On a mission

[Wren Hartwood]

Wren walked into the hospital, hand in hand with Cal and with Gwen following just behind. 

He had an eerie feeling as he walked through the hallways, the smell of sanitizer all around, empty patient beds, no sign of food. He turned to Cal. "This place gives me the creeps. Was it this weird before?"

He stopped in his tracks as he caught a glimpse of red hair coming towards him. "Eloise!" Wren ran to her and gave her a big hug. They had a lot to catch up on.

"Elosie, what's this rogue thing about? How did the baby quest go? We had a rebel point in the tower yesterday, looks like Thomas won one here, so was the third depot or market then? What do we know about Reese? Dante told me she's rebel, but he was a jerk and a liar so who knows."

He glanced at Thomas. "Hey, I'm Wren. I hear we're on the same side." Wren smiled. "I'm a founder of the Phoenix Accord, which Eloise and I started thanks to Millie during training. Gwen, Cal, and I are here for morphling. We're injured pretty badly, so hopefully we can manage to find some morphling and keep everyone else from being injured. What do you know about this Julian kid?"

ooc: for whispers, Thomas is thomaswindsnip

[Cal Mensen]

Cal realizes how awkward this must have been for Gwen, having held Wren's hand the entire way here. But Wren's not known for tact and has remained in a good mood, so he didn't do anything to spoil their moment.

"No... something is off here."

As Wren runs off to meet up with Eloise, he takes a step back to hang with Gwen.

"I'm sorry about all that, but I think we'll have our hands full from here on out. Look.. do you have time to talk? I've got something hanging in the back of my mind and you've always had a good read on everything going on around us. I don't trust my judgement much these days..."

[Wren Hartwood]

Wren rolled his eyes as Cal fell back to talk to Gwen, but wasn't surprised. He did feel a bit bad for her. He turned and gave her an apologetic look with a shrug. Sorry, Gwen. I know that feeling...I'll try to tone things down.

He wished he could hear what Cal had to say, though. Maybe if he hung back just a bit closer, he could hear.

(OOC: Got clarification on pod rules, via asking Vester
The fire trap attacks everyone, so yes, you could get hit twice.
Tribute means anyone. (peacekeeper AND rebel)
No it does not have to be the same person both scavenging and hacking.
You can't reverse hack pods. It works differently than control points.)

[Gwendolyn Fisk]

Gwen didn't like the feel of the hospital. Couple that with the missing limb feeling she had at not being with Val and Gwen was feeling a little out of her element. Her thoughts drifted to Val. They had been together pretty much since the beginning. It was weird not having her around.

Did I make the right decision? It was tough to convince Val to part ways when Gwen herself felt strongly against it, but it was for the best. Wasn't it?

What if I never see her again? Gwen's hand brushed against her bullet wound. Anything could happen right now, and with the pods... Things seemed to be drawing to a close, too. She started to feel sick to her stomach.

No, now's not the time. I have to rally. We have to figure out what Vester meant by the pods. Gwen was whisked out of her thoughts as Cal addressed her. She nodded, "Yea, sure."

[Cal Mensen]

Cal was uneasy, after yesterday's paranoia scare, he wasn't sure if his mind was where it should be. But... this seemed important to share, and it'd help having some feedback. His voice was quiet, but still audible for anyone happening to listen.

"So, about Vester's transmission. We got bits, pieces of the message coming on through. They had discussed game pods, with the past history of the Hunger Games, they were used to break up the stable phases to keep things interesting. My background as a peacekeeper tells me that the Capital has adopted many technologies between the games and defense technology. Vester ordered them launched into the Capital, so they could have been re-purposed to defend the controlpoints."

Cal looks down at the ground, his face unsure, frightened at the prospect of the traps, but more so about being wrong again.

"Please tell me I don't sound like a madman rambling on. If there's a chance these pods are real threats, we'll need to start searching for them. That said... I don't want to waste anyone else's time chasing another one of my delusions. What do you think, Gwen?"

[Wren Hartwood]

Wren listened to Cal's thoughts on the announcement they'd heard in the tower yesterday. He decided not to offer an opinion, since Gwen was specifically asked for hers.



He glanced over at the rest of the group. He'd barely spoken to Reese, Julian, or Thomas before...

"Eloise Sugarglider Thomas Windsnip -do either of you have morphling or a med kit? If not, I'm going to look for some morphling here before doing anything else, but I thought I'd check with you guys first. I would consider trading my baton if you do have anything. I'm really not in good shape, and I'm willing to throw myself onto a pod as a last resort if we can't disable them together so I'd like to heal up a bit first if things come to that...if we have two pods here and I'm hit by both, I'm dead."

He sat in a spinny chair at a nurse's station as he waited for a response.

