13551/Under Siege

Under Siege
Date of Scene:	10 December 2022
Location:	Thain Family Forest
Synopsis:	Alopex and company fend off some Purple Dragons and find a phone that may lead to the reason why they are hanging around the Thain Forest.
Cast of Characters:	Alopex, Sally Pride, Sundance

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Alopex has posed:
    There are just some mornings where people question if they've made the right decisions. Alopex is having one of those mornings. After a rather rough night thanks to her subconscious, the arctic fox woke up to some of the local Purple Dragons wandering a little too close to the Foxden for her comfort. Granted, the entrances to the place were pretty well grown over, resulting in most folk not interested in looking inside the abandoned little shop, but she didn't need one of the groups she fought with on the regular finding out where she lives! So... time to plan. Unless they get even closer, which a trio of thugs are considering.


"Oi. What's all that over there?""
"Not to sure, Charles, looks like some husk of a buildin."
"Think there's loot inside, Bernard?"

"Well, I'm not to sure, it could be, I dunno, haunted, er somethin."

"Yah but the boss wants us to try'n find that whatsit stuff around here."

"You mean like loot?"

"Yeaaaah, Loot! Lets loot the place!"

"Yeah, lets loot it!"

The fox says, "Uuuuuugh."

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride has been on the prowl a lot lately, after finding out about the gangs trying to smuggle and sell alien tech. But she's not had much luck in finding any additional leads, or that alien lizard woman she'd previously crossed pathes with on the matter. So she had started casing a bit farther from the rundown bad side of the tracks parts of the city. Still haven't really turned up much.

Just one car parked in an alley, with a bored and bummed lioness leaning forward on the wheel. Another stakeout, another lack of results. "Maybe we should get something to eat and call it a night."

... And through some contrivence just the consideration of food is enough to tempt fate as a couple of Purple Dragons slink by, paying no attention to the alley because they're looking for easier scores. Like buildings that have been left to rot and might have forgotten goods inside. "... Damn, looks like Pex was right about them being more active lately." She leans over and gives the 'yote a nudge with her elbow. "Feel like busting some thug skulls to beat the boredom?"

Sundance has posed:
The cowboy coyote had been playing around on a phone while Sally was keeping a look out, "Well it ain't Null, but I suppose wiping the floor with some varmits'll be fun."

He tucks the phone into a pouch on his vest, "I assume we wanna do this without a body count." He says, as he gets out of the passenger side, and moves to the trunk.

He opens it up and grabs his shotgun out of the back, his custom tooled lever action weapon clicking open as he turns it over, before he grabs a few less lethal shells from the gunbag. Taser shells, and some beanbag rounds as well. "These'll hurt like hell, but they'll live. Probly." He says, shutting the trunk and then moving back to the passenger seat, "You want me to follow 'em on foot and you bring the car around? Or should we just stalk 'em from above?"

Alopex has posed:
"I love loot! I betcha this place has all kindsa stuff! ... Er, how do we get in?"
"Uh.." Bernard gapes up at the tree that has grown over the entrance to the little place, peering, looking left, looking right, "Well, ah, around back?"

"Hersh right! Around back! There's always a back door!"

"Not that you can get into," Alopex grumbles as she grabs a few things from around her place. Her typical weapons, but also her blade since this is -her home-. With the two just out of sight for now, (Thanks twigsnap!) the fox darts out into the overgrowth, stalking after the pair. "Why are you all here anyway?" she wonders under her breath.

Sally Pride has posed:
"Well, yeah," Sally replies as she slips out of the driver's side. "But if something happens to happen, I doubt anyone is going to feel -too- bad. Don't put yourself at risk holding back for their sake. And the car might draw attention before we can see just what they're up to." They only walked right past because it wasn't running she figures.

That and rooftops don't have traffic. Unless you run into one of the other masked heroes that roam about New York. It's a better vantage point though, and doesn't take long to catch sight of the Purple Dragons and the direction they're heading after a few blocks. Headed towards the botanical area. Why? Don't know, don't matter. "They're heading towards the fox's turf..."

Sundance has posed:
The coyote follows the lioness up onto the rooftop, sniffing at the air a few times to pick up the scent of those Purple Dragons so they don't lose them. As they track the group towards Alopex's hideout, he hmms a bit as he leans over the edge of one rooftop and looks down at the group.

