trans_9 | Queen to Bishop [Part 3]

They hadn't even gotten very far into the complex yet.

Kang had been hoping that the lights would stay on, but those hopes got dashed relatively quickly. Muttering a curse under his breath in Nerakese, he kept his voice calm, "Tobias. Go bat. Keep us updated on anything you find. Setsuna, send out your constructs. Kettch, cover our rear."

This was going to be problematic. He knew humans had crappy night vision, and couldn't see at all in the dark; they were sure to stumble and run into walls.

Stoick squinted into the darkness; but fighting in the dark and fighting at night were two completely different things. He felt blind though he figured his eyes would adjust eventually.

He reached out one hand to the wall to ensure that he kept a steady path, while listening for the sounds of the people around him to ensure he was keeping with the group. Falling behind was not an option. Least of all when he was so close to his son. He offered up a silent prayer that his son would be okay.

"Any sign of movement yet?" He called softly.

"Understood!" Setsuna held up the little paper doll, and with a puff of smoke, it transformed into a tiny adorable version of her (http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/62020671/12992572). She pointed forward, and the construct floated away, disappearing into the darkness ahead of the group.

Setsuna's night vision wasn't exceptional, but it would suffice. Her eyes were gradually beginning to adjust, and so was the vision coming through her connection to Chibi-Setsuna. "Nothing that I can see yet," she said in response to Stoick. Her hand tightened around the handle of her plasma saw.

"Acha! Acha." Kettch took up position covering their backtrail. His nightvision was definitely better than a human's, but with so little light in these tunnels, it was still hard to see very far.

At the first intersection, Kettch paused a moment to take out his dagger and scratch marks into the wall to show the passage they'd come from. However, he flattened his ears back at the squealing ching-sound the metal blade on the metal walls made. He glared into the darkness down the tunnel, then huffed in dissatisfaction before roughly sticking his knife back into it's sheathe on his belt.

That much noise could warn the demons they were coming...

"Hey, hey? You have a... map, to find our way back out, yes?" Kettch called up toward Elder Kang.

Hap Suriz was staying up front, the mysterious mini-Setsuna aside, so that she'd have a chance to soften up any approaching enemies before the melee types got stuck in and blocked her shots, but when the darkness closed in most of that rationale vanished. Her helmet had basic light amplification but the equipment didn't seem to be working very well in the electrical storm and the homogeneously grainy wall of 'enhanced vision' the display was giving her wasn't much better than just being plain old blind.

"Helmet isn't working. Visibility's poor," she reported to the others matter-of-factly. She'd have plenty of light once the shooting started... if she was still alive by the time she realized they were under attack.

Tobias shifted, but his shape did not change greatly. He now had leathery wings with short,almost invisible hairs covering them and three small claws were on each one. He could see nothing now, but every time he sent out a sonar click, he might have well as been in daylight. The return painted a vivid picture in his mind. His regular bursts of sound could be heard somewhat softly against the tunnel walls.

They were being followed.

And cut off.

The first thing Kang would see was a flash off a tail in the dark, arcing towards him.

Kang barely saw the tail in time, and he ducked, "THEY'RE HERE."

Hissing, he almost reached for his sword before remembering about the acid blood, and pointed his gun at the thing, pulling the trigger; the recoil took him by surprise, but he gritted his teeth and dug his feet into the ground to steady himself.

The lights flickered on for about two seconds, revealing where the enemy was, then went out again.

Stoick pushed himself away from the wall as the lights flickered, seizing his opportunity to attack. Better that than to wait for them to come to him. He swung his axe, missing the intended target, but causing the folded portion to pop out. The edge glowed blue and he quickly readjusted so that glowing blue would be the part that would land first on the aliens.

"Bring it on," Stoick muttered, his glowing axe ready to shed blood. Acid blood or not, he was going to take a few of these creatures down.

Bringing up the rear, for the past few minutes Kettch had had the distinct feeling of being watched. The same feeling right before a predator strikes.

He gripped his blaster rifle tightly as he walked sideways, keeping an eye back the way they came. However, Kang's shout jerked his attention around to the front of the group. It was almost his undoing.

As he turned toward the front, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, down the hall at the last corner they'd passed. His instincts screamed at him and the spirits of the Hunt cried out to him of danger!

Kettch whipped back around, bringing the blaster rifle up and pulling the trigger without thinking. The bright red blaster bolts lit up the dark hallway, revealing a demon rushing forward along the ceiling. Despite having fired near-blindly, Kettch's shots were aimed unerringly at the demon.

"Demons! Dengar!"

[ooc: dengar = attack]

Ground combat was so unlike space. No sensors picking up enemy heat signatures from minutes outside combat range, or more if there was strong ECM on the field. None of that strange feeling of approach maneuvering, already in combat and jockeying for favorable position but unable to fire a shot. Just half a second between controlled tension and utter chaos. She didn't even see the attack that almost took Kang, had only just begun to process his shout when the first light of weapons fire brought the attackers into view and made it irrelevant.

She started pulling the nearest available trigger.

The sophisticated smart grenades in Hap Suriz's launcher were another casualty of the electric storms but they at least still managed to go off when fired and a pair of the little explosives arced down the corridor and burst. One hand swung the weapon back while another drew her pistol and started firing at the closest beast, the one that had attacked Kang.

Stopgap measures. She needed the carbine.

Tobias felt a bit helpless in his bat morph. He was thought-speak shouting as to where the aliens were, but he couldn't join in the attack. He did dive bomb the creatures once or twice, but that was the extent of it.

The creature Kang shot at flew backward, the titanium spike pinning it to the wall; it struggled to free itself even as the bullets from Suriz's gun hit it, before twitching a few times and slumping, dead.

The brief flash of light had momentarily disoriented the bozak, who's eyes had adjusted to the dark, so Tobias's instruction was greatly appreciated. Growling, he shot at another one, missed, and when it got too close, he dropped the weapon to grab his battle-axe and behead it. Acid ate at the blade, making him curse; he was going to have to get it repaired later.

Again, the lights flickered and went out.

"Keep moving forward."

Stoick pressed forward, using Tobias' directions as guidance for where to strike. He laid about him with the lazer pick, slicing through one alien's anatomy with relative ease. The spray of acid blood he avoided in part thanks to his heavy fur coat, and the rest in momentum carrying him onward. The glowing pick blade probably wouldn't last long with the acid blood eating at it, but he didn't intend to be stuck here.

Get in, find Hiccup--and the others--and get out. That was the only thing running through his mind as he pressed forward, heeding Kang's commands while careful not to get in way of the blasts his teammates were firing.

Sokka did his best to follow the mentally transmitted directions, firing blindly into the darkness with his shotgun, the roar and flash of the weapon filling the corridor. He was cursing, loudly, in his native language. Things that probably would make his sister blush and make Aang gape. But this was life and death and they weren't here, thank whatever deities that might exist. They weren't here in the dark with creatures out of nightmare surrounding them and charging them from every turn.

When Kang's spike cannon slammed the creature back Suriz finally found a spare second to get the carbine free and she opened up with the powerful direct-fire weapon. The rapid-fire bolts lit the corridor with continuous strobing flashes, allowing her to accurately target the aliens ahead, and she followed her own shots, advancing on Kang's orders despite the risk of closing with the creatures. He was right, they needed to keep moving; she knew well enough what happened to forces that got pinned down in enemy territory. Especially when enemy territory was also a giant time bomb. Thankfully the white-hot projectiles also cauterized the wounds they caused on the aliens, limiting the amount of acid blood the corpses would leave in their path.

They did definately need to keep going. Tobias was overhead, out of the range of most of the acid that did splatter, but he still had to be cautious. The stuff would be a disaster if it hit his wing membranes. He was beginning to realize an importance in his position, even though he could not physically fight.

Queen to Bishop [Part 3]

Re: Rescuers - Rescue Away

Re: Rescuers - Rescue Away

Re: Rescuers - Rescue Away

Re: Rescuers - Rescue Away

Re: Rescuers - Rescue Away

Re: Rescuers - Rescue Away

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject