ic Graduation Proclamation: Mexican Standoff

[Brown Dynamite]

GM
Lacandan Jungle
Chiapas, Mexico
Monday, June 1st, 2015
3:04 AM

Six hours.  It took Six Hours and onetime zones for Miracle Girl to fly Blodeuwedd into Mexico under the cover of night.  And it would take another six hours to fly back.  Casey was the only other student on campus who could cross the distance that the Welsh ninja could find despite it being so early in the morning.  The senior was on a bit of a timeline as it were with the festivities later on in the day.  But, when the Raven herself shows up in the middle of your dorm explaining there is a situation.  Well, one didn't argue.

The family of a pro Zapatista diplomat had been taken captive by mercenaries in an unknown location within the confines of the Lacandan Jungle.  The diplomat was also being held captive.  Supposedly, they wanted him to make a press conference filled.  Or at least that's what the few people in government who had.  

The Raven presented Cerys with more information.  The captors did not in fact political goals in mind.  The Zapatistas had uncovered a Preserver artifact within a Mayan ruin and had chosen to hide it, deeming the artifact too dangerous and far too untrusting of the central government to hand it over to them for safe keeping.  Only someone caught wind of the discovery.  And they wanted the artifact badly enough to kill.

An explosive situation that found Casey and Cerys in the middle of the jungle.  Silently making a ground approach to try and find the mercenary camp site. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd could have made her way through the jungle unseen and unheard with minimal time and effort, but she had to stay visible so Miracle Girl could follow her lead. She wasn’t overly bothered by this wrinkle, it just added to the challenge. Beside she hadn’t had much chance to get to know the partner she’d been assigned.

“Are you do okay there Casey? Just follow my lead and you should be fine.”

Though it was easy to say when without even thinking about it her footfalls made almost no sounds as she moved.

[Heritage]

"I'm good; no worries."

For a Claremont student mostly known for flying and brute strength, Miracle Girl was managing to keep herself well out of sight, and the reason was simple: Casey had been practicing. Several of her 'missions' so far had involved at least a little bit of sneaking around, and it was important to her to be able to hold her own, so she'd slipped out a few nights to practice the fine art of not being seen. She often thought back to the night she met Terrifica, and ended up working with her on a case; the mysterious crimefighter appeared to have few extraordinary abilities beyond being very smart and careful, but she really admired how the woman carried herself.

It also helped that if she really needed to, she could hover, and therefore avoid some of the more challenging obstacles, as well as the fact that with Sakurako's help, she'd come up with an all black tactical version of her normal suit, complete with black bug-out belt. The infravision wasn't hurting either.

[Brown Dynamite]

^GM

Blodeuwedd was able to pick out all the minute signs in the environment.  She knew where others had traversed the lands.  She even had a relative idea of how many had walked through there within the past hour and the direction they were heading.  The wilds of the forest was as comfortable to Cerys as a backyard would have been to the average person.  

The rushing water nearby was unaccounted for.  A quick search of the area revealing the nearby river with a waterfall at the end.  The only thing notable appeared to be a rather large log floating down towards the mouth of a waterfall.  With her keen eyes Cerys was able to notice a limp hand strewn over the log.  It was easy to assume that  the person who owned the hand was half submerged and heading to their doom over the edge of the waterfall.

[Tiffany Korta]

It was no contest, whilst stealth was the order of the day trying to preserve life was more important, even if it put them at a disadvantage. Getting Casey’s attention she pointed out the body floating in the water.

“Can you see them there? They look like there in trouble or worse, I don’t think I could swim against this current. You better go get them I don’t intend to leave them in potential danger.”

She silently drew one of her throwing knives from their sheaves and started to look around the area for any potential ambushes or other dangers.

[Heritage]

The blonde Claremonter peered towards the river, shifting her vision to infrared to get a better idea of man on the log's status; if he was too cold, he might not even be alive. Still, she was compelled to help. "Yeah, I see him; back in two seconds."

The fastest way to get to him would be flying, but she didn't want the golden glow of her bioenergy field to give away their position when she was in the air, so instead she slipped off her boots and belt, trotted over to the river's edge and dove smoothly into the water; in no time, she made her way over to the log, keeping only her head above the surface.

<Hello? Are you all right?"> she asked in earnest high school Spanish.

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

No response.  He was in his early 20s.  His attire was consistent of that of a rural farmer.  Her shoes were probably more expensive than all his articles of clothing combined.  A brown jacket, blue shirt, and worn brown pants.  His shoes were missing likely as a result of whatever action ended with the man floating down the river.

He remained motionless attached to the log.  Being so near, Casey was able to notice the small trail of blood leaving his body as the log rushed closer to the waterfall.  A quick visual inspection confirmed at least one hole in the back of jacket.  But, it wasn't exactly the best condition to confirm whether he was dead or alive.  Nearing the waterfall with every second.

Cerys search of the area was able to find a hidden closed circuit camera system.  All of the cameras actually dug into the trees.  It was a sparse amount.  But, enough to bear consideration when trudging throughout the area.  The cameras weren't too expensive of a set up.  Meaning the source of the feed couldn't be too far away.

[Heritage]

Casey really hated to move an injured person before she had a chance to due a more thorough examination, but seeing as the poor man was on a log about to over a waterfall, getting him to shore made a lot more sense! They didn't really cover bullet holes in First Aid at camp, so she was going to have to improvise. The blonde flyer gingerly put his arm over her shoulder then lifted off, skimming just over the water's surface as she drifted back to shore and laid it him out on the flatest spot she could find.

In the blink of an eye his shirt and belt were off as she quickly looked him over.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Heritage

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

No one could fault Miracle Girl's valiant efforts.  She went through the motions like an expert first responded.  But, they were in the middle of the woods.  The man had three gunshot wounds that she could locate.  His pulse was gone.  And it was only a matter of moments before he died in her arms.

The attempt at first aid wasn't entirely fruitless.  Casey was able to confirm that the mans' exit wounds came out from the man's back.  And that he was shot in the front.   In his pockets was a wooden disc made out of gold and Mayan symbols etched throughout.  Which Cerys easily identified as some sort  of tribute to K’akoch one of the gods of the Lacandon people.  

His attire was worn out (if a bit hard to tell after going through the river).  But, it was still easy to tell he was a farmer of sorts.  Not the sort of person that hung out to get shot near rivers.  But, more importantly it likely meant there was a hidden Lacadon village somewhere nearby.  Where it stood in relation to the kidnappers location, or the hidden cameras that Blodeuwedd had found, was yet to be determined.

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd gently put a hand on Casey's shoulder and spoke soft and gentle, so unlike her normal voice.

“You did all you could but we were just too late.” she paused and allowed the younger woman to collect herself

“We need to move on as quickly as possible, others lives are at risk here.” her voice was it’s normal self

She stood and stood a short distance away as she waited for Casey to gather herself together, she still wasn’t use to losing anyone but had unfortunately seen enough death to be able to cope when needed.

[Heritage]

First aid was one of those things you can't rush; even if her body could move much faster if she wanted it to, the poor farmer died in agonizing real time despite everything she did to try and save him. When the sobering reality finally sank in, in settled around the young woman's shoulders like a heavy blanket of sorrow.

"He's gone...s###!" This sudden outburst was surprising; Casey never swore. For several seconds she just knelt there in the mud, head down and hair hanging over her face; even her normal soft golden glow had faded down to almost nothing. But finally she took a deep breath, whispered the Lord's Prayer and crossed herself before rising to her feet.

"Wait; give me two seconds."

She move the body a slight distance from the river's edge, and in a matter of seconds the remains were buried in a shallow grave and marked with a small, simple cross made of reeds.

"Okay, let's go." She handed the disk to Blod for safekeeping, then pointed away from the waterfall. "I say we head upriver; the type of scum who'd shoot that poor man sound like our  perps."

Edited July 11, 2015 by Heritage