based encoding by sending message like this: "word word word longWord longWord word word word ( = ...--... = SMS)". If actual words can't get through then hopefully approximate length does. If that fails then try something as simple as turning QEC device on and off.
If nothing gets through then see if I can do anything to get it working.

Fire one shot from Testament towards the mirror dome in slight angle so it won't bounce back towards me or team.

Follow my team if they move.

[Nikitian]

Permission request redirected to Pancaek; I have nothing against, but he is running the scouting task force.

Pancaek, I copy that the mob appears completely inactive, as if they got paralysed where they stood. Concealed approach can be put on hold for now, reconnaissance is of greater priority; I suggest reviewing your scouting force list and taking a circle around the place, investigating it. Don't get closer to the center of effect than the research team, it might be a proximity thing. Look out, I'll defer the practical matters of your task to you.
Add a thin circular line to the Mad Hatter, encircling all of the people and co-centric to the mirrored dome. If the dome isn't perfectly circular in nature, approximate the affected area instead, using the most outlying people as boundary markers.

Or it could be a timed thing. I guess we are on a tighter schedule here than we supposed.

Morul, change of plans. We might not need to take out the mob, but instead up to the building around it. How much closer do we need to come for you and your fireteam to have clean shots at any of them? We are going to slowly approach that close, unless that is closer than the danger line.

Bartolomew, what's the bomb status? Has it, perchance, started the countdown or anything? I want you to make sure there's nothing wrong with it.

Ulrich, can you try to de-garble the QEC feed? I am mostly interested in whether communication is completely prevented, or only partially.

Everyone, we will now keep approaching them. We will not approach them too close, and especially not the danger line I've just marked on your Mad Hatter HUDs.

Oh, and I'd like one volunteer to stay back a little and test whether the dome walls continue under the snow and in the soil. Probably does, but it's still worth checking out.

Keep approaching the gathering, but stop rather away before we come close to the research team. Study their faces, their positions - were they just walking, or did some of them observe what happened to others, and try to escape? Were they, by any chance, all looking in exactly the same direction, or something? DO NOT look in that direction, if that is so.

Study the dome. Is it properly recorded with the Mad Hatter? If no, adjust it to do so. Does it have any sorts of irregularities, or is it perfectly, mathematically regular? What shape is it, anyway?

(Oh, and that QEC unit is recording the garbled feed, right? For later analysis, because it's a scientific one we took on this mission for that whole purpose.)