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 Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:04 pm
No, this did not look good. One of the men who was aiming at the Draconian earlier was impaled without another sound, and a few turned to fire on him. The rest took up positions, three of them with underslung grenade launchers attatched to their Sturmwinds.
The captain pulled out an Equalizer, .45 caliber and with an LAM hooked onto the rail, before heading out from below decks. He saw one and did not hesitate to open fire, aiming for the Draconian's head.
"KILL these ********, don't just look at them!"
They moved forward, some of them shouting.
The battle was joined.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:45 pm
Unfortunately, the Draconian that climbed on to the boat after killing one of the men still had perfectly good scales, which was able to stop some of the bullets shot at it -- roughly every two-out-of-three -- and it managed reach out to try and slash another man's chest open before finally collapsing under the onslaught of gunfire.
Meanwhile, the Captain's bullet would find its way into the creature's eye socket, causing it to fall to the deck, dead. But more of them kept appearing out of the mist, until there were nearly twenty of them on deck, all attacking the defenders viciously.
The situation was steadily getting worse and worse, even as the fog continued inland . . .
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:46 pm
The captain fired again, aiming at the same vulnerable area. A double tap to one Draconian, ducking underneath a claw sweep before he fired yet another double tap at another one.
"Heads, men! Take their heads off!"
Their tactics changed instantaneously as they began centralizing their fire on the weak spots, the grenadiers letting loose indirect fire from their launchers before opening fire in three-round bursts, at the heads.
Meanwhile, below deck, a distress call was sent out, back towards headquarters. They were in a whole lot of ******** trouble here...
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 1:18 am
But it wasn't going to be that easy. As the men tried putting bullets in their skulls, some succeeded, some did not. Most of the bullets were not able to penetrate through a combo of scale and skull, and the rounds that didn't punch through only served to rattle their brains a bit. The only effective targets were their eyes, which were very small targets indeed. Some fell, but more kept coming, biting and slashing and grabbing and punching ruthlessly.
Grenade launchers were more effective, but only when they scored direct hits. When they did, the creatures were left with gaping holes in their bodies or completely blown apart. When they didn't, all they did was serve to knock the ones nearest to the explosion off their feet.
And then, they started dropping from the sky, borne aloft by their massive wings and cloaked by the mist until they dropped on to their prey, doing their best to tear them to shreds.
It was a good thing that they had called for backup, because they were gonna need it.
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:51 am
The distress call belowdecks repeated, continued onwards until there was a response. "Repeat, this is RI Frigate 237 requesting immediate emergency backup! We need some heavy firepower over here, and it'd be appreciated if it were here yesterday! Multiple hostile contacts; requesting Special Tactics as soon as possible!"
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 5:09 pm
And still, the beasts kept coming, doing their best to thin the ranks of defenders . . . .Antique Heartbeat. "Alright, can you walk?"
Walking to her, Asherah lent out her hand and gently touched the Draconian's back.
"Do we need to act as a crutch for you? I'm just here to help." The she-Draconian actually cringed and whimpered as Asherah reached out to touch her . . . then relaxed as she seemed to realize that the woman really wasn't going to hurt her. She seemed to think for a few moments, then said, "I . . . Yes, I am going to need help to reach the village in time. It is imperative that I reach them soon . . ."
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:31 pm
Enki walks over and looks down at her a moment, his eyes shining blue for only a moment before he kneels down and wraps an arm around her waist, bracing her arm around his shoulders. "Asherah, help me get her to town, ASAP." On the way she can tell us what happened and what's so important."
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 2:22 am
"Uh- Right!" She stumbled over her words at the order. Running over to her bag, she scooped it up before running right back.
Asherah soon followed suit and helped the Draconian. She was shorter than Enki, and the Draconian, so she had to sort of stand on her tippy toes to provide maximum support. It wasn't a problem though. But something lingered in her gut, and unsettling feeling.
"Enki, I don't feel good about this." Asherah switched her attention to the Draconian. "Tell me, what's your name...."
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 2:46 am
The wiry brown female, who was short for her species but still managed to stand above these two, grunted in pain as they supported her. She took a moment to gather herself, then answered Asherah's question.
"My name is Rethir," she said, and grunted again as she readjusted her shoulder so it was more comfortable, then returned the question. "What about you? What are your names?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 2:55 am
"Rethir, that's a pretty name. --Oh! My name is Asherah, and this man here is named Enki."
She blushed gently as she said his name, and to hide this, Asherah looked to the ground. Her hair caressed and covered her cheeks.
"So, what happened to you Rethir, please explain, perhaps we can help you even further than this."
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 3:12 am
Rethir seemed not to notice the question as they started shuffling forward slowly. Her tail dragged slowly in the dirt behind them. Then, just as it started to seem that she would never reply, she started to speak to them in a low, quiet tone.
"I am a Guardian. Last night, I was patrolling the waters around Nokohai, the forbidden island. A thick fog settled on the island, a sign that the spirits were restless.
Later that night, the fog began to spread."
Rethir grimaced unpleasantly, but seemed to force herself to keep going.
"The other Guardians were caught off guard, and I . . . I barely escaped. The spirits . . . were angry . . ."
Against their shoulders, they would feel the brown female shudder gently.
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 11:23 pm
Enki can't help but c**k an eyebrow at the whole "angry water spirits" thing and looks at her closely. "Tell me, Rethir, everything you can about what you saw and what happened as well as about your 'water spirits.' I need to know if they are truly water spirits or something pretending to be..."
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:13 pm
"I do not know if they were water spirits . . . but they appeared out of the mists . . . and they . . . they . . ."
She shuddered again as she closed her eyes, and a soft whimper escaped her.
". . . they were all Draconians."
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 5:29 pm
Enki hefts her up a bit to have a better grip and take some of the weight off of the much smaller Asherah. "What were Draconians?" he asks as he continues to carry the woman. "If you can bare to say, I need as much information as you can give me."
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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 12:08 am
"The spirits," she whispered hesitantly. ". . . They looked much like normal Draconians, only . . . they all possessed lethal wounds . . . and yet they moved as if they still lived . . ."
"Not dead . . . but not alive, either . . ."
She fell silent again, lost in thought as she continued limping along.
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