Arc 10: The Summit

## Session 1 (7/3/2021)

* We open up on June 6th, the day after Baphomet was sealed in the box
	+ Addie and River are sitting in a meeting with Simon and Jo
		- Addie finally drops what’s been going on: she’d found about Baphomet possessing Simon for the past decade, and had worked with her team and Jo to trap the demon in the Abyssal Maw, which is currently in Noni’s hands back in Sumpter
			* Simon’s in much better shape now
			* Addie mentions how the Maw came into their hands, with Cassandra’s involvement
		- Along with that, Addie tells Simon and Jo Hellstromme is ‘alive’ and collecting relics, with Thomas and his team’s help
			* Addie voices her distrust of Thomas’s methods, and Jo mentions he probably had some line of decent reasoning
			* Suspecting Hellstromme likely knows about the Summit, Addie says she’ll try to see what she can get on the man in the meantime
		- The Summit will be on June 25th
			* The big names in Junkyard, Ike, Joan, Simon, Jo, and a couple settlement leaders repping the Union, Victor and Scott, will be there
			* Simon says he wants Addie and her team on his security detail to the meeting, tells her the plan to use Team Pancakes as a decoy while they ride out to Junkyard
		- Simon also mentions chaos within the Combine, settlements rising up against them in a large-scale effort
	+ On the same day, Choc was heading out to New Wells to meet with Victor about his arm
		- Mac and Dick catch up with him before he leaves, ask him where he’s going
		- Choc mentions he’s going to see Victor, to experiment with a new arm, try and recreate aspects of River’s for himself
		- On the road, Choc asks Dick if he’s willing to help him with an experiment, donating blood to make a new heart
			* He’s figuring out ways to grow new organs
		- They get to New Wells a few days later, with Victor helping Choc with his cyberware, putting a new prosthetic hand over the barrel of Choc’s arm

## Session 2 (7/31/2021)

* We open up on the late morning of June 13th, the day after the group’s trip to Boise, at the Inn
	+ Mac and Dick are unloading scavenged scrap from their car
	+ Addie’s having breakfast with her mom
	+ Noni’s settled with Anne in the attic in a mind-therapy session, Anne with her hands bound again after a recent threat to Dick with a fork
		- Addie interrupts the two of them near the end of their session
			* She asks Anne if she’s going to continue to be difficult, she responds she’s a prisoner in a home that’s not hers, forced to face her mistakes while all she wants is to get away
			* Addie reminds her that with the Combine changed, what she knew is gone and she has at least a chance at family there with River
			* Addie and Noni take Anne back to her room, where she seems to rest and speak with her AI
* Later, Addie speaks with Mac and Noni about building up Sumpter into a proper town and making defenses
	+ Addie’s wary about building walls, but seems torn on them to make stronger defenses
		- Man she just wants to keep her mama safe, and a plant wall would look rad as hell
	+ Though unsure of her own abilities, Addie mentions wanting to rebuild the town as a whole, as a place for civilians, though per usual expresses uncertainty about leading
	+ At Addie’s doubts of the worth in her plan, Noni aggressively reassures her it’s something worth working toward
	+ Mac mentions they’ll need more defenses if they build up their resources, and says he put barbed wire around the perimeter of the Inn
		- Addie has to remind the well-intentioned himbo they (and their dumbass cats) could easily get caught up in that themselves
* Addie and Noni then go out to meet River, who’s sitting outside with her mom
	+ River tells Addie that she was working with her mom to remember stories from her childhood, since Addie wanted them, and she thinks they found something good
		- Anne tells the story while River fills the gaps and sends images through the mindlink
		- It’s a memory of a much younger River, 6, getting stuck on the 2nd floor of their barn, and Dick having to come in and help his daughter get down
			* She’d been trying to talk a raven into leaving their corn alone
	+ River asks her mom where she was during that memory, and she can’t remember
		- Anne gets locked in a small loop, muttering that she can’t remember, and Noni mentions she’s never seen her do that before
			* Noni takes a look inside her head, and says it looks like Throckmorton rewrote some of her memories and had her edited out of them, likely to feed her anger and discomfort with her past
			* At Addie’s questioning, Noni mentions it’s extremely difficult to work with memories, to ‘fix’ them, and very likely won’t be able to get them back to how they were, but can target memories feeding her worst emotions
				+ She has some contacts in Houston that might be able to help with the finer details
	+ Addie asks River how she’s holding up
		- She says she’s happy both her parents are alive, but it’s so damn hard dealing with the fallout of everything
		- Addie does her best to reassure her they’ll make what they can out of this

## Session 3 (8/21/2021)

* In the time between: Jennifer’s been having a good influence on Anne’s healing process, she’s been improving
* We begin over a month earlier, on the 13th of May, shortly after the meeting with Cassandra
	+ Mai and Gregg are sitting together on the bus, talking
		- They speak about their mom, about bringing her back
		- Gregg mentions she’ll do anything to get her back, if that means killing Cassandra as well, despite Mai’s connection to her
			* Gregg says she’d like to know Mai, but she doesn’t, and she’s not doing any of this for her sake
		- Mai mentions they’ll need a place of power, a Deadland that’s really screwed up
			* Gregg says she’ll keep an eye out for something like that while Mai fishes for info on the ritual for bringing their mom back from Cassandra
		- Mai mentions to Gregg that she and Cassandra are going to be in Junkyard in a couple weeks, to the dangerous underground tunnels, and she might be able to at least get a look in Cassandra’s book if chaos breaks out
			* She asks Gregg to wait that long to make a move
	+ The two part ways
* We jump to June 24th, in the morning in Boise
	+ Simon and Jo meet up with Addie and ‘Anne Banks’ (Toussaint)
		- In all the business of the past couple weeks, the current state of the Combine hadn’t been brought to Simon’s attention, and the two leaders make their introductions
		- Toussaint assures Simon the auto processes have been cut off in Denver, raptors are flown by human pilots now, the resistance is taking up positions in the bureaucracy, and they’re forcing those within to cooperate with the new conduct
		- Toussaint brings up the Denver AI, revealing his (John’s) existence for the first time to nearly all present
			* John was the one calling the shots behind the Combine, puppeting Throchmorton, and Toussaint left him alive, albeit disconnected and rewritten
			* Addie and Jo don’t take it the best, Simon seems to accept a compromise with Toussaint, keeping the AI alive but with a Templar junker keeping on eye on the system
		- The group decides on who’s riding with who
			* Addie drives Gregg’s car because she can trust neither Gregg nor her girlfriend to not be *very* high on the day of their very important mission, with Simon, Jo, Tony, and Wadjet in the back
			* Gregg and Heru took Addie’s bike
			* Choc rode up back with the tank
			* Toussaint took his two guards and Adeline in their raptor
	+ After and 8 hour drive, the group stops to accept an offering from Ike, a hovertruck that Simon, Jo, and River take for the rest of the drive
		- 3 hours later, Addie and Toussaint notice the group is being followed from far behind
			* As Addie slows to get closer, the mysterious group falls back, swiftly turning to the highway’s exit
			* At Addie’s request, Toussaint and his raptor swoop down to get a better look
				+ Group of highly modified cars, with metal windshield plates, cameras, and armor, that look pretty new (covered in some dust and first but lacking wear)
				+ Shortly after Toussaint’s pursuit, the 8 vehicles park in an empty lot in a semicircle, and turn off their engines with no further action
					- None seem to have mounted weapons
		- Without much more to go off of, Adde and Toussaint it’d be best if the raptor rejoined the main group without conflict, and they went unfollowed for the rest of the trip
	+ It’s night before we reach the walls
		- A different looking guard from the usual, Dewalt(?) mentions he’ll be our security detail
			* Judge Tolliver lost his marbles a couple weeks ago, his loyalists walked away, and city hall has been more strict with rehires, meaning no ones taking bribes at the gates for now
			* Addie clears up a misunderstanding with Toussaint’s raptor, and reluctantly, Dewalt says he’ll work on getting them cleared and designated a landing spot
			* He then guides the ground group to the Yard Arms hotel, and that’s where session ends

## Session 4 (9/04/2021)

* We open on a dinner table at the Yard Arms, with Addie, River, Horado, and Anne
	+ Simon and Jo sit at their own nearby
	+ The place is pretty empty
* River raises the point of security, suggests clearing out a few city blocks, doing some sweeps, planting some claymores, the usual
	+ Addie raises that’ll probably attract more attention than they want
	+ The topic leans toward who and how many are attending the Summit
		- Horado mentioned he noticed Sioux nation vehicles
		- 5 of each group are allowed in
* Addie’s been taking her guard duty very seriously
	+ Convinced a manager of the hotel to give her rough floor plans from floors 1-9 (excluding floor 3)
	+ She notices one of the wait staff has been taking intermittent breaks, jotting notes on a notepad frequently
	+ After bringing it to the group’s attention, Horado goes to confront the man
		- The man is easily intimidated, cowering at Horado’s interrogation, pisses himself, admits he was hired by the Shogun, by Harkon
			* Says his name is Jim
			* ‘Anne’ brings up she already killed Harkon, so fat chance of that
		- Addie investigates the notepad
			* It’s filled with seemingly random notes on the people surrounding the summit, about our group and others
			* At Addie’s prodding, Jim says he didn’t give his notes to his employers yet, but Addie catches something off about his overly exaggerated cowardice
				+ Addie calls him out, and he straightens up, saying the truth isn’t for us to know, and he melts into goop
					- The piss is just goop too. That’s fun.
* We investigate what just went down
	+ Marcy, a waitress, mentions Jim was probably a new hire, didn’t remember seeing him around before
	+ Horado fetches the front desk worker, Martin, and the old man mentions Jim Rhoades, was hired today, started at noon
		- Jim arrived earlier that morning to say on the employee floor, floor 3, for room and board
	+ They go to check out the third floor
		- As Simon and Jo go to follow the rest of them, an odd resonance comes from her bag
			* Toussaint and Horado feel a deep burning through their bodies, Xipe recoiling and screaming in Horado’s skull
				+ ‘Anne’s’ disguise is slightly messed up from it, and she quickly goes to her room to fix it
			* Addie recognizes it as the Bell of Saint Michael, and gives Jo a disapproving look
				+ The two non verbally agree to speak about it later, and move on to the elevator
			* Horado takes the emergency stairs instead
		- The outside of the 3rd floor emergency door knob seems to be broken, and Horado mentions he needs to be let in
		- During the elevator ride, Addie gets some more details out of Martin: Jim had been hired about the same time as Ricard Morrison
			* Ricard hadn’t checked in on his walkie in over 90 minutes, supposed to every 30
			* Didn’t have enough people to afford vetting their staff more
		- Addie asks River to let Horado in once they arrive on floor 3
			* As she goes to, she stops herself, and catches that someone hastily painted the wall by the door, there’s an explosive in it
			* As Horado waits for Jo to disarm it, he catches a glimpse of night vision goggles above, and yells up to the person, pursuing them as they attempt to flee (and resisting the urge to shoot first, contemplate action later)
			* As Addie’s opening the emergency door, she catches the glint of a gun peeking out from one of the doors, and yells for everyone to get down as she rushes toward it
				+ Simon, Jo, and River drop to the ground, 6 bullet holes appearing where Jo was
			* Back in the emergency stairway, Horado tackles the person in tactical gear, drains the life from him, and sacrifices him to Xipe
			* Downstairs, Addie casts speed on herself and rushes to the door with the gun poking out, smashing through it and sending bits of the board into their ambushers
				+ She finds 5 people in the room, and runs her sword through one’s chest, killing them instantly
				+ ‘Anne’ rushes in, finally meeting up with the group, and pulse pistols one of the mens’ legs, causing him to scream in agony
				+ One of the men jumps out the window
				+ The two others take shots at Addie, missing, then turn their guns to their heads
					- ‘Anne’ is able mesmerize one into halting, but the other pulls the trigger
			* Addie looks down into the street below, catches a trail of blood leading off into an alley, and ‘Anne’ shifts into crows and flies in pursuit
				+ Addie keeps a hold of their two living prisoners, and we stop there

## Session 5 (9/18/2021)

* We begin in the safe room of Eddie’s and Dr. Mabuse’s office, picking up where rp left off, Little before 6am on the day of the summit
	+ While Addie interrogates Hank, the living merc they captured, Toussaint successfully disables the explosives at the Yard Arms
		- He finds a radio on one of the bodies, a voice calling for an update in Greek, Toussaint answers in Hank’s voice, and gets word that teams 3&4 are moving on the Junkyard Militia
		- The man on the other end gives the location of team 3
	+ Toussaint reports on what happened back to Addie, and Addie agrees they should make a move on the team
		- Addie orders Simon and Jo to stay in the safe room with Hank, and asks them not to kill him
			* Hank seems very displeased at not getting to be set free after he talked, but fuck ‘im, he don’t get an opinion
* The party moves on Team 3, a couple blocks away
	+ Clawville Heights Apartment Buildings, it looks run down as hell
		- Toussaint flies up to the roof as mist, moves through the ventilation system
			* He enters in a room, finds a young woman on the floor, looking very sickly: blood vessels very visible on arms and shoulders, eyes yellowed with cataracts
				+ He can tell it appears from some sort of drug, but nothing he’s ever known, something unnatural
				+ Toussaint takes a blood sample
			* He hears activity on the floor below, moves stealthily to the floor below, and finds men in battle armor, moving around various supplies: crates of guns, ammo, canisters of green fluid
		- Meanwhile, Addie, Horado, and River sweep the building’s floors one by one
			* Horado kicks in doors, ruining family moments, stealing dinners, leaving Addie to apologize profusely
			* On a floor near the top, he kicks in a door with two men inside
				+ We notice armor that looks similar to the other mercs encountered in the Yard Arms hanging up
					- When questioned, they mentioned killing a couple guys to get it, left their bodies in the bathroom
						* When Horado goes to check, a flaming undead bursts out
					- As flames start to spread, one man bolts out of the room, while the other takes aim at Addie
						* Addie moves fast enough to grab his arm and disarm him, holding him dangling above the ground
					- Horado moves back from the flames; as the burning dead moves toward Addie, she quick draws her sword and decapitates it
			* Horado starts running after the fleeing man, Addie knocks out her captive and follows, with the flames spreading quicker
				+ River meets the man on the stairs and catches him, Addie hands off her captive to River while she and Horado, start breaking water pipes to slow the fire, evacuating people as they move
		- Back on the top floor, one of the men drops one of the green-fluid filled canisters, and Toussaint can quickly tell it’s some ghostrock product
			* It starts filling the room an impossible amount, filling the air, Toussaint grabs the canister and flies out the window, still appearing fully as Anne
			* The men in the room open fire, are soon rendered unconscious
			* Toussaint calls Addie, trying to get her opinion on where to drop the canister to contain it before it fills up Junkyard’s closed atmosphere
				+ He decides to take it to the pits
				+ People flee the pit as he touches down, and it’s quickly evacuated
		- Addie and Horado make their way to the top floor
			* Horado puts a bullet in most of the surviving mens’ heads
			* The lead merc was shot and killed by friendly fire
			* Horado grabs the remaining 3 sealed canisters, he and Addie grab the explosives
			* Addie finds the woman that Toussaint had stumbled across earlier, and carries her down as she and Horado make their way back down the stairs
				+ The two evacuate the building’s remaining residents on their way
			* The upper building burns, souls writhing in the smoke
			* Addie calls Bran, telling him they need a ghostrock material of some kind contained before it fills Junkyard
