The Raven Adventurers: New Begining

KDuncan

New member
"Yeah, it looks like we'll be able to leave soon," KDuncan agreed, glancing out the window, then turning to Tom. "Say, Jones, if you want a better mirror, I carry a small rectangle of glass in case I need to signal someone with a concentrated beam of light..."
 

Magda

New member
(Deadlock & Paden -- I'll post something tonight after I get back from work. ;) Sorry for the wait.)
 

Magda

New member
In the next few moments, Ameera found herself tumbling down the hill and hurled over the cliff like a piece of waste being carelessly discarded into a trashcan. The cascade of snow then plunged down a few hundred feet, taking the woman along for the deadly ride.

If she had the time to think she would have seen the irony of the situation. Ameera had gone climbing more than once equipped with the finest mountaineering gear. Not once did she ever lose her footing. On the one day where all she had was a pack and no anticipation of danger, she had been shot at, nearly blown to pieces, and sent sailing over a cliff in an avalanche.

While her subconscious rolled around in hysterical laughter, Ameera watched bits and pieces of distorted images flashing before her eyes. Gravity tossed her down into a deep snow drift at the bottom of the cliff where she sank and crashed through what sounded like something solid ? the barrier of hell perhaps. Following another couple seconds of freefalling, the Arab woman landed with a thud as debris and stray clumps of snow from above fell everywhere.
 

Paden

Member
It all happened in a blur, everything a reflex amidst a jumble of desperate thoughts and the mad rush for survival As soon as he heard the crack, Paden?s hand snaked into his duffle, pulling free the lightweight Tourax ice axe he kept there. The tool was merely a backup, nothing comparable to the proper gear he had at his campsite. He turned, his eyes searching the slope for the fracture in the snow, even as he began running back up the incline. He made only a short distance before the ground began to give way under him, a loose rush of heavy snow. Pressing a few more steps on his rapidly faltering footing, he glimpsed the fracture, and with all the strength he could muster in his legs, he jumped up the rise. He came short of the fracture, but with the combined momentum of his leap and an adrenaline fueled strike with both arms, he drove the axe into the snow with an animal growl, praying that it bit into the undersurface. White death surged over him, stinging rivulets of cold pain filling his face, the sensation of a rushing tide of freezing heaviness tearing over his prone form. Reality narrowed, and for an endless moment he was aware only of his lifesaving grip on the axe handle.

It held. The deadly rush of snow slowed and stopped. Numb and shaken, a few moments passed before Paden could assess his situation. Straining to see behind him, he saw that he was abdomen deep in snow. Lucky, under the circumstances. Struggling to push up and down with his knees, he managed to turn over onto his back, and with continued kicking motions and the adze on the axe, he dug himself free. Raising himself on deadened, unsteady legs, he immediately began scanning the scene.

Where was Deadlock?
 
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Deadlock

New member
At that moment, Deadlock himself was wondering the very same thing. He was vaguely aware that he must still be alive, but everything around him was dark, silent, and cold.

When the avalanche had started to move, the mercenary's urban-oriented instincts had failed him. His reflexes and experience prepared him for danger and life-threatening situations. However, Deadlock was used to dealing with flesh-and-blood opponents, not the forces of nature. There was no returning fire when a couple hundred tons of snow lines you up in its sites.

As the snow on the mountainside rapidly dissolved into a rushing torrent, the only suggestion that the gunman?s brain could muster was: ?take cover.? Ten feet in front Deadlock, a large boulder jutted up through the snow. As Paden bolted up the incline, the sniper dashed behind the rock. He crouched with his back to the stone as the roar of the avalanche approached.

A split second later, the leading edge of the icy wave broke against the boulder with titanic force! Deadlock was sprayed with a frigid deluge of snow as it swirled around his shelter. With one hand he clung to the rock, with the other he shielded his face from the frosty blast. The stone broke the impact of the avalanche, leaving a pocket of relative calm behind it, and preventing Deadlock from being swept away. But as the avalanche slowed, the snow flowed around the top and sides of the rock, burying the sharpshooter alive.

