Black Hawk almost sort of Down but Not Quite!
And then it's time, and he's on one of the ornithingies. He might not be able to fly them - yet - but he loves the view. "Alpha wolf ready."
Taleyn calls back, "Mission control copies. You're a go, Alpha Wolf."
Taran takes over ...well, hopefully the image is auspicious. They *look* like giant armored cockroaches. But hey, heavy cavalry is heavy cavalry, even if it's metal puncers and spear-legs instead of lances and axes.
Aio picks her small force with apparent care, selecting the men both for skill with their weapons as well as astute awareness. Having school them in target recognition she leads them down into the sewers, well aware of how the stifling heat of the place as well as the smell can combine to make it deadly. "Moving into position now, control."
Taleyn says, "Copy, Beta team. You're go."
"Sewer team and flight team are going in," Jaymesin says over the earbud-thing. "Stay together, remember the goal is to grab and not kill the targets. Distraction, this is your cue to get started. Draw their attention, draw their fire, and come back in one piece."
Taran checks his giant cockroach squad's formation, and sends, "Pest team ready."
It's a hazy afternoon. Heat waves roil off the sand, and off the bleached buildings and parched roads. The streets are relatively empty, as it's just after noon, and the populace seems to be recovering from the midday meal and sheltering from the twin suns.
Lorana sees the ornithopters and falls in LOVE. She spends most of her training on getting used to the vehicles and their lovely mounted heavy machine guns. She giggles a little as she watches the scenery from behind said guns, and looks over the other vehicles on distraction duty. "You heard him, Hummingbirds, let's move out!" she order, and they sweep for the target building in what looks like a frontal assault.
RPG: Aio challenges a difficulty of 9. Aio chooses Grace and the gift BLD-OB. Aio succeeds.
RPG: Jaymesin challenges a difficulty of 9. Jaymesin chooses Wits and the gifts BLD-OB, SKL-AR, and STY-UN. Jaymesin succeeds.
RPG: Lorana challenges a difficulty of 9. Lorana chooses Resolve. Lorana succeeds.
"FireGiant accompanying Pest Team. We'll kick in the front door for your escape." Cyndre responds over the coms, loaded to bear with automatic weapons and more mundane fair. And she walks tall alongside the bug-machines, jogging a bit to keep up, clanking the whole way.
RPG: Taran challenges a difficulty of 9. Taran chooses Resolve and the gift WAR-WH. Taran succeeds.
RPG: Cyndre challenges a difficulty of 9. Cyndre chooses Force and the gifts BLD-GT and FIR-WM. Cyndre succeeds.
"Ants to the picnic," says Taran as his sister's group takes off. It seems to be the cue for the cadre of giant cockroach vehicles to demolish a path toward the target building. Legs piercing, pincers ripping at anything in their path, skittering away from what must be considered the bug spray of return fire.
RPG: Taleyn challenges a difficulty of 9. Taleyn chooses Grace and the gift SKL-MC. Taleyn succeeds.
"Closing in target entrance," Aio notes from beneath the ground and from the sounds of her voice the heat might well be taking it's toll on her and her troops. And she's used to it. "Please advise on timing. We're blind down here to what's happening."
Suddenly, the screams of eagles pierce the air around the ornithopters! Surface-to-air missiles, seemingly launched from tubes pointed by robed-people on the ground, screech into the midst of the flying machines. Meanwhile, in the desert heat, odd plumes of smoke begin to crop up near the target building. The Cockroach Land-brigade finds its roads blocked with piles of burning debris!
In the sewers, there is the sound of sliding metal against concrete...
Jaymesin is ready at the ornithopter's open door with a rope, having apparently practiced with ropes before. "Roads blocked," he reports, "Air defences active. Watch out down there, they probably know you're coming too."
"Trap," comes the short response from Aio as she hears the noise ahead of her, pausing to examine her options. There are more muted orders as she directs her troop. "Explore with caution, look for secondary devices."
"That would be the point," comes Taran's bland response as the fiery defenses rise. "Units two and six, fire suppression." This order sends two of the giant bugs to the sides, 'chewing' through brick and mortar to smother flames by dropping...well, more debris on it that isn't flammable. Smothering the fire with the civic equivalent of dirt. And, of course, dirt too. Once the fire's out the bugs continue their approach, metallic legs climbing over the debris.
While Aio's troops search for traps in the sewers, a scout hisses a warning. A sewer connection, theoretically from inside the target building, is opening.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Lorana barks, and the Hummingbirds swoop gracefully away from the incoming missiles. She takes careful aim with the machine gun and starts returning fire, encouraging the others of her unit to do so to make it look like a desperation tactic in the face of opposition. She doesn't need to hit anyway, she's just the distraction! She does try to take out some of those missiles, though.
Aio orders her troops back against the wall, out of the line of sight of the opening. She then brings up the two best shots she has to the fore with her and waits patiently for signs of more movement.
Cyndre is NOT blocked by mere piles of debris, and uses her size and might to try clearing some of the burning mess. At least to get a small path opened for the machines to get through. She's fireproof, so... Of course, she's mindful of opposition, if there's any.
Taran sends to Cyndre, "We're maneuverable. See if you can knock out those flyswatters aiming at Lora, would you? Four and Five, go with her for backup."
Jaymesin's ornithopter darts and evades with the rest, the tall Weir hanging onto the rope. His 'thopter isn't a distraction, though; along with another, it makes a break for the target building.
Lorana's guns blaze, and several of the anti-'thopter missiles blossom into flaming clouds, through which the mighty birds swoop and dodge. It does seem that a *lot* of enemy resources are concentrating on keeping those ornithopters away from the target building. Meanwhile, on the street, Taran's fire-suppression bug tactics chomp down on the street blazes, and Cyndre is immunely swinging fires out of the way, left and right! But yes, many of the missiles are coming too close to the flying machines for comfort, and Cyndre would be well-spent taking those missile tubes out.
In the sewers, a HUGE GUSH of water comes pouring out of the opening, forcing Aio and her men to cling for dear life to any hand- or toe-hold available!
"On it." Cyndre responds, and makes double-time to the tubes. She opens fire on them when she's near, adding her own firepower to the mix to make things too hot to handle for any operators of the tubes.. Assuming the tubes have operators.
The tube-handlers scatter, yelling in terror at the fire giantess's otherworldly visage. But many more remain-- she has her work cut out for her. Meanwhile, a missile comes screaming through the air, RIGHT AT JAYMESIN.
Aio all but growls into her head piece as a couple of her men are washed away, short orders coming to try and maintain both the moral and the position of the others. "Jam yourselves in, as tight as you can. Brace your body against the wall. That's it!" There is also some swearing, which only the Chantris blooded will have the joys of as it's in Irribrim.
Confident that the guns have more to aim at than just the aviation branch of attackers, Taran spreads his four remaining units out widely, trying to force the target building to spread its defenses thin to deal with him. The giant bugs take heavy fire as a result, and deal with it by alternating which of them is closest to the compound at any given time.
Jaymesin's overgrown revolver spits small metal shards at the missile heading in his direction; it was too fast to have been a conscious decision, Jaymesin moving to deal with the threat almost before it's registered. He swears as well, but only one word - the worst Cibola has to offer.
[EDIT: The missile blossoms into a third sun briefly, showering Jaymesin with debris and singing his hair.]
Cyndre arrives close to a missle tube, and lets her gun hang from the strap so she can do something truly horrifying! She unhooks those chains she brought with her, and uses them to smash and shred any who remain near the tube! Gore! Bone! Blood! Screams! Sexy flames! She tries to figure out how to load an and fire a tube to turn it against the attackers. Hey, she can pick one of those things up like a personal bazooka, right??
Cyndre can, in fact. It's a 3-man rocket-launcher, in essence, and she has no problem bracing it.
The ground defenses take on a different look as Taran spreads out. From all over the city, plumes of smoke go up. But they're not, seemingly, from roadblocks. From every house, every building, people start pouring out-- men, women, little children, pregnant women, women carrying babies-- and all are standing in the road, blocking the machines with their bodies.
Taran eyes his new 'blockade' for only a second or two before ordering, "Nets. Capture them and use them as shields. Continue approach. Let's see if the people they would protect love them as much in return."
Shrapnel off one of the shot missiles tears through the wing of Lorana's ornithopter and she curses in much more traditional style. "SHIT! This is Hummingbird Leader, I'm hit, I have to break off," she informs the others, "Hummingbird commander, take over from here." Weaving and bobbing, Lorana's ornithopter manages to air-hobble its way off to safety.
Taleyn says, "Hummingbird Gamma, break off with Leader to escort to safety. The rest as you were!"
In the sewers, after the torrent abates, the passages are calf-deep in wastewater. There is further banging, with discernible (though not necessarily understandable) speech coming from overhead. Then a gun barrel appears at the opening and sprays the passage with bullets.
Having kept her men pressed against the wall Aio now looks relieved at the choices she made. The sharp shooters at the front are commanded with a simple gesture of her hand to take out the people shooting at them. She picked her men with care, the barrel is soon under a barrage of its own.
Taran's nets seem to be doing the trick. There's a lot of screaming and wailing and it's all heart-wrenching, but nonetheless the people are not being harmed, and they are being taken out of the way... until enemy gunfire tears into the human shields, killing their own people in order to get to the attackers.
Jaymesin adds a couple more choice swearwords - Lyonne and Jadean respectively - at what he's hearing through his earflower, but other than that remains silent as he waits for his turn to fight.
Jaymesin, meanwhile, makes it to the roof of the target building. He and his group have seconds to get down the rope-- precious seconds in the air, as targets!
Aio's group returns fire, and the gun barrel retreats-- there are soldiers up there. Are they attempting to use the sewers as an escape passage?
If they are it's a tactical error. Aio gives her troops the once over to check for injured, leaves them in the passageway and orders the advance. "Targets look to be making for the sewers, control. We have suppressive fire. Making the most of it."
Cyndre DOES cackle now, as she starts using the missiles and launcher as her own personal cannon. FWOOSH! *TH-BOOOOM* She blows up a missile launching platform, and explosions roar and missiles fly everywhere! swoosh swoosh swoosh BOOM BOOM BOOM. "YES! OH BY THE BLAZING FURIES YES!!! DIE! DIIIIEEE!!!" *FWOOOOOM* BOOOM! Another platform down!
Taran nods slightly to himself, as if this response answered a question. "Unit three. Take the dead shields back to their people. Two, with me. Let's give the wolves some fog." As he and his partner create 'fog' in the form of the dust clouds of collapsing masonry, one of the cockroaches scoops up the nets of dead would-be shields in its pincers to take back to other people who might have the same idea.
Jaymesin launches himself down the rope with a terse, "Alpha team, go," as though he's done this sort of thing before - but then, he's a Defender of Kolvir, and ropes are a speciality. He lets gravity take him, judging his landing so that he makes it to the roof heavily but intact, and comes up firing at the enemy.
Aio's group is advancing into the building, encountering enemy militia soldiers, and-- is that a glimpse of one of the targets? It's true; the warlords, or at least some of them, seem to be headed to the basement. And Jaymesin's group is well on their way to ensuring they've no other place to go!
"Spread out," Aio tells her men as she spots the targets. "Remember the pictures you've been given. Disable, don't kill them." And then she sets to, quite happy to be back in combat once again.
Taran's fog-cover, combined with Cyndre's barrage of heavy fire, makes it far easier for Lorana's bird to limp away without, say, crash-landing in the middle of the hostile city! Her ornithopter and its escort head safely out into the desert, toward the Mission Control base.