When Sally mentions it's close to the Fox's turf, he smirks, "So we're actually saving them from her, then." He says, with a little bit of a laugh, "Seems like they're looking for a back way in. I'm going to head around that way and try to cut them off." He says to Sally, before he hops off the roof and down onto a fire escape with a clang, following it down and around, so he can try to get around the other side of the gardens, where the Dragons were looking for the back way in.

Alopex has posed:
The two dragons seem a little confused, but that's when they get a few reinforcements. It's the Purple Dragons that Sally and Sundance noticed in the car from earlier. There's about four of'em, but one of the new ones is on the phone!

"Yeah, they haven't found- .. Yes I know we need to find--.. Yes sir. Yes. Alright.. Yes well- " And it keeps going like that. Hard to make out any important details.

The fox isn't to thrilled about them hunting around the Thain Forest for .. her? She can't figure it out with only one side of the conversation. They're clearly looking for something. ... She'll keep waiting. "C'mon, say something important already.." so she can wallop you all a moment or two later.

"Oi! Charles! Over'ere!" Seems Bernard has looped all the way around. "I found a way in!"

"But that's the entrance, we ain't around back."

"But we can get in ere! We can loot it!"

"Ah right, lets go!"

The fox says UUUUUGH again.

Sally Pride has posed:
A few more Purple Dragons arrive, one of them on the phone and like most phone conversations isn't saying much useful since he's just blubbering at whoever is on the other end of the line.

While they're watching their buddies get the door open, one gets tapped on the shoulder. Assuming it's one of his mates he turns his head. "What is it no--ow!" That's as far as he gets before a gloved fist smacks into his face, snapping his head back forward again as he reels.

"Always wanted to do that," Sally chuckles, even as she draws her fists back and up protectively in anticipation of the others turning on her.

Sundance has posed:
Sally's appearance is no doubt met with confusion. Which is exactly what Sundance loves, as the duster wearing coyote drops down into the middle of a group of the Dragons, "Y'all should have brought more guys." He says, grinning and showing off his teeth.

He grabs the closest one of the Dragons and hauls him head over heels, throwing him into the ground with a shoulder throw, before he swings around and whacks him in the head with the butt of the shotgun, swinging it like a baseball bat. He's not worried, his handiwork is tougher than any goon.

Alopex has posed:
    "So. LETS. GO. LOOT'EM. YAAAAA!" That's about the time the two go charging at the entrance, only to get a face full of smoke from the little sphere that Alopex threw at the entrance.

    "No, no, no you don't go in there," she announces from the haze.

    "Hey! Who's out there!"

    "I'm here Charles but I don't know who the other voice is!"

    "Well let's loot THEM instead!"

    "YAH!"

There's whirling, sucker punches are thrown at a blur in the smoke. ... Then it clears. ..And the two looters have cross-countered each other. Frozen for just a moment..

    "... Oh. ...H-hi."

    "That really.. hurt.."

And then a shove from Pex at them both send the pair toppling over.

    As for Around The Back... The one on the phone sees everything going down and starts barking into the phone. "There's mutants here! A lot of'em! ... I don't know I thought you said they were going to be on our side! THEY AREN'T!" Seems Sally and Sundance have at least three more to deal with as a van door can be heard closing not far off.

Sally Pride has posed:
Eyes narrow at the mention of other mutants. "That will be enough of that." Sally turns on her heel and goes for the one with the phone. Grabbing for that arm, and now she's got the claws out to make sure to get that grip and put the squeeze on. This is why she wears fingerless biker gloves after all. The other arm is used to shove her elbow into his midsection, the combination of clenching the arm and a blow to the guts meant to make him drop the device.

"Make it quick, we've got more company incoming!" she calls to Sundance. And loud enough who got the guys at the doors can hear a familiar face, if it's who she expects it is.

Sundance has posed:
Sundance heard it too. Sally gets the words out before he's able to say anything though, so he nods in response to her, as he ducks under a punch from one of the group that's still standing, before rising back up behind him, leaning his head over the guy's shoulder as he grabs him around the shoulder, "I think you need a new line of work, son." He whispers to the guy, before hauling backwards and slamming his head into the ground.

He pushes the guy off of himself and then kips back up to his feet, turning to face the direction where that van door was, "Better not be any Null assholes." He growls, as he spins the shotgun around to rack a round into the chamber, no longer using it as a club at this point.

