Topic: In The Trenches: Team Gamma

Rhiannon Brock

Date: 2013-09-21 04:25 EST
Chatter on the commo channels had been hitting Rhi?s ears on and off. Her faithful four footed companion sat beside her and tipped his head as a familiar name caught his attention. ?No, Riddle, he?s not down there! It?s a person with the same name.? She chuckled as she rubbed her fingers behind the Collie?s ears.

The chatter went on for some time until she heard, "DIANA ? signal ... JaX?" On her end, the AI?s return message was clear enough, it was Ebon?s voice that broke up. Maybe it was all signals, maybe just mechanical ones, but Rhi had to try an alternate method. She reached out with her thoughts. ~Ebon, it?s Rhi. Can you hear me? You?re breaking up. I can relay if you can hear me.~ If that didn?t succeed, there was something more than just equipment being toyed with or failing.

Rhi's voice came over the lines, ?Elpis requesting commo and HW check for Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Gamma.?

((HW = Health and Welfare))

Rhiannon Brock

Date: 2013-09-22 20:44 EST
~Yes, I can. Alpha got flushed deeper into the underground. Nails and I are in a chamber, up to our knees in water where we're standing, deeper further on.~

Nails and Black Knight were accounted for. That was a relief. Rhi grinned at her dog. ?You remember how to swim underwater, boy? We might need to send you down with breathing gear.?

Riddle chuffed at Rhiannon in a mildly annoyed way. Of course he remembered how to swim.

~No sign of JaX, though no sense of her... passing, so she may be swimming deep and unable to respond audibly. Get an earpiece from E, it'll get us a more secure connection, and tell him to see if he can convince Ranger to link the Tower into DIANA's systems. I'll be in touch.~

?Not dead is good, but unaccounted for ? not so much.? She shook her head. She?d been able to connect with Eregor?s tower for some time and used it to convey a message.. ~Gory, I need some help here. Ebon?s down under and I don?t mean Fenner and Janie Land! Communications have started breaking. He suggests an earpiece for secure transmission to your place. Please bring at least two in waterproof packaging. I can try to send a messenger on four feet down to Ebon. Oh, and could you connect with Ranger and see about hooking the Tower into things? Thank you!~

Riddle butted his head into Rhi?s hand. He knew that look. She was thinking, and when Rhi started thinking, things could go crazy.

Brian Ravenlock

Date: 2013-09-29 11:56 EST
"Gamma this is Ravenlock for Beta... H & W are Good to Go, and all party members accounted for. No opposition yet, and we are proceeding further into the system due north from the Marketplace entry point. Clean up after the explosion top side, is still underway and no casualties reported so far."

Rhiannon Brock

Date: 2013-09-29 18:40 EST
~JaX is present and we're all in good shape, trying to determine where we are and how to move on.~ Ebon's voice was in her head.

Rhi smiled and her reply was: ~Glad to hear it! Will notify other teams of commo difficulties. E's been notified, waiting on response.~

Issy's voice came over the wire: "DIANA, Ranger, Brian, Elips, Virus: if you can hear me, we're going down past the reach of our maps. Team Alpha is on to something. I can smell it."

"Copy that, Nails. This is Elpis. Will relay this message along with notice of commo breakdown."

There was no mistaking Brian's voice: "Gamma this is Ravenlock for Beta... H & W are Good to Go, and all party members accounted for. No opposition yet, and we are proceeding further into the system due north from the Marketplace entry point. Clean up after the explosion top side, is still underway and no casualties reported so far."

"Ravenlock, this is Elpis. Copy that! Beta, Delta, and Gamma: Elpis relaying for Nails on Alpha. We're going down past the reach of our maps. Team Alpha is on to something. I can smell it. Be advised that they were flushed into deeper tunnels and having some commo difficulties. Other channels are being looked into. Be advised that only tech is affected at this time."

Eregor

Date: 2013-10-05 00:45 EST
The air beside Rhiannon swirled and warped in a way she knew well, as Eregor appeared wearing his usual longcoat. Unusually, there was a satchel slung across his chest to hang at his side beneath the coat. He held out a sealed bag containing a pair of earpieces. "Two comms from the Tower, as requested, my dear."

"Thank you, a chroi!" She kissed his cheek.

He knelt down to scratch Riddle behind one ear, but looked up at Rhi. "Any more news?"

"Not since Issy's message, no."

Straightening, he gazed out across the city. "I need to find Batten. If I can relay his AI's systems into the Tower's sensory array, and boost the gain on your comlinks, that should help keep better track of everyone. Not to mention that T is curious to see how advanced this DIANA of yours is." There was a brief pause. "Also, I was thinking of offering the team a space station."

Ranger

Date: 2013-11-07 00:32 EST
He was listening to the chatter back and forth between the teams, all of it being relayed to him by DIANA, where he was settled under the street at Team Beta?s flush-out point, frowning under his helmet.

Something was up.

There was no way this was coincidence. He knew the underbelly of the city was a dangerous place, he?d heard numerous reports of it from a wide variety of sources. But attacks occurring literally within moments of each other on two out of the three teams?

Like Alfa, he didn?t believe in coincidence. Not when it came to something like this. He was just waiting for something to come down on Team Delta next, but in the meantime, he was keeping his position.

?Alfa to Ranger. Requesting permission to leave flush-out point for Team Alpha to re-establish communications and assist in operations.?

The call came over the closed communications loop he, Alfa, and Zulu had established for themselves to act as a backup just in case there was interference from working underground. He was silent for a moment, considering. With Alfa no longer at their flush-out point, there was a chance something - or someone - might slip past.

Fortunately, however, he had backup for that eventuality. A though impulse opened the comms to the closed communications loop shared by the three members of the Phalanx.

?Ranger to Alfa. Permission granted. Watch yourself down there. Ranger to Zulu, status update for Team Delta, please.?

Another thought switched the communications back to the Avengers frequency as he listened to reports from Team Beta registering contacts in their location.

?Team Beta, this is Ranger. Exercise caution, and watch your back. Something tells me that someone?s prepared a nasty welcome for us down here.?

Another thought impulse put him over to DIANA's primary access frequency. "Ranger to DIANA. Execute emergency backup protocol Juggernaut, deploy to flush-out point Alpha."

Her cool voice came back to him in acknowledgement. "Right away, Ed. Juggernaut is online, estimated time of arrival, thirty seconds."

Brian Ravenlock

Date: 2013-11-17 22:11 EST
His first reply was...

"Copy that Ranger, and Elpis team Beta has engaged the multiple subjects. Jester has the ball, an it's his field. Will advise further when we're done playing around. Beta out."

And then a few moments later...

?Eplis this is Beta, be advised this may not take as long as we originally thought? Jester seems to have this in hand, an we?ll advise our next course shortly, along with whatever th?well, when he gets done using one of them as a melee weapon, we?ll advise on what?s left over.?