>>3649797
With a man dead, the remaining soldiers of the Dominion must make their next move soon. Either smoke out their own ship to drive out whatever monsters are downstairs, or perhaps hunt down the sniper that killed their man for vengeance.

ARCHIVE is here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/3589421/

As per usual, I'll start updating once I get back from work tomorrow. Go ahead and leave your votes in and I shall see you there.

>>3649797
>> “I say we take some time to plan our next move. I’ll come find you when I got something. Might be a mixture of a couple plans. Hell, maybe we can lead that snake right to the hill.”

good to see you back, survive. Hope you had a good weekend

>>3649797
>> “Let’s put a team together. I say we hunt that bastard down.”
>> “Let’s go forward with Wexley’s plan. Let’s get some tinder together and start sealing some vents.”
We got multiple fireteams, let's do it.

>>3649797
>> “Let’s go forward with Wexley’s plan. Let’s get some tinder together and start sealing some vents.”

>>3649797
>> “Let’s go forward with Wexley’s plan. Let’s get some tinder together and start sealing some vents.”

Im a Pyromaniac

> “Let’s go forward with Wexley’s plan. Let’s get some tinder together and start sealing some vents.”

“Let’s go forward with Wexley’s plan. Let’s get some tinder together and start sealing some vents.” You look at Graves. “Graves, get Joffrey into the Command truck. Take anybody you need to help you. We’ll need to move our food outside as well, just in case something happens. I don’t want an accidental fire to start upstairs and wipe out our entire food supply.”

Graves looks back. “Tombs, you get all that?”

“Yeah,” he says. He stands straight, looking at you. “I got it.”

“Alright,” you say. You look at Tierney. “Tierney, do you think you can help Tombs with that?”

“Of course!” She stands up, looking at you eagerly. “I’ll do my best.”

“Great.” You fold your arms, looking at Rutledge. “As for… our friend. Let’s keep an eye out. I don’t want us to go looking now. But instead, let’s start stacking some tinder together. Dry wood, leaves, everything. We’re going to need ourselves a really big bonfire.”

“As you say.” Rutledge scratches his neck, quirking his brow a little in confusion. “But… what about Nielson and his stuff?”

“We’ll have to close the bulkhead,” you say. “And hope that it doesn’t damage anything down there.”

“Alright. I’ll let Banner, Bryce, Levy, and Smitty know. We’ll get outside and start pulling together stuff.” He starts towards the door, then stops and points to you. “Idea. Get your little Deino buddies to help us set up some shelters outside or something. Even if we seal the vents and everything, no guarantee smoke or fire won’t rise up somehow.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” you say. Tierney steps up to Tombs, asking what she can do. Rutledge also takes his leave too. Graves stands next to you, looking at you with a bit of concern. “What’s that look for?”

“Not too torn up about Grimshaw?” she asks. You shrug. Admittedly, not too much. You didn’t know him that well. It only hurts because it’s one less man but… still. Kind of hurts.

> “Some people process grief differently, Graves. I thought you as a medic would know.”
> “It hurts. But we gotta move on.”
> “He was an asshole anyway.”
> Other

>>3652476
>> “It hurts. But we gotta move on.”

>>3652476
>> “It hurts. But we gotta move on.”

>>3652476
>> “It hurts. But we gotta move on.”

>>3652476
>> “It hurts. But we gotta move on.”

> “It hurts. But we gotta move on.”

“It hurts, but we gotta move on. We’ll make sure his body and Harrell’s and Cope’s will get back to their homes. As for Bakker and Horner now that I think about it… well, it’s…”

Graves sighs. “I understand, Daddy.” She pats your arm, smiling at you. “I’ll start moving some of the stuff into the Command truck.”

“I’ll help you out,” you say.

…

…

You lift a basket up into the Command truck full of medical supplies, what’s left of them anyway. Seems out of boredom, Whitney took to making baskets out of barkfiber. Admittedly, a very productive exercise as it means that there’s actual stuff to put things into instead of just those heavy crates littered around the ship. Graves slots some of the stockpiled food in there as well while Tombs helps Joffrey rest down on one of the bunks. Tierney forcefully hauls several baskets of food, medicine, and ammo by hand and by arms. And you can see Banner, Levy, Smitty, and Bryce chopping wood with their machetes and packing it all together to make the tinder. Inside, Hood, Wexley, Morrison, Godwin, Early, Whitney, Nielson, Connell, and Delta are all preparing the inside of the ship so as to be nearly completely smokeproof. Nearly at least. You’re not holding out much hope.

All you can really hope for is that the smoke doesn’t choke people out once the fire starts rising. The Wife watches carefully as the sun starts to set down on the day. Everyone’s been working hard at this. And by now, there’s a sizable pile of wood to burn.

As Tierney moves to carry some stuff over to you, she slips. Agha!” she squeaks, flopping forward onto her face straight into the mud. You sigh, smirking a little. She comes to her knees, wiping her face off. “Ow!” The Wife comes to her, briefly prodding her with her muzzle. “Hey!” Tierney flinches, then she starts crawling away. The Wife bares her teeth, growling.

“Enough,” you say. The Wife steps back, snorting at Tierney. She’s starting to recognize Tierney as a runt. That’s not good at all. You offer your hand to Tierney. She takes it and helps herself up, patting herself down. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She sighs, blinking some mud out of her eyes.

Graves drops down, walking over to you. “Aside from Slippy McFaceFirst here, that should be everything.” Tierney glares at Graves, not appreciating that one bit. “Hey, joke, Tierney. Calm down.”

Burke strides up to you, her DMR under her arm. “Hey, Boo. Nielson says that-“ She stops, perking her ears up.

…

“What?” you ask. The Wife as well looks up, silent. She immediately flees to her stable, screeching as she ushers the Kids into the ship. You hear little pops in the distance. Everyone pauses, looking up and around.

…

Shit. Artillery.