Alopex has posed:
    The fox heard the van door as well. However, it took her a moment to get around to where the others were. Why? Dragging the looters. She leaves them behind when she spots Sally and Sundance. "Ah, help. That's a relief. When did you two get here?" Then a shot rings out, not hitting anything thankfully. Its a dart though! "The hell is going on with these goons today?!" The last few dragons can be seen charging through some of the trees, but they totally have dart guns instead of anything lethal. "I have NO IDEA what is going on right now! GET OUT!" Kunai fly. Tentetsu is drawn. Fox is Angry.

Sally Pride has posed:
As soon as the phone falls from the goon's hand Sally shifts her center of balance and twists the arm she's gripping around behind his back. There's an audible snap, a yelp, and not a lot of time to worry about figuring out which bone she cracked before she shoves him over on top of the others Alopex dragged up.

"We were on a stakeout," she replies to the fox. "The second batch walked right past us on their way here."

Then there's the sound of gunfire. The lioness jerks back on trained reflexes, though it turns out to only be a dart wizzing by them. But it was better to not take the chances and dodge now.

"Whatever they were looking for, they don't sound too happy we butted in." She draws her blaster pistol and takes a few quick shots on the low setting. It doesn't even really matter if she scores any hits, it's suppression fire to make them break up and not come running straight for them on easy aiming lines with those dart guns.

Sundance has posed:
Dart gun or not, that's definitely an escalation, so Sundance responds in kind, firing his shotgun from the hip at the guy with the dart gun, which launches a small beanbag at high velocity, before he quickly moves for cover.

Sally gives a pretty good answer, all things considered. Sundance's is a bit more accurate to his point of view, "Haven't the slightest! Think we might have stumbled into something we weren't supposed to see, though!" He swings the shotgun around again, before switching it to his left hand and pulling a revolver out of his front holster, "We better get moving or we'll get pinned down!"

Alopex has posed:
    Looks like Sally winged one, but because of her shot, Sundance's goon gets behind a tree before they get hit. Alopex would comment back to Sally but she's gone into home-defense mode which is bad for everyone else. "TAKE YOUR LOSER FRIENDS AND GO HOME." And that's about the time Bernard is heaved up and actually thrown at the others. Who look entirely shocked when it happens. It makes it easy to get one on the shoulder with a Kunai, causing them to yelp and fall out of cover so the other mutants can get some shots in.

"Boss didn't say we'd be fighting mutants, lets get outta here!"

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride thumbs the back of her blaster, increasing the power a bit. It's still not going to be lethal, but it's going to be enough to hurt a lot more. "You heard the lady." Especially when she actually takes aim this time at one of the thug's shoulder as they scramble to retreat. "Scram!" Cripple an arm and it'll keep the impression to get the **** out strong. If she shot them in the leg, it would slow them down.

Sundance has posed:
From behind his cover, Sundance takes a peek, and then lines up a shot with his revolver. He fires, the shot hitting the wall nearby and ricocheting off and into the front tire of the van, "Ain't gonna let 'em get away that easy." He says, with a faint chuckle, before he holsters his pistol again and then raises up, firing a taser round from the shotgun at one of the retreating Dragons

Alopex has posed:
With one of the looters thrown, and the other one groggy but conscious enough to run off with the others, the Purple Dragons are running off, "We'll see you again, freaks!" And despite the flat tire, they -do- plod off on the floppy tire.

    Alopex just slumps against a tree. "I could not figure out what they want here... and why the Purple Dragons would have dart guns? That's just... strange."

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride flicks on the safety of her pistol and holsters it. "Tch. With you around I'm gonna have to keep practicing my aim if I don't want to be outdone," she jokes towards Sundance. Then to Alopex, "I made the one drop his phone, find that."

Sundance has posed:
"That was not what we were staking out for." Sundance replies, as he slides his shotgun down over his back, "Still glad we caught 'em, I suppose. They said something about expecting mutants but not to fight them...And had dart guns. Gotta wonder what that's all about."

Alopex has posed:
    Oh, a phone? After a bit of looking around, the fox does in fact find the phone. Locked, but found. "... I'm going to need some time with this. Appreciate the help though." Pause. She gets out her own phone. "Lemme treat you both to Rupert's while you're here. It's the least I can do."

Sally Pride has posed:
Sally Pride laughs softly. "We were just considering something to eat before this whole thing started, so that's a great idea."