[video] as sun tzu once said, light 'em up

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There are a bunch of new people around, so...hey, I'm Nate.

[ It's been a while since he posted to the network, but things are starting to get sticky - and not even in the comparatively fun, sweaty jungle way - around these parts and tension feels like it's ramping higher. Crackling in the air. It makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He's not in the city, as evidenced by the dense, green foliage at his back. His sketchbook is out, open, but he's talking with both his hands. ]

I realize we're kind of running the gauntlet right now in terms of what's being thrown at us, and we're basically getting ready for an inevitable showdown, and there are already a lot of efforts being made toward preparing.

[ Sonya - a woman he doesn't know - was proposing escape routes and manageable cover strategies for civilian types. It's a good idea to have those routes mapped sooner rather than later. ]

But I've spent a lot of time since we got here getting to know this landscape, the topography. What I'm looking for are people with actual combat experience, whether that's strategic, logistical, or something similar. Fight's gonna come to us whether we want it to or not, and weaponizing the environment is one of the best chances we have at mitigating the risks. Guerrilla warfare isn't pretty, but we have the resources for it.

[ For a moment he looks distracted, thinking of something, writing it down and talking over the act as he does so. ]

So just, um. Call in if you've got the know-how. Thanks.

Comments

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[Klaus might not look like a Vietnam vet, but he certainly is. Besides, there are very complicated albeit perfectly legitimate reasons he doesn't look like a Vietnam vet, aside from the jacket and the dog tags dangling around his neck. Reasons that are both hard to explain and also not the first thing on Klaus' mind.

Instead, he stops as he sees the guy emerging from the jungle, waving a hand while he holds his sketchbook in the other hand, and Klaus waves back, body language somehow both tense and slumped with exhaustion. Putting on a big fake grin, he waggles his fingers back and starts walking over toward Nate. It's pretty obvious by how he moves that getting around in the jungle is second nature to him.]

Hallloooooo, what a pleasure to meet you and your sinfully tight shirt and shoulder holsters, Nathan Drake.

[The grin is still hanging around, but somewhere under the forced cheerfulness, Klaus is feeling the anxiety building under his diaphragm. It's stupid, being anxious about the possibility of getting an anxiety attack, or flashbacks or whatever, so he ignores the anxiety and pushes it down under the task at hand, and very obviously ogling Nate's chest and shoulders.

Nope, not thinking about anxiety...he just lets out an appreciative wolf whistle, quieter than the one he'd done earlier.]

Seriously, though, you expect me to pay attention to guerrilla warfare tactics when you're going around all sweaty in that?

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[ He doesn't really know what he had been expecting. The voice over the line had been mildly apathetic, a little tired-sounding in a way that's understandable when taking their current situation into account. For the questionable sincerity behind that broad grin and the lazy stagger that somehow manages not to trip over every goddamn root on the jungle floor, Klaus Hargreeves looks like a man of curious contradictions.

Then he opens his mouth.

Nate wets his lips with an expression so put-upon it can't even be feigned, the long-suffering air of a man who has seen such demonstrations of overt attention many times now, and anticipates many more in the future. It's like dealing with Taako, he thinks, perhaps presumptuously. He doesn't know Hargreeves, but he knows ogling when he sees it. He can practically feel it.

He's sporting about it, at least, eyerolling and all. There's only so much he can do and therefore Nate decides to wait it out. ]

Okay, my eyes are up here, hotshot.

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Eyes? You have eyes?

[Another grin, though this one is a little more tired, and Klaus makes his way over to Nate, picking his way through the underbrush in a way that manages to be completely devoid of grace and yet somehow only has about the same amount of tripping and staggering as Klaus usually does on flat pavement. It's a gift.

There's something just so incredibly charming about the production Nate puts up about getting ogled that Klaus' grin softens a bit. He still looks tired, but now it looks like a real smile instead of the big fake grin.

And then it fades altogether as Klaus lifts a hand and scrubs it through his hair (already damp at the roots from sweat).]

So. What do we know about the Null and what kinda resources do we have?

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We're strapped for resources. Pretty much everything we've got is what's in town, and what's out here. No heavy ordnance with the exception of a few people's personal weapons, no explosives.

[ Dire straits. Nate has done more with less, stealth-tracking his way in similar environments just to get his hands on a firearm when he's completely unarmed and looking like Hell spat him back up, but he can't say the same for many others. Klaus' businesslike approach has him thinking that the damp-hot nightmare of Vietnam's jungles probably lent some experiences he'll never be able to shake, whether he wants to or not. He's seen some shit.

Nate's chipper tone is the same kind of defense mechanism. No one asks you about the trauma if it looks like you're coping. ]

We've got the built environment and the natural one.

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Okay. Okay okay okay...

[Pressing his fingers to his mouth, Klaus looks around them, at the type of jungle, thinks about what they have to work with. The biggest problem is that most of the traps he can think of are traps that would work on people, not robots.]

Hm. The VC used to build these pits with spikes in the bottom. Sounds like bad movie stuff, but it works, believe me.

[For a moment, his expression goes blank, his eyes look a little distant, then he gives his head a shake, exhales heavily.]

God, I am way, way too sober for this...

[It's barely above a whisper, and he gives his head another shake.]

You think that'd take one of those guys out? Or at least slow them down...

[Biting his lower lip, he glances back toward the city.]

You know of anyone who can make homemade explosives? I always had tons of grenades and gunpowder and stuff right handy, but I know there's stuff you can make bombs out of that might be in the shops.

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I can handle environmental traps. Spikes, tripwires, that kinda thing. I've seen a lot of weird shit on my- [ There's a weird pause, Nate's searching for a word. ] -jobs.

[ Shitty word. Please don't ask questions. ]

We've got some scientists in town who could manufacture something. Making explosives from scratch might take more time than we have, though. It's possible we could get the gods to come up with something that detonates on impact, but in my experience anything they set off doesn't differentiate between us and the Null. There's also magic users, but their spell capacity is limited.

[ He flips open his sketchbook again, shifting to Klaus' side to show him the map. ]

We can set up traps on the southern, eastern, and northern borders. Last time they hit us their shit wasn't exactly equipped to deal with complicated terrain, so I doubt they'll come from the mountains or the cliff side.

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[Klaus raises his eyebrow at that particular pause before the word 'jobs' but he doesn't ask. He knows an evasion when he sees one, and if he doesn't call Nate on his, then there's a better chance Nate won't call him on his own later. Tit for tat and all that.

He listens while Nate explains some of the resources and limitations they have, hands resting on his hips, and when Nate flips open the sketchbook, he shifts closer and peers down into it, thoughtful. Chewing on his lower lip, his eyes flick over the parts of the map Nate pointed out, and he nods a few times.]

Got it. Okay okay. If they can't handle bumpy rides, let's give 'em bumpy rides. I got a few ideas for sure.

[Lifting a hand, he taps a finger at the spot where the river and city part ways, at the southeastern side of the city.]

You know if they can handle water?

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Honestly? I don't remember.

[ Last time the Null attacked, Nate's priority had been not dying from enormously powerful laser burns. Seeing as he'd concentrated most of his efforts in fighting around the housing areas during the previous battle, he hadn't paid much attention as to whether their robot invaders actively avoided water. ]

It's definitely an imposition if the body of water is big enough, but I don't think it would make them short out. Might slow them down a lot, though.

[ He taps on each of the three bridges. ]

We should try and keep most of the fighting southwest of the river. If things get bad, we can take the bridges out. I know a guy who won't even need explosives to do it.