trans_9 | Fire in the hole! [Open]

Entry tags:

Fire in the hole! [Open]

It had been, up until this point, a fairly quiet day in the city. That it was no longer quiet was readily signified by the dull 'boom' of a grenade of some type going off, the sound carrying across the city. Two very bored Azerothians, one a new arrival, were doing their best to entertain themselves. Ter'thelas Baelion and Karis Needleteeth, accompanied by a couple boxes of grenades 'liberated' from weapons and possessions were doing their best to perfect their throwing arms. The pair wandered down an empty street, occasionally stopping to trash talk and/or point out a particularly interesting target.

"Five gold says you can't hit the second story window. You're an elf and it's a well known fact that elves can't throw for shit."

"A wager I will most happily accept. Though you've obviously never seen me playing darts, Karis. ANYBODY IN THERE WILL PROBABLY WANT TO CLEAR OUT!"

There was a pause of about thirty seconds or so as they waited a response. Since there were no indignant shouts back, Ter'thelas shrugged.

"Fire in the hole!" He pulled the pin on one of the pilfered grenades and hurled it upwards at the window of what looked to be a newspaper office out of the 1920s before ducking into a doorway across the street.

"Drat, I seem to have bounced off the facade--" BROOM! The dull thump of the explosion filled the street as the pair took cover.

"Told you, elves can't throw for shit."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Someone's set up an elaborate, massive still in one of these office buildings. God only knows what world Stacy took it from - it looks too dusty and broken-down to have been by one of the crew members, unless it was way back when Stacy started popping people. Howard checks and it doesn't seem to be for alcohol, so he can imagine it's for some other chemicals. Or magic, maybe. It'll be hard to move and reassemble, at least.

Then he hears an explosion down the street. Immediately he ducks to the floor, then, after a second of nothing but muffled voices outside, he crawls over to the window, opens it, and cautiously sticks his head out.

Oh. It's Karis and someone new. What they hell are they doing blowing stuff up? And where did they get the grenades?

"Hey, Fangs, what the hell? And who's the friend?"

Chase is checking out the city as much as possible. Its definitely better than the above. Not enough people, and too cobbled together looking to be really comfortable, but still, its a city, and thus an improvement. He's also got some ulterior motives - he needs a place to stay with some privacy, and he really, /really/ needs to find some music or this place is going to drive him insane quick.

Then... well, its not AC/DC, but it could be music to his ears. Is that...? Yeah, even if none of his grenades came along, he'd know the sound of grenades anywhere. Awesome - this needs to be investigated.

Ridiculously large hammer over one shoulder, he takes off towards the noise in 100 yard leaps and bounds. Fastest way to travel in this form, and this side of the gauntlet, heading towards the sound of the explosions.

Karis popped a grenade out of the crate, examined it, then examined the china shop across the way, then examined the grenade again. She glanced at Ter with a shrug and then pulled the pin.

"Fire in the hole!"

With almost careless ease, she tossed it through the front window, the glass shattering. Karis turned, shielding her eyes as the grenade went off with a loud "boom" and a rain of glass and shards of pottery and tableware spewed out onto the street.

"I love my job."

Oh, it was Howard. She grins at him, "Hey, kiddo! Just having some fun, showing my friend the ropes. This is Ter. Ter, this is Howard. Good kid. Oh, yeah...."

She pulls another grenade from the box, makes a pin-pulling motion and then tosses it lazily toward Howard, "Catch."

It wasn't actually armed, but she was hoping Howard wouldn't notice.

The elf ducked back into cover to avoid the shower of glass and pottery shards, then stood, brushing himself off.

"This isn't your job."

Ter'thelas nodded at the human as he approached, tensing slightly, then relaxing as Karis greets hum. If Karis said he was alright, he'd believe it. He actually bowed slightly.

"Sir Ter'thelas Baelion. Pleasure to meet you." He would have continued, but then Karis threw the grenade. He checked a grin, played along.

"Sweet light, run!" He makes an exaggerated dive onto the street, covering his head.

Were Howard more familiar with grenades, he probably would have noticed that the grenade wasn't armed. As it stands, his experience with grenades is limited to knowing some FAYZ kids blew themselves up with one. He throws himself behind a doorway and takes a few seconds before letting the joke click.

"Oh, thanks, Fangs. Real mature. Trying to make me look like a scaredy cat in front of your friend with the fancy title." He doesn't look genuinely angry, though. He picks himself up off the ground and looks at Ter. "Dude, if you think I'm calling you Sir Turtleass Bunion or whatever, you have another thing coming."

Ok, the old fake grenade routine. Jack used to pull that one when he thought he could get away with it. And then... the attitude. Yeah, he likes these people already.

