[PRP] Patrol: I hate bugs.

[prolixity]

Quote:

ROLLING DICE: (you can roll up to 3 times per patrol)

- 1- 20: You see nothing, but you hear the sound of something rumbling, of clashing noises in the distance.
- 21- 40: You encounter a large, oversized insect. It screeches and hurls itself at you! You manage to barely fend it off but you take -10 damage.
- 41 - 60: You see a strange hole in the sand, walking closer towards it. It's a trap! A giant six-foot scorpion springs out and nearly disembowels you with its tail. You barely avoid the attack, but take heavy damage while taking it out. -20 damage
- 61- 80: You hear screeching noises a little further away, and see a Moon Hunter battling with an oversized scorpion. You go to help them, but take damage in the process too. -10 damage
- 81 - 100: You walk around and suddenly hit something odd in the ground. They look like strange flecks of dark red, but the sand quickly sweeps it away.

 

[prolixity]

Once he'd gotten some small distance away from the tents, Jordan stopped to wait for the trainee he'd picked on. He took a slow, deep breath, calming and composing himself. He was an Intermediate and a professional; taking his mood out on a Lamb would be worse than stupid, into downright cruel. He summoned Ferros, resting the hammer across his shoulder.

Did he -

Not now, Jordan sighed, already regretting his unguarded moment in the tent. I"ll deal with it later. We're on duty.

I'm here, Ferros said, and quieted.

Thanks. When Syd caught up with him, Jordan had gotten himself under control enough to greet her with a smile. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I'm Jordan Miller, Sun division," he offered.  

[Ice Queen]

Syd gave him a wide smile in return, clearly still affected by the cookie Wash had given her. "Sydney Lowe, Mist Division," she said proudly. "Thank you for allowing me to patrol with you," she added, slightly flushed and a bit excited. "Do you think there will be more of those gigantic centipedes to kill?" she asked. "I think I've found their weak spot," she added.

Then she stopped, her eyes widening. "I forgot to introduce you to Izy," she said, as if it were the most horrible thing in the world. "He's my very best friend," she said, holding up the shining crossbow as if it were the most wonderful thing in the world.

Izy said thoughtfully.  

[prolixity]

Jordan blinked, a little startled by Sydney's excitement and enthusiasm. Found the centipedes' weak spot? "Maybe some smaller ones," he said, quirking a smile despite himself. He wouldn't mind killing some bugs.

As she went on, something clicked. "Did you have a cookie?" he inquired.

"This is Ferros," he added, patting the hammer's haft. "Nice to meet both of you."  

[Ice Queen]

"How'd you guess?" Syd asked, wide eyed. "I asked the man that gave it to me for the recipe, but... I think I forgot to get an answer," she admitted with a frown. "Because Michael was asking for hugs. I never realized you could do that," she told him seriously. "Did you get one? I'm sure he had more!"

She stopped, frowning as she heard a clashing noise in the distance. "Do you hear that?" she asked. "I think it's coming from that direction," she told him, pointing to the left and forward.  

[prolixity]

"Educated guess," Jordan said, and snorted. "Don't ask for the recipe. No, really, don't ask for the recipe." Apparently Julie had gotten her recipe working, but considering what she'd been experimenting with for ingredients, he didn't actually want to know.

He turned, listening carefully and trying to pinpoint the direction of the sound. "Good ear."

There was a depression in the sand over the next dune, towards the direction of the noises; he moved cautiously towards it, but his foot sent a long spill of sand down the side of the dune. The motion was apparently enough to alert what lurked underneath the sand.

As the scorpion descended on him, he swung half-instinctively, feeling the crunch all the way up his arms, but its tail lashed in over Ferros's arc, stabbing deep into his shoulder. He cursed and fought the urge to clutch at it. While he was distracted, the tail darted in twice more, sharp bright spikes of pain; when he hit it again, the huge insect stopped moving, its limbs moving slower and slower and then coming to a halt as it went limp.

Jordan stepped back and rolled his shoulder, grimacing. "Bugs," he said, though not without a certain amount of grim satisfaction. "Looks like they'll alert on any small motion or sound. Watch your step."

HP: 30/50  

[Ice Queen]

She had tried to help. She just... hadn't, much. The frown that pulled on Sydney's lips turned to a look of determination. She wasn't going to fail the next time they ran into something, she swore.

Then she almost stepped into a hole just like the one that Jordan had just run into. She fell back a few steps as the scorpion came out, shooting wildly as it's tail came down, slamming into her FEAR shield. She shot again, aiming for its eyes, desperate to take it out on her own, like Jordan had.

And she did, barely. But she was slightly pale and shaky even with the cookie effects. But...

A little grin pulled at her lips as she looked at Jordan. "I did it!" she told him proudly, her hair floating into her face. She shoved it away, grinning even wider.

HP: 20/40  

[prolixity]

There were arrows through the scorpion's eyes before Jordan could get in to help. "You're fast," he said approvingly. "You all right? You're looking a little shaky."

He studied Syd thoughtfully; they couldn't go on haphazardly, and he should have given her instructions before this. If she got badly hurt, it'd be on him for not being clear enough. "Stay behind me; if we scare anything else up, get on defense. I can handle the smashing, but I could use some protection. Got it?"  

[Ice Queen]

"Yes sir," Syd said, smiling again. The color was coming back to her face quickly. She had done it. It was a shame she couldn't take some sort of trophy with her to show that she had defeated her first big monster. "What was the first big monster that you ever defeated?" she asked, moving to a spot behind him, her crossbow at the ready. "Was it harder than that was?"

Poor girl had no clue.  

[prolixity]

((hi I totally rolled the wrong dice))  

[prolixity]

"Considerably," Jordan said. "Most of the freaks I've helped take out have been a group effort. I've gotten stronger since I arrived at Deus Ex, but I still have a long way to go. There are some pretty big and nasty things out there." He paused and smiled slightly. "And you don't have to call me sir, all right?"

A sound in the distance made him turn quickly. "Another one over that way," he said, and took off in the direction of the noises. When they found the scorpion, they discovered that it was being held back by a Moon hunter; the woman caught Jordan's eye and jerked her chin towards the scorpion's tail, then put another bullet into its back.

"See if you can get an arrow into a joint, distract it when it notices me," Jordan instructed quickly, then charged down the dune to attack the scorpion.

With attacks coming from three directions, it didn't take long at all to finish the giant insect off; the Moon hunter gave them a curt nod of thanks and vanished again into the dunes.

HP: 20/50  

[Ice Queen]

Syd followed as quickly as she could, getting in the shots that looked best and helping take out the scorpion. She got hit a few times as well, and was feeling a bit weak by the time it was over, but she had done well. She hadn't missed, at least.

"Should we go back to the tents?" she asked Jordan. "We should tell them about the scorpion problem, right?" But she could also use a bit of patching up, she thought. Her FEAR shield was a bit... thin.

HP: 10/40  

[prolixity]

"Yeah, let's go back. Pretty sure they already know about the scorpion problem, but no harm in reporting it anyway, and we could both use a rest." Jordan glanced up at the bright sky. "Shouldn't stay out too long in this kind of heat, anyway."

As he turned back towards the camp, he smiled at Syd. "You did great. Thank you for helping out."  

[Ice Queen]

She smiled back at him, proud of herself. "I'm going to be the best Mist trainee that I can be," she told him. "That means being the best everything else I can be, you know? I really want to..." What? To make Aria proud? No, although she admired the leader. "Prove that we're not the leftovers division," she said, her expression turning into an intense smile that looked a tiny bit dangerous.

Izy teased as she headed for the tent.

"Izy--Izy just complimented me!" Syd said, her eyes huge with excitement. "Today is WONDERFUL!"