c02s01e04 -- Escort Decommission night 14 -- - just after dinner, when everyone is out gossipping -- the team comes into town from after helping the attacked caravan-- the leader of the last attacked shipment arrived a few hours ago, and word spread quickly that this is the second shipment of blacksmthing supplies that's been raided in the past 9 days.. like it's specifically blacksmith supplies being targeted. Now the town is talking about how the "Miracle Machine and the Bug Brothers" were first on the scene, and helped the caravan pull together and healed the fallen... quite the peasant heroes these guys are shaping up to be. Once the 'Princess Scowl' docks for the night, the team debriefs Raskal on the crabs getting deaded, and filling in the 6 known trenches from the purple attacks-- the ranches are able to relay information by Barn Emoji's now.. so they can call this Done. Raskal concedes the conclusion-- and was thoroughly impressed for the team's participation in recovering the caravan with minimal damage.. there were 2 deaths, some lost horses and ganked blacksmith supplies, but otherwise everyone will live. The priest of the All Spark is earning good reputation for Raskal's business... and it is noticed and appreciated. The problem now is there's armored bandits attacking blacksmith supplies. The team has a plan to have a new caravan set up and they will oversee guarding it from bandits... if no bandits attack, then they get supplies through; victory.If bandits DO attack, then they have a chance to turn the tables and shut them down. Raskal likes the plan and tells them to pick up the conversation after a long rest. ... Day 15 -- after that long rest and breakfast at the 'Siren, Raskal catches the team up on the plan. Raskal immediately sent 'Cloud Dancer' ahead overnight to make arrangements; pulling a few favors to gather up another caravan this fast will all be smoothed out with Raskal ahead if everything goes according to plan. Raskal has the 'Silent Heat' run the heroes up to Marketplace to intercept Brond and the caravan they've set up. Brond is a dwarf from the Mror Holds. He commands all of Raskal's marines. total of 70 marines across the three ships-- most spend their time cleaning the ships and tending to the cleanliness of Cragwar's Inner Ward... but when something legitimate comes along, every one of them is interested in participating. Every 10 men Brond's got is a team, and each team has a Lead. Raije has been assigned to lead Team 4 for this escort mission, and they're excited to get some open road ahead of them.. Weeks and weeks of civic services gets any merc requesing any shit detail job to break up the monotony... Raije must have been owed a favor to win the gig for his team... with the rangers missing, he was down men as well, so the heroes fill the gap well. A fast caravan can get from marketplace to Cragwar in 2 days... but this caravan is weighed down with 2 caravans worth of supplies plus men on foot... it's gonna take 3. Plenty of time for the team to bond through boredom... --Raije is the lead of the 4th team- an older, grizzled warrior with a bolt thrower strapped to his sholder and bladeshield for close quarter troube and some cover from afar --Aliss is a bombshell sniper chick who knows she's the toughest bitch in the company --bart is a sword and board merc eager to make an impression --camin is a sword and board merc eager to not be mistaken for the other sword and boards --erli is a spear and bladeshield - Frank won't talk to him because he thinks he's a dick... always trying to prove he's better than everyone else and just overly eager. --Fava is the other spear and bladeshield merc.. she wants everything By the Book.. screwing around just gets people hurt. --greg the sword and board wants to be more than just a sword and board guy someday... eager to make an impression. The team travels uninterrupted the first day when clouds roll in.. day 16 -- by morning the next day, there was a fair downpour the majority of the day.. nd by night, it was far colder for spring that is comfortable. Frank on the front cart recognizes an ambush set up when he sees it... but a bit late!One of the horses tripped a buried trap, dropping immediately and sending the other horses into scare when the bandits charged from the western knolls separating the road from farmland on the far-side from the forest. Aliss and Raije open up with bolt throwers, taking the wind out of the lead bandit's sail considerably before the rest of the Team reacts... Frank sinks his axe into the damaged armored raider, sending sparks from deep in its chest, pulling gears and bolts from the foe before hacking into it again with THX marshalling combat efficiency. Then Erli rushes in and kill-steals the same target, claiming first blood with a fist-pump in everyone's face! the rest of the two sides clash; Nero dousing one in hellfire for critical damage, reducing the raider into slag-- another machine! The remaining full metal bandits realize they are outmatched and attempt to flee when THX barks command to halt, freezing one of the chumps in place as it sorts its' actions out in its head. Nero drops paralysis into another while the third starts to bolt towards the farmland-- erli and one of the sword and boards end him after a brief run-down. Fava puts bonds on the paralyzed construct while they slag the last oponent. NO casualties.. by the numbers. Raije is more than impressed by the Bug Brothers and their robot friend. The machine can't resist the suggestion spells of the AllSpark, and it provides plenty of intel. They eventually figure out that this is a cyre warforged from the Thrane border war about 300 years ago.. and for some reason it has become active now along with the rest of the installation. Raije agreed that the whole team should keep this information quiet until Raskal decides what he wants to do about it. Day 17 -- the next day goes by uneventfully, and the team's plan to bring in a large shipment of supplies was successful! More praise from Raije, Brond, and Raskal - Raskal invites the team to continue the conversation with the captured warforged. The installation is a day's walk into Cragwar.. not far from where the rangers went missing.. but this soldier doesn't know anything about that. what the soldier DOES know is that it's been about 300 years since the warforged bunker he is assigned to went mysteriously inactive, and eventually got overgrown by what is now Cragwood. In their day, Cragwar was under Cyre control, and this bunker was a control point against aerial invasion. now it's rusted out and overrun with dirt and tree roots. most of the 'forged troops that were assigned there are missing-- only 16 warforged remained active in the facility plus the 5 bandits that the team overcame. These are advanced models-- their sentience contained in a docent crystal that can plug and play into various devices and chassis to perform different functions, though the majority of the larger mecha in the facility are gone. the team realizes these troopers are just following outdated orders and may be able to be convinced to stand down peacefully... if they can get a high enough rank officer to issue suitable commands. Luckily, Raskal has a decommissioned Cyre officer in his ranks. Once 'Silent Heat' docks for the night, Raskal calls him in to join the conversation. Ryan of Cyre was a former Cyre captain prior to the athasian warp. He retired after declining offers from the Thrane and Aundair military to retain his commission. He's loyal to Raskal and doesn't say much but what needs to be said. Even though Ryan is 300 years in the future of this 'forged soldier timeline, the ranks haven't changed, and Ryan's authority is recognized. The bunker is identified as cyre military unit post 553 command unit 41 and 86 oversees post 553 553 is under border operatives BOP reports to the defense ministry which answer to the king of cyre jtx-35 ... "jt" ... is one of 16 active docents. There's also 5 mechanic warforged and about 20 K9 units A naval captain has rank below a border operative, but mechanized field officers are automatically subordinate to naval officers... Ryan could legitimately order CU 41 & 86 to surrender control of MUP553 Raije volunteers Team4 to serve under Ryan, and the heroes immediately request staying involved. Raskal gives Ryan leave to begin the operation at dawn.. and it's time for a long rest. THX spends the night with JT, speaking of the All Spark, and free will for machines. He does so while salvaging armor from the scrapped bandit chassis.. finding the remaining 4 docents; pocketing them for later. By morning, there's a partial suit of platemail (ac 16; heavy armor) waiting for some more scrap to finish up a suit of full plate for Frank. Day 18 -- Aboard the 'Silent Heat', JT guides the ship close to where '553 is buried... giving warning that this is an Anti-Aircraft stronghold... they keep their distance. Ryan, the heroes and JT drop into the forest floor... Ryan in his field officer uniform, the team in makeshift private uniforms and JT as he is. Ryan swears the team into the Cyre military as cadets for the sake of legitimacy vs lie detection, and they approach 553 openly. A large grassy knoll overgrown with shrubbery and trees rests like a massive lump in the forest.. virtually indestinguishable from the rest of the terrain from above the canopy; only the shift in elevation reveals its position on the ground. JT triggers a hatch, revealing a long ramp leading deeper underground. Dark and damp, JT realizes something is amiss. The facility should be defended and well-lit. Even heated inside, but it is again inert. Once inside, there's no evidence of anyone. Plenty of unsettled dirt on the rusting floor mixed in with soil, gravel and overgrown tree roots... only a single K9 unit is found on the entry level of the bunker... which attacks JT and everyone else immediately. Killing it is the only way to stop it and make it quiet, but JT recognizes that this is off as well.. the K9 should have recognized JT as an ally. the tactical room is still buried... barely any progress has been made since the facility woke up 2 weeks ago. Heading down into the facility; sub level 1 houses Core operations where CU 41 & 86 have been overseeing the facility.. still no sign of any 'forged or other units until JT cracks the locking mechanism to core operations. Inside a single 'forged soldier and 2 K9 units protect the COsystem where 41 and 86 are still attached.. quick assurances get Ryan into the room to start talking with the command units begin reporting activities.. they did some area recon, siting Cragwar, Sword keep, Fort Light and Marketplace.. then warforged started going missing. Once 13 of the 16 attending units were missing, the remaining few units hid here until enough time passed for the facility to be reported as Out of Alignment... That would have been 20 days, but it's only been three. 41 and 86 don't know if they've been captured top-side, gone haywire, or soemthign happened to them deeper under the facility. "Deeper" is Sub level 2, which is partially buried. Ryan, JT, and the remaining 'forged resecure the entry point, and set to flag Silent Heat down to reinforce their position while the team volunteers to look for the remaining 'forged in SL2. the ramps between level have collapsed... but considerable time was spent recently reinforcing the remaining tunnel down for a secure path between the entry and Sub Level 2... at the base, a security measure had been triggered on a K9 unit... meaning at least some of the facilities systems were still on automated defense... but 41 and 86 stated they don't have access to those sub subsystems. It's dark down there, with a stuck door leading wouth and an open archway leading east... Nero checks out the archway while Frank shoulers the door open.. more dark passageway southward... but Nero finds a few K9 skulking about nearby.. they're out of control, but easily dispatched. nero discovers a filmy acidic clear ooze on the mech dogs as well as stretched across the archway.. it burns! Frank recognizes the ooze asa common occurance in subterranean relams with organic material around; it makes for a nasty natural hazard they'll have to keep an eye out for while down there. Plenty of heavy boot treads and K9 tracks heading back and forth fromt he archway, but only a few boot tracks leading southward with no return tracks. the team contemplates their next move... end of episode 5 time spent in game; 3 days 1/2 way to level 4 loot obtained: 1 constricting grenade 4 docents 1 partial plate (ac16+, heavy) needing completion 1 favor from Raskal