[Ryo]

The soldier holds his hands up in some kind of martial arts stance before moving forward to strike you with his palm.

Meanwhile, the other soldier points his assault rifle at Ace and goes full auto in an attempt to take him out immediately. But Ace is too close, and the soldier too injured from the earlier shock to get a proper shot off. Ace then closes the distance, hand crackling again as he grabs the soldier by the head and doesn't let up the electrocution until he goes limp.

Combat Turn 3, Pass 2

Uncle Sam 19
Masked 7
Soldier 1 3
Soldier 2 K.O
Ace 0

[Poindexter]

Hearing the sizzle of electricity behind him makes Sam feel a bit more secure on his flank than he did a moment ago as he madly swings haymaker after haymaker at the soldier before him. He STILL can't get a good hit off on him; the little man is just too fast. He keeps throwing jabs aimed at nerve centers and palm strikes intended to blind and disable Sam, and sooner or later, one of them is going to connect. Once Ace has zazzed his guy, it will be two against one, but I'll never live it down. I'm supposed to be the big bad killer, here, RIGHT?! Then, like a blessing sent from above, the words in the bottom left of his field of vision pop up.

<<Hold fast. Will cinch him up once I get clear LOS.>>

He grins a tiny bit and waits just a milisecond before his next strike. Sam blocks a coule more strikes on his forearms, waiting until he sees it start to kick in. Then, in just an instant, he sees the opening. He's not sure if the Masked Woman's mojo has started working just yet or not, but either way, he goes for a brutal left hook to the ribcage and connects heavily.  As he does, he can feel something crunch, and he's certain it's not his titanium knuckles. He sends his foe tumbling sideways onto the ground and before he can really even come to his senses, Sam charges over to him and stomps on his left shoulder, pinning him to the ground with his huge, booted foot.

Breath heaving, and with steaming saliva drooling down his massive tusks, he looks down at the squirming man and quietly speaks in an even tone.

"Who are your employers and how much do you know about us?"

[Tecumseh]

When Sam's hook to the ribs drops the man, the Masked Woman has a clear line-of-sight. She casts forcefully, aware that the man is a highly capable fighter and might be able to shrug off huge blows the same way that Sam does.

"Telego carronasto," she whispers under her breath, using the Sperethiel for "keep still". On the astral, she sees the man wrapped in hoops of mana. Her fist squeezes tightly as the the hoops constrict. Her shamanic mask surrounds her with a glow like a campfire.

@Sam
<<Spell locked. He's going nowhere fast.>>

[GrimWulf]

Ohanzee watch's as the troll and others run off into the night shortly after he suggested so. Of course that had come before the realization of who they were.  He followed along with the fight over comm's while keeping a lookout along the road and in the sky.

Once it seemed like it was over he opened his comm to the team again.  <<You can outrun the car, but you can't outrun the radio.>>   He's not quite sure where the quote came from but it seemed apt. "Before Smokey Bear's buddies arrive we better get clear, and heading straight into Aspen?  Ain't gonna work no more.  These guys are gonna have friends sitting up in a road block no doubt.  We got any backroads we can hit?  Hell, we just may wanna talk to Reginald's poaching contact, he'd be used to moving stuff around unseen... well if he's any good at least.>>

[Ryo]

"Who are your employers and how much do you know about us?"

He swears at you angrily in Lakota, or at least you assume that's what he's doing in-between attempts to break free of both your boot and whatever mojo the Masked Woman used.

[Ravensoracle]

Once he gets the messages from Sam he immediately jumps into VR  and begins searching for the comms so he can make sure there are no more surprise attackers. Once he finds the 5 comms he sends a message to the others.

<<<Found 5 comms but I'm still missing the deck that I was cracking. Here are the locations...(Insert ARO overlay with locations.)

I'm going to listen in to their chatter and let you know what they are doing.

[Ryo]

The still conscious soldier continues to struggle and swear, but doesn't seem to be making any headway. Crumpled listens in on the comms he has found, but hears no chatter, just occasional incoming messages in Lakota that sound distressed to him, most likely from someone calling for help and not receiving replies.

Meanwhile, Ace bends down and examines the soldier he incapacitated, checking him over for identifying insignias. The full body armor the soldiers are wearing are solid black, with no markings or logos of any kind to suggest affiliation with a specific corporation or security company. He finds a comm stashed in one of the many pockets on the armor, and checks it, frowning at the Knight Errant ID.

[Novocrane]

Pulled up just short of the roadside snow, Chino lets the vehicle roll back slowly as the seconds tick down. One eye on sensors, he tests himself as he waits - steering by array, while filling the edge of his peripheral AR with the few emails, maps, videos and notes that had accumulated thus far.

<<Before Smokey Bear's buddies arrive we better get clear, and heading straight into Aspen?  Ain't gonna work no more.  These guys are gonna have friends sitting up in a road block no doubt.  We got any backroads we can hit?  Hell, we just may wanna talk to Reginald's poaching contact, he'd be used to moving stuff around unseen... well if he's any good at least.>>

Difficult Creek, Target's Lake, ... not much for good omens, then. Lincoln?

