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(Commission) - Rescue by billsc26

(Commission) - Rescue

billsc26

Commission from darksilver darksilver

fjalljon (the cheetah in the center), wolfmage (the cybered-up wolf) and I went together on this commission. The story here is that the scientist guys grabbed Wolfmage and the cheetahs had to fight their way in to get him out. Looks like they should have stopped by a little earlier. We really don't know what happens next, but it would be a good guess that getting Wolfmage back into that French Maid outfit is going to take some serious effort now. Getting him back in without staining the apron will be a real challenge. At least the scientists don't look like they will be complaining (or interfering). And once they figure out how to get Wolfmage out, if he's in the mood for a quick snack... well, that doesn't look like it will be much of a problem either...

Thanks to darksilver for taking this commission. As usual, it turned out great with his attention to lighting, bold colors and super, super detailed line work. Go check out the full-resolution version at his account! Or ask him for a commission and make your own story come to life.

Art is by darksilver darksilver, the cheetahs belong to fjalljon fjalljon and myself and the cyber-wolf belongs to wolfmage

Submission Information

Views:
226
Comments:
10
Favorites:
2
Rating:
General
Category:
Visual / Digital

Comments

  • Link

    Good lord, that's a LOT of damage barepawed! Looks like time to arm the SADM and get the hell out of there!

    • Link

      Well - lycanthropes vs. unarmed humans... that probably won't end well. But first they have to figure out how to get Wolfmage out of there, then they have to figure out what to do with him. Figuratively speaking, of course...

      • Link

        True, but still, the blast-hole in the wall is impressive for bare-pawed! And those are some SERIOUS bloodsplatters. First thought, you're not going to be able to spend much time there, that HAS to have set off alarms. So probably blow the glass, cut him free, hit him with a tranq from the medkits... Arm the SADM, dump it in a corner, and fireman-carry Wolfmage out, with one of the two on point, swapping out as required.

        • Link

          Well... we never really got into that level of detail with the artist but, my thoughts would be:

          • The facility probably has/had security forces. Things like blast marks and big holes in things were probably their doing during the fight.
          • Those blood splatters could simply be that the cheetahs were unhappy with the scientists or were taking out some frustration. Or maybe just taking their time. Hard to say. Besides, the human body contains how much blood? So it's not a huge stretch that it would make quite the mess when sprayed across the lab.
          • By this point, I assume they kind of cleared the place out so they are in some hurry but not a super rush. I'm thinking if they can just get him back in the French Maid costume, he'll calm down (some might say "be more submissive" >_>) and then they can all go out and laugh about this over a beer. Or you might be right and they need to smash the glass, see what happens and if he needs to be carried out or can kind of help himself out (I think he's past the point of anything in the medkit being able to help...).

          My guess is that they went in with fang and claw, so trashing the place (well, beyond killing everyone present) will probably involve torching it. But that would be a scene for another panel! :-)

  • Link

    True, that's entirely possible. Who knows what ordinance they had handy, just that it was not up to the task! Those are some pretty darn impressive bloodsplatters, though. Someone REALLY either caused some carnage, or was using really big swings. Or both. lol

    That'd probably depend on how much those link-in wires are actually doing at the moment. Ideally there'd be time to fully map it and de-activate whatever it is, but there's likely not that much time. Because if there was significant security on site, for sure they have additional backup on the way! And you do not want to get pinned down inside a facility the attacker knows more about than you do!

    Hence the idea with the medkit, mostly just hit him with a sedative to prevent convulsions or anything like that from the abrupt disconnect, cut off the wire links and slap patches over anything that leaks, then run like hell. And yes, torching the whole dump to cover the escape is a darn good idea. My though would just go a bit beyond a mere fire. lol

    • Link

      Well, both of the cheetahs are shapeshifters (and are, well, cheetahs) so it would be a reasonable assumption that they are supernaturally fast and more resistant to damage than your average human. So trying to take them down with something like a RPG would likely do more damage to the facility than anything else. And probably just piss them off in the process. And would easily explain all the blast marks. As for the blood... this scene is in the lab so who's to say that they weren't "discussing" things with some of the surviving scientists? Or just using powerful swings with the claws. Maybe both (in that order - assuming they didn't like the answers)!

