With My Trusty Shovel! (Player 1/open)

[Abram Dabra]

The sun overhead was unblocked by clouds, at the peak of it's height causing shadows to retreat to near nothingness. Alone stood the punk sweating in full gear as always. His trusty shovel in hand. He had come across a lot of people over the years since the bombs dropped and a lot of them thought that being a Mercenary was all about glory. Going out guns a blazing and killing for profit. And that was a part of it, there was no mistake about it. But it was the smallest part of it.

Preparation. Perpetration was the biggest part of what he did in his line of work. Scouting out locations, running recon on the big people in the area. It payed to know who to not piss off and who might be a potential client. Some might call it spying, he liked to think of it as doing his homework. Where he came from knowing about your clients before you met with them was prudent and smoothed out most negotiations.

Today wasn't about that. Today was preparation in a different sense. He needed to continue to fortify the Wasteland Oasis. And he didn't have a large force dedicated to such a task. How one defended a base of operations was to make the task of taking the base cost more than it was worth. Everything boiled down to cost analysis. How many lives is "X" worth? What are you willing to pay for "Y"? Having a large defensive force was a quick way to increase the cost of taking an objective. They didn't even have to be skilled. Many times a large enough force would discourage trouble.

What was often more cost effective for the defender were people like him. A smaller but skilled force. What they lacked in intimidation they made up for in skill. And several well placed strikes before the enemy was ready could cripple any assault. Barring a team of skilled individuals then one could fall back on traps, by making the terrain his own he could exponentially increase his own personal effectiveness and ensure any engagement happened on his terms. And that was what The Punk was doing today. Digging a pit half a mile from the heart of the Oasis.

[Player 1]

"Get back here, you!"

Player 1 was into preparations of a different sort. With the store soon to be opening, it definitely needed merchandise. And while catching fish could always be made easier with nets and dams, bug catching was a fine, precise art. One developed in patience, silence, and with slow feet and quick hands.

Which was why Player 1 was running hell bent after this alfalfa sulphur, leaping and swishing its net rapidly, sometimes even smacking it against the ground, only to pick up the chase after it inevitably missed. This chase having brought it very close to the hole as it scuttles madly along.

When it missed its first three attempts to catch the butterfly, that was an acceptable part of the method.

The six times, waiting for it to land or flit slow enough to be handled into the net only to fail... Well, even Player 1 has an end to their rope.

"RAAAAAH!" It shouted as its net sailed through the air, a swoosh noise following as it landed, the butterfly captured finally in the net. "YES! ALL MINE!"

So much laughter, as the little person flopped down on its butt, taking a moment to catch its breath and look around.

Maybe see a guy in a hole. Maybe do a little waving. Maybe go over and poke around. Maybe see what he's doing.

"Heeeeey. Whatcha doing?"

Like that.

[Abram Dabra]

Sweat was beading from inside his helmet as he continued to dig the first of what would be many holes around the area. The suit and mask making the job stuffier and harder than it needed to be, but it was better than being caught with his pants down around his ankles. The area was hardly secure and he didn't feel safe enough to scratch his balls out in the open let alone go out without protection.

By the time the kid came chasing it's bug The punk was already pretty deep in the hole. He was thinking spiked pit trap for this one. Just put in some jagged metal strips from various piece of rubble, cover it with a tarp and a thin layer of dirt. Boom no problem. Course he was gonna have to go back to the Oasis to get enough scraps for the spikes. That would require the truck too. This had been an exploratory dig anyways, he wanted to see if there was clay or a bunch of other shit that would make digging a pain in the ass. Thankfully it seemed manageable.

He jumped and pointed the shovel up at the kid at their greeting. Trying to hold it threateningly to mask the fact he had been startled!

"I'm digging a hole numb nuts. What's it look like I'm doing?"

His eyes narrowed behind the mask.

"What are you doing out here anyways?"

[Player 1]

"Catching bugs." Player 1 said, as they looked over his hole and shovel, pulling out its own and tapping blade against the Punks with a clink. high shovel "Want me to help? That side over there is pretty narrow. You gotta watch out for that, otherwise it'll cave in. Are you new to this, cause I know lots of pointers!"

Player 1. Best hole digger this side of Compton.

[Abram Dabra]

The punk looked back at the part of the hole the kid was referring too. Pressing his lips together as he let out a slow growl. He could see what the kid was saying.