OOC another update note, on sacrificing: 
They just have to declare they're taking the damage. And then nobody needs to scavenge or hack for that pod.
But they take ALL of the damage. In the case of the fire trap that is definite death. In the case of the muttations, you take all 6 damage that day, but the muttations live on to the next day.

[Reese Oberron]

Reese let out a whistle as she strolled into the courtyard, "OOO Weee, gangs all 'ere aye boys? Was wondering where everyone had been hiding, been on my own thus far but ran into Eloise yesterday and she was saying to come back here to the hospital. Are there any medical staff still around here? I've got something important that needs their attention!"

"Oh, heads up, on my way over here saw some nasty looking folks that looked like they were setting up some sorta device outside. Got an eerie feeling seeing all that and I think it is something we ought to discuss pretty urgently. If nobody else has gone to find out more about them I'd like to volunteer."

OOC: Clarified that in the scavenge for it and the hack for it can happen on the same day so long as someone scavenges successfully first.

[Gwendolyn Fisk]

Gwen's expression softened at Cal's words. Seems like the paranoia hasn't left quite yet. She glanced over at Wren, a bit surprised that he hadn't said anything to this. She put a hand on Cal's arm, "You know I've trusted you through all this, so no, I don't think you sound crazy. I was thinking along the same lines. We should scavenge the area to make sure nothing looks too out of the ordinary." Gwen felt a bit relieved to have something to take her mind off of Val, even if it was life-threatening.

Gwen startled at the appearance of Reese. "Looks like someone's ahead of us. I was think we each take turns scavenging for one of these pods. Letting the others know the results. Once we got both of them we can then use our remaining to deactivate them if we can."

[Cal Mensen]

Relief starts to spread on Cal's face, softened by Gwen's words. He allows himself to put one of his hands over Gwen's hand, appreciating the gesture. His eyes have a calm determination to them as he looks up to Gwen.

"Thanks, Gwen. I'm glad you're here."

Removing his hand, he begins to walk towards Wren, hoping to join in on their conversation. Reese's exclamation does cause him to pause, admittedly jealous of how sure she was of their imminent danger. With his okay hacking skills, he decided to start searching for anything off while sticking close enough to hear the conversations.

OOC: Going to make a roll, I'll RP the result after someone's replied.

[Wren Hartwood]

Wren nodded at Gwen's comment. 

"Look, I know we're at war and there's probably a combination of peacekeepers and rebels here. But unfortunately, pods aren't going to differentiate or have a bias. And sure, there's useful equipment here, but it won't be very useful if we all die."

He turned to Reese.
"Some of use here have worked together in the past, and Gwen's right. We're big on communication. We're going to need to work together to disable these, regardless of who or WHAT we are. Let's talk out who's doing what, keep updating the group on our progress or failed attempts, and plan together before taking another step, to save all of our asses."

He looked around at everyone, no point in whispering to anyone in particular. "Understood? Reese, let us know if you find anything suspicious, and what type of thing you're looking for."

He looked at Cal, who seemed to want to look around. "I think you should wait until we know what Reese has found, if anything, and WHAT KIND of thing she's looking for..."

[Eloise Sugarglider]

Eloise could feel pressure building beneath her eyes. There was too much going on all at once and



"Everyone slow down! What happened? I leave for a day and all of a sudden Gwen is missing an arm? Reese told me that Demetri is dead, and now there's pods? What happened to at the watchtower?"



Eloise took a deep breath. "I don't really have any supplies on me. I'm set for food and I was able to hack successfully from the Supply Depot yesterday. I brought Baby Aramis here yesterday. The nurse that took him was surprised I brought him here. They tried to treat him but they're running out of supplies. Reese actually might be able to help now that I think about it.  I can probably afford to get us started looking for these pods once we're all on the same page."



OOC: Quest = EXP Wren.  

"No idea on Reese.  She said I'm the only other rebel that she's run into  so far.  She didn't hack and she successfully spied on me."

[Cal Mensen]

OOC: I stopped my action, didn't post after reading Wren's post. I'll wait on Reese.

Cal stops his search, looking up to Eloise's voice. He walks up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, a small smile on his face. He was happy she made it back from the Supply Depot safely.

"Eloise, glad you're here. I'll try and catch you up."

Cal looks around the room, figuring out what all is important.

"Gwen was hurt at the Market Day 4, I believe. Her arm's okay I think, but she was wounded. That day, the Accord killed Janet and Dante, but Demitri went down fighting too. Yesterday at the Watchtower, there was a large reunion. It was rough in places, we had arguments, fights, flare-ups, but the results were mostly good. Deo had been taken down, and the tower went to the rebels. However, Deo got a few blows in on Wren, but Sydney proved her allegiance by assisting us in taking down Deo. The Watchtower is being held down, most of our allies went to the Market, Wren, Gwen and myself came here to hold down the Hospital."

He takes a deep breath, summing up an entire day with change was exhausting. He looks to the rest of the group.

"Anything else worth sharing?"

"Thanks Eloise, I'm not sure about her either. Wren says Dante made the claim that she's a Rebel, but Dante's word is worth nothing here, being a peacekeeper."

He turns his attention to Thomas.

"It's good to see you again, Thomas. Any idea on Julian?"

[Eloise Sugarglider]

Eloise let the gravity of Cal's words sink in.  Demetri had been kind of an ass, but he had always been true to his word.  She would miss him.

" I really don't have much more that I can help you with.  We ran into Anna at the Supply Depot but she didn't really say anything.  She just kept to herself and tinkered with a couple of control panels."

So last I saw you Cal we had this list:

Rebels: Demetri, Holly, Lartius, Nelson
, Wallace, Gwen,
 Eloise, Wren, Thomas (We think)

Adding Sydney means 10.  Are we missing anyone, and what are the chances that the only rebels left are Reese and Julian?

[Wren Hartwood]

Wren stood and hugged Eloise tight. "I'm proud of you for going out on your own. You're stronger than I give you credit for."

He looked around. "I hope Reese comes back soon..."

Rebels:
Wren, Eloise, Wallace, Demetri, Nelson, Holly, Gwen, Lartius, Thomas, Gillian? Been told Reese was but who knows

Peacekeepers:
Cal, Val, Sydney (ALLIES-Peacebringers)
Dante, Deo, Sharlot, Minerva, Harlie, Janet (ENEMIES)

Unknown:
Lucan, Travis, Reese?, Julian, Anna
If Reese if a rebel, we only have one more out there.
Also, Cal, Gwen, and I were hoping there would be more food here. Does anyone have more than 7 days' worth?

[Reese Oberron]

Reese didn't stick around talking for long, there was something dangerous out there and the clock was ticking...

Lucky for everyone else it wasn't long before she returned. Still out of breath, "Look... there's some sort of explosive firey pod device out there and it looks awfully scary. It was just sitting there in an alley all by itself as if it was waiting to be activated remotely, if we act fast we might be able to turn the thing off before it comes after us."

"That's not quite how things went down Cal, I had just arrived back over at the Armory when Janet, Demetri, and Holly showed up. Janet must've been waiting for them or something because as soon as she saw Demetri she unloaded everything she had on them. He barely survived and I think he was out for blood at that point because they both chased Janet when she fled to the Marketplace."

Looking back at Wren, "I already told you what I was looking for. You all seem like you've been here longer than I have, I need to know if there are still any medical staff around. Eloise mentioned a baby and some nurses..."

OOC: In case it isn't 100% clear, I successfully scavenged the fire trap pod.

[Eloise Sugarglider]

Eloise's stomach dropped. "Reese, the nurses should still be around, but no one move. Let me see if I can disarm the firey pod...thingy."

Eloise slowly walked over to the device that Reese had found. She paid attention to not move the ground around it. It looked similar enough to the technology she had been using to hack. Maybe she could just....

[Reese Oberron]

For someone who'd up until yesterday been flying completely solo, Reese was starting to get a bit anxious. There were a few more people than she expected at the Hospital and it was making her a bit anxious. Strangely, now that she'd found at least one person she thought she could trust she felt like she was in more danger than ever.

Tapping her foot nervously, "Hey Cal, that 'Accord' you mentioned, what's that all about? Haven't heard that word mentioned in ages."

[Cal Mensen]

Cal watched Eloise work carefully, fiddling with the large and intimidating device. He keeps his eye on the device but draws his attention to Reese's question.

"Phoenix Accord, a pro-rebel organization consisting of rebel tributes and peacekeepers aiming for a free Panem. It's likely the largest alliance still in play. What have you heard about them?"

We might be able to gauge her intent/loyalty from her answers. I won't be admitting to being part of it unless she asks me directly. Any suggestions on where to go from there?

[Wren Hartwood]

Wren jumped in to the conversation.
"Actually, Reese, that's exactly how it went down after the armory. Unfortunately, I've witnessed four deaths these past few days and I for one am hoping there won't be any more. I saw a random Peacekeeper taken down, Demetri and Janet killed each other in the market, Dante and Deo both died by multiple attacks. I've been to market and tower this whole time. This is my first look at the hospital...and I'm not liking the look of it either. We've had groups of 9 or so tributes together for two days in a row and managed to work together and get through the day with...minimal casualties, I guess."

He looked directly at Reese. "As long as everyone is open to communication, honest about their findings, and productive with their time here, I think we'll be alright."

He took a breath, "As for the Accord...you know Millie, right? The Primrose Accord from her year in the Games? This year, the Phoenix Accord has risen from those ashes, as Cal said. And yes, it's big. It started small, but it has grown. You honestly haven't heard of it before?" Wren was a little surprised.

"Oh, and if you've run into Sharlot at all...don't believe a word she says. She's been working both sides, telling everyone she's on their side. She was an original member of the Phoenix Accord and then basically stabbed them in the back from the inside. She's also betrayed some peacekeepers. She's not on any team. She's only looking out for herself."

[Eloise Sugarglider]

"Hey guys, not to cut in but I gave it two tries. I couldn't even get the thing open. Does anyone want to give it a go or should I try one last time?"

[Cal Mensen]

OOC: Friends, the next in game description is bullshit meant to throw Reese off. I'm wondering if she had picked up on any rumors spread by Sharlot. If Reese is a peacekeeper, she might reach out to me if she believes Sharlot's rumor of me betraying the Accord is true.

Cal chose to ignore Wren's warning of Sharlot, any business with her being of pure conjecture. He looks to Eloise with concern.

"I'm sorry to hear that, I can't imagine there being a deadlier obstacle here. I'd like to give disabling it a shot, but my hacking skills are subpar at the moment. Maybe after a couple hours of discussion working this out, I may feel a bit more confident with my hacking skills."

Cal reflects a bit further, trying to determine if this is the highest priority on their list. That sort of device could spell death for them all, especially if any other surprises go off.

"Eloise, I trust in your abilities. Give it another shot."

[Eloise Sugarglider]

Eloise shook her wrist and held it too her chest.

"Sorry guys, I definitely got closer. I almost had it figured out but I must have shorted something because it zapped me. Sorry."

[Wren Hartwood]

Wren looked up at Eloise's frustration. "I'll try."

He returned very quickly. "Damn. Sorry, guys. Worth a shot. Maybe I'll try again later."

ooc: going out of town until tomorrow night, so I'll be on mobile only. Feel free to order me around & I'll check when I can, act when I can. Don't do anything stupid I'm lookin' at you, Cal Mensen

[Cal Mensen]

Cal's studying their progress, grateful for the attempts but finding the situation to grow dire.

"Maybe there's another way of looking at this we haven't tried yet. Let's take a break for now, we've got plenty of daylight to work with. Thomas, Julian, I'd love to hear some feedback if you got any."

OOC: So I checked with Vester, the pods will activate as soon as the Action deadline hits. This means two things:
- Anyone making a Heroic sacrifice would need to do that before we know our actions have resolved.
- If we do succeed at the hack roll, we have to trust that we had found the Pod in the first place. If we're wrong, there's no chance to make a sacrifice. Boom.

So... can we please hold off on hacking attempts for now, wait for some more information exchange? I'd like to later give my own Scavenge check just to be sure we really are working on the Pod rather than what Reese claims to be the Pod. I'll probably try tomorrow morning/afternoon, would like to collect any remaining info before then if possible.

[Thomas Windsnip]

Thomas awoke from the hospital bed he had been sleeping onto see whole lot of people that weren't here yesterday. "Oh hey everyone, welcome! It was just me and Julian here yesterday, and so this is quite different. Glad you all made it! I was starting to get seriously lonely." He saw Reese, who he had not seen since day one "Good to see you again, girl! You been flying solo too?" 

He listened as the others updated him on the goings on of the other locations as well as the pods. "So, just to clear things up - we know where the Fire Pod is... but there may also be a muttation pod that we haven't found?! At this point, I'm a better scavenger than I am a hacker. I've always been a good scavenger... but I also found the holo thin in the supply depot that makes it even easier. I can definitely look for the muttation pod, but maybe we need to deal with the firey one first? I'm not the best hacker, but I think I could be even better if I talk with you guys a bit to learn more about it. What do you guys think - should we take these things on one at a time?"

"Hey Wren... Gwen. Cal has also told me that we're on the same side. I think I've proven that by keeping this place under rebel control. I don't know much about Reese or Julian. I tried to spy on Julian last night, but wasn't successful. I don't want to underestimate the little man, but I think he is a nonthreat. Last night, he did even do anything (no actions). He said he is on the rebel's side, but I haven't confirmed it. As for Reese, I get along with her but don't know which side she's on. She successfully spied on Dante, and left that area on Day 1, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything."

"Wren, I'm sorry but I don't have any unused morphling. I wish I wouldn't have wasted my time hacking, when I was the only one that did anything yesterday- I might have been able to hook you up!" 

"I'm going to try to see if I'm in good graces with Reese to see if I can get info out of her. I might whisper to her later."