> Inside the ship!
> Calm down. They don’t know where you’re located. It’s probably just random.
> Take Cover under something!
> Other

We'll continue this tomorrow morning. Gonna head to sleep now. Go ahead and leave your votes and I shall see you then.

>>3653054

> Take Cover under something!

>>3653054
>> Take Cover under something!
That sniper bastard probably relayed info of where we approximately were to the arty to wipe us out. We should've continued to try and kll him.

>>3653054
>> Take Cover under something!

>>3653054
>> Take Cover under something!

>>3653054
>Take Cover under something!

>>3653509
Glad to see you back QM, I am curious about something though- Why is it that the MC is only occasionally suspicious of Rutledge when we as the players see suspicion in everything he does? You probably answered this before but does our MC have his own thoughts aside from what we think?

> Take Cover under something!

You grab Tierney and throw the both of you under the Command truck. Graves and Burke as well duck underneath too. If you remember what happened last time the truck was under fire, the hull didn’t exactly stop any shrapnel! Everyone else immediately breaks for the nearest bit of cover, hurrying either into the ship or under trees or into logs. You cover your head and wait.

There’s a faint rumble and shake of the ground. It’s close. Then the ground shakes harder under the staccato beat of the barrage. They’re not striking the ground directly. But they’re close. You squeeze Tierney tight, and she curls up as best as she can in your grasp.

A tree above you suddenly explodes. Tierney shrieks, and Graves quickly grabs her as well, locking the three of you into a tight hug. Another shell strikes near to the camp, splashing dirt and mud everywhere. You shut your eyes, trying to make this go away mentally. It’s just some damn rain this is. The barrage continues on and on, never striking the camp directly. Just nearby.

…

…

You blink, feeling the sudden lack of explosions. It’s done. Burke starts crawling out. “B-… Burke!” Tierney whisper-cries out to her. “Don’t go out there!” Burke crawls out, then looks around. You scoot up and look at her. She looks around, looking up at the sky briefly.

Then she sharply whistles, calling to you. “It’s over.” You push yourself out, letting go of Tierney. Everyone comes out of their hiding spots. Banner and Bryce come out from beneath some tree roots, Smitty and Levy from out of a log, Tombs from out of the Command truck, and everyone else from inside the ship. She looks at you. “That was short-lived.”

“It was a probe,” says Rutledge. “If they knew where we were, they would’ve just hit us directly. They almost got lucky this time.”

“Almost,” you say. Of course, their standard follow up to a probing artillery strike is to follow up with a patrol. If they know –exactly- where you are… Even if you fight the patrol off, they’ll just shell all of you into oblivion even if you hide in the ship.

> “We better hide inside the ship and cover our tracks, get the vehicles somewhere safe.”
> “Let’s set up near their barrage location and get ready to ambush the patrol.”
> “Rutledge. Call it. What do we do?”
> Other

>>3654237
I consider the MC his own separate person aside from when you guys are controlling him. I'm not the type of person to do blank slates anymore at least. I go in with the mindset that every decision point is a decision that could logically be made in-character.

>>3655020
>"Burke, you're with me. We'll set up near their barrage location and get ready to ambush the patrol."

>"Rutledge, roll call. We need to make sure everyone's alright and accounted for."

My thinking is we can take them on, or at least take a few of them gorilla style - else we could set up the area, bring a few others and lead a full assault.

>>3655024
Alrighty Survive, thanks for the quick response!

Also anons, we need to spend some down-time with Burke, it's been too long since we've spoken with her one-on-one, and even longer since we've done anything aside from missions with her. It's like y'all want her to be persuaded by Rutledge.

>>3655047
Support

>>3655047
>>3655020
Suppor5ing

> Other

“Burke, come with me. We’ll set up near the barrage location and get ready to ambush the patrol. Rutledge.” Rutledge nods. “Make account of everyone. I want to make sure that everyone’s alright and we’re all here. If someone’s dead, I want to know about it.”

“You got it, buddy.” Rutledge whistles, motioning Bryce over as he goes to work.

Tierney steps up, readying her rifle. “I’ll come with you.”

“Nay, nay, motherfrakker,” Graves says, pouting. “I need you, Tierney. We gotta the rest of the stuff in the Command truck.” Tierney frowns. She looks at you.

“We’re not gonna be far,” you say. “If something pops off, then you can come, okay?” She sighs, dejected, but understanding. “Go on.” Tierney steps away to Graves so she can learn what she needs to do.

You and Burke step away to the barrage location. Judging by the sound, it can’t have been far. Less than 100 meters for sure. The Lizards really got lucky calling this one in. Burke nudges you. “By the way, I was trying to tell you something.” You check over your powerpacks, making sure they’re still functional and charged. You nod for Burke to carry on. She says, “Nielson says that he’s gonna shut the bulkhead and seal it up with the arc welder.”

“Really?” you ask. “Won’t he need to get back inside?”

“He tells me he can just undo the welds easy enough,” Burke explains. “But I’m concerned. If that really is our only way out and the fire destroys it…”

“In the long run, we’ll be better to get all the monsters out of the closet first,” you say. Truth be told, it does make you nervous setting this plan in motion. If the fire does spread to that room, that could mean all the communications equipment getting fried. Which means no way of calling for help. It’s a long shot calling for help, sure. But you’d like the option. If the Navy is still out there, they can’t possibly think to ignore a distress call, can they? You hope not. You and Burke continue walking on until finally you get there after only ten minutes of walking.

The barrage area was rather spread out, spread out enough that there were trees still standing among the shell craters that were filled with muddy water and the occasional carcass of some poor sauropod. Several trees were fallen over or split open, creating large pockets of cover that the incoming patrol might use. To that end, Burke elected to climb a tree without your say so.

Lightning’s probably not going to strike twice. You climb up with her. The two of you settle in on separate branches then put your backs against the trunk and wait. The leaves for now obscure you.

And now the time for waiting has come.

