13438/Get Your Kicks On Route 66

Get Your Kicks On Route 66
Date of Scene:	25 November 2022
Location:	Route 66, Arizona, USA
Synopsis:	A wild goose chase turns into a rescue mission after Alopex and Sally Pride's road trip stumbles upon a Null Corp facility and it's very dangerous prisoner.
Cast of Characters:	Sundance, Alopex, Sally Pride

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Sundance has posed:
After several months out of communication, the Mighty Mutanimal and her foxy friend have managed to meet back up for a simple reason: Alopex needs a ride, and nobody's a better driver than Sally. This is what brings them several days drive away from New York City, on the other side of the country. A rumor, nothing more, that could lead Alopex to more information. So far it had been a bust, however.

Route 66: The Mother Road. One of the most famous roads in the world, it winds its way from Chicago to Los Angeles through a lot of places that were once thriving hubs of commerce but a lot of them have now fallen on hard times. Those without tourist traps tend to become abandoned, or at least mostly forgotten about, save for a few locals.

While stopping to get gas, Sally is the one who noticed it in a local paper. A headline on the front page 'Werewolf spotted again!' This gas station was alone on the side of the road, about a dozen miles from the small town of Fort Caroline they had just passed through. The clerk seemed more interested in his cell phone than the two customers at his store at 2 am.

Alopex has posed:
To be fair, the trip to, and from, Fairbanks was also a long and lonely ride with a lot of thumbs and wheels involved. At least Sally was less skeptical company than others had been. It was just a hell of an ask to request such a long distance trip over a possible hint about the sword the fox liked to carry into extreme circumstances. It was on a whim, based on a rumor, based on a dream she had. There was more to the weapon she had but she just hadn't been able to figure it out.

So now, all the way out in Arizona, Alopex is a little down. She didn't really want to waste anyone's time and this turned out to be a pretty big bust thus far. That's why the fox had an armfull of food as she padded back out toward the car after having a surprisingly easy exchange with the gas station clerk. 'You are the -not even close- to the weirdest thing we've seen out here!' they said. It was nice to hear it.

Sally Pride has posed:
None the less Sally had been happy to oblige. It gave the two of them time to get caught up on things. Considering that last time they spoke it wasn't really known the sword was more than just a fancy high quality sword.

But of course they're not. It's Arizona. It's close to Nevada. They get some bleed over.

Which is part of why the headline being about werewolves and not aliens had caught Sally's eye, and she had plucked the newspaper off the trash bin, shook it clean, and took a look while filling up. "You know, it's not the sword, but this is the sort of 'strange sighting' that Ray and I were looking for while we were 'off the grid' and away from the Loop."

Sundance has posed:
The two decide to follow the lead, it's the only one they have for anything 'weird', that's usually their bread and butter after all. The article talks about a local farmer who spotted a 'werewolf' that ran away from him while he was checking on his field very early in the morning.

Tracking down the farmer's land, Alopex's tracking skills would eventually lead to a vaguely canine set of tracks, bipedal, that lead through the desert near the rancher's pasture and to a rock formation...Which has a hand scanner access panel on it under a false rock face.

Alopex has posed:
Well, they had food at least, and some water, so going on a little side-mission to trek around in the Arizona heat (even if it is Winter,) wouldn't be so bad. ... At least it was night time, comfortably cold for the fox, but that wouldn't stop her from offering Sally something if it seemed like she needed it.

After a bit of tracking, and then finding the formation, Pex seems a little surprised by something. "... Well... that's weird," Pex muses, motioning at the hand scanner. "Seems like an out of the way place to have one of these.."

Sally Pride has posed:
The ranch wasn't that far from the gas station, a little side trek to liven things up wouldn't hurt.

They found a trail of prints not running on all fours and Sally let the fox do her thing as a more experienced tracker. Getting to the rock formations caught her attention though.

"No kidding..." Already suspicious Sally takes a closer look at the device. "Well I have bad news and good news. The bad news is this is Null tech. The good news is," she pauses to jab her claws under the casing and pry it apart enough to pull out some wires, and fiddle them together to make the scanner reread the last correct print check to unlock the presumable hidden door it's at, "I have experience at bypassing it."

Sundance has posed:
Sally able to instantly recognize Null tech despite her and her crew escaping years prior should be a good indication how much they think about the missing Mutanimals.

One of the rocks cracks open with a hiss, and a door to a coridor opens up. Well congrats, they have managed to find a hidden Null base in the Arizona desert. What awaits them inside is anyone's guess, though they can expect at least one Mutant.

Alopex has posed:
".. Oh. Oh wonderful. I don't suppose you had any clue your old friends had digs out here?" Alopex asks as she peers inside, cautious, but not so much she's drawing weapons. At least not yet. No alarms. "Any ideas what could be down there? Maybe an old friend?"

Sally Pride has posed:
Null was more likely worried how much redoing security would cost and didn't expect Mutanimals and Friends to come out this far. "No but they clearly aren't worried about being found if they're using older hardware."

"More likely new ones. Spread out their mutant soldier projects" Sally pulled her blaster from her holster and started inside cautiously. "I did put a helicopter through the front of the first facility after all."

Sundance has posed:
So far, no alarms. No guards. It seems this remote facility probably isn't super heavily manned, in addition to Sally's trick convincing the system it's an authorized user.

The door leads into a coridor, which leads down into an underground facility.

It's about twenty feet down underground when they reach a sort of hub area, where things go out from there. That's where they'll spot their first guard, who's currently sitting at a security desk watching monitors for the facility while also playing some kind of collectable card game on his phone.

Alopex has posed:
When you're coated in white year around, you learn how to be super quiet and somehow stealthy, despite it all. That's why Alopex is utterly silent as she starts to head down into the facility, hands near weapons, but still not drawn. Once she notices the guard, she waves for Sally to hold for a moment, considering options. Vents, ways to distract, if there are more guards, all that kind of thing. ... Unless of course Sally wants to 'Go Loud'. That's up to her, really.

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride takes a step back into the entry of the corridor the entered from, pressing back up against the wall. She could easily nail the guard from here, but gunfire might tip off other parts of the facility... and when your backup isn't a buff fishman and a crab carrying a small arsenal in his dumpster 'shell' going loud is more optional.

Instead she gives a nod towards the guard with her head. Do your thing ninja fox, she'll watch your back. They'll have enough trouble once they find whoever made those tracks outside. She's hoping it was by someone trying to flee, but they could always run across another Ballista too...

Sundance has posed:
The guard wins his game of Hearthstone and smirks, "That's right sucker. Never gonna beat me." He then tabs out of his game, and looks over the cameras, noticing the small one on the door that is now showing a busted access panel, "What the hell?" He reaches for his radio, so the fox better move quick.

Alopex has posed:
Oh, she's a blurr when she wants to be. A kunai into the radio which will probably shock the man long enough for the fox to approach and introduce the back of his head to the rear-end of one of her kama. "G'nite.." and then she's looking at the monitors as she speaks, "If he was going for his radio there's more here. Lets see what we can figure out here.."

Sally Pride has posed:
The guard is down and Sally darts over to the station. "Good, it's a monitor post... Dunno how it took him this long to notice the exterior scanner bypassed." She didn't bother looking at his phone. She's checking the camera feeds for signs of their presumably canine by the footprints quarry. "If we're lucky we can avoid too much fighting until we're on the way out."

Sundance has posed:
The kunai spikes his radio out of his hand, and then a second later he looks over in time to see a fox knock him out. He's able to get tucked under the security station by the fox a moment later.

There's a feed labeled 'Specimin containment' that Sally is able to turn to, but the camera feed just shows a dark room with a night vision camera, and something is in there, she can make out a form laying in a cot but not much else. It's definitely a cage of some kind though. At least there's a map to direct the two where to go.

Alopex has posed:
The map is something Alopex would notice too, right after seeing the same cams. "Well. I think you do have a friend here. Maybe. Only one way to find out, I suppose." A glance up, around, and then the fox is off in the direction the map indicated. "Watch our backs. Hopefully the guards are as 'good' as the first one.."

Sally Pride has posed:
Goddamn cages.

"Old friend, new friend, doesn't matter in the end. We're getting them out of here." Sally lets the foxy ninja take the lead on the way farther into the facility, while she continues to watch their backs. "I'd say we have until his next checkin was suppose to be, but they don't seem to be strict on following regs here."

