The Ridge(Just the six of us)

The Gentleman,Misaaki,Infor,Akihiko,Keita,and Drago were setting up for an expedition to go to the ridge and recover a strange artifact that is said to combine with the blue phoenix feather Drago and Misaaki recovered.They needed five people since the Ridge is heavily guarded and the numbers are large.Drago was in charge of the food so he set out hunting.It was the middle of the night and he was looking for prey.He knows of a nearby farm that had a problem of having the fences constantly destroyed by wild animals in an attempt to catch the chickens and turkies.He was sniffing the air when he caught a scent,He followed his nose until he found an unsuspecting cow grazing on the grass.He quickly moved in for the kill as he bites down on the cow's neck crushing the spinal cord which ultimately lead to it's death.Drago picked up the carcass."Well this should be enough food for the trip in case we get hungry."He takes it back and skins and guts the carcass."Got the food."He stores in the a satchel."When we get hungry just cook it."The rest of them wait for the other supplies to get back in the morning.

I show up carrying two com systems "all they need is tuned so we can talk to gent when we are out scouting ahead" I say as I throw one ta Drago.

Drago catches the com radio."Alright,I'll strap a tent onto my back and we can sleep in it during the night.Make sure you take a flash light I don't think you can see in the dark like I can."He straps on a small backpack that contained food,salt,flint,a tent big enough for two,batteries,and water.

"Ha your so funny a flash light if need be I could make a small torch in my hand" I finish the sentence and shoot a small beam of fire from my fingertips.

"Alright then I'll save the batteries if we need them.Now Where is Gent with those supplies?"He leans back on a tree patiently.

A noise is heard nearby; a large machine looking not unlike a giant bluish white insect walks up. The Gentleman hops out of the cockpit and walks up to the two standing about, "Well are we just going to stand here twiddling our thumbs or are we going to go and help our friend Misaaki?" He turns around to his machine, "Now then, before you ask, this machine is called the C.L.E.A.V.E.R., or the Camouflaged Lightweight Exploration and Assault Vehicle Extended Range. It will act as our supply and equipment transport, as well as our mobile base camp. I will pilot it on this excursion, and you two scouts will maintain radio contact with me via the long range communication array on the roof of the cockpit. Everyone else will ride in the back with the equipment to be ready in case of an attack. Any questions?" He quickly stood at ease as he finished his sentence.

"Not really,looks pretty cool.But Akihiko are heading out soon,you guys get ready we will radio in as soon as we reach the mountains and we will give you a safe path to travel."He hands over 3/4 of the meat that Drago got while hunting over to Gent and keeps the rest for Akihiko and him."Here when you guys are hungry just cook this up.Make sure we aren't missing anything like tools or supplies."

The Gentleman puts the meat in the back of the C.L.E.A.V.E.R. with the rest of the tools and supplies, then turns back to Drago, "Alright then. I'll get the C.L.E.A.V.E.R. charging and stay in radio contact. I'll let you know once the others arrive, just keep your radios tuned to the frequency 87.7, and don't get lost in the snow. White-outs will blind you if the wind picks up." The Gentleman climbed into the cockpit and began flipping levers and pushing buttons, reading various gauges on the dashboard, and lowered the covers on the solar panels, then switched on the communication array. "Radio communication test, sound off if you can hear me."

"I read ya loud and clear.What's the range on these things anyways?"Drago turns to Akihiko."Test your com too."He speaks back into the com."Hey Gent also be wary of the ice we don't wanna have to go back to lift that big ass C.L.E.A.V.E.R back up after it slips and falls."

Tests his com "it is working just fine". I then check my weapons and hand my great sword to gent "here hold thozmis in there unroll we are ready to fight."

"You wanna set out now Akihiko or when they are all set up?If we go now we can get farther ahead."Drago grabs his weapons and dematerializes them so they can be materialized later in combat since weapons are heavy.

The Gentleman nods from inside the cockpit, "Alright good. The weight of this machine is distributed evenly across six points, so falling shouldn't be an issue. The comms have a range of 220 miles in clear weather, but that will be cut roughly in half if things take a turn for the worse. If i send out an advisory, i want you to immediately turn around. If you hear the comms start to bug out, i want you to immediately turn around. No heroics, we are doing this by the book. You can go ahead and set out scouting, i'll radio in when the others arrive." The Gentleman looked to the various gauges on the dashboard, "The battery bank is at 65% charged."

Turning and starting to walk I ask "are you coming Drago."

"All right then Akihiko let's go."Drago materializes his wings from thin air. Instead of flimsy skin as his wings,they are made of large plates of very light and hollow but very hard and durable scales.He takes off the ground and heads for the mountain area towards the tundra.He looks back at Akihiko."You coming or what?"

"Ha real funny" spreads his wings and takes off after Drago.

"Meet me at that mountain over there and we can survey the area and makes sure it's clear for travel."He says to Akihiko while pointing at a tall mountain."If it's clear we can radio in with Gent and tell him he can start going."

"Ok fine" I say back as I put on a burst of speed silently.

Rachel smiled as she took off the backpack she had with her and took out her laptop. "Cheking for odd energies will be easy for me, so I can totally see this as a fun little game ... I just hope we don't beat the game too quick!" She send chi through her body and maximized her strength in her arms and legs. "Race you you guys!" She got a running start and jumped her way from mountain to mountain taking her supplies to the ridge.

"Woah is she a scout?I don't remember even......nevermind."Drago looked at Rachael."HEY STOP GOING SO FAST AND STOP JUMPING YOU ARE GONNA GET US CAUGHT."Drago turned to Akihiko."She is gonna be a pain....."

As everyone arrived I blinked it the ridge, a place I had seen the outside of many times, but beer anything further "well...I'm here..." I said lazily as I cut my hand repeatedly and watched it heal back over.

The Gentleman watched as Rachel took off toward the mountain, thinking to himself, That idiot didn't even grab a comm! I'd better distribute the rest now before anyone else gets any ideas. He hopped out of the cockpit and passed headsets out to the few remaining near the C.L.E.A.V.E.R., then climbed back into the cockpit. He pressed a few button and the motor whirred to life quietly. He ran through a quick system check, then radioed the others, "This is the Gentleman. CLEAVER is up and moving in your direction, please advise."

"This is Drago,who the hell let Rachael be a scout?"Drago facepalms.

The Gentleman shakes his head at this, "Nobody let her be a scout, she simply took off. She doesn't even have radio contact with the CLEAVER."

"That colossal IDIOT.She could get herself KILLED!Well I guess Akihiko and I have to look out for her then,by the way there is a path about 5 miles from here you can follow safely.Look over to the left a few yards and you will see it."

The Gentleman turned the craft in the direction he said, and began to follow the slightly cleared path on the ice. He spoke over the radio, "Radio in after ten minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on Rachel, i don't want any casualties before we even get to the mountain!"