…

> “Burke. Has Rutledge been schmoozing you or anything?”
> Remain quiet. Now’s the time for business.
> “Burke, you feeling alright lately?”
> Other

>>3655394
> “Burke. Has Rutledge been schmoozing you or anything?”
> Remain quiet. Now’s the time for business.
> “Burke, you feeling alright lately?”

Combining these two to say.

> "Burke, you feeling alright lately? Has Rutledge been schmoozing you or anything?"

>>3655413
Just make sure we're asking about her wellbeing and not just checking our paranoia, don't make this about us.

>>3655394
> “Burke, you feeling alright lately?”

> “Burke. Has Rutledge been schmoozing you or anything?”
> Remain quiet. Now’s the time for business.
> “Burke, you feeling alright lately?”

“You okay, Burke?” you ask.

She looks over, giving you a sharp questioning glare. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I wasn’t asking if you were injured, I’m just asking if you’ve felt okay lately,” you explain. “I know these past few days have been stressful.” Burke’s glare softens a little, looking at you questioningly. “So have you?”

“I have,” she says. “At least, as I usually am. Personally I don’t give a shit about Grimshaw but I know people are messed up over it. That’s three people off the list, four if you want to count Joffrey.” Handless arms and blinded. You still get a little shiver up on your spine looking at Joffrey every now and again. It’s not something you want to see constantly. Can’t imagine having to take care of him constantly. Graves and Tombs deserves some kudos for that.

“Rutledge trying to schmooze you or anything?” you ask.

“Jealous?” she asks. You roll your eyes. “I joke. No, I recognize Rutledge is an idiot most of the time but he’s got some legitimately good points every now and again. He isn’t a Corporal for nothing I suppose. You worried he’s trying to turn me or something?” You’re quiet at that remark. She’s perceptive that’s for sure. “Look, Boo. I’m loyal to you, not him. I’ve known you longer. And I know what you’re capable of. Rutledge is… a mystery to me.”

“Oh?”

She shrugs. “Think about it. He’s an idiot yeah. But he survived this long. He survived weeks before he even found us. His guys seem pretty loyal to him too. Nobody seems to talk ill of him. If anything that scares me more than Godwin being an out and out rapist.”

You nod slowly. That’s an interesting speculation. You hear some twigs crackle. The two of you settle and quieten down.

Coming out of the bushes on the eastern side of the clearing was a pair of Troodon. Following after them were four more, searching around. They sniff the air as they start marching in. You squint. No Raptors? Four more Troodon come out as well, for a total of ten of them. They fan out in pairs, sniffing in craters, searching around. They might’ve caught your ambient scent but they probably don’t know your exact location.

Burke looks at you. Just Troodon is kind of a waste. And they don’t seem to know your location either.

> Let them search and hope they just pass on.
> Ready up and let them get close for a potential ambush.
> Other

>>3655705
> Let them search and hope they just pass on.
>Look out in case the dinos have set up their own ambush.

These aliens are crafty, they could be expecting us here.

Also, Burke makes a ton of good points. She points out what we seem to miss, she's the best wife material from the lot.

>>3655737
Support
I would agree with you anon, but that nonsense with Harrell really put a damper in my opinion of her.

> Let them search and hope they just pass on.

It’s strange that they’d just send the Troodon without any kind of leadership. No Raptors, no Stenos, nothing. Just them and their claws. The minute you and Burke shoot at them, they’ll likely to just bolt and run away. This might be some kind of trick to draw you into an ambush or something. But you’re not going to jump to that conclusion until you see how they operate.

The Troodon sniff at the craters, fanning out by twos all around the area looking for tracers of human. One of them dives into a crater and splashes about in the water at the bottom. Another shoves his partner away before getting shoved back. Another apir start biting at each other, wrestling around on the ground. Yeah, Troodon aren’t exactly productive scouts it seems without someone to watch after them. But they’re still deadly in close quarters and you’d rather not deal with them if you can help it. You watch as they scan around the area, looking. They don’t even appear to notice either you or Burke standing atop the trees. Thankfully, it seems that while you’re scent is out, it’s mixed in with the smell of gunpowder, destroyed foliage, and other strong smells that’ll throw them off.

Pretty soon, the Troodon all come gathering around again. They snort and click their teeth to each other. Finally, go back the way they came, apparently satisfied with having not found anything.

Right then. Seems they’re gone. But they’ll be back probably.

> Stay here. You’re not holding your breath on them not coming back.
> Back to camp. Best get things sorted out there.
> Other

I'm gonna go to bed from here so go ahead and leave your votes in and I shall take us back in the morning. I'll see you then, anons. Hope you're all enjoying yourselves.

>>3656455
> Stay here. You’re not holding your breath on them not coming back.

>>3656455
>> Stay here. You’re not holding your breath on them not coming back.

>>3656455
>> Stay here. You’re not holding your breath on them not coming back.
might be able to nab a couple big ones

>>3656455
> Stay here. You’re not holding your breath on them not coming back.

Enjoying myself a ton Survive.

>>3655705
I do like how she dodged the final question though. We should really ask Burke again if Rutledge is schmoozing her.

>>3656455
>> Stay here. You’re not holding your breath on them not coming back.

> Stay here. You’re not holding your breath on them not coming back.

…

…

Night falls fairly quick. Aside from that quick Troodon patrol, it seems that the Lizards don’t appear to be interested in coming back. Either that, or they’re waiting for you to come back to them. It’s actually a little suspicious. Normally they’d send an actual team with Raptors and perhaps even a Ceratosaurus to support along with Stenos. But just Troodon? Something’s definitely frakky that’s for sure. “Burke,” you whisper. “What do you think the Lizards are planning?”

“Maybe after you little adventure with that Champion, they realized they can’t send the important Lizards in first,” she remarks. “So they send Troodon.” That’s a fair assessment. “Though, doing only a cursory sweep of the area and not the surrounding area? That’s what’s suspicious to me. I think they know we might want to investigate too. So they’re probably planning a trap beyond that treeline for us.”

“Right,” you say.

“U-… hey.” You look down and see Tierney, her helmet hidden beneath a poncho hood with a Deino standing next to her. The Deino sniffs the air, glancing around while Tierney holds two mugs in her hands. “I uh… I brought you guys some coffee. In case you two were planning an all nighter.”

“Oh.” You look at Burke. Burke glances at you. She shrugs. You nod. “Alright.” Tierney carefully takes both mugs in one hand, then starts climbing up. You help her along by grabbing her collar and hoisting her up. She hands one mug quickly to Burke, then she scoots on next to you and hands you yours. Wait. You take an experimental sip.

Okay, Tierney didn’t make this coffee. Good. You take another sip. “How are things back there?”

“All clear,” she says. “Everyone’s accounted for. No one’s injured or anything,” she explains. “Plus the Kids and the Wife are fine if you’re wondering.” Of course you are. It’s your Wife and Kids after all. You didn’t kill that Toothyfaced bastard for nothing. Well, you did. Technically Burke helped. But… still. “What happened?”

>>3658174
“Just Troodon,” you say. “We let ‘em go but we’re thinking they might have some kind of trap out by the treeline across from us.” Tierney nods, listening attentively, hugging herself. A faint mist lowers down on the ground around the site. It’ll probably start getting thicker as the night goes on. That’ll probably make navigation difficult for sure. “Thanks for the coffee by the way.”

“Don’t mention it,” she says. “And if… could I stay with you?”

Burke sighs loudly enough for the two of you to hear. “Tierney, this-“

“It’s not because I’m scared!” she snaps at Burke. You flinch, surprised by the outburst. “It-…” She sighs. She looks at you. “Something’s off with Godwin. I noticed he’s been watching me and Graves a lot while we were working and I-… I don’t feel safe back there, okay?” Godwin? Oh shit. Of all the things to happen tonight. Do you really have to deal with that now!? “I’m worried.”

Burke squints. “Tierney, didn’t you almost break Godwin’s hand once.”

“I wasn’t-“ Tierney deflates, trying to stop herself. “I didn’t mean to hurt him! I just wanted him to leave me alone then!” She crosses her arms, pouting sadly. "I don't want to hurt anybody..."

> “Tierney, you can take of yourself. Give yourself some more credit.”
> “Well, stay by me, Tierney. When we get back, I’ll have a chat with him.”
> Other

>>3658176
> “Tierney, you can take of yourself. Give yourself some more credit.”
>"I pity the guy who wants to take advantage of you with those "guns""

>>3658218
Worried about Graves, though. I feel like she'd get overpowered and taken pretty quickly. Although Tombs is always around and he'd probably kill him.

>>3658229
Am worried to anon. Suggest she and a few other girls sleep together. Maybe keep a weapon nearby in case more then one 'friendly' come up.

>>3658301
*too. Jesus christ.

>>3658176
>> “Tierney, you can take of yourself. Give yourself some more credit.”

Maybe this isn't the worst thing to happen, to be honest. In fact, maybe we should let Godwin make a move, and we can step in and beat the shit outta him. Right in front of everyone if we could pull it off.

Sure he'll spill the beans, but we never killed anyone, after all

>>3658380
Anon. That is a terrible idea, and there are a ton of things that could go wrong. So if we get the best outcome, what do we get out of it? People already know us, they know we're fiercely loyal to our friends and comrades, people may begin to think us hot headed or violent (even if the situation may have demanded it).

Now by suggesting Tierney sleeps with a weapon, if something does happen there's a chance that she injures or kills him - and if she sleeps with others she can back up her claim. In any case Godwin will need to explain why he was in her room. People will lose respect for him and we could hold a trial.

This isn't my intention with my write in anyhow, but still.. bad idea anon.

>>3658400
You know, I don't think many would get mad if we stop an attempted rape. Two birds with one stone. Who knows, maybe everyone would think Godwin is just lying

>>3658524
They may like it, but it doesn't benefit us.

>>3658534
Yeah it does, we scare Godwin, make everyone see us in a better light, and discredit Godwin

>>3658537
Godwin has already tried to fondle more than one girl, and people know he's rather shady. Considering our previous actions I doubt beating up a guy, who tried to assault probably the strongest girl in the group, would be that impressive.

> “Tierney, you can take of yourself. Give yourself some more credit.”
> Other

“Tierney, you can take care of yourself. Give yourself some more credit.” You poke at her arms. “I mean, you got the guns right here.”

She rolls her eyes. “Please. I’m not as strong as you are…” She blushes a little, realizing what she just said.

Burke leans over, glaring at you two. “Tierney, if you really wanted to, you could just force Boo down and have your way with him and save us so much goddamn trouble I swear.” You give Burke the finger in response. Tierney meanwhile acts with revulsion at that idea, looking nearly sick at it. “Seriously, you’re strong. But if you’re really feeling unsafe, just make sure you keep with Stoakes and Early and Whitney and Bryce and Graves I guess if she wants to feel safe too.”

“Graves is always with Tombs, I don’t doubt that if it comes to it, Tombs would just kill Godwin,” you explain. And you’d be glad if he did. Would save you a lot of trouble. “That said, I recognize your point, Tierney. I just wish you could at least give yourself some more credit in knowing you can defend yourself.”

“I-… well, yeah, I guess you’re right.” She sighs, brushing some hair back. “Still, I’d prefer if you were to come and sleep with me just for security’s sake. I feel safe with you no matter what, and I-“

Burke clears her throat, shushing you two. She points ahead to some leaves rustling in the treeline. You turn on your infrared on your helmet and look. You can barely see anything through the foliage except some white flashes of heat signatures. There’s something out there.

After a few minutes though, the rustling stops.

…

> “Stay here. I’ll take a look.”
> “Let’s go check it out.”
> Stay where you are.
> Other

>>3658611
>Ti, go back to base and send for reinforcements if we don't come back in half an hour.
>"Graves, you're with me. Let's check it out."