Taran sends over comms, "Let me know when you're in and we'll try to draw them out."
Jaymesin's team gets to the roof, and then they head inside. Jaymesin may not have done this sort of thing with firearms before - but he's done it with crossbows, and the guns just make him all the more lethal than he was already. "Alpha team inside." His voice is calm and clear.
Cyndre launches more missiles, her aim improving every time she uses the thing. Now, however, she sends them streaking at the city walls and gates. *FOOOM* *FOOOM*
There are casualties inside the building-- people are scared and desperate, and the warlords none too eager to be caught. But the teams begin to search the building and round up the targets, Jaymesin from above and Aio from below.
Aio makes sure it's all done methodically, with each person - alive or dead - checked against the pictures she had. She's leaving nothing to chance if she can help it.
Taran's forces finally make it through, getting into position to secure the perimeter. They are coming under heavy machine-biogun fire from the locals, though, and their shielding has only a few good minutes left.
Cyndre is rendering the ornithopters' paths much clearer. Guns still target them, but the big screaming rockets seem to have taken the better part of valor for now.
Jaymesin's search of the building is quick, a wolfpack neutralising the shepherds and pulling down the prey. "Third floor clear." And then a little later, "Second floor clear."
It's not long before AIo's team is meeting up with Jaymesin, with a couple of extra bodies neatly tied up in tow.
Taran directs his remaining cockroaches, "Focus on taking out the guns. Don't damage the buildings further. Retreat if you can't hold position; we've done our job."
Cyndre continues the slaughter outside until there are none left that fire on her or her compatriots. After, she'll play snatch and grab with some weaponry, including rockets.
Jaymesin's team meets up with Aio's, and everyone heads downstairs and into the sewers. Jaymesin and his men scout at point, making sure the exits stay clear.
Aio picks up her wounded along the way, keeping a studious silence on her way down as she also keeps an eye open for traps, or anything missed.
As Taran receives confirmation of the teams' penetration into the fortress, he calls his own critters to retreat before gunfire reduces them to scrap. "We're done here. Pull out; honors to the victors and the fallen." Somehow it's said in the same tone as 'let's go for coffee'.
Back at the headquarters of this particular mission, Taleyn is waiting for them. The prisoners are given over to the Shadow's military, and the volunteers are given mess hall privileges while Taleyn shows them how to take off their biotech safely. "Thank you all. Anyone who has time for a debrief, I'd love to have you stay around. If you have to leave, however, do so with my deepest gratitude."
Jaymesin has time for a debrief, it seems - but first, he has time for the butcher's bill, and the acquisition of booze for sharing at the debrief.
"I can stay, but when I go I'll be taking my spoils of war with me." Cyndre states excitedly. She has a small stockpile of things to take back for study. She's kind of like a child at christmas morning.
Taran gets his gear taken off, with some help, and studies it thoughtfully. "I have a little time, yes," he says. "Successful mission?"
Taleyn sighs at Cyndre, shaking her head affectionately. "They won't work in Amber, you know-- but yes, I know that's not the point." She says it as one who, herself, has been known to collect the odd shiny object from Shadow. Nodding to Taran, "Successful indeed! When Prince Jaymesin returns, I'll fill you in on the background. This Shadow is very close to one that was the scene of a tragic military defeat, a catastrophe in the annals of warfare. I wanted to come here to see if we could put our heads together and make it come out better." She pauses. "There are a few other tweaks I should like to experiment with. For instance, this Shadow is far enough away from the inspiration-world that the communicators worked throughout the battle. In the original, they stopped working. And there were other hitches, too. I must say, you lot really did a lovely job on navigating the threats you encountered-- and you gave a thought to keeping the human suffering to a minimum."
"I trusted Lord Taran would keep the human suffering down as far as he possibly could," Jaymesin says, ducking into the room with a faint smile and a tray of full glasses (with one cup). "Nice work, ladies and gentlemen. The mug is for Captain Aio, please don't steal it."