Now, entombed in snow, Deadlock sized up the situation. He tried moving each of his limbs in turn to see which ones would be usable in trying to escape. His crouched legs offered little assistance; the snow seemed fairly densely packed around them. Fortunately, his arms were another story. The left arm, that he had used to shield his face, had created an air pocket in front of him. Deadlock knew that his air wouldn?t last long, but he was grateful that his nose and mouth were clear. His other arm had moved from holding the rock to sheltering his head as the cascaded over the top of the boulder in the last few seconds of the slide.

The snow was fairly loose around both arms, so the gunman tried moving his left. It moved awkwardly with fair amount of resistance. But he succeeded in expanding the air pocket in front and above him. His right arm didn?t have as much play, but he wiggled it back and forth, gradually increasing the room above him and dropping snow down on his head with every move. Fairly soon, he had both arms working at scraping and pushing the snow above him, hoping that the snow wasn?t too deep.

After fifteen minutes of digging, Deadlock?s whole body was numb. With every desperate move of his arms, he hoped to feel his fingers break through the last bit of resistance and out to freedom. So far, his hope had yet to be realized. As the pocket above him grew in size, he tried his legs again. Though gripped with icy numbness, his legs begrudgingly responded and pushed him 8 inches closer to the surface. His hands got new snow to whittle through, but Deadlock was starting to slow down.

He wasn?t sure whether it was the cold, or a lack of oxygen, but Deadlock could feel everything becoming sluggish. He kept digging, with every scrape he vowed to never return to anyplace with snow. Just as he?d resolved to buy a little tropical island somewhere, the unfeeling fingers on his right hand suddenly felt no opposition. Almost unwilling to hope, Deadlock looked up. Through the hole around his wrist, the mercenary could see out into the night above.

The storm had cleared and frosty stars twinkled brightly above the icy peaks of the Himalayas. The moon was beginning to set, but the snow reflected its light. In the middle of the softly glowing white mountainside, a black glove jutted up through the snow.

?HELLLLLLPPPPPP!?
 

roundshort

Active member
Meanwhile, a laid back ski insructor named Roundshort, took his families of skiers down the slope that Avalanche just ripped through. After years spent honng his skills in Colorado ski towns, Round gave advice about skiing inthe back country with the proper gear.

"But enough lecture, lets go hit the Bumps!"

With that, the skiing contiuned for the day.
 

Paden

Member
That was always the problem when an avalanche occurred: it left you with a whitewashed landscape, devoid of distinguishing features. As Paden freed his duffel, his mind raced, He hadn?t seen Deadlock follow him up the slope, which meant the gunman had to have taken shelter down below. Or worse, been swept off the ledge. Paden rejected the latter idea. Having seen Deadlock move quickly through the burning plane, Paden knew that he would have responded rapidly enough to find some kind of cover or shelter. As Paden scanned the snow-covered ground, he saw no sign of the mercenary. That could only mean one thing: Deadlock was buried. Remaining calm, but aware that time was of the essence, Paden began carefully searching, seeking any tell tale sign of the gunman?s presence.

After a few fruitless minutes, Paden heard Deadlock?s voice behind him. Turning, he saw a black-gloved hand jutting out of the snow. Paden rushed over and using the ice axe, helped dig Deadlock free. The gunman?s time in the snow had definitely left him chilled. Paden snagged the spare hunting jacket he kept in the duffel. It wasn?t heavy like a parka, but it would serve as makeshift blanket. He handed the camouflage garment to Deadlock. ?I know it?s not your color, but it?ll help warm you up.? Next, Paden retrieved his steel thermos and poured a cup of the steaming, black-as-pitch coffee inside. He offered it to the gunman. ?This coffee?s an acquired taste. Kind of stuff that gets drunk out on the range. But it?s warm.?

As Paden waited to see how Deadlock recovered, his mind drifted to what had just occurred, and he verbalized a question, asking himself as much as anyone, ?I wonder what started this slide??
 

Deadlock

New member
Deadlock gratefully accepted the jacket and the coffee. He brought the cup up to his blue lips and took a hasty drink.

“Thanks, Paden,” the sniper said, raising the Thermos cup, “Now I finally know what it’s like to suck down a mugful of the La Brea Tar Pits.” He pulled his arms through the sleeves of the camo jacket. “And I have no idea what started the avalanche,” Deadlock grinned, “Isn’t that more YOUR department, Daniel Boone?”

In the light of the moon, Deadlock scanned the mountainside for any sign of Ameera. In the process, he noticed that he and Paden were relatively close to the edge of a cliff. The mercenary moved gingerly toward the edge and peered into the yawning chasm. It was a serious drop. Shadows obscured the bottom that had to be over 200 feet down.

Deadlock shuddered, “I hope she didn’t go over the edge. First of all, I don’t think anybody could survive that fall, and even if she had, we couldn’t get down there without a...”

In an eerie coincidence, the distinctive thrum of a helicopter coming up the canyon finished the gunman’s sentence.

Bewildered for second, a thought popped into Deadlock’s head. He looked at Paden with alarm.

The girl.

He started running back toward the airfield as fast as the snow would allow.
 

indifan101

New member
As Deadlock ran towards the airfield he stood shocked and stopped completely. No it couldn't be, it just couldn't be! Planes waging war against one another! Sounds of automatic machine gun fire echoed of the mountains and some of the missles actually were hitting the mountain sides. One of the pilots inside the plane was indifan101. He had been cought in a terrible dogfight between two other jets. As indifan101 saw a gun bunker he radioed in Deadlock. "FIRE DEADLOCK, FIRE!" Yelled indifan101. Now the situation grew scarier. Indifan101's main thrust engine was down and he had suffered severe shots to his fuel tank. Thinking fast he pulled the "ejection cord" and shot out into the air. Deadlock was able to shoot down the plane but another threat loomed over, Indifan101's falling jet! Indifan101 jumped out of the way of the screaming jet and tried to get up to help Deadlock. But Indifan101's legs were burned badly so Deadlock carried him to the bunker. Ameera was found but not moving.

And another plane was on it's way to finish the job on the airfield! Indifan101 looked at Deadlock. Indifan101 noticed another jet to fly. He showed a face of horror. "Get the girl out of here", demaned Indifan101. "But what about you, your wounded!" replied Deadlock. Who gives a hell about me, I'll taking this sucker down or die trying." Here take this" Indifan101 handed him a piece of paper. "This is government info for a nuclear plane terrorists are trying to build, and if I don't make it back tell the Pentagon about these!" Now go and run as fast as you can!" "This suckers mine!" Deadlock and Ameera ran to safety as Indifan101 took to the defense.
 
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Paden

Member
(Paden sipped coffee as he sat amongst the trees on the rise overlooking the airfield. He watched the dogfight between the jets with interest, reminded of how much he had enjoyed Top Gun when he had first seen it years ago…oh, wait. Sorry. ;))

As Paden followed Deadlock, his legs churning through the thick snow on the remnants of the trail, his mind wandered.

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Paden did not wait for any further reaction from Singleton. He fired a crisp jab straight into the arms dealer’s face, feeling Singleton’s nose collapse under the punch with a satisfying crack. Singleton reeled from the blow with a muffled curse, his hands going to his face as he staggered backwards in shock. Paden turned, glimpsing Carlisle moving on one of Singleton’s men, even as he grabbed the thug nearest to him, bringing his left arm around the man’s neck and pulling him roughly to his side in an improvised headlock. Squeezing with all of the strength he could find, Paden grabbed for the thug’s firearm, nestled in a shoulder holster, with his free hand, driving his knee up into the man’s abdomen. As the two struggled, gunfire erupted inside the gin. Trying not to entertain the notion that a bullet was about to find him, Paden got a firm grip on his opponent’s firearm and pulled it free, bringing the butt down onto the henchman’s head in a swift, heavy arc.

Releasing the unconscious man, Paden turned, his eyes finding two fallen men and the crumpled form of Carlisle, who was gripping a heavily bleeding shoulder. A third man, his weapon drawn, stood a short distance away his eyes shifting to Paden. Even as he moved, Paden fired twice, both shots entering the man’s chest and sending him to the floor. The last perpetrator, the same one that had alerted Singleton to the approaching tactical team, was bolting for the back door of the gin, his loyalty to his employer having apparently dampened. He ran headlong into a group of black clad ATF agents and immediately assented to their shouted demands that he drop to the ground. As more agents poured through the front entrance, Paden called, “Man down!” pointing to Carlisle’s prone form as he glanced around for Singleton. Paden caught sight of a few drops of blood on the dusty floor, leading between some of the idle machinery. He followed it, the footprints and blood ending at a small office with a shattered window. No time to double back, Paden went through it.

