((Pfft, don't let sensibility to get in way of awesome.))
Ulrich Leland. Team I. Rooftop.
How about rocket fire now for melting ice?
Actually just smash the glass and tear entire hatch cover out. MK III should have enough strength to do so.
Scan locations of people inside again, how much they have moved since last scan? Calculate their movement speed.
How about those people down by corner of the building, the group who had man with backwards legs?
((Infrared doesn't really travel through solid matter, so I don't think we really should be seeing these "heat signatures" inside buildings. X-Ray is better for that.))
You smash out the glass and pry open the hatch before looking around with the heat tracking system again. Something is very wrong. Most of the entire building is now encircled by heat signatures. You turn to look back at the rest of the team and the large collection of people in the courtyard and see that not only has the courtyard basically emptied, but that there are several of the frozen people standing up on the roof with you. Most of them are just standing normally, but a few are contorted slightly, and one seems to be missing his head. Everyone was looking at the hatch, so you have no idea when this happened or the speed they're moving.
Bartolomew, your turn. Cut the hatch, cut a hole, warm the hatch to the point of opening easily, I don't care. We're losing time here.
The roof won't be set on fire with all this snow and ice, but I don't think we should care about the structural integrity of this building. In fact, we might have to blow up a hole in it as we retreat, or collapse it on top of the 'heat signatures' if they prove dangerous. Saving the humans is preferred, but that is not out main objective here. And they might simply be far too gone by now.
Hasala, how is it down there?
When the way is open, start the thorough but quick investigation of the place. Use Mad Hatter mapping and team-sight to navigate the place and avoid coming close to heat signatures of the people inside. Withdraw if they approach.
Follow the group. Melt hatch if needed.
"Oh, I'm all for destruction, but there's a time and a place and honestly, I don't think it is. If there is something inside, firing off yer rockets would let it know we're coming, on top of wasting the fuel. I know ya got two tanks strapped to yer back but ya never know with these anomalies.
Find the latch, and using my microwave amp, heat the latch until it works or melts.
Ulrich points behind you and you all turn to see the dozen or so frozen people standing maybe 20 feet away on the opposite corner of the roof. The snow around them is completely undisturbed; it's almost as though they were just picked up and set into place where they stand.
"This is definitely creepy"
follow team members inside, usual perimeter bolt throwy precautions also set the refresh rate on the heat detector as high as possible and set it so that once there is a change in static heat signatures it saves the records between them moving and not moving, briefly look away from the thermal and back again, review recording.
"I'll take that as a yes."
Break down the barricade (by hand/knife is preferred, monoatomic machete if needed) and let my team in. Sweep and secure the first floor, looking for clues as to what might have happened.
The group walks around over to the side door of the building and begins trying to smash their way in. The front door is quite well barricaded and it's a feat to get it open without damaging the building around it. The doors themselves are easy enough to cut through, but theres what must be dozens of beds, desks, chairs and dressers all chained and nailed and even welded together behind the front door. This was the work of a very obsessive group of people who had a lot of time on their hands. Team hacks and tunnels their way through; they get about halfway in, enough to see the inside of the building through the tangled mess of metal and particle board, when pancaek notices something. A heat signiture out of the corner of his eye. He turns around and finds a good 50 or so frozen people just standing maybe 20 or 30 feet behind them, partially encircling them.
Author
Topic: Mission 21: Uncanny Valley (Read 51410 times)