He makes no effort at stealth, coming into view openly - always best when munitions are involved.

"Nice toys. You got a good source of grenades?"

Karis was laughing, a rather nasty grin on her face. "Oh man. You shoulda seen the look on your face, kid. That was priceless. I'll treasure that one forever..."

She chuckled one last time and shook her head, "No, just pullin' a joke, kid. I treat everyone like that. Even Ter." She jerked her head back at the elf - and then her attention turned on the other newcomer.

"...just hacked 'em from possessions. Who's asking?"

He's a big, hulking guy with an impromptu warhammer. Might even give a few orcs she knows a run for their money in terms of sheer size and bulk.

"No need. Just call me Ter. Most of my associates do, after all." He swung around to look at the new arrival. Interesting. A big mass of human muscle and a big hammer to match. He casually hooked a thumb into his belt next to his sword, watching.

Howard probably would have laughed too, if he'd seen it. He just shakes his head and rolls his eyes, dusting off his pants.

"Good, because Ter's what you're getting." He quirks a eyebrow at the mention of 'associates', thinking it might be something to ask about later, but the new guy showing up distracts him. "Holy crap, man, do you need directions to the professional wrestling try-outs? Or Asgard?"

A big ass hammer, a... well, its designed to be a shield, but looks more like a hubcap from a Mercury Cougar, strapped over his back, and a pair of big guns - .50 Desert Eagle heavy pistol at one hip, and a sawed off 10 gauge shotgun with a pistol grip on the other.

"Since we're being all informal and all, just call me Chase." said wall of muscle responds, with a grin. "Also a guy with only so much ammunition, and an appreciation for all things that go boom. And if you're handing out information, I'll settle for directions to the strip club, or anywhere with some real music, since I already know where the bar is."

"Chase. Right. Can't help you either of those, sorry. I'm just out here tossin' grenades."

She rattled her fingers off of the armored plate on her leg.

"You're pretty loaded there, friend. Expecting trouble?"

"Fair enough. I don't ask for more than that." He plucked a grenade from one of the pilfered boxes and motioned the young man over as he watched Chase and Karis speak.

"You ever thrown one of these before, m'boy?"

When she had heard the explosions, Ronnae started charging in the direction of where they came from. Arriving there fairly shortly, she stopped to notice that it wasn't an attack, in fact it was part of the crew, having some 'fun'.

She sighed, walking a closer if a bit nervous.

She recognized Karis almost instantly, afterall she was the only forsaken she knew of on ship. "You know you're not supposed to do this on the ship... That's what the sensoriums are for..." She said a bit sternly trying to keep her timidness from showing.

"Nah, thanks. I'll just watch for a bit. Maybe after I see you clean out a few more buildings." Seriously, why tempt fate to blow his head off? That's just stupid - but he does watch what the others are doing very closely, taking careful note as always. Someday he may need to be able to throw one of these.

When Ronnae comes over, he rolls his eyes at her. Even if he's not participating, he's getting something out of the spectacle. "Seriously, Little Miss Noël," he says, noting her green skin and red hair, "you've never blown off some steam before?"

Chase grins at Karis, noting the grenade throwing lesson offers and all. Seems no one else knows where to find anything better than the bar either. Ah well.

"Just ain't found a place to settle in just yet, and I heard things get kind of interesting down here... figured I'd do some exploring, eventually, and see what kind of interesting turned up." he replies, before pausing when Ronnae shows up.

"Didn't look like any harm done, long as we don't have any china collectors on the ship. Its all good... and now I definitely got to see if weapons and defense has the stuff to put a few grenades together... handy things."

Karis cackles and throws an arm around Howard's shoulders with a grin as Ter offers to teach him how to toss a grenade. "Nah, Howie here isn't the violent type. Are you, Howie?"

She pauses for a beat, "You don't mind if I call you Howie, do you?"

Yeah, Karis is having a good time. Ronnae's reprimand earns an eyeroll from Karis (or the closest she can manage without actual eyeballs) and a shake of her head, "Uther's balls, kid, you're half-orc, aren't you? Grow a backbone or something. Not like the pissant council is down here to stop us, right?"

And finally, she nods at Chase, "It's a giant ass city. You can find just about any kind of building you want. As for making grenades...? Shit, give me the materials, I can make you a damn demolition charge."

Ter chuckles at Howard.

"Alright, then. Maybe another time. It's a useful skill to have, though. Especially in a war." He smiles even wider as Ronnae makes her approach.

"Ronnae! So good to see you again. And what Karis said. Relax, enjoy yourself. Blow something up." He casually flips a grenade to Chase.

"Have a go, old boy. And I'm an engineer like Karis. With the right materials I can make some explosives."

Ronnae looked down embarrassed. She really hated non-combat confrontations, she always felt awkward.