Sundance has posed:
The pair of mutants are able to make their way through the facility. It's not that big, but it's definitely larger than one would expect for a hidden Null facility. As the pair rounds a corner, they come face to fair with a pair of guards who were coming around back from something or other. The two guards stop and look at the mutants, "Hey...Hey wait a minute! You're not supposed to be here!"

Guard one rushes at Sally with his stun-stick, while guard two rushes for an alarm button on the wall and slams it with his hand, setting off kaxons in the base.

Alopex has posed:
"Damnit," even with her reflexes, she couldn't get a kunai in the air fast enough to stop the alarm from being hit. It at least surprises the guard that hit it enough that she can move in and introduce his face to the wall above that button, leaving Sally to deal with the other guard. Without a word the fox is off down the hall toward where their, hopeful, new friend's room, and cage, is. Hoping she's at the right door, Pex starts to try and see if it can be opened.

Sally Pride has posed:
So much for going unnoticed. Honestly its a surprise they made it this far before it went south.

But they weren't expected and that can still be of some advantage. The guard's attempt to jump her quickly makes the move rushed and Sally easily sidesteps the stun-stick, and pistol whips him upside the head with the butt of her blaster's grip. A knee to the gut follows just to make sure he's out on the floor. "As going to happen sooner or later. NOW we can play loud." She yoinks the stun-stick. It might be useful. And then follows Alopex into the lab, her tail twitching back and forth as she's getting a bit of a rush from the escalation of potential danger.

Sundance has posed:
The guard that hit the alarm gets the joy of having a kunai pin his hand to the alarm button a moment after he hits hit. He screams in pain as he pulls his hand back, holding it tight until Alopex slams his face into the wall.

The other guard manages to get a stupid look on his face for a moment as Sally sidesteps his very telegraphed attack, before he gets his head and gut smashed in a few seconds. That guard had a keycard on him. That's useful. With the alarms going off the pair is going to need to pick up the pace. A few more guards block their path as they finally see the door to the 'Specimen Containment' area. Getting past them, that keycard opens the double doors which slide open to reveal a cage in the middle of the room.

Laying on a bed in the middle of that cage is a figure covered in dusty tan fur, wearing a prison jumpsuit and a rather wicked looking collar around his neck. One of his ears twitches as the door opens, and he sits up from where he had been laying, looking across the room at the pair of mutants in the doorway, "Gotta admit, y'all ain't what I was expectin' to see walk through that door." He stands up and meanders over to the door, "Don't suppose you're here for a jailbreak?"

Alopex has posed:
A few more guards, a few more slashes and slices from kunai and kama alike, and then Alopex finds herself growling at the sight of the collar her new 'friend' has on them. "We are -totally- here for a jailbreak," she points out as she slips into the room, gets the cage open, and moves to undo any other kind of things meant to keep the coyote from getting out. "You're popular in the newspaper, lucky for you," she points out. "However, they're playing our favorite song and I don't really want to wear it out so we need to get going."

Sally Pride has posed:
Now that they're not playing the sneaking game Sally puts the blaster to use as intended. Though it's only on a high stun setting to put people out of action quickly. Most of these people are just doing a job and not in on the nastier stuff Null gets into.

"Totally a jailbreak," she echos. "Though whoever wrote that paper isn't very clear on different canines. Let's get the collar off and get out of here."

Sundance has posed:
"I'm not goin' anywhere without my gear and my collection." He says to Alopex, stepping back as she uses a kunai to break the lock on the door, and he steps outside, "And we need some gear in the lab to get this damn thing off, 'cause otherwise they'll just pop my head." He makes a motion with one hand indicating an explosion.

Outside of the containment room, a pair of guards have arrived, and one can be heard on his radio, "Subject Alpha is out of containment!" He calls out over his radio, "All units switch to lethal munitions!"

It seems his command comes a bit too late for him, as Sundance quickly walks past Alopex, palming one of the kunai off of her belt as he does, and throws it with a flick of his wrist into the guard as he breaks into a run, tackling the second guard and laying him out with several strong punches to the face, before he stands up and runs a paw through his dusty hair, "C'mon. Lab's this way."

Alopex has posed:
Gear? Well, yeah, the fox can understand that. She wouldn't leave her home without something, so.. yeah, "We can get that," is decided before more guards arrive.