>>3658605
It's not the "strongest of the group" point, it's stopping a rape. It gives us the moral high ground
> “Stay here. I’ll take a look.”
they can watch for any flanking

>>3658632
This.
>"Watch my six"

>>3658611
>> “Stay here. I’ll take a look.”
>"Watch my Six"

> “Stay here. I’ll take a look.”
> Other

You drop down out of the tree. “I’ll go take a look. You guys watch my six.” Tierney’s about to protest but stops herself. Burke nods, taking aim with her DMR out into the distance while you walk. Those two will be fine. You quickly trek across the sight, making sure to stick to crater to crater for cover. You don’t want them spotting you that fast. Once you’re up to the treeline you peek in.

Nothing in sight, just foliage and trees. You take a look with your Infrared. Just a bunch of white splotches through bushes. Something’s not quite right. You step into the woods, keeping your Carbine raised high. You peek up at the tree tops. Nobody’s hiding in the branches. Nobody’s coming around to flank you. Maybe they left and those white splotches are just random heat spots. You keep looking around. So far the leaves themselves are your only company here aside from the occasional Dimorphodon poking through logs or some rodents.

You hear a rustling however. You freeze and look to where you heard it. You tiptoe over to a tree, then look around the side.

In plain sight were three Troodon munching on a Dimorphodon quietly. You squint, looking hard at them. Their faces are covered in feathers and blood, heedless of your scent or anything else. Those little bastards must be pretty hungry. You ready your Carbine.

Then a call echoes through the trees. Tey perk up, looking out eastward. Raptor calls. One of them howls, throwing his head upwards in a long rasping call. The Raptor responds with several questioning barks. The Troodon responds with one clear shriek. Seems they’re communicating. The Raptor makes a rallying cry. And to that the Troodon start walking back, leaving their prey behind.

Hm. No trap then it seems, for now anyway. But…

> Follow them. Maybe they have a new outpost set up somewhere.
> Shoot them up before they leave.
> Let them go.
> Other

>>3659045
>> Follow them. Maybe they have a new outpost set up somewhere.
are we close enough to run back and tell the girls

>>3659057
For a quick run back? Sure.

>>3659045
> Follow them. Maybe they have a new outpost set up somewhere.

>>3659045
>> Follow them. Maybe they have a new outpost set up somewhere.

>>3659045
>> Follow them. Maybe they have a new outpost set up somewhere.

> Follow them. Maybe they have a new outpost set up somewhere.

You decide to follow them in. You start skulking behind them. Matching their pace is useless. You’ll just follow their tracks. One thing these Lizards seem careless about is leaving tracks. You look down and see the soft marks that their feet are making in the soft swamp floor. They’re moving at a relatively relaxed pace. And a relaxed pace probably means that whatever little camp they may have is probably close by.

As you walk, your ear perks up to the sound of Lizards barking and raspily calling out to each other up ahead. Yeah, you’re getting close.

You poke out from behind a tree and take a look.

Up ahead some fifty meters away was a gathering of Troodon. You could see them, partially obscured by trees admittedly, clearly setting up what appears to be a camp. However, it seems to you that there’s –only- Troodon in their midst. No Raptors, no Stenos, no nothing. Perhaps Burke is right. The Lizards have wised up and are now just sending Troodon in as expendable pawns to trigger ambushes. If so, that’s devious. Clever and devious. The Troodon dig out a pit for a fire and set up what appear to be canvas tents for them to sleep under in case the rains come. Yep, this is a fighting camp.

You look back. Burke and Tierney are still back there. Maybe you might go back and tell them. For now, you’ll observe and see what they do.

Sorry for the late update and sparse text. I feel myself slowing down hard so I'm gonna end it here for tonight and pick up next weekend for more. Hope you enjoyed regardless and I'll see you then. Go ahead and leave comments, critique, and questions if you got them, I thrive on them.

>>3659650
Faster man. drink coffee if you need to.

>>3659650
also doing pretty goof with the writing

>>3659650
yep, well done for the day

>>3659650
Thanks for running, Survive.

>>3659650
Thanks for running Survive. Enjoy.

You’ve sat there, waiting for at least an hour watching them. They got their camp set up pretty quickly all things considered. A set of four tents, a little fire pit, and some blanket wraps to lay down on the ground for them to sleep on. All in all, not a bad set up. Two of the Troodon set up a stand over the fire to hang a pot over the fire. Seems like that’ll be a late meal for them. It’ll ruin their night vision though. Suits you for now.

As they croak and chatter amongst each other, you hear some rustling behind you. You turn your head and see Tierney and Burke coming in behind you. They kneel down beside you and look ahead. No need to fill them in. They can see perfectly well. “Anything?” whispers Burke.

“No Raptors,” you whisper. “Just Troodon,” you explain. Burke nods. Her speculating might be right. Even after all this waiting you did, no Raptor’s come to collect them or guide them or even to eat one of them. The Troodon apparently are on their own out in this swamp. And that means they’ll be easy prey if you want to take them on. Then again, perhaps this is what they want. You’re still somewhat close to the ship. And after that recent bombardment, they almost got lucky striking it. Attacking close to the ship might lead them back.

Heck, you’re almost tempted to leave them alone. They munch on some caught prey and meals, not particularly out to harm anybody.

You’ll have to consider this carefully.

> Attack the camp. Clear them out hopefully before they can send alerts back.
> Leave it be. Go ahead back to the ship.
> Continue observing.
> Other

Welcome back to No One Gets Left Behind. As per usual I'm gonna leave this overnight and update once I get back home from work. So I'll see you anons then, go ahead and leave your votes in.

>>3671678
>> Leave it be. Go ahead back to the ship.

>>3671678
> Continue observing.
then
> Leave it be. Go ahead back to the ship.

I think that they sent these troodons here under the assumption that we would find and attack them and thus when they don't report back they can narrow the search zone way down, so I vote no-kill until we know beyond a shadow of a doubt.
but even if that's not there plan it would still be likely that this is a trap of some sort, so we should plan accordingly

>>3671678
>leave them for now. The deinos can likely kill them silently and efficiently if we want.