Orienting himself, Paden realized he was standing to the right of the gin’s front doors. He ran to the left, cutting around the corner of the building in time to find Singleton climbing into the first of the two parked Suburbans. Paden fired his pistol once into the air, and then leveled it at the gun dealer. Singleton, aware that the ATF agent had the drop on him, raised his hands and stepped slowly away from the vehicle. As Paden ordered Singleton to drop to his knees and lace his fingers behind his head, some of Espinoza’s tactical agents came up behind him. Two of the agents moved past Paden, one covering Singleton as the other moved in to disarm him and put him in cuffs. Relaxing, Paden turned back to one of the other agents. “Carlisle?” “His shoulder’s torn up, but he’ll be alright,” the agent answered.

The other agents brought Singleton to his feet and began to escort him away. Singleton locked eyes with Paden as he passed. “You have no idea what I’m capable of, agent,” Singleton said, his voice eerily calm, “You’ll come to regret this.”

Paden simply smiled and watched Singleton be led away. Relieved that three months of work was ended, and having been the recipient of many similar threats in the past, Paden gave little weight to Singleton’s words.

He walked back into the gin to check on his partner.

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As Paden and Deadlock reached the edge of the airfield, Paden was suddenly thankful for the strong mountain winds, as the pilot of the copter was still contending with them as he tried to bring the craft down to the landing strip. Suddenly aware of how the mercenary’s concern for the girl had changed his perception of him, Paden turned to Deadlock. “Speaking of areas of expertise, I’d say this situation falls in yours. I’ve done my time in the army and gotten into a fair number of scraps since, but I doubt I have anything close to your experience.” Paden unzipped his coat and gestured to his pistols. “I tend to do better up close and personal, but I think we’d best play this however you see fit.”
 
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Deadlock

New member
?I could probably down that chopper with a well-placed shot from the .50 cal,? Deadlock said, shaking his head, ?but unfortunately, it?s on the table back at the hangar. All I?ve got is my sidearm.?

The two men watched as the chopper finally set down on the runway. Four Asian men with guns emerged and headed toward the burned-out wreck of the Learjet.

?It?ll take a while for them to search that wreck,? Deadlock mused out loud, ?I assume if they don?t find TWO bodies, they?ll start combing the rest of the place.?

A plan started to form in the mercenary?s mind. The Learjet crash was on the east end of the airfield, north of the runway and Eddie?s hangar, which was south of the strip towards the west. Deadlock and Paden were approaching from the north. With luck, they might be able to get away without confrontation... but not without some means of escape. Traveling on foot, in the snow, over rough terrain, was not a recipe for outrunning ANYBODY.

?Paden, you go for the girl and my gear. Try and lay low while I try to score us some transportation,? Deadlock said nodding at the helicopter.
 

Magda

New member
The rhythmic patter of dropping water stirred Ameera back to consciousness. For a few moments, she could not remember what happened. Was she dead? Her body felt numb, and only confusion found its way throughout her mind. Her eyes unwillingly opened and struggled to focus on the sight above.

The woman blinked, squinted, and concentrated on whatever was looming over her. Memories of the avalanche trickled back as a large hole materialized in what looked like a cavern ceiling rising at least a fifty feet into the air.

Ameera rolled over onto her stomach, attempting to pick herself up as she gasped for air. It was at that point that her head grew heavy and pounded as if someone was beating it with a sledgehammer. She blinked hard and gathered all her strength before stumbling to her feet. The area around her seemed to spin as she attempted to catch her balance.
 

Tom Jones

New member
Meanwhile...

Jones was quiet for a long moment. Staring into the fire he let the warmth that it emitted soothe his aching body. Placing the mug back on the table next to his hat he turned back to KDuncan and opened his mouth to reply. But he stopped, the faint trumping of a distant propeller caused his eyes to lock onto the broken window next to the bar counter.

Jumping out of his chair he turned and grabbed his heavy leather jacket by the collar. “Sounds like the storm’s died down enough. And my guess would be that that propeller sound will be from our two friends taking off into the night.”
 

KDuncan

New member
KDuncan placed the glass back into her overcoat. "Yep," she agreed, "If they're leaving, we should be able to.." She finished the last of the now-warm coffee.
 

Paden

Member
Although he took care to remain out of sight as much as possible, keeping close to trees and other cover as he could, Paden moved as quickly as he could through the dense snow. The Asian men were still inside the burnt husk of the plane when He reached the hangar.

Stepping inside, Paden didn't see Eddie, but found the girl, now awake and alert, seated on the couch where they had left her, a fresh dressing covering the wound on her forehead. Her brow creased with a slight frown as she regarded Paden with her dark eyes, her demeanor remarkably calm for a child thrust into a strange place with no one familiar to comfort her. Paden approached her and dropped down on one knee. "Miss, I don't know if you can understand me or not, but you're in some danger right now," Paden explained with a gentle tone, "There are some men here, looking for you, that mean to harm you. Myself and a friend of mine, we want to get you out of this place and take you somewhere safe." The girl studied Paden's face for a long, silent moment, the mountaineer impressed by the wisdom he sensed behind the child's graceful features. Her decision made, the girl calmly nodded to him and stood. Paden stepped across the room, gathering Deadlock's rifle and gear, and moved to the door, the girl at his side.

Carefully, Paden peered out, looking to see how Deadlock was faring.
 

Tom Jones

New member
Jones and KDuncan lead the way to the airfield, Ben lingered close behind frequently staring back up the mountain. As they reached the edge of the field Tom motioned for KDuncan to keep low and follow him behind a fallen tree, its stump sticking like a stake out of the ground.

When they had reentered the unrelenting force of the artic mountain around them Ben had spotted out the source of the propeller sound. A helicopter was hovering over the side of the mountain. Jones had grumbled to himself, wondering how they could have taken off so fast after the storm had died down. But as he squinted more at the people sitting in the chopper, his anger quickly melted into a forlorn edgy feeling. Although he was somewhat relived that it wasn?t the two he?d seen before in the helicopter the men that he did see weren?t on his favorite list either.

?Okay, we?ve made it this far.? Tom smiled confidently holding his fedora down on his head with one hand as a gust of wind threatened to blow it away. ?I think we should head for the hanger, probably a plane in there that we could borrow. What do you think??
 

Tom Jones

New member
The faint image of himself flying a plane flashed through Tom?s mind. He recalled crashing his plane into the side of the hanger about three years ago. Jones had been searching for another plane that stormy night; he remembered that he had to tell the pilot something important. By alas he never found the plane and ended up using all his fuel in the process. He?d been lucky enough to come away from the crash with only a few scratches and the scar sliced into his right eyebrow.

Tom put a hand to his eyebrow and ran his fingers over the scar, a small a memento from Nepal. He decided to keep the old memory to himself for the time being and chuckled. ?How hard can it be??
 

Deadlock

New member
The mercenary was peering around the wall of the small control tower, waiting to make his move.

The men searching through the plane rubble began to realize that it wouldn?t be a quick thing. They safetied their weapons and either set them down or put them back into holsters. As they hunkered down to sifting through the charred aircraft remains, Deadlock started to move across the field toward the helicopter from behind. The main rotor was still spinning, which made the sniper?s stealth mostly unnecessary. The noise from the whirling blades was more than enough to cover the sound of his approach. As he closed in, the gunman noticed that the helicopter was a plush Bell corporate helicopter. Whoever owned this thing had some money.

The mercenary moved up to the one of the front chopper doors. So far, so good. He drew his pistol, and prepared to ambush the pilot. That?s when one of the large sliding doors of the Bell 430 opened behind the sniper.

One last thug had remained in the chopper. Though he didn?t speak Japanese, Deadlock didn?t need an interpreter to translate the sound of a gun cocking.

He turned slowly and raised his hands.
 
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