				+ Bran sends his son Charles to the pit
			* Addie heals the woman she carried down, and the woman mentions she’d started to feel ill about a week ago
				+ The women tells Addie she has nowhere to go, same with a lot of residents who’d lost their homes
				+ Addie goes to the No-Tell Motel, convinces the owner, Sam, to take in the 18 residents for a month in turn for pay at a later time
		- At the pit, Charles walks out of a portal from the hunting grounds with his wife
			* They show mistrust to Toussaint (‘Anne’), as her posters are still over Junkyard
				+ Seem suspicious how she’s shrugging off the ghostrock radiation
				+ Toussaint gets annoyed, pointing out the Summit is about cooperation, and they won’t get anywhere with doubts like those, especially in the current situation
				+ Charles fights the supernatural radiation with his own magic, trying to contain it
		- Toussaint sends in raptors to help put out the fire at the apartment buildings, with Addie clearing it by Dewalt
* The party returns to the safe room
	+ Simon and Jo have been getting into an argument about politics with Hank, having nothing better to do
	+ Addie returns to interrogate Hank and their one captive that survived from the apartments,, with Horado threatening to deep fry the man’s testicles
		- The apartment captive admits the canisters were filled with a ghost rock agent made by the same guy that made their gear. He gets out “Rein-” before his head explodes
		- Hank admits he was supposed to report in to Team 3, he has no idea what Team 4’s orders are
			* They planted sourcerers around the Yard Arms, probably in every building across the street, guys with m16s in place as well
			* He admit’s Mab’s not acting on her own, would guess by the flaming undead, it’s someone from Texas
				+ Probably something to do with the oil barons and OPEC, from what Horado could put together
				+ Hank says OPEC’s been making moves lately
				+ Mab hasn’t been too present of mind lately,  has had to be convinced to not just blow everything up immediately
	+ Addie expresses uncertainty they should have the Summit at the Yard Arms, considering all Mab still has in place
		- Toussaint recommends the Pit, since it’s cleared out and most likely to be avoided, since they can contain the radiation
		- Addie calls Bran, and asks if he can get the Pit in shape for the Summit
			* He tells her to give him and his wolves an hour, and hangs up
* Addie goes to meet with Dewalt, who leads her to Ike
	+ She tells him he has to move the Summit
		- He seems stubborn not to back down, but at the nudging of a companion, agrees to message the other leaders to move the meeting’s location
* Addie meets up with Victor and Scott as they arrive
	+ Victor seems stressed to give his speech
		- He’s comforted by a familiar looking woman, one Addie would recall from pictures in his home
			* It’s his wife
				+ That motherfucker really did it huh?
		- He introduces her as Maya Monday, and she corrects him affectionately: Hoffman-Monday
			* Her eyes are similar to Mac’s and Anne’s, in that they shutter and refocus, her skin is warm, but in a way that feels like it was heated by a secondary source, not warm in itself
			* Maya thanks Addie for keeping everyone safe, and Addie promises to look after her husband as she would Simon and Jo
		- Scott and Victor have been working on a device to turn organic matter into water, trying to help settlements out
			* They mention debating on getting our group to help out with some trouble that’s been happening: monsters that’ve been attacking settlements, and maybe helping bring them into the Union’s fold
		- Neither Scott nor Victor have been able to get in contact with H3x for the past few days either
			* Had been going on guard duty to help a delegation speak to the mutant families living beneath Junkyard and make alliances

## Session 6 (10/23/2021)

* We pick up where text rp left off: negotiations being traded in the summit, little over 3 hours into the meeting
	+ Addie brings up to Ike that Junkyard is meant to represent their best shot at civilization, and the other factions should get a say in its operation
		- Ike shows clear distaste, stating the most he’ll consider is an embassy, which Addie concedes for a start
	+ Ike mentions the alliance should have oversight, and brings us the Law Dogs, which both Bubba Rackem, the Sioux’s delegate, and Addie disagree on
		- Joan proposes the Library would be good for oversight, as they’re more of a neutral party in their interests, which seems to garner some favor
		- Addie questions why the Library isn’t present, and Kang speaks for the first time, saying he and his colleagues have had ears in Junkyard for some time
			* The underground mutant families, moorlocks, have been in contact with the librarians, the only people that have been translating their language to communicate
			* The Library’s delegation was sent to speak with moorlocks open to cooperation, but never came back
			* Ike hired mercs to go find them, and they haven’t reported back yet
	+ As a few figures rush into the pit to interrupt the summit, we flash back to a couple days ago
		- A merc group is hired by Ike, sent down in a group transport going down a long tunnel through Junkyard’s underground tunnels
		- A heavily armored APC makes its way forward, mercs within, and the focus goes to Ian: muttering to himself and twisting dog tags in his hands, generally creeping out his associates
		- The lone driver yells back they’re about to pass over rubble, and just as they do, an explosion flips the vehicle
		- Upon entering the driving compartment, it’s discovered the driver was killed by heavy burns, everything around him melted
		- Ian’s company covers him as he moves to scout the threat, and flames shoot from the darkness, quickly engulfing the APC
		- Eyeless creatures shoot acid from the dark, 3 women holding staves seem to be the source of the flames
		- Ian offs one of the witches before escaping, making his way back to the surface and finding his way to the head of Junkyard Militia: Dewalt
		- Dewalt leads Ian back to Ike during the summit, bringing us back to the current time
	+ Ian briefs Ike on what he saw, and Addie asks if it’s Mab, which Ike believes so
		- Ike reveals Team Pancakes were sent with the library delegation and never returned
		- Addie says her team will look for the lost group
		- Ike also tells Ian his contract has him on the hook for all the equipment he lost
			* Lesson learned: read the terms and conditions
		- Addie briefly introduces Ian to the group
			* Ian seems wary of bringing teenagers into battle
		- Choc offers Addie, Gregg, and Ian “energy drinks” of his own design
			* All seem skeptical, River takes one, says it could come in handy, and stays behind to guard over Simon and Jo
* The group heads down into the tunnels below Junkyard, taking some supplies offered by Ike
	+ Ian rides with Gregg and Heru, between their animal familiars
	+ 4 hours of travel later, we arrive on the second floor, in a suburb made for housing workers, all in ruin
		- It’s there we run into part of the lost delegation party: Marly King, Caleb King, and Richard Solano (of Team Pancakes)
			* Richard is unconscious with buckshot in his side, bleeding from the wound, as well as acid marks on his chest
			* Addie worriedly chided Marly for going on such a dangerous mission, and promises to take her and her brother back home to their mom
		- During this Ian catches movement across the street, and warns the party of approaching enemies
			* Ian pushes Caleb, Marly, Gregg, and Heru down into cover, and then mows down two approaching moorlocks
			* Choc gets a shot off on another, but trades the blow with acid to his own chest
				+ The moorlock is injured, but not dead
			* Addie pulls Choc behind her, strengthens her spectral armor, and downs one more
				+ The rest run off
		- Immediate threat gone, Addie heals Choc, and bandages up Richard
			* When he comes to, Addie scolds him for bringing the kids on the trip, and Richard tells her it was Warner Page, the Library’s representative, that was insistent on them coming
			* He’d gotten separated from the rest of his team with their group was attacked
			* Last he saw, Hex was tangling with some sort of weird bear creature, which Ian recalls sounds like a sin-eater.
		- While Addie and Ian question Richard, Choc goes out to check on the injured moorlock
			* With Derpy’s help, he translate’s their speech, and he tell him those moorlocks involved in the attacks were ordered to do so by their chief, to follow the witches’ orders
				+ The one speaking says he is a farmer, didn’t want to be here or kill anyone
				+ Choc snaps the moorlock’s neck (to, put him out of his misery?)
		- Choc briefs Addie and Ian on what he discovered
			* Addie and Ian EXTREMELY question Choc’s logic of mercy killing
		- Before leaving, Addie tells Richard to stick with the kids and keep them safe
			* She makes sure to patch up Caleb’s arm, and he asks her to tell Mr. Na-Way they’re okay
				+ He was part of the escort meant to protect them
	+ The group continues forward, and eventually comes upon unnatural fire flying from the northeast, and sounds of a fight
		- Flashback to 3-4 doors before, Na-Way received an offer to help the Librarians, and agreed to help guard their delegation to the moorlock representatives
			* Not long before current time, Na-Way was riding across from Caleb on the group’s truck, tilting the vehicle slightly with his weight
			* Negotiations quickly broke down, and the group was ambushed
			* Na-Way protected Marly and Caleb, and helped them get away while holding off the witch and moorlock forces
		- We stumble upon Na-Way now, grappling what looks like a naked bare with dark tendrils of limbs pushing out its skin
			* Ian recalls the sin-eater from Richard’s description, and loudly informs the group that bullets won’t do shit, only metal blades will
			* Luckily for Addie, that’s her specialty, and she and Choc move into attack the creature
				+ Despite a couple embarrassing misses on the first move, Na-Way gets a solid grip on the creature’s dark tail, and Addie is able to trip it up and shishkabob it on the ground
				+ It quickly dissolves into goo, not unlike the goo people the group had encountered before, working for Mab
		- Addie and Na-Way get into a brief standoff before both realize neither is a threat, and the two introduce themselves
			* She informs Na-Way the kids and Richard are okay, and asks if he’s willing to find the rest of the Library’s convoy, which he agrees to

## Session 7 (11/06/2021)

* We begin in Junkyard’s underground, the party covered in soot and goo as they make their way forward
	+ Lotta goo in this arc
* Addie and Choc get a message on their palmcorders
	+ It’s from Thomas, who seems a bit scared: he has kids and elderly locked up in the school, locked in combat protecting them, he emphasizes not to shoot them; he’s going northeast to the church, and then the message cuts
* As we move toward the school, Ian catches flashes of light in one of the nearby buildings, and scouts ahead
	+ On the intact bridges separating us from the school, Ian notices explosives rigged to the structures, and a couple snipers keeping watch on a street to the north
		- They have OPEC insignias
	+ There was a plan to stealth shit, *but...*plans never last: gunfire and explosions sound from the school, and there ain’t no time for stealth after that
* Combat ensues
	+ While Choc quickly constructs a device to deactivate the explosives, Na-way gives no shits, uproots a small tree, and uses it to sweep the explosives ahead as he barrels down the bridge
		- Takes some shrapnel to the chest, but that shark skin really comes in handy
	+ Ian takes cover and gets some shots off at the snipers, taking out one
	+ Addie gets to the school, runs into another group of watching OPEC operatives and uses her bow to insta-kill one merc and pin another, incapacitated, to the wall
		- She runs into Essence from Team Pancakes, the two of them clearing the room
	+ While things are looking up for us, a ball of light appears in the northern street, and 6 more OPEC mercs appear, a couple with rocket launchers
		- A goth-looking woman yells at them to kill us
		- At the same time, the doors of the school explode outward, and Hex and Essence step out from the building
		- The women then disappears, leaving us with the mercs
		- We take them out before they can do much damage, keeping four alive
* The danger briefly passed, a group of civilian moorlocks exit the school building
	+ Na-way goes around offering bandages to the injured
	+ Hex mentions Thomas and Cassidy went up the street about 15 minutes ago
	+ One of the elders gives us details:
		- The chief of their people had lost the clan’s favor, and took offense when they started acting without his word
		- He in turn cut off all contact with the outside world, said to look to Han for answers
		- A stranger had come into town, wanting to conduct experiments to make the moorlocks more obedient, and worked with the chief to do so
		- The strongest of the clan were mutated, given acid spitting and superstrength, and taken to fight for OPEC
		- They’re holed up in the church
	+ Ian, while picking through the bodies, picks up a one-use rocket launcher, dog tags from varying armies, a contract, old southern alliance and confederate weapons
		- A voice comes over one of the radios, they’re reinforcing the church and asking for reinforcements
			* The voice is from Roughneck Actual, says he’s about 12 strong right now
	+ Addie questions how the witch is getting around, and Ian recalls a method: she’s moving through the hunting grounds, and has to have a homebase somewhere to anchor to
* Ian questions one of our living captives, Jimmy
	+ The OPEC mercs got paid a shitton of money to cover some witches, and she teleported them here
	+ The witches want the whole moorlock town as footsoldiers to invade Junkyard
	+ The troops were meant to secured the church, with their homebase being beneath it
	+ The name on the contract Ian found is Gwyneth Bracken, carrying the same last name of the chief
		- She’s the chief’s daughter, got sent off to learn magic, and brought some witches back with her
* We convince Jimmy to speak over the radio and tell his allies the moorlock civilians are giving trouble, and to send backup
	+ About 20 minutes later, backup arrives in armored jeeps and humvees with mounted weapons
		- Ian, sitting atop a sniper’s nest, takes aim and assassinates the witch in one of the vehicles
		- Choc detonates a trap of explosives he set up, flipping the vehicles
		- Na-way rips a tire off one of the cars and knocks a man’s head off with it
		- Addie takes out a gunner
		- Ian gets a lock on Roughneck shouting orders and kills him
		- The moorlock troops seem a little bit more hesitant after the witch’s death, but still move to defend the OPEC soldiers
		- After knocking most of the soldiers down, the men surrender

## Session 8 (11/20/2021)

* We open on a fairly mundane street in the ruins below Junkyard
	+ While en route to the church, H3x’s power armor starts beeping, and he takes the moorlock civilians to hunker down before his armor powers down
	+ Addie promises the elder she’ll keep as many of the brainwashed moorlocks alive as she can, and the elder tells her to do what we must with Gwenith
* As we move further toward the church, we catch evidence of combat: blood, bullet holes, debris
	+ A feminine voice disturbs the silence, warning us of going closer to the church
	+ After a bit of back and forth, the voice reveals herself as a witch who serves under Mab, Nat
		- She’s after information, knowledge, and is willing to work with us if given amnesty
		- At being questioned of why she’d turn against Mab, she admitted Mab wasn’t lenient, and working under her was terrifying
		- Met with distrust, she asks what would earn our confidence, and Ian mentions showing her face would be a good start
			* The woman breaks her invisibility and walks out of the shadows: a short redhead that looks pretty roughed up
			* Addie asks for her focus as a vote of confidence, which she hands over to Choc
		- She gives the group a brief about the area and the Church of Han, the lab underneath serving as Mab’s base of operations
			* There, the moorlocks were given enhanced strength and acid spitting abilities
	+ A piercing screech cuts us off, like an emergency siren, cutting lights from the street, and Nat disappears
* We pile into a nearby diner, only to find the sound coming from inside
	+ A large shifting void moves through the diner, dark fingers spreading quickly from the stairs and spreading a bone-chilling cold
	+ Choc gets off a thermal grenade and the group quickly moves back outside
	+ As the creature starts to follow, Ian takes out his recently acquired rocket launcher and drops his one shot into the freezing elemental, harming it heavily but not stopping it
	+ A few more hits with fire and bullets do little more than distract it, hurricane level winds picking up around the street
	+ Choc quickly scraps together a homemade bomb and runs up to the beast, getting devoured and blowing it up from the inside
	+ He’s heavily injured, and has to be pulled from the creature’s corpse by Addie
		- She heals him, scolding him for putting himself at risk
		- While Choc is in and out of it, he’s visited by the Templar Saint of Daredevils, El Gato, and given his blessing, with a warning to maybe be a bit less impulsive next time
	+ Addie helps carry Choc while he regains his senses
* Coming upon the church, Addie asks Ian to scout ahead since he’s the most stealthy
	+ He obliges, finding Nat in the main church entrance
	+ Addie asks her about Cassandra, and she panics, mentioning Cassandra doesn’t exist before a slice opens up on her abdomen
		- Addie immediately heals it shut, and Nat admits Cassandra is one of Mab’s disguises to move around in the day
			* Enraged by the semi-betrayal, and concerned Mab knows too much about her home, Addie vows she’ll die tonight
		- Choc hands Nat back her focus
		- With info from Nat, Choc scraps together a spotlight to help get around Mab’s illusions
* We move on the inner church
	+ Ian covers our entrance with a flashbang, Addie makes a move toward the apparent Mab standing on a platform at the back of the church, and Choc’s light reveals it’s not quite her, as well as some illusions around the hostages
	+ Ian incapacitates the chieftain
	+ Mab appears from a portal over a an altar, an older woman dropping from it
	+ An unconscious woman of vietnamese descent is lying on an alter on the platform, and there’s little time for Addie to recognize her before Mab sends spikes of ice at us
	+ We just barely get out of the way, and thanks to Choc’s spotlight, Addie’s able to get a hit on Mab, slicing her hand in half and getting her staff free from her grip
	+ Ian’s able to take out Gwenith
	+ Addie gets a grip on Mab, and decapitates her
* Combat over, Addie rushes to the woman on the altar, who turns out to be Mai
	+ She checks over her in a panic, and before she can catch much, the body crumbles into dust
	+ Addie’s distraught for a moment before clapping’s heard at the back of the church, and Mai is seen sitting with a smug look on her face, mentioning she appreciates Addie’s concern and she’s thankful Mab’s finally dead
	+ Addie, confused, asks what this is all about, concerned Mai orchestrated this
	+ Mai tells her it’s part of a rite, blood spilled, fear conquered, evil slain in a holy place, all contribute to breaking the rules the Hunting Grounds impose
		- She mentions kidnapping the librarians wasn’t part of the plan, neither were the dead citizens, and Addie angrily tells her her plan could’ve gotten them all killed, Gregg included
		- Addie accuses Mai she wasn’t there to protect Gregg, yells she doesn’t give a shit about her, and claims she knows Gregg better than Mai because she’s been there for her
		- Mai claims she’s trying to do right for her family, for her mother, and Addie tells her her mother’s dead, and she shouldn’t have pulled Gregg into this
		- Mai says her mom would want this done: the ascension, the gathering of knowledge and its use
		- Addie ends the conversation and claims Mab’s staff, which turns out to be more of a glaive
			* She also takes a notebook off her of magic diagrams and notes, but no cookbook
			* Addie takes Mab’s corpse and heads out
* Above, back at the Summit
	+ Kang has asked for help dealing with pirates in his trade routes
	+ Scott and Victor are creating the Vanguard, specialized monster hunters to help in clearing out infested settlements so they can rebuild
	+ Simon agreed to continue to house the Doomsayer Heretics for now
	+ Simon and Jo cut a deal with Victor to make a wall for Boise with bots, in exchange for the Vanguard training with the Templars in Boise
		- New shared training
		- Templars would now get more weapons and tactical training
		- Templar apprenticeship would be cut to 6 months