>>3672073
That's what I'm thinking anon.
Supporting this.

>>3671678
>> Leave it be. Go ahead back to the ship.
What other have said; wiping them out might tell the Lizards they're getting warmer to our position.

> Continue observing.

…

…

You watched for another couple of hours. They somehow didn’t manage to pick out your scent despite your loitering in the area. The Troodon have retreated into and around the tents and have begun to sleep now, half of them at least. The other half continue to sit around the firepit, too many for you to take out quietly without alerting the rest. A well placed grenade would still signal some alarm as well. Right now, them sleeping was just making you tired.

Still, the ones who sit around the firepit. They bark and croak. One of them circles around it, nudging and tapping at the others. It gives off a shrill clicking of its tongue, drawing the eyes of its compatriots. They listen as the Troodon hops up in place, with claws raised up and teeth bared before slashing down and dashing away a short distance before returning. You can’t tell what he’s doing, maybe he’s telling a story about you. Maybe he’s telling a story about himself. But the fact that he seems to be telling some kind of story almost makes you feel a little sorry for it. It’s strangely human in a way. And it’s uncomfortable thinking about it like that.

You push that thought down.

Burke nudges you, nodding. Right. You better get out of here. You, Tierney, and Burke retreat away.

As you walk through the cratered out clearing, Burke talks to you. “They’ll likely send more Troodon camps out here too to try and figure out our location.” She looks to you, some concern in her eyes. “And that camp will likely start patrolling around in the morning.”

“You can take care of it, right?” you ask.

“I don’t know if I can,” she says. “If they go missing in this area, it might summon reinforcements.”

Tierney steps up. “We did say something about making a false base somewhere. Maybe we can try splitting off some people to cause some chaos elsewhere and draw some attention there?” she asks.

Burke points to Tierney, nodding. “That could work.” Tierney smiles, looking up at you.

> “We’ll have to work it out with Rutledge.”
> “It could.”
> “I don’t think so. We can’t divide ourselves here.”
> Other

>>3674224
>"It could work, we'd need to put everyone on a roter.. but it could work. Good thinking Tierney."

>>3674238
Support

>>3674238
supporting

>>3674224
>> Other
Or maybe it's time to start going after supply lines again. They're clearly too well armed and fed, we should change that.

>>3674238
+1

> Other

“It could work. A little iffy, there’s some thinking that needs doing but it could work. Good thinking, Tierney.” She beams, happy at being praised. “Of course, right now though let’s get back to the ship and see what we can do with ourselves. Hopefully we’ve moved all the important equipment out of the ship and we can get started on whatever we’re doing.”

Tierney nods. “Of course, of course.”

Burke says, “I was getting cabin fever inside of there anyway.”

…

…

Everyone has gathered outside of the ship. You see Godwin readying the flamethrower on his back while Stoakes checks the tanks, making sure the pressure levels are steady. Rutledge sees you three come out of the woods. “Well, well, if it ain’t Eenie, Meenie, and Moe. Where’s Miney?”

“Funny.” You walk up to him and look to the door. “Get all the tinder inside?”

He nods. “Yep. We were just waiting on your word first. I got everyone out here. We sealed the vents and anything that looks like an opening except for the stairwell down. Nielson has closed the bulkhead too and we’re hoping that remains intact during the fire.” Good, good. “We’re expecting that for a fire down there to blaze hard enough to suck the oxygen out of the bottom levels, we’re thinking that could take all night. So I’m gonna have people set up in tents or inside the Command truck.”

“Right.” You nod. “Tierney brought up something good. We might need to start sending people out to draw away the Lizards from us. They’re getting close. And we can’t attack them here, we might draw too much attention to the ship.” Rutledge rubs his chin, pensive. “Thinking about it?”

He nods. “Yeah, yeah. We can discuss that later. I was gonna head down with Godwin and make sure it all goes off. Wanna come with?”

> “Sure, let’s go.”
> “Go ahead down.”
> “Let’s hold off first.”
> Other

>>3674859
Gonna leave this for tonight but we'll be back tomorrow morning. Go ahead and leave your votes in and I shall see you soon, anons.

>>3674859
>> “Sure, let’s go.”

>>3674860
Thanks for running senpai

>>3674859
>> “Sure, let’s go.”

>>3674859
>“Go ahead down.”
The dinos make me think they have an attack ready. And going into the bowels of the ship now is a perfect opportunity for any traitor to kill us off.

>>3674859
>> “Sure, let’s go.”

> “Sure, let’s go.”

You sigh. “Sure. Let’s go.”

You, Rutledge, and Godwin walk. Rutledge whistles, motioning for Hood. Hood comes along as well. “Hey, Wexley!” shouts Rutledge. Wexley sits at the door of the Command truck, looking over curiously. “Get ready for some flame mignon or whatever the frak they call it because we’re about to set this shit on fire! Woo!” He pumps his fist, grinning. Wexley rolls his eyes, holding at his hip.

The four of you enter into the ship, definitely a lot stuffier than you last remember. Probably from lack of circulation. “You guys do anything about the tree?” you ask.

“Yeah, we put up our ponchos and some tarps from the Command truck over the edges so smoke won’t get out,” says Rutledge.

“Good, good.” The four of you head down the stairs. And once you’re down there, the tinder pile is most immediately noticeable to you. It’s a massive pile of wood, dry leaves, and bark that’s been put up in a gathering as big as you are. You look around at the other end of the chamber and see what look to be crates and welding around where the door should be. “Propped these open?”

Rutledge says, “Nielson said that if the Drones can’t extinguish it, they might try to choke the flames out instead by sealing the room shut. So we propped open as many doors as we can to ensure the fire spreads. All the way down to those hallways leading towards the Titanoba lair.”

“See anything suspicious?” you ask.

“Not as far as I saw,” says Rutledge. He shrugs. “We kept to teams of four. We heard a lot of scratching and a lot of weird noises but nothing visual.”