"Alpha. What a -wonderful- name. So original," Alopex complains, loudly, though she's deadly serious about them switching to 'lethal' ammo. "Oh you want to play that way.." she says far to calmly for anyone to think it's good, ally and enemy alike.

Wait. Did that just happen? Usually its the fox slipping things away from folk, not the other way around. It gets a smile out of her, "OH, oh I like you already," she quickly points out before moving after him. "After you, and I really hope you have a better name than alpha."

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride steps out of the room to help, but he's already got the guards down. "Yeah no wonder they put a collar on you. Nice job."

She follows him to the lab and doesn't waste a moment before she's dealing with any guards. Blaster in one hand and stun stick in the other to lay people out and fast.

Sundance has posed:
"Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission." He responds to Alopex, "And you can call me Sundance."

In the lab proper, which Sally may find far too familiar, there's the equipment that's needed to remove that explosive collar. Once it's off of him, he takes a few moments to rub his neck, "That's better." He says to the two other mutants, "There'll be time for right proper introductions later. Lets get my gear and beat feet."

The armory room is down the hall from the lab, it seems this whole facility exists specifically around Sundance's containment and deployment by Null. The armory itself, once the door slides open, contains a massive variety of weapons, as well as a Null scientist talking to one of the guards, a commander, Sally would recognize, judging by the insignia on his uniform.

"We cannot kill it, we've put too much time and money into this project!" The scientist argues, as the commander loads a magazine into a weapon, "Doesn't matter Doc, Alpha is too dangerous to be allowed out into the world unchecked. It's a wild animal."

Sundance clears his throat, "That's mighty insulting there, Chief." He says, as he strolls forward and takes the gun out of the guy's hand before he realizes Sundance is there, and uncollared, "Now I /should/ take out some years of frustration on you boys, but I'll be honest, as fun as that might be I've got better things to do and better places to be." Even if he doesn't know what either of those are yet, but anything's better than here.

"Tie these two jokers up while I gear up." He says to Alopex and Sally, before he disappears into a smaller side area, emerging a few minutes later wearing his scout jacket, body armor and hat, as well as carrying a heavy bag over his shoulder, "Got my guns and my films. Hope you ladies got us a ride somewhere, 'cause I expect some of the heavy hitters from down in Phoenix will be showing up soon."

Alopex has posed:
Normally Alopex isn't too fond of taking orders, preferring to be giving them, but this time she'll allow it. Like he said, better to beg than ask. "Sure.." she answers before looking to the other two. She'll let Sally handle the commander, the fox is far more eager to tie up the scientist, "I hope you really enjoy causing so much pain and changing the entire -lives- of the things you change us into.." speaking from experience! "I swear if I ever find out Null was working with the Foot I'm going to burn you all down like they did to my home. And you can tell your boss that."

Sally Pride has posed:
"That's a much better name. Mine's Sally. Sally Pride."

She just smiles a little more toothily than necessary at the remaining men. "We won't stay long. Have had enough of these places." She doesn't really care if they recognize her or not as they get the two tied. Though she does take a distinct joy in roughing the commander up a little to do so. "When your bosses show up to untie and/or fire you, tell 'em the Mutanimals we're here." Which is technically only her but they don't need to know that. "Let's ditch this joint."

Sundance has posed:
The trio is able to make their way out, though enhanced hearing would pick up the sound of a helicopter in the distance. They're gone in Sally's car before the helo lands, though.

"I've gotta wonder where the hell you two came from, not that I'm complaining." Sundance says from the back seat, taking a few moments to look over his shoulder to make sure they're not getting followed, "I gotta say this was way better than my last escape plan."

Alopex has posed:
"Well, settle in. It's going to be a really long drive, but we had originally stopped for gas and some food so.." settled in the front seat, the fox rummages around her bag, "Chips, water, jerky, soda, whatever you want, just name it." Pause. "Oh, and you can call me Alopex."

Sally Pride has posed:
"Yeah we found the paw prints of your last attempt." Sally finds a country road to take instead of heading directly back to the highway. Her muscle car has the power to handle some Dukes of Hazzard driving to keep off the easily monitored routes. "We'll fill you in... I'm probably indirectly part of the reason they kept you it here by yourself and it's a long story..."

Alopex has posed:
"Like I said, we got plenty of time. It's a long way back to New York."