milliways_bar | (no subject)

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It's raining in Point Lookout, and foggy, and the word blattering is probably not all that inaccurate a description of conditions on the other side of the door- at least, what can be seen and heard of it through the door of the ancient, decrepit remains of some prewar maintenance shed. Admittedly, there's a slime-and-blood-and-mud-covered power armored figure blocking some of the view. But given that it's Ellen in the slime-and-blood-and-mud-covered armor...

Oh. And there's the head she's carrying.

"Can anybody here identify this thing for me?" comes Ellen's crackly, staticky voice as the door swings shut behind her. She's doing her best not to drip or leave goop or blood behind her as she goes, but... well, given that the thing in question is a spotty yellow-brown, slope-skulled, thick-lipped, lidless head easily the size of half her torso, with barbels as long as her arms coming off either side, the yuk puddles were more or less inevitable.

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"Thank you," says Ellen. "Guh. if there are more of these things..."

She leaves the statement hanging as she heaves the head up onto the shelf. Gathering up the lengthy barbels will happen next.

"What did it need to take it down?"

"Laser fire and a lot of shock and slicing damage," Ellen says. She starts reeling in the thick whiskerlike appendage, wrapping it loosely around one armored hand. "Cross was carrying a tri-beam laser rifle and kept firing on it, but I think that just started boiling its body fat or something. They were both too close for my Gauss to be much help so I drew on them instead."

The coiled-up barbel is tucked onto the refrigerator shelf, and Ellen pauses to indicate the straight scabbard at her side.

"Turns out creatures that have their feet in stagnant water don't really deal very well with being hit with high voltage electrical shocks."

"Ugh, I'm glad you were able to take it down. Your sword channels electricity?"

Edited 2013-07-04 03:12 (UTC)

Ellen nods and coils up the other barbel carefully. "There's a set of microfusion power cells in the hilt," she says. "It was designed to deliver a massive electrical charge on impact. The designer saw me using my old Shishkebab in the field and wanted me to have something more dignified, but still just as dangerous."

She's still got her helmet on, but she sounds like she's smiling.

"Damn, that must be better than a gun sometimes."

"I do a lot of traveling in close-in dark places," Ellen says. "Tunnels under the ruins, mostly."

She does her best to wipe her gauntlets on a nearby side towel. The result is horrible and best left to the imagination.

"Things tend to come at you out of the dark in those circumstances, very quickly. You don't always have time to figure out where they are before firing, and you don't have ammo to waste shooting at something you can't see properly. A good sword or supersledge can save you a lot of pain, underground."

"Yeah, there's a big sink over here, that should work for cleanin' up."

"Oh good."

She may have to go back to the swamp, but that doesn't mean she has to have the swamp and its contents still stuck in her armor.

"Thank God Cross knows about the Bar or I'd never be able to explain this."

"That does help. I think this soap should work, it smells strong enough."

Ellen nods and gets to work with the scrubbing.

"Did people really used to eat things like that?"

"Well, not exactly like that but I've gone fishin' a lot. You don't get a lot of meat but its tasty."

"Huh. Only thing I've ever eaten that came out of the water was mirelurk," says Ellen thoughtfully. "I wonder if these were edible."

Mind, they had two legs. And finny claw handlike things. That's... kind of a problem.

"They might be but we can get some fish. Its been a bit since I've had any. The creek in our land isn't the best for it and the cattle are always in it."

Ellen nods. Shaking the excess water off, she steps back from the sink. "And cattle take a lot of water anyway," she notes. "So they're going to disturb anything that lives in the water.. how big are fish, usually?"

Someone's a little unclear on the concept.

"Depends on the fish. Some are small like this and others can get pretty big,"

He shows her with his hands.

"... huh. I keep forgetting you still have all your species."

"Um, yeah we do though some rich folks will bring fish and stuff they want to hunt here if they can afford it. I don't get doin' that but they want their land to be like they want it to be."

"Sorry. I forget, it's like Steve Rogers' world, where they have all kinds of sea creatures in tanks for people to see." Ellen shakes her head. "That's just weird."

"I've never seen that before, but I've heard of it. Scientists do it."

"This was somewhere in Brooklyn, in New York," Ellen says. "Lots of fish, lots of- lots of things. I just..."

She shakes her head rapidly.

"Never mind. We were only there for a few hours- anyway, that's really the only place I've seen fish other than here."

"Have you ever gone swimmin' in the lake? There are fish in it."

"I don't swim unless I absolutely have to," says Ellen. "I'm lucky I even know how. Unless I'm watering the cattle I leave the lake alone."

"Oh, its one of the best ways to cool off when the weather's bad."

"I'll remember that," Ellen says, "but I don't think I'll ever really be doing much of it anyway."

It's a thing. Water is for other purposes in the Wasteland.

"Thank you for the suggestion, though... ugh. I should sit down and see if I took any actual injuries under this armor."