RP: What do you think?

[JuchTurtles]

Yes, Juch was not with steelboot and the Engineer. And yes, I guess the 2000 was modded.

Juch and EBA drove down the dirt road leading into the small town where they had gotten gas before. They rode in silence, nobody knew where the Expeditioners had gone. They had encountered nobody at all, not even a clue-less guard. The big balloon launcher had disappeared, and there were no guns.

They traveled down the highway swiftly, in silence for a long time. Two ATVs broke the silence, speeding out of a bushy area, firing small weak streams at them. "Balloon time," Juch said, grabbing the Douchenator. BAM! One of the ATVs flipped, and then exploded. EBA swerved. The second shot Juch in the arm, luckily the one with the water-proof sleve. Juch answered with CPS 2100 shot, which knocked the guard off the vehicle completely. They sped up and away until they got to Gallowsville. Then they met up with Lewis.

[Sun]

Is it too late to create a profile? If not, here's mine.

The Twins:

Name: Sun
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 200 lbs
Physical Characteristics: Fast Runner
Mental Characteristics: Good at following orders, not so good at commanding
Weapons: Custom CPH, High Powered WBL, Supercannon II (x2)

Name: Moon
Gender: Female
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 150 lbs
Physical Characteristics: Agile
Mental Characteristics: A seasoned commander, but not good in combat
Weapons: Custom CPH, WBL, MD 3000

[Sun]

Juch, EBA, and Lewis decided to explore the outskirts of Gallowsville. Suddenly, they came across a house surrounded by Supercannon IIs! The Supercannons were mounted on rotatable motorized turrets and were automatically fired by a robot arm. Suddenly, two teenagers, a girl and a boy, came out of the house, armed with some type of CPH. They asked," Who are you?" Lewis spoke up and said,"We're people fighting against the Expeditioners. Who are you guys?" The girl spoke up," We are fighting the Expeditioners too! We came across this island when we were on vacation in our yacht. We happened to land on the Expeditioner side of the island and were took prisoners. But then we escaped and created this house and defense system to soak any Expeditioners passing by. We soak any guards that are on the outskirts of their hideout." Juch decided to say," Would you like to help us fight the Expedtioners?" The boy said," Yeah, definitely! By the way, I go by Sun, and my sister goes by Moon."

[JuchTurtles]

Juch and EBA were looking at a computer screen. Sun, Moon, Lewis, steelboot, and the Engineer gathered around.

Earlier that day, they had all worked on the jeep and truck, mounting on turrets, attaching guns, cannons and launchers, adding armor, and doing other things. Now the jeep had the two-barrel balloon launcher, a Collossus modded Monster XL, and a Super Cannon all on turrets. A secret compartment was made for storage of Super Cannons. It could hold four (it was worth it, now that they owned eleven). They gave it a pull-up roof just in case of hard attacks. It could seat 4 people.

The truck was loaded with the KLP, another balloon launcher, two supercannons, and a K-modded CPS 2500. Thick Camo Armor was attached in most areas, and it could seat three people.

Now, everyone watched Juch and EBA. "Well?" Juch asked, turning. "I've got it!" EBA cried, "We need to go to the Old Ruins. A mere 25 miles from here, I remember they have a base." "Yes," Juch said, "I remember my notes. They own a mansion called Castilla Agua. It has three floors, a basement with gun storage, and also several hoses." "We need to go!" EBA said happily. They all filled up their guns, loaded the balloon launchers, and also filled the super cannons. They got in the cars.

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(The Previous Night

Lance limped quickly down the stairs. He had been shot harshly by Juch, and the two prisoners had escaped. NO!, he thought, the boss is gonna kill me. Lucky for him, Charles was actually attempting to rob the Engineer's house.

Caption ran up to him. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Go...Go to Castilla," He puffed out, completely out of breath. "Yes, sir!" Caption saluted, turning and rounding up everyone else.

Meanwhile, Charles was kicking the Engineer's safe with his foot. Dang, that thing was hard to open, he'd only gotten past the first bolt; it wasn't locked. "Ahhhgg!" He yelled, "I give up!!!" He kicked it again. Then he went outside to his motorcycle. He sped off.

Lance ran out, grabbed a golf cart and sped down the cliff. Behind him, everyone else was leaving, too. The sun was just coming up. He was on his way.

[cantab]

The Engineer's Hilux, with its completed modifications, was an intimidating sight.

Mounted on top of the cab was the KLP, its front bar directly above the nose of the pickup. The main boom stretched backwards. The launcher had been balanced, so that it could be effortlessly aimed by a single person. There was a lock on the tailgate, to stop it swinging around dangerously when driving. Perhaps its only weakness was it had no remote operability - the Engineer had been unable to source a powerful enough motor to drive the winch, and travelling with it fully tensioned would risk an unintended release. Nonetheless, it would be devastating in the right hands. Perhaps to the wrong people - quite aside from water, the heavy steel boom could be lethal if it hit someone.

The Hilux did have some remotely operated weaponry though. On the bonnet were a pair of powered, steerable APHs. A third powered APH was on a fixed mount at the rear, near the exhaust. All could be fired from inside the cab.

In the forward part of the bed, immediately behind the cab, was a 1500 litre water tank, with interior baffles to avoid disrupting the handling, and taps opening into both the cab and the deck. The rearward part of the bed had boxes full of water bombs, some of the handheld weapons, and parts the Engineer wanted for his projects.

For good measure, the glass had been replaced with strong polycarbonate, designed to better resist impact.

A waterproof enclosure was made for the FT-817, and an antenna placed in the only spot possible - directly on top of the KLP's turret, supported by a bipod to allow fired balloons to pass through.

As the vehicle was on the move, the Engineer picked up a signal. "Somebody's trying to rob my place! Good thing my security beacon is still active."

He called up the Jeep on the short-range radio.

"Guys, my place is being robbed. I'm gonna have to go there and stop whoever's trying it. Now there are 7 of us. The Jeep's gonna hold five people at most. So someone will have to come with me. Or walk, but that's probably a bad idea.

So, who is with me?"

[DX]

Rex was unsure of what to do now. He no longer thought that the Expeditioners had the ability to rule the world, let alone one island - but his enemies had not made a decisive blow either. Did they have the power to take out the Expeditioners? Probably not, at least not here.

He was standing atop the roof of Castilla Agua, his new assignment after his earlier failure. It was a pretty beautiful place, up on a headland overlooking the confluence of the Hann river and a smaller tributary. The hill lacked cover save for large boulders randomly strewn around. However, the manor could only be reached by a single road via bridge over the Hann.

The place was ordinarily easily defendable, but Rex now knew what he was up against. If the enemy came here, its current defenses would not repel the Engineer's weapons or Lewis' unpredictability. He decided to completely revamp Castilla's defenses. Luckily, Expeditioner money and weaponry could be obtained in overflowing abundance.

First, Rex instructed the defenders to remove the existing walls and gate. Such conventional defenses would be ineffective. Instead, he wanted slitholes - like foxholes, but very narrow - armed with launchers and water cannons. When standing in one, a defender was almost completely below the level of the ground. Rex deployed them so as to create crossfires in key approach areas.

Next, he wanted launchers mounted in the windows on all three floors of the manor. They would be able to range the bridge plus provide cover for the ground positions.

Then there was the bridge. He seriously doubted that anyone would attempt to cross it, but he ordered a barricade anyway. He also dragged out the most powerful launchers from the storage rooms and positioned them directly under the bridge, so as to hit from below anything that reached the barricade.

Finally, Rex ordered a series of floodlights to be strung around the area so that they illuminated the entire hill. If there was to be any attack involving Lewis, it would definitely come late at night.

There did not seem to be any immediate danger though. Rex' enemies were still 25 miles away and probably had no idea about Castilla Agua anyway.

[JuchTurtles]

Juch and the Engineer headed towards Loucellville. It was a boring trip at first, but then it got heated. They had brought several balloons, and most of the Supercannons were filled. They brought a CPS 2100 and 2500, too. They sat in silence for most of the trip, until the last half hour.

In front of them, in the opposite lane, four black, shiny, fast SUVs sped up to speeds of about 80. The Engineer pulled back the crossbow on the KLP, while Juch pumped up
a filled Supercannon. Juch, rolling down the window, pulled out the cannon, aimed, and fired, hard, aiming right at the windshield. The enemies pulled out Monsters, and....

TO BE CONTINUED...

I went with you, cantab. If you want, you can continue the battle scene!

[cantab]

OK, evidently you're driving Juch, if I'm (that is to say, the Engineer is) operating the KLP.

BOOM! The Engineer fired the KLP straight into the side door of the lead vehicle. It hit the steel - and put a big dent in it! Juch had to duck to avoid the splashback.

"Damn! Missed!" the Engineer yelled, as he started recranking the KLP as fast as he could, while grabbing the nearest gun - a Flash Flood - to defend himself.

The second vehicle flew by on the verge. Barely avoiding rolling, it did a 180, and started closing on the Engineer's Hilux.

"Juch! The rear APH control! It's above the speedometer! Shoot them!"

Juch found the control, and pushed it. From the rear of the Hilux, a 30x stream shot out, hitting the following vehicle in the windshield. The passenger returned fire, forcing the Engineer to duck down, using the tailgate for cover as the SUV still closed in. When it got close enough, the Engineer shot the Flash Flood's blast blindly. It found its mark, and there was a clattering as the SUV's passenger was hit and dropped his Monster X out of the window. But he'd had swift reactions, letting off his own shot just in time, drenching the Engineer's forearm.

"Damnit! We have to shake them."

Juch called from the cab. "How tough is this truck?"

"Very. Why?" the Engineer replied.

"Brace yourself!" Juch replied. A moment later, he hit the brakes. The following SUV slammed into the rear of the Hilux, and Juch reaccelerated. The Hilux seemed fine. The following SUV, however, less so. Smoke poured from its bonnet as it sputtered to a halt.

"Nice one Juch! We lost them." the Engineer called from the back, as he got back up, and was able to continue reloading the KLP. His right arm didn't feel good however - good thing the launcher could be operated one-handed, even though cranking the winch left-handed was awkward.

"Don't count on it." Juch replied. The SUV that got a dent in it was now closing from behind, while up ahead, the remaining two had made a roadblock.

Back to you. You could stop for the roadblock and battle, ram it - the pickup will take it, but will we passengers? - or go off-road. Or even something completely different.

[Sun]

Sun and Moon were crouched in front of their laptop. Sun was at the keyboard, furiously typing away. "Click there!", Moon said. Out popped a map of Casilla Agua. "YES! We got it! Now we have to tell Lewis... LEWIS! COME HERE!", said Moon. "WHAT!", Lewis shouted back. Lewis popped into the room they were in. "Look, we found a map of Castilla Agua's defenses!"

[JuchTurtles]

Juch, CPS 2500 in hand, other on wheel, spun offroad, heading towards a small dirt path. The Engineer sprung to the KLP, putting in two balloons and pulling the crossbow back.

Behind them, three SUVS traveled towards them, two directly, and the other taking a trip in forest.

BANG! The Engineer fired, smashing one SUVs window and making the other swerve into a large palm tree.

"We're not done yet," Juch said. Fifty feet ahead the other SUV lied in wait. "Take this," Juch rolled down the window and shot with a 2500 shot. Meanwhile, the Engineer grabbed a Supercannon. Juch swerved slightly, scratching some trees, while the Engineer blasted them, hard! Unluckily, this wasn't enough.

"He's coming, hard!" the Engineer yelled! The truck was in reverse traveling towards them. "KLP!" Juch yelled. The Engineer grabbed it, pulled back the wince and fired! This time, the SUV flew sideways off the road, flipping, and slamming into trees.

Back to you, cantab.

[cantab]

"Juch, stop a moment." the Engineer said. Juch hit the brakes, and the Engineer pulled open the driver's door. "I need to drive."

"I don't know how to work the KLP though." Juch replied.

"Never mind. It looks like we've shaken them for now. Anyone, to be honest we're safer in the cab."

Juch climbed over into the passenger seat, allowing the Engineer to take the wheel. He pointed the truck down a dirt road, and quickly accelerated to about 50 mph.

"Why do you need to drive anyway?" Juch asked,

"Because I know the roads around here. We're not far from my place now."

[steelboot]

In the dead of night, steelboot disappeared. Nobody noticed until the next morning, by which time steelboot was already making his way to his new destination...

[JuchTurtles]

Soon after the Engineer and Juch dispached the enemies, they got to the Engineer's fort, just in time to see a shiny motorcycle and a guy disappear.

"Well, search for anything that could be missing," the Engineer said, creeping up to the front door. It was part open. Suddenly, the Helux was getting signals, big ones. It shocked the night air, and made Juch jump. Then they heard voices inside.

TO BE CONTINUED!

[cantab]

The Engineer reached inside his truck, and hit a concealed button. In his house, there were loud rattling sounds, followed by a loud yell of "STOP! POLICE!"

"Guns drawn. Stay on your guard." The Engineer said to Juch. Approaching his front door, he stood to one side, and kicked it open. There was a reply. "Let us out of here!"

"Drop your weapons." The Engineer replied. There was a clattering. "All of them." Another clatter.

Still not entering the doorway, the Engineer called out. "You say you are police?"

"We came to investigate your security beacon."

"Throw your badges out the door."

One of the policemen complied. The Engineer pulled it towards himself with the end of his gun, and examined it. Then he entered his house. Inside, four police officers were in the room opposite the front door. On all the internal doorways, portculli had dropped down.

The Engineer lowered his gun, and punched a security code into the alarm system. The portculli raised.

"Sorry to have to greet you like that, sargeant. These are dangerous times."

"We know." the sargeant replied. "As we arrived, we caught sight of someone. But he was too well armed. He had a CPS 2500, that was shooting 60 feet somehow! He got away on a motorbike."

"60 feet from a 2500...I'll bet I know how." The Engineer said to himself.

"Was that your 2500 he stole?" The officer asked.

"No, no. The question is did he steal anything ELSE. I'll bet he was trying to get into my armoury, but he'd fail at that. Nonetheless, there's stuff up here he could want. Including..."

The Engineer stopped speaking, as his eyes went towards his computer. He was very particular about the exact placement of the keyboard, and it was never THERE. He went to the computer, logged in, and typed a singles command: grep sensor /var/log/syslog

"As I thought."

"What?" the seargeant replied.

"The computer's case has been opened. And my guess is...yes. Look, he left that cable behind." the Engineer said, pointing to a cable on the floor.

"I'm confused" one of the officers said.

"That intruder has duplicated my hard drive with all my research data on it."

"NO!" Juch blurted out.

"Yes. Calm down. The data IS encrypted. But the encryption scheme's a bit old now. It's not as strong as it used to be. With enough resources, it could be broken in as little as a week."

"What is that data of" the sargeant replied.

"All sorts. There is perhaps one small consolation - there are some designs there that look sound, but will blow up if built as depicted. I never bothered to delete them - I never delete ANYTHING - and it seems that's turned to my advantage. So if the Expeditioners base goes boom, you'll have a good idea why."

"Shall we be going now?"

"Yes, you can leave, unless you want to gather evidence."

"We already did."

The police officers leave, bumping down the track in their patrol car.

"Now, Juch. I'm guessing you'll want to be off. Obviously I can't lend you the Hilux. There's a few vehicles in my garage though, you can borrow any one you like.

OOC: Sorry to deny a battle, but I just didn't feel like it. Besides, this adds some intrigue, and a possible followup - recover that data before the Expeditioners decrypt it!
You can pick what the vehicle is.

[JuchTurtles]

The garage door opened quickly, revealing three different, distinct vehicles. The first one, was a small motorbike, with an attached CPS 1200. The second was a Smartcar.
It had a trailer, and looked more like an orb.

The last was a go-cart. It had dune buggy tires, a balloon launcher turret, a CPS 2000, and some armor.

"Engineer," Juch said, "I'm taking the cart.". "Ok," the Engineer threw him the keys.

Juch grabbed them with ease, and opened the red door. Sitting down, he put in he keys, and started the engine. It came alive with a mammoth roar.

"See 'ya later," Juch shouted. He drove away.

OCC:We all are spliting up, what's going on?