Godwin makes blabbing motions with his hand. “Yadda yadda, we doing this or what?”

“The only door that ain’t propped open is the one leading out of here,” says Rutledge. “That one we need shut.”

> “Right, Godwin, on your own time. Rest of us will get out of here then.”
> “Go for it, Godwin.”
> “You two go ahead out. I’ll stay here with Godwin.”
> Other

>>3676616
>“You two go ahead out. I’ll stay here with Godwin.”

>>3676616
>> “You two go ahead out. I’ll stay here with Godwin.”

> “You two go ahead out. I’ll stay here with Godwin.”

“You two go ahead out, I’ll stay here with Godwin,” you say. “Make sure it goes off.”

Rutledge salutes you lazily. “Suit yourself. Come on, Hood.” The two of you take their leave quietly, exiting up the stairwell, the only exit around here. It sticks in your mind that it is, because if something goes wrong, then it means a very harrowing sprint to the Titanoba and a hope that there is a way out. That just leaves you with Godwin now too.

Your life is in Godwin’s ability to flame this tinder properly.

God help you.

Godwin smirks coyly at you. “Aw. You wanna have a heart to heart before we set a fire in our hearts, boss?”

“No, Godwin, I just want to make sure that if something goes wrong, not all of us die in one blow,” you explain. “That said though, Godwin, I have heard some things.” He waves it off. “Godwin.”

“Is it really the time to ask about that?” he asks. You cross your arms, glaring at him. “Okay, so your girls say I’m stalking them, are they?” You continue staring at him. “Look. We can always talk about that later, Boss. We got a piece of tinder to light here. Now, I advise you to stand back because this could get really hot in a second and I wouldn’t want your pretty little girls coming back to some crispy waffle with no eyebrows, now would I?”

> “Just set the fire.”
> “Godwin, I’m serious.”
> Other

>>3677059
>"I'll stay off your ass a little longer depending on how well you use that thing"
> “Just set the fire.”

>>3677079
Support

>>3677079
Sure I guess.

>>3677079
sure

>"I'll stay off your ass a little longer depending on how well you use that thing"
> “Just set the fire.”

“I’ll stay off your ass a little longer depending on how well you use that thing,” you say. Godwin giggles a little, readying the nozzle. To be completely frank, he’s right. This really isn’t the time to discuss that. You just want to get this damn thing over with. “Just set the fire. And be ready to run once it goes up. We gotta be quick.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Godwin looks up and sees a Mini-drone flying around, along with another. You look at him. He shrugs.

And to that, he fires. A stream of liquid flames splashes onto the tinder, and immediately a burst of fire erupts out of the pile. Smoke and flames start filling the chamber immediately. Mini-Drones suddenly start shooting out everyone from those little compartments you’ve seen them retreat into. And they’re not even making an attempt at extinguishing the flames.

As you and Godwin run for the door, one of them shoots a beam at the door panel next to it, and it starts closing. It closes quick, quick enough maybe for you all to duck under! Wait! Shit! Godwin manages to make it first, ducking underneath and readying himself to help you. “Godwin, hold the-“

He sprays flames at the floor in front of the door, stopping you.

“Oops,” he says. The door shuts before you lay any eyes on him. You step back and see his liquid jets of flames surrounding the door, keeping you away from it.

You’re trapped.

…

You’re gonna kill that bastard. You turn the radio on and try to buzz it. “Hello!?” you shout. “Anyone!?” Static. Nothing but static! Shit! Can it not transmit!? Nielson fixed this earlier, didn’t he!? Goddamn it!

> Run for the Titanoboa lair. There has to be a way out.
> Find a room and hope you can find some way to ride out this flame.
> Bang on the walls and keep buzzing the radio. Someone eventually has to come save you.
> Other

>>3677506
>> Run for the Titanoboa lair. There has to be a way out.

Cool.

>>3677506
> Run for the Titanoboa lair. There has to be a way out.
1v1 me Titanoboa

Bastard should've just shot us. Now he's going to have to pay the price when we get back.

>>3677506
> Run for the Titanoboa lair. There has to be a way out.

So I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that most people are going to want to kill Godwin after this, and personally I am one of them. However, there is the question of Rutledge. Do people think this was something he approved, or is this just Godwin being himself? The radio not working leads me to think that this is larger than just Godwin.

I got too busy with something unfortunately so I'm gonna have to do this update in the morning. Apologies, anons. Go ahead and keep voting and I'll return to you by then.

>>3677755
If we survive, I have reason to believe that Godwin will be killed to keep from blathering. That being said, we should squeeze all of the info from him first. Leverage this fact over his head so his traitorous self will sell out his conspirators.

>>3678198
Have fun QM!
>>3677506
>Run for the Titanoboa lair. There has to be a way out.

>>3677755
I think there's no doubt the three planned each and every eventuality, this is all too perfect. How about instead of killing him right off the bat we tell everyone what the hell happened, so we don't seem fucking insane.

At this point, we can't trust any of Rutledge's faction, and I'm calling then a faction now. They're too loyal to him, all I'm wondering is why so many people voted for us/nobody has outright argued with us- I think more people suspect us of the killings than we think. Which is bullshit, we didn't kill anyone.

>>3677506
>> Run for the Titanoboa lair. There has to be a way out.

>>3678253
Supporting beating the information out of him.

> Run for the Titanoboa lair. There has to be a way out.

You’re gonna kill that bastard, you swear it. You cover your mouth and nose with your sleeve and start running to the open end of the chamber. That smoke is going to start spreading quickly. You squint hard as the heat starts spreading fast. Breathing starts to become a laborious exercise. You’re not going to get out alive if you linger. Even a step in the wrong direction could kill you. You run in under a door. At this speed, you don’t care which door it is, they both eventually lead down to the stairwell. You practically fly down those steps and keep running. Eventually you hit the Titanoboa lair.

You look down and see the pool of water at the bottom. Levy survived a fall down that way, so you should as well. But that water is murky as all hell. You look back and see the open door behind you. The fire probably isn’t going to spread what with all the metal inside. No, the oxygen is going to be sucked out of the ship. And in theory, it means the Titanoboa gets woken up, right? You look down and see nothing inside the water, at least nothing that you can see past the murky surface. No rising bubbles, no nothing.

Right. The one thing you have to find is something leading to that cave. You look over and see some rope at the end of the railing where it broke down. Rutledge probably set that up for convenience sake. You grab the rope and slide down into the water. Your feet find something solid, leaving everything above your knees dry.

…

So far no disturbance from the water. You look around. None of those Ball Drones either.

Right, you try to buzz the radio again. “Hello?” you whisper. No response, just static. Shit.

Okay. Think about this clearly. You could dive down and try to make your way out, or you could wait here and hope something comes to help you.

…

> Batten down the hatches and dive!
> You can just wait. Maybe you’ll get lucky and the plan won’t work.
> Other

>>3680404
The titanoboa should come up for air soon enough. Then we can heromode find its tail and grab hold. If it decides to get out of there.
Or something

>n-n-no we can't choke muh badass huntress waifu Burke!
>now we're killing more of our own people than the fucking lizards do
gg waifufaggots. She'll be the next to try and do the MC in. But you'll probably bend over and give her a third chance to ream you.

>>3680404
> Batten down the hatches and dive!
>>3680490
No one's actually tried to waifu Burke for a long time.

>>3680404
> Batten down the hatches and dive!

>>3680520
Nah. I was down for Burke, still am- but it's obvious she's gonna betray us and so I've noped outta that route.

Burke ain't going to betray us. Rutledge will. It's pretty obvious in that sense.

Here is a list of Traitors.

>Burke
>Rutledge
>Fat Ass Godwin
We are gonna go get a Triple Kill after we get out of this situation.

> Batten down the hatches and dive!

> Batten down the hatches and dive!

You dive down and open your eyes. The murk stings at your eyeballs as you try to search your way through the dark mists of the water. Who knows what the Titanoboa has down here. Actually, you’d prefer not to know. This is probably decades of runoff, piss, shit, and whatever the Titanoboa didn’t particularly fancy one day. Hopefully your Carbine doesn’t get too watered out by this. You breast stroke towards what looks to be a relatively dark part of the room.

Lo and behold, it is a tunnel! It’s a hole in the ship, big enough for the Titanoboa. The ship’s hull has been rusted away at the sharp jagged edges, leading into what looks to be a hollow cave of some kind. You use your Infrared to spot ahead for you, what little it can spot in the darkness of the water. The murkiness is slowly parting away to clearer water. The rock formations surrounding you are smooth and flat, definitely from a lifetime of this Titanoboa slithering in and out of here.

Right now, the issue of air just hit your mind. Holding your breath underwater is quite easy when your life is at stake. And this is no exception. Better to drown than to burn to death in your opinion.

As you swim ahead however, something catches your eye. You can’t quite tell so you swim close to it.

Then you realize what it is. It’s the tip of the Titanoboa’s tail.

It’s trying to swim out!

> Grab onto it and hope it doesn’t notice you.
> Wait for it to get ahead then follow it out.
> Other

File: 1451799724237.png (176 KB, 287x230)

176 KB PNG

>>3681077
generally, in a panic situation like a fire, animals won't attack you as long as you stay out of there way. so best to keep our distance and continue swimming out.

>>3680796
pic related

>>3681092
Smart anon. Supporting.

>>3681092
Yes. either that or we could Mount the Titanoboa and ride him out of there

>>3681092
I REFUSE

>>3681077
>>3681157
MOUNT THAT FUCKER AND RIDE HIM OUT OF HERE, RIGHT INTO GODWINS TENT.

> Wait for it to get ahead then follow it out.

You steel yourself and wait. The tail slowly slithers ahead. You start swimming after it, hurrying your arms and legs so you can keep up. There’s no telling when you’ll get a chance for a breath of fresh air. Down here you have to balance your resolve to get out with your desire to not get tired and drown. Very delicate balance that. You keep your eyes open.

Slowly the tail slithers out of view. He’s still in front of you, but goddamn it he’s gone. You power ahead, faster. Your lungs are starting to burn. Any longer and you might explode from lack of air. Your nose twitches and spasms, feeling water start to pool inside of your nostrils.

It’s outpaced you by a long shot. That thing’s faster than you thought! Goddamn it! Your chest feels as if it’s on fire! You need air! Water suddenly rushes through your mouth. Damn it, you opened it for a split second! You shut your eyes and desperately swim upwards. Gotta get air!

Then you see the tail again. Shit! You grab onto a scale. You’re suddenly hurled forward. Water rushes all around you in a huge wake before you’re suddenly breached out of the water. You take a deep breath of air before suddenly getting thrown back into the water. You quickly swim back up.

You break out into a dark cave, nearly devoid of light save for reflections on the water. Above you are shimmering crystals of green that provide the most faintest of lights down on the cave. The Titanoboa slithers forward, apparently having not even noticed you. It coils up on one edge of the cave, its head getting buried into its body as it comes up into a pile of scales and muscle.

You swim over to the left and come up to some flat rocks above the water. You get up and shake yourself off, then look over at the Titanoboa. It simply lays there.

…

It’s blocking your only exit out. You look up and see a small little opening above it that could lead to the exit. But it’d mean having to climb up over the giant snake.

Well.

That’s not ideal.

I'm afraid I gotta end it early for tonight as I have some things to do the rest of the day. However, thank you for reading this weekend and I'll try to be back either this weekend or next weekend depending on what goes on in my life. Hope you've been enjoying yourselves.

Good night, anons and take care.

>>3681703
Thanks for running, Survive.

We got some powerful plot armor

>>3681703
Godspeed Survive.

>>3681703
One of your famous cliff hangers, oh well. See you when we see you, Survive.