Bane of Utopia — "Chapter One: The Alcove" – Locked for dead.

[firestorm]

y u no spud. Also, sleep/nap, we have nothing more to do.

[Ad Bot]

[SWAT One]

You find the nearest crate to lean up against, and quickly doze off.

When you wake up, the rain has let up.  Tom is behind a crate and everyone is down low, staring at the entrance of the alcove.  Charles passes Tom a bit of ammo.

Tom:  "Thanks."
Michael:  "Hey, what's going on?"  You begin to get up.
Charles, Tom and Aliza:  "Stay down."

You stop and peek around the side of the crate.

You vaguely see two figures standing at the other side of the alcove, at the entrance.  One of them is crouching behind a rock, and another, standing up, back to the cave wall.  You can make out that the man standing is holding a pistol and that the man crouching is holding some sort of automatic rifle.

[}]Crazy[{]

Well, stuff, thats no good. Look around for some sort of other exit, you dont have a good enough weapon to take
those foes down. If you can find a different weapon, thats good, then go back to hiding.

Shooting might attract more of the FF group, so I prefer you kill them silently.

[firestorm]

Throw a rock somewhat to the right of their position, and use the muddy trenches to flank left.

[SWAT One]

Well, stuff, thats no good. Look around for some sort of other exit, you dont have a good enough weapon to take
those foes down. If you can find a different weapon, thats good, then go back to hiding.

Shooting might attract more of the FF group, so I prefer you kill them silently.

Throw a rock somewhat to the right of their position, and use the muddy trenches to flank left.

Sadly while this is a very hidden location, it is a dead end, unless you want to dive under the cave systems where the water is draining– a drop at least 60 feet.  The alcove is about 40 yards across; if you throw a rock, you will have to stand up, meaning you could be shot.  The FF were fearless in VC, but they dare not enter the forests because of all the rebels, especially not this far.  It is likely that they are another rebel group.

Wait.  The crouching one pulls out something from his pocket.

Flashes.  A flashlight.  Morse code.

You only understand it a bit, though Tom, once a Lieutenant in the Utopian Air Guard, knows it well.

Tom:  "stuff, someone get me the flashlight."

The flashing continues.

Tom:  "R E D  G O O S E.  S T O P.  Y E L L O W  G R A P E V I N E.  S T O P.  D O V E - B E A R E R.  S T O P.  O P E N.  stuff, this is not good."

Tom begins flashing a reply.
The flashes continue in response after Tom stops.

Tom:  "D O N O W A Y  S L A S H E D.  S T O P.  B L I N D  G R E A S E M O N K E Y.  S T O P.  H A N D S H A K E - D O V E.  S T O P.  5 6 2 2 3 9 4.  S T O P.  O P E N.  That's our code.  They want to speak with us.  Apparently something terrible happened.  Donoway* has been raided.  And destroyed."

Charles:  "Oh my.  What shall we do?"

Aliza looks troubled by something.

*Donoway is, or was, a large united rebel group with known members reaching approximately 136.  They have been charged by the United Factions to guard the railways south of here to make sure that FF wouldn't try to rebuild it, since most of the Donoway members were involved in destroying the rails in the first place.

[}]Crazy[{]

You, go check what Aliza's doing.
Try to get your mates to communicate with them so they know we aren't no bad guys.

[Rigel]

Whisper to tom asking why we can't just talk to them in person, we're both rebels right?

[SWAT One]

Whisper to tom asking why we can't just talk to them in person, we're both rebels right?

You know very well why we can't talk to them in person.  While there are many rebel groups, and most are united by the "United Factions" group, there are numerous rogue factions that roam the woods, bent on killing people regardless of alignment.  This happened to you earlier today when you were running through the forest.

This is standard protocol for any UF group.  They gave us our faction number and standard protocol for our group.  The fact that they knew our faction code means that they are a part of the UF communications faction, Apollo.

The men begin to come towards our camp, jogging towards the hut you are in.

You, go check what Aliza's doing.

Aliza looks really distressed.

[Rigel]

Aren't UF the good guys?

Also, you can write about the known factions in that reserved first post, as to not cause confusion.

Anyway, scan the area for suitable rocks and such FOR JUST SUCH AN OCCASION.

[SWAT One]

Aren't UF the good guys?

Also, you can write about the known factions in that reserved first post, as to not cause confusion.

Anyway, scan the area for suitable rocks and such FOR JUST SUCH AN OCCASION.

Yes.

I will post the well-known and vital ones.  There are hundreds of factions total.

(Care to elaborate?)

[Rigel]

So if UF are the good guys, can't we talk to them without hassle?

[SWAT One]

Yes.


The Apollo guys arrive and enter the tents, their weapons in hand but down.  They are covered from head to toe with water and mud.

You recognize one of them to be John Turner, one of Tom's second cousins.  Tom and Charles recognize the other man, probably from UF meetings.  Tom greets John warmly with a hug even though he is drenched.  They begin talking.

Tom: "So what happened?  Donoway was attacked?!  How bad was it?"

You see Aliza approaching uneasily, clearly upset.

John wears a grim face.  "They were attacked by a FF force early yesterday morning.  The rumors of the FF planning another attack turned out to be true.  We only know of six members of Donoway that survived.  They were attacked at the rail station in the hills where they were normally encamped.  Factions around the perimeter near the railway saw it coming, and were too scared to fire up emergency flares to alert some of the factions to the interior.  When they got to the interior, the interior factions sent up flares, but by then, Donoway scouts were trading shifts and were miles from their lookout posts."

Aliza: "MY BROTHER!"

Everyone turns toward her.

Aliza:  "My little brother!  Is he alive?!"

The man turns toward her and takes a step forward.  "What was his name, miss?"

Aliza:  "Aaron.  Aaron Mathews."

The Apollo man pulls out a soaking wet list from under a layer of jackets.  He reads it from top to bottom.  "I'm sorry...  Your brother is not on the list of known survivors."

Aliza stops, paralyzed, and dashes out into the rain with a choking sob.  She runs out across the alcove into the cave across the way.

[Rigel]

The only people I know who have the name "Aaron" are starfishs anyway.

No big loss.