      I think the idea is that they are both kind of in shock as to what actually happened and what they should do next. Maybe they aren't sure if Wolfmage would survive just being smashed out and having all the wires ripped out. Maybe they are trying to figure out if they can't do that, then what do they do? You are right that this would not be a good time to start a science project and try some kind of complicated cyber-removal. Maybe the facility is out in the middle of nowhere so there's no worry about immediate backup. Maybe it isn't. Maybe it was enough of a secret that the security plan at this point is "deny all knowledge".

      They will have to make a quick decision though, rip him out or take the whole thing (I'm assuming "leave without" isn't really an option at this point). Then, like you said, plug up anything leaking badly enough for it to be a problem and book outta there. Most medkits probably wouldn't have a lot of things that would be helpful in a situation like this (and if they do, I'd love to know where you work!). But... it is a lab so unless the place is too badly trashed, they could probably find some things to help, yes. If nothing else they could always just give him something like a scientist arm to chew on to stay distracted.

      The cheetahs are probably more normal-guys-pushed-too-far than secret agents, so I doubt they have a lot of explosives training or brought along "supplies". And this is probably some kind of biotech lab, not a military base. Besides, never underestimate the power of fire, particularly when someone isn't there to put it out right away. But then again... who knows, maybe they came more prepared than one would think. One even had the foresight to bring his bandana... :-)

  • Link

    Well, that WOULD definitely shift the equation a bit, particularly if they were able to achieve both strategic and tactical surprise and did not have far to penetrate into the facility. An RPG would probably be effective if used correctly, but you would not want to fire it at them, you would rather want to fire it into the floor in FRONT of them, so the fragmentation and debris fan blows upward and forward in a wide scatter of HV shrapnel and junk. Of course, also possible that the security forces were armed no better than your average 'security' company in-country, which would be to say pistols and pepper spray, possibly tasers.

    If the plan is a "deny all knowledge" one, then I'd be in a REALLY big hurry to get out, given that they're also likely going for the "no evidence" plan. Fire might well be superfluous depending on how determined they were to have deniability! That'd have to be a balancing choice made on the spot. Risk to the victim by detachment from the electronics, vs risk of staying in place, vs risk of interception on the way out... Of course, might always just be able to ask him how to detach himself. There might well just be a "turn off" button on the systems. They had to have a way planned to get him out of that tank at SOME point! Mostly as far as medkits, I was thinking your average trauma kit, I'd guess a lab like that would have at least one! The anticonvulsants might be useful, possibly sedatives, and just plain 'ol big dressings to slap over anything leaking too badly. Duct tape might be good.

    And hey, if he thought to bring his bandanna, he might have a good demo charge stashed in the hallway! And really, it's not hard to operate. Just plug in the code, set the delay, and flip the arming switch. Then run like every possible kind of hell was chewing on your tail.

    • Link

      Yes, it's hard to tell what happened just from looking. This probably didn't have much of a level of planning beyond "let's show up and get our friend out". Most security, even at "secured locations" is pretty light compared to what we're used to in modern video games. The reality is that you don't have guards patrolling with RPGs, grenade launchers, flame-throwers, etc. At a place like this, there might have been an armory with the heavy stuff "just in case", I imagine things probably went down more like the police station scene in "The Terminator" than any mission in COD. And light arms are pretty useless against "traditional" supernatural beasties so... bloodbath is totally believable. Another thing to consider is that even if the facility did have a small stash of heavier weapons, like in the real world, the security guys who made it to the armory alive probably hadn't used them except for once or twice in training. So knowing that the pointy end faces the enemy would be an advanced tactic! I'm guessing the cheetahs have LOTS of experience with being fast and with having sharp claws so... again, things are kind of tilted in their favor from the beginning.

      I think the decision was probably "smash and grab" only with a person instead of with an object :-) I'm sure the cheetahs haven't really though things through more than "let's get our friend". On the other hand, organizations can be slow to react. It depends if there were automated security and monitoring systems, and a well used communication system to the "outside world". If this was a highly secret lab, that might have been part of the secrecy so the answer might be "no". Also consider that the whole "deny all knowledge" scenario could be anything from on-site chemical stockpiles that are blown in the even of trouble to simply not leaving any useful trail behind. Any staff that are found... paid by anonymous entity. Cash dealings to run the lab. Nothing tracable. Make sure that all the staff reports up to only one or two people that can be "silenced" if necessary. Remember the first rule of assassination - "kill the assassin". From the looks of things, the cheetahs may have accidentally ensured the success of the "deny all knowledge" endgame.

      I'm an engineer (well, technically my cheetah character is as well...) and I wouldn't know what to do in a rush. I'm probably unplug, bandaid and run, hoping for the best. I don't know if wolfmage has supernatural healing, but if it does then duct tape would be fine. So would "don't be a baby and walk it off" :-) If he doesn't... then searching the medkit for at least some aspirin would be a good start.

      My cheetah is rarely without his bandana. It's all about the look, right? And they might have a demo charge, or one of them will think to check the inevitable armory location. Or maybe they already got that information from someone. Like you said, with all that blood, that could have meant an extensive Q-and-A session with someone. And I already know if I'm not careful, Wolfmage will be chewing on my tail. He does that normally. And no I wasn't planning to offer him my tail as a pacifier on the way out! Heh.

      • Link

        That is very true, although I'd be willing to bet that if they were creating something like that, they'd be fairly well equipped to put a stop to it if something went haywire! I'm sure they'd have watched at least enough movies for that. I'd have no doubt that with a surprise attack, even with poor planning and melee only, a couple of shapechangers could probably fairly easily bash their way into a place like that. A lab typically isn't well-built for keeping stuff OUT, anyway. I'd be much more worried about the reaction team that is almost certain to be on standby somewhere, or the heavy charge that's got to be placed somewhere around. You don't set up something like that if you don't have a way to shut it down fast and hard!

        Leaving no trail is a good plan... but there's simply too much gear there and too many people to be totally traceless. Particularly if you leave evidence like bodies laying around. Police tend to get remarkably annoyed about that kind of thing, and they tend not to stop looking. Kind of inconvenient!

        I am too, actually! Mechanical, here. :) My interest in this kind of thing is mostly due to absurd amounts of reading, and a lot of fun on the range. I'd think that setting a charge in the most structurally-important idea would probably be a good tracks-coverer in any case, given that it's not likely the blue team wants an investigation any more than the red team does!

        I'm betting that tail-chewing would be a REALLY bad idea at the moment, he looks rather... er... pointy for that kind of thing. Someone's gonna' need to get him some good leatherwork if he doesn't want to be slicing up his car, his house, and his friends like some kind of large, accidental vita-mix. lol

        • Link

          Well, they would be equipped to deal with trouble from the inside, like you said. Trouble from the outside probably wasn't something they expected (obviously). And... how do we know that all the blood isn't from the reaction team... And actually, IRL, plausible deniability doesn't often involve large amounts of explosives. Usually it just involves a dead-end paper trail, leading to someone who really doesn't know anything or someone who is expendable (and preferably both). That's a lot cheaper and less messy. And you really don't want to make a huge show of trashing the lab and killing everyone as that kind of bad PR does not make it any easier to hire new staff for the next clandestine lab project!

          Police are remarkably susceptible to looking the other way for a variety of ... enticements. There's the usual bribery, but don't forget "National Security" or just a higher level agency stepping in and claiming jurisdiction (like the FBI, CIA posing as the FBI, etc.). Things are remarkably easy to cover up as long as it doesn't get too messy and too public. Bodies in the lab isn't messy, lycanthropes running down the street - that's messy. Lycanthropes running down the street nude... even harder to cover that up! LOL

          And yay! to a fellow engineer! Well, then you know the lab is probably just a simple steel frame building, so while it's not too difficult to take down, doing so it's going to be very spectacular. And yes, in this scenario, it's likely nobody wants an investigation so my guess is that whatever cleanup team is sent in, the phrase of the day is "there were no survivors". Not that it looks like the cheetahs really left a lot of people to be cleaned up. And who knows, if they really are lycanthropes, maybe there is that survivor in some corner of the lab that miraculously survives his horrific wounds... :-)

          I'm pretty sure that Wolfmage is going to be needing some hard-core R&R after this one before he's worried about slicing up the leather in his car. Or slicing up his friends. On the other hand, that's why it's good to have supernatural friends - they are a lot more resistant to those kinds of ... accidents!