Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hanna trudged across the sand, kicking up tiny waves in her boots. It was labored walking, and she was not as in-shape as she would have liked to be. As the group began to move, she found herself falling into pace beside Scarlett. They had sat next to each other in orientation and seemed to have a similar nature, at least to the extent that they didn't cry or hug too much. The one face that Hanna had wanted to see after getting out of her pod had not been there -- Gamma Three. It was a loss to Hanna, even though she was always happy to have survived on her own. She wouldn't trade places with the other girl, but it didn't make her any less sad.

But there was a mission at hand, and Hanna would focus on that -- even as Caelius gained more distance from the pack.

When the leader unsummoned his weapon, Hanna felt her eyes widen. The massive scythe just seemed to disappear before her very eyes. She made a mental note to figure out where it went, but said nothing on it. There were other things to pay attention to: a resort and -- oh hey, a s**t ton of guns.

Hanna was no stranger to guns. She had family in Georgia, and her uncle had taken her out to the shooting range -- AKA his backyard -- far earlier than was probably appropriate. The bullet still made her jump. Loud noises were loud, regardless of how many times she had watched and hear her uncle fire his shotgun or his revolver.

A chill raced up her spine as the odd bloodstained figure hobbled into place and another jump, jump, jump as each bullet was fired. Hanna had no idea what test this was, but she sure as s**t was going into it with a gun in her hand. When Caelius told them to grab a gun, a satisfied smirk crossed Hanna's lips. She snatched one and checked it in a few seconds, snapping the magazine back in place.

Bullets rang out all around her, some hitting the figure and others sailing past. Never one to be happy lagging behind, Hanna leveled her weapon and shot off her own strike. Her arm was steady, but there was such a flurry of shots all around her that the teenager had no idea whether or not she had actually hit. Something from the way the figure wobbled told her... not so much.

Narrowing her eyes, Hanna cocked her weapon again and then remarked to Scarlett, "I can barely tell who is hitting and who is missing in this barrage." Something low in her voice spoke of disappointment so Hanna loaded up for another go at it.

(( Hanna missed! ))

Huh -- not so much.

The first hit had been a disaster, and the second had more or less been perfection. Her third left something to be desired. Hanna still felt a twitch of pride to see the thing in front of her move under the burn of her bullet. Uncle Mark would be proud of her.

Having fired off three quick blasts, Hanna took the time to actually stare at what she had been hitting. It was creepy -- that was clear. It reminded her of the terrible thing from The Grudge, or maybe an older version of the girl from The Ring. Equal parts curiosity and revulsion churned in her. Hanna didn't know whether she wanted to dissect the thing or blow it up with dynamite.

The others seemed to be taking their shots with just as little reservation. Hey -- they had just gotten off an island where they'd all learned what it was like to die. Hanna was pretty sure no one wanted to revisit those feelings of nothingness any time soon. Better to kill than be killed. The thing in front of her didn't seem like a person. It was no different than shooting a deer, she told herself. No different at all.

Scarlett still hadn't fired a shot. "Let me get out of your way," Hanna said, taking another step backward, careful to stay out of everyone's line of fire.

Had someone thrown a gun at the thing? That hardly seemed like a good idea. What if this thing could pick it up and shoot back?

(( Attack 1: Miss
Attack 2: 6HP
Attack 3: 2HP ))

Tika held her gun out again making sure to steady her self as she did before. Last time it had worked in her favor so Tika figured if she steadied her self again she'd have no trouble with this.

"I see you .." She bit her lip and aimed.

However a sneeze ruined her aim and she ended up shooting into the air instead completely missing the target. Just her luck too! It was right there! What was with this? No use crying over spilled bullets though. Tika would just have to try again and be extra careful next time.

((Attack 1: 6 / Attack 2: Miss))

Scott walked alongside the group, more concerned with the contents of his pack than what passed for chatter between his… what were they, exactly? Peers? Fellow victims? Teammates? He shuddered at the thought, remembering how successful a member he had been of the former Phoenix Squad. Fingers traced over the weapon he had been issued, wondering if he would have any qualms should his cell phone suddenly ask him to use it on the others. He felt sick at the thought, pushing it from his head with the distracting sight of the vacant resort.

Empty. Ruined. Suitably creepy. Somehow, all the sunshine failed to make the scenario any less disquieting. The modest cache of handguns probably had something to do with that. Scott bristled at the sight of them, fingers tightening around the spine of his textbook as if he could ward off the vile armaments with its pages. He felt the world tilt beneath his feet as Caelius calmly fired a round, flashes of Alpha Ten’s creeping blood stain accompanying the bang. He exhaled, shaking off the sense of nausea just in time to hear it stirring.

It. It looked like a she, but to admit that the thing belonged to a species with clearly defined genders would be to admit that its existence was not in complete defiance of the will of the universe. It was an it, and as it lurched forward, Scott wanted desperately for it to stop being anything at all. Reservations melted with surprising ease as he lunged for a firearm, plucking one from the pile and scrambling to reload it with a fresh magazine. Clumsy fingers fumbled before hearing the telltale click, immediately leveling the barrel and foregoing their superior’s calm instructions for proper targeting.

The pull of the trigger was sickeningly familiar, but the recoil that sent his bullet sailing far off target was still met with a sense of disappointment. That was quickly assuaged by the sight of countless other shots riddling the abomination’s body. Scott lowered his gun and raised an eyebrow, turning to watch the others fire their weapons with the excitement and coordination of kids at a shooting range. His body sagged, eyes widened with fear returning to their usual half-lidded apathy, the ungodly horror seeming much less horrifying amongst the chorus of gunshots.

“This place can’t even do tension right,” he groused, once again leveling his gun to add his drop to the bucket.

[Attack One: FAILURE!]

After watching his third bullet take out what had to be considered an admirable chunk of shoulder flesh, Scott lowered the smoking gun to his side. Hm. Even without sunglasses and snappy one-liners it seemed as if he had a half-decent shot, perhaps even a good one. He didn't know what to make of the fact, other than wishing he still had an occupation where firearm efficiency was not a valued skill. But seeing as how he had only ever been naturally talented at Sudoku puzzles, perhaps he could allow himself a smidgen of pride.

Smug smile would have grown a little wider if not for the fact that the monstrosity was still shuddering and twitching at unnatural angles. Scott would allow himself time to gloat when the creature resembled a blood spatter more than a human.

[Attack One: FAILURE!
Attack Two: BIG SUCCESS! 6HP!
Attack Three: LIKE BULLSEYEING WOMP RATS IN A T16! 4HP!]

Next to her, Hanna and Scott were also finding their targets, and as she watched them unload bullets into the beast that was still slowly but surely coming their way, she felt a momentary surge of something akin to pride. It was odd to be proud of people she had only just met, but if she had to decide how her decision to group up with them was turning out, she would say it wasn't half bad.

At least better than her second shot. When she turned back to fire, with her hand still upheld in the same position as the first successful shot, the creature was doing a lovely job at swaying to avoid the rain of bullets flying towards it. Shooting a deer and shooting a sentient, intelligent monster were completely different. It didn't stop her from instantly getting down on herself, though.

"What is this thing?" She hissed to Hanna and Scott, pursing her lips after the comment.

[Attack One: 6 damage
Attack Two: Miss]

Scott allowed others the chance at reducing the shambling horror to a fine paste, wondering if he should feel even the slightest pang of sympathy for anything that had to face their hail of bullets. He might have been more concerned with ethical quandaries if he hadn't been too busy watching Scarlett fire off two impressive shots... and if the creature stopped looking like it wanted to wear his skin as a festive hat.

The fact that he, Scarlett, and Hanna had combined to inflict several sizable wounds was not lost on him. He wasn't about to start thinking up a secret handshake they could share, but he was finding himself placing at least a little faith in the pair. If he was going to be stuck doing this sort of thing - whatever the hell it was - for a living, he could do worse in terms of allies. Much worse. Scott just had to rid himself of the lingering sensation that they'd stab him in the back for a shiny pendant.

"It's certainly resilient," he frowned, hand rooting around his pack to grip his blunt instrument as a last resort. Because if shooting failed to put it down, surely a sound whacking would do the job? Scott felt as if he were grasping at straws more than any kind of weapon. "I suppose that's at least admirable, if not unsettling."