Keeping it an open team channel, Chino replied, << By the maps, we could hit a larger camping ground before Aspen, or some kinda locals a bit after that, but we'd still be taking the same road in. Only other alternative I see is to go off-road about the same point, and aim to hit town another way ... it doesn't look like much of one. >>

[Ravensoracle]

Crumpled tries to make out what the man is saying but has no idea. He feeds the comm into the team's channel hoping for someone to translate.

<<<Incoming Feed...

<<<"Anyone have any clue what he is saying?">>>

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman keeps an eye on Sam and his prisoner, maintaining her concentration on the spell that binds the captured man. She scans the surrounding hillside and forest for signs of the other HTR team members.

She listens to the chatter that Crumpled feeds over the comms. The words aren't from any of the language families she knows, but she does recognize some of the more colorful obscenities as the same ones that Ohanzee was dishing out when Sam was rocking the stepvan on the edge of the cliff earlier. She glances to the dwarf to see if he can translate. It doesn't sound like information that's going to change their course though.

<<Chino, you're driving, so final decision is up to you. I'm not optimistic about the campgrounds. I think we could get lucky and find a corper's second home that's unoccupied, maybe ditch the van and boost another rig. But like I said before, Aspen's a small town. Not many shadows to hide in. We need to find out why we thought it was important enough to drive hours down an icy mountain road that has no towns or turn-offs -- not a great approach, tactically -- just to get to here. Then once we figure that out we'll probably want to leave just as quickly as we came.>>

[GrimWulf]

Ohanzee listens to the panicked comm message and relates to the rest of the team that it's somone panicking and calling for help, no one seems to be answering him.

<<Should I respond or do we just want to shut him up?>>

He considers the options given on their route.

<<The way I see it is; The campground gives us the best chance of going undetected, but the lowest chance of finding something to proceed. Going straight in gives us the highest chance of detection yet gets us where we want to be.  The locals... gets us closer, gives us a better chance of finding a place to hide that's actually liveable, and the possibility of other vehicles to complete the journey. Also gives the possibility of hostages, though I get the feeling I don't like that option. There certainly more risk there then the campground but, I think the rewards outweigh them. >>

[Poindexter]

<<Should I respond or do we just want to shut him up?>>

"Tell him if he wants to see the sunrise, he'll tell us who his employers are and everything he knows about us. Unless one of you can get that info off one of their comms."

[GrimWulf]

Ohanzee shrugs and hops out of the Rover turning towards the tree line, knowing who they work for already, but may as well ask. He opens up the channel the screamer is on and talks calmly to him in Lakota.

<<No one is coming tp help you. You are alone, you comms are being blocked, and the only reason I'm talking to you now is because I'm nicer then the rest.>>

He brushes some snow off a sleeve as brushes past a tree. He doesn't give the man a chance to respond yet as he continues talking over the comm.

<<We can make this simple, and maybe we just accidentally leave you out here to live rather then clean up loose ends.  I know, it's a shitty proposition.  But, think of the alternatives. So.... lets have it. You probably know the standards. Who do you work for, what do you know, what would you do for a Klondike bar?>>

He pauses by another tree, seeing the long strides the troll took into the woods and wonders just how long it would take him to catch up anyways, he decides to stop and wait for the soldier to respond.

[Ryo]

As soon as Ohanzee starts talking over the comms, the soldier under the troll's boot stops squirming and yelling at him, laying still while Ohanzee talks.

Then, there's laughing over the comms.

"Who do I work for? You don't know? I work for the organization you robbed tonight. I work for the men who will have your heads on a spike by the end of the week. Do you think we're the only ones who will be looking for you? We were just a scouting party trying to determine which direction you rats scurried away in. You have an hour, maybe two, before someone comes looking for us, and finds you. You are not in a position to threaten or make deals. You're just roaches running into the shadows when the lights come on. So how about I make a deal with you. Give us the obelisk, and tell us who employed you to take it, and maybe we'll let you scurry away." He replies over the comms, in Lakota.

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman watches Ohanzee walk toward Sam and his prisoner, the dwarf's small legs churning up the accumulating snow. She keeps an eye and ear open for threats while maintaining the Mana Bind spell. The spell is probably overkill with Sam standing on the man's shoulder but she knows that she has a tight casting and she's not ready to drop it just yet. Plus what if Sam gets plunked by some shooter hidden in the woods? No, best to keep the man restrained for now.

She listens to Ohanzee's speech. She can't understand a word of it but she's silently impressed by his composure and his controlled diction. Then she hears the laughing, and the tone of the response. Ohanzee translates for the team. The man doesn't sound terribly intimidated, especially given his predicament under Sam's boot. She wonders how he went from pleading for help to vain bravado in the course of a few moments, but maybe it's all that damn cyber. (Similarly, Sam - by all rights - should have a major concussion after that rifle butt he took to the head, but there he is, seemingly unfazed.)

Behind her mask, she frowns at the man's response. I work for the organization you robbed tonight, she repeats in her mind.

@Team
<<These guys are Knight-Errant, right? Did we rip off Knight-Errant directly, or Ares? Do you think the obelisk is theirs, or was it being transported and/or protected by them when we acquired it?>> Not that it probably matters.

<<Clock is ticking.>>