"Knock yourself out."

If the kid wanted to do it then why not. The Punk climbed out of the hole and motioned for the kid to go ahead and have a ball with it. Though he would probably need to fix it later, it was just a test hole. So it wasn't important. Not yet at least.

[Player 1]

The kid jumps into the hole gleefully, quickly using their shovel blade to carefully carve out a bit on the sides of the narrow sides, mostly as a marker and to test how fragile the soil is. It quickly gets to work stabbing up into the soil, throwing it upwards in the single gesture. Player 1 is careful not to shove in for too much dirt, both because that would be too destabilizing and also because it would throw off the motion. It needed the lip on the shovel to catch the dirt, so while it wasn't moving too much dirt with each motion, it was making a lot of motions and quickly, controlling the slope expertly. In under a minute a good chunk of the wall was thrown outwards, the incline lessened to a much safer amount.

"See? Way better. You gotta keep an eye on that, otherwise when you turn around you'll get trapped!"

Player 1. Best hole digger.

[Abram Dabra]

He was actually impressed by how fast the kid was digging. And at the care that they were taking in their work. They apparently really knew there way around a hole. Bug collecting? Maybe? That's what it said it was doing. But he wasn't sure how much he trusted her yet. But she was just a kid. He couldn't be that dangerous. Right?

"Well the point is kind of to trap people." And impale them. "It's a pit trap after all."

[Player 1]

"Really? Then it's even way more important! Pit traps aren't very good if they're all caved in. But then you gotta watch- Worm!" Player 1 stops, picking it up and pocketing it immediately. "Yesss!" It looks around for any others, already distracted from what it was saying.

[Abram Dabra]

"Oh yeah? How much experience with pit traps do you have any way short stuff?"

He was kind of excited to call someone else short! Now the shoe was on the other foot! But he managed to keep himself composed as he looked down at the tiny child in the hole. His arms crossed in front of his chest, the shovel shoved into the dirt next to him.

[Player 1]

"Hmmmm! Well, I've made a few that I think are pretty good! Nothing's fallen in them but a few little animals or things though, which is really good and also not really good at all." It laughs at itself there, resting on its shovel as it thinks. "They teach you how to make holes, but no one teaches you how to make them into traps!" Ahh yes, good wisdom. And good memories of the Scouts. "Why are you trying to make traps out here anyways?"

[Abram Dabra]

That was another thing. The trap needed to be able to withstand small animals like snakes and the like to go over it without triggering. These were traps for people, not rabbits.

"Look around."

He gestured to the broken down ruins in the distance. Since the bombs fell the world had turned into a wasteland. He didn't have much, but what he did have was his. No one was going to take that away from him.

"The world is shit. And anyone that makes something that's not total crap gets the flies buzzing around trying to steal a bite."

Enough about him.

"Who is 'they' that taught you how to dig holes?"

Another mercenary group? Some kind of gang maybe? Maybe the kid was some kind of spy or scout. His hand went to his shovel handle, just in case.

[Player 1]

"My troupe leader! We learned how to dig latrines and stuff, those are really easy! And holes for posts and stuff!" Player one tries to crawl back up the hole, holding onto the ledge and its shovel as it peers over at his gesturings.

"Oh hey! That's neat! That's your place then?"

[Abram Dabra]

He beamed at her question as he looked in the distance at the Oasis. His home. His beauty. It wasn't much yet. But someday it would be a thriving center of commerce. It was going to be magnificent.

"Yup. She ain't pretty now. But just watch. One day people will travel for miles to visit my little Oasis."

Like a proud father talking about a child's achievements. Or plans for it to be a doctor. Never mind that his child was mostly rubble and junk. He could see so much more in it!

[Player 1]

"Neat! That's gonna be like me and my shop!" Player 1 beams as it struggles to get out of the hole. "I just gotta go get some more bugs so I can stock up and get started with that, speaking of!"

If it can just get its leg u- Oh hey there we go. "Phew!" It pops up on its feet, batting the dust and dirt off its coat and cleaning off its shovel. Proper shovel care and maintenance. Always important.

[Abram Dabra]

"Shop huh?"

So the kid had a shop? And it dug holes. But a shop could be handy. He could maybe use that to his advantage. Sell shit through it maybe? Or maybe the kid had some good salvage? It was worth checking out.

"What do you sell kid?"