Mission Report: 03

Alright. Well, it's been rough. We've had three casualties, plus one injury. We've killed one of the Proxies, Linux took one of the others. We can't really do the evals, they kinda don't trust us. They just want us to protect them for free. Although I can kinda understand why they don't trust us. Linux pulled something a day or so ago. Told me we should move the fucking runners to another location, one he had scoped out about five hours before. We got attacked not even five minutes of being out. They started bolting at the first shot. Two died quickly, another bled out after about an hour when we couldn't bind their wounds. Talked to him as he died. It wasn't fun. Linux fucking told us to move so that he could capture one of them. I managed to shoot one of them in the chest while they were distracted. Drowned in his own blood. Linux was gone before he got shot. So, if his estimations are correct, there should be between three and five left. Oh, and I got grazed. Nice little cut on my left arm. We only have ten or so left. I think one of them ran off on his own. I have Rob and Mike on patrolling duty right now. I'm going to head on out to pick up some supplies, taking one of the runners with me.

Feeling Tired

Fuck. I forgot how draining it was to be alone. Less sleep, more paranoid. The being afraid to close my eyes thing is a bit new. I don't move much, but if I slip for a moment, I'm much more vulnerable all day. I suspect my group would be able to ground me, but I ain't putting them at risk of getting pulled. They're still fighting their war. I've been watching, throwing in a bit of help now and then. Three more runners got killed. I took down one of their stealth experts. From what I can tell, there's about four or so more of these proxies. They're moving well, expert coordination, most have semi-autos, one had an automatic. I'm afraid that one might have a rifle, can't be too careful. The way they move suggests radios, which means there might be another person running the operations.

I've learned a couple things from the other side. I can't share them though. No. Not now anyways. Too dangerous, too risky. For me and for anyone else. I'm getting somewhat better. I've started carrying a rebreather. Keeps some of the Azoth out. Started leaving my body faster than it's going in. I was scared for a bit. Veins were starting to look greyish. Mind you, I'm stilling coughing up a shitstorm of the stuff, just considerably less than I was a few days ago. Might be getting used to it. Now if only I had the magic cure carter found before he died. Probably help a lot. I could probably even make trips on purpose for research purposes. Med, if you find it, when you get better, tell me how to make some.

Time's up, gotta go. Interrogation time. This guy will probably take a fair amount of time. After he's done, I'll try to grab another. And then I'll move. Not out of the hub, no, can't leave the others to their own devices, they might die, but to a different section. Prally be off while I scout the area and the corresponding other area. And while I question the guy. And set up camp. Might peek in on all a you every now and then.

Mission report: 02 Status 01

Before the reports, Linux is back, I guess. Not with us, but alive and well enough to type. Don't know whether I should be more scared about that place he talked about, or worried for his sanity. We'll keep looking for him, but it's going on the backburner.

Mission report: We found a large group of runners, and they were talking about some proxies that were ex-military. Which is bad. Like, really bad. As in, I don't think you get it. It wasn't just army, but some type of special ops. They've been kidnapping and brutally killing the runners one by one. Cutting them up real bad, and leaving them hanging. No bombs. Yet.
The runners are a bit weak. Most of them are coughing up azoth pretty badly. Little bits of blood too. I know Linux would want psych evals on all of them, so I'll probably start asking some questions soon. Shot at a moving shadow. Didn't hit everything, but whoever it was ran. Think it's time to give Mike and Rob some team tactics training. I'm pulling one of the guys in the group to work with me. Prally leaving my two to guard the rest after I train them. Don't think I'll break up our group into anything less than two people. Just a bad idea.

I'll be making a report when I make some headway on these guys.

That place

It's been a day or so since I moved. I'm tired as fuck, but I can blink. Still a bit worried. I just have to keep thinking that this is the real world. I think I'll give a little description of that place and how I got there. Should be safe. . . hopefully.

So. I went nuts with grief. With regret, with self-disgust. It was bad. At one point I stopped thinking that this was the real world. The only thing I still believed in was It. And now I believe it's name has power more than ever. Not directly over it, but over us. I know that thought can protect you, that truly believing it doesn't exist can protect you, it worked for me for a few months. I'm hoping that the symbols can have multiple properties depending on what you think as you write them. Well. When I stopped believing in this world, and kept believing in it, I closed my eyes for a few minutes, and opened them to hell.

Now, Carter made the Path sound pretty nasty, but this place wasn't the Path. It was more dead. Kind of like our reality, except darker, more demonic, and well, dead. I don't think I saw anything alive there, save two things, more on that later. I walked out of the room through rotting boards on the wall. Fog was all over, it was hard to see all that far, kinda like the dreams that It appears in. This was the world as I had left it, more trees, less hills, and a hell of a lot less people. I walked around the "town" for a bit, then turned and walked north. It's where I had been heading gradually. Made it to my hometown. It decided to attack at that moment.

Grabbed me by the leg and yanked me up. I shot at it, and it kinda reacted. More than it normally would based on all accounts anyhow. Not enough to do me all that much good, but enough to keep it from killing me. All I suffered was a broken nose and a concussion. Wandered around for a few hours, passed out, and thought it couldn't be real. Woke up in our reality, injured. I spent the next few days slipping in and out of our reality. I still don't know that I'm awake, or alive for that matter.

I said there were two life forms. It was one. Med said that Azoth is alive. That was number two. The fog that was messing with my vision, it was made completely up of small azoth droplets. I've been breathing that shit for a couple days. Coughing up a lot of it. Blood ain't black, not yet anyways.Just a waiting game at this point, I suppose, waiting until I visit again. I'll write down my theories later. Just in case I die.

EDIT: It wasn't fucking safe. Ouch, my everything hurts.

I'm alive

I can't type for too long. Every now and then, I go back. Not the path. Somewhere else. Somewhere dead. Like our world. Different, worse, more dead. Lot more azoth in me now too. It took me a few trips after the first one to notice that the black fog was azoth mist. Risk traveling everytime I close my eyes. It can't take this from me if I can see it, seeing is believing. Think this might kill me in a bit. Have a few months at best. Should go back and help out Keith and the others. My hands are shaking I'm on so much caffeine. Thinking about getting drugs, except those make reality seem less real. No. Bad idea. Gonna hurl. Prally gonna travel after this post. Gotta close my eyes. They burn. Maybe I'm just insane now. Maybe none of it's real. Or maybe it is, who knows? Maybe I can sleep safely. Maybe that place is just in my head. I started thinking of some grotesque scenes after I killed those proxies. Keith. Stop looking for me, start looking for more runners. If I stop seeing that place, I'll return. If not, well, consider me dead if I stop posting in a few months.

He fucking disappeared. From a room with one exit, that we always had one person watching. We're looking for him. I'll try to keep updated. Hopefully he's alive and not a proxy.

It's quiet.

So. The past few days, Linux has been alternating between laughing, crying, and sleeping. The food we've been leaving near his door has been disappearing, so we assume he's been eating. He's been quiet the past ten hours. I'm starting to get worried, but A)His door is locked, and B) I have no idea what state of mind he's in, and honestly, he fights really freaking unfair. We're probably going to check in on him if we don't hear from him in the next few hours. I'll send results later, if we do. I'll edit if it's nothing big.