"I didn't mean to put a damper on your fun r-really..." No don't stutter damnit! Not now... "I just didn't want you guys gettin' into trouble s'all. Last time someone did something similar, they got in trouble for it." Of course Gundams shooting off their weapons in an abandoned part of the ship was something entirely different! But same concept.

She bowed, long ponytails almost sweeping the floor, before straightening up quickly. "I apologize..."

Howard isn't a huge fan of 'Howie', but Karis does let him get away with calling her 'Fangs'. "I've been called way worse than Howie."

"Man, if I'm in a position to be throwing grenades, I did something seriously wrong somewhere. I'm trying not to get killed here." Not that he minds being around violent types, as long as they're not directing it at him. Hanging around watching these guys blow up china shops is the most comfortable he's felt since running around with the old group of bullies way before the FAYZ. "Just let me watch you do it for a little, big guy, then I'll join in."

"Oh, for God's sake," he says, rolling his eyes at Ronnae. "Are there spare spines in the weapons lockers for Tinseltown over here?"

Chase snags the grenade out of the air with one hand, then sets the hammer down with a heavy thump, leaning it against a nearby wall.

"Don't worry about it, green & gorgeous, you got nothing to apologize for." Cause teasing the shy types a little has to be done sometimes... and she is kinda cute. "Yer just trying to look out for our best interests... so I'll help you out." And maybe show off, just a little.

Tensing, he throws the grenade up as high as he can, not quite straight up - he doesn't want them getting shrapnel raining on them, after all, but mostly for height.

As its on his way up, in one rapid motion, he draws the sawed-off off his belt, thumbs a dragonsbreath shell into the gun and fires. The round hits the grenade with a small explosion of blue flame, followed by the bigger *BOOM!* of the grenade itself, rainding sparks of flaming shrapnel and grenade body, some burning out white or blue hot, others red and yellow in a brief rain of fire in the sky.

"There, didn't blow anything up. So... engineers, you said? I need to get my ass up there and volunteer. I know jack all about electronics and computer shit, but I know armoring, weapons engineering and vehicular. I'm going to need to make some more ammo soon anyway."

"I do bombs. And clockwork. Mostly bombs," Karis replied. She brushed a piece of burning shrapnel off of her shoulder and shrugged, turning her attention back to Ronnae.

"So, what the Hell happened to your orc half there, kiddo? Shouldn't you be kicking me in the teeth for that?" She arched a brow with a nasty little grin. She enjoyed pushing peoples' buttons. "Besides, if the council told you to jump off a damn bridge, would you do it? Buncha civilian pukes..."

Yeah, she's not a fan of civilians.

"Mmm. Obviously she was raised in a more cultured society." He winks at Ronnae and pulls the pin on his grenade, hurling it through the ground floor window of a shop across the street. The elf grins as he's rewarded by an explosion and a shower of debris shooting from the windows.

"And I don't like councils. They take too long to decide things and usually end up doing it wrong. Give me a king or queen any day of the week. Well, a good one, at least. Poor Kael'thas went around the bend, you know."

Ronnae frowned, she didn't know she would be treated like she was scolding them, she should have stayed away.

She blushed at the compliments trying to avert her gaze before moving out of the way of the floating debris. "I... yeah, jus' lookin' out for you all." She sighed at the continuing explosions.

She frowned at Karis, "I'm half orc, not half stupid you know. I'm not going to give into a petty brawl and get a violation from the psychotic ship. It's her I worry about, not the council. So far they haven't done much of anything even after the last election fiasco." She crossed her arms defensively.

He expression softened at Ter's words, feeling that embarrassed heat return but trying to play it off. "Not much you can do, majority of the ship an' all. Even if a few of us are against it." She knew more than a handful disagreed with the way the council worked.

"Thanks, good to know someone's looking out for my best interests, cause it sure as hell ain't me." He doesn't seem to mind the interruption, and, aside from a little teasing with the compliments, doesn't seem to mind Ronnae any.

"Eh, a lot of the time, that's what councils and shit are for, pacify the majority, convince them that someone knows what the fuck is going on, and keep 'em content while a few people do the heavy lifting behind the scenes. That's the way of every council and elder and all I've ever met."

Howard whistles appreciatively at Chase's little grenade-and-shotgun stunt. "Damn. Can you do that again or was that aim a fluke?"

"I was on a town Council once. We got tons done - stalling, procrastinating, twiddling our thumbs, the whole deal," Howard says. With all the talks of kings and queens, he decides to keep his beliefs in democratically elected officials to himself. But they were definitely right about councils not getting anything done, in his view. The only time his council ever got anything done was when they were breaking their own rules.

He looks at Ronnae again. "Saint Nick over here's right about the ship, though. I don't trust her as far as I can throw her. And that wouldn't be far at all, since I can't pick her up."

"Don't want you to fight me, kid, just want you to show some orc backbone. Come on, Saurfang or Hellscream woulda actually done something instead of stammer. Now those were greenskins I could get behind... Aside from Hellscream insulting the Dark Lady, but- Yeah, you know what forget that," She waves a hand.

"Yeah, you heard my opinion on the council." She shrugs. "Anyway... yeah. This ship doesn't have our best interests at heart. We gotta watch out."

"Ah, democracy--the most inefficient form of government to exist. And yet so many people seem to employ some form of it. Really, I don't know why they don't just put the captain in charge--Karis, what's that Kennedy fellow like, anyhow?" He steps back from the box of grenades and digs in his pocket to produce a small pipe and a pouch that appears to be full of tobacco. He packs and lights the pipe with a match, then puffs contentedly.

Ronnae fidgets in place moving back a little, "Yeah well... you can keep at it I guess... Just make sure there's no one around... Some people took over some of the buildings as homes. And so far it seems like no tentacles appeared to smack you around so maybe you're fine."

She sighed, "The officers more than likely will reprimand you tho... If they find out you were using live explosives in the city." She pauses and looks at them sternly, "Don't worry, they won't find out from me, I assure you. Jus' thought I'd warn you all."

She put her hands in her hoodie's pocket after raising the hood over her head. She'd stay to make sure no one got hurt, knowing she'd probably get into trouble later for not reporting it.

Chase grins at Howard, "I can do it as many times as I got grenades, and about eight in ten shootin' left handed. Only problem is, my grenades didn't show up with me. That's alright though, can always make more... so aside from what'cha used to do, what do you do around here now?"

For the moment he ignores the others, not going to pile on Ronnae, but figuring she needs to be able to stand up for herself. Plus, of course, he's stated his opinion on councils, good enough.

"Salvage," Howard says, rubbing his hands together. They're covered in dust and stain from rooting through abandoned materials and metal. "I've been going through all the abandoned buildings out that way and sorting through what people can use or not. Actually, I found a few buildings that must've belonged to revolutionaries or something in some world, full of hidden compartments and a hell of a lot of guns, if you want to peruse through at some point."

He narrows his eyes at Ter. "Who's saying we trust this Kennedy guy? And even if we did, what happens if he goes crazy or has a hidden agenda or what? You don't believe in checks and balances?"

"The only check I need is my halberd," Karis grins, "See, where we come from, if a leader goes crazy? You kill the bastard. No man, no problem."

Ah, the inadvertent quoting of Stalin.

"The best check on power is a blade in the back," Ter agrees as he continues puffing away on his pipe.

Ronnae had already taken a seat back in the whole thing, she figured they'd be okay.

"I won't intrude in your fun, hope you all stay safe." She bowed and waved once before taking her leave.

Wait a sec. Salvage? Lots of guns? Howard, you have someone's attention. Even grenades can take a back seat. He doesn't even notice Ronnae slipping off - but hey, he knows where to find her.

"You found a bunch of weapons? You're damned right I want to take a look. If you're the resident junkyard packrat, we need to talk anyhow. I might be able to help you out. And it sounds like you're already speaking my language."

"Oh, great, so he with the best assassins wins. Or she." Howard shakes his head. Out of all the factions in the FAYZ, Perdido survived because they didn't let crazy four-bar mutants power trip their way to the leadership position. The Coates kids, with their single leader, were mostly dead. But Howard shrugs. He's not from their world and maybe it worked out fine for them, though the pieces of Karis' home he saw in the Sensoriums suggests otherwise.

He watches Ronnae leave, keeping an eye to make sure she's actually leaving and not sticking around to watch them further. "Later, Sleighbells."

"Sounds like you're speaking mine, Thor," he says to Chase. "You'd be amazed what Spacey Stacy left laying around in some of these houses. Before I heard all the booming I was looking at a giant pot still. Probably not moonshine, but I could probably tweak it."

"Usually doesn't get that far. Usually we get decent leaders."

She paused.

"Usually. Anyway... Don't need weapons myself. Everything I need, I got. Or I can build."

She bumped shoulders with Ter, "Same with this pointy-eared nancy. But if you want help buildin' bombs, you give me a call, alright?"

"I'll use anything I can get. Lots of guns, knives, bombs, grenades, rockets... we'll definitely have to talk. I'd say I'd buy you a beer some time, but apparently the booze is free... so let's get together some time and talk explosions."

Another look Howard's way. "As for you... yeah, if you can tweak stuff, or maybe help me find some music and southern comfort to go with all these guns, we'll get along juuuust fine."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Fire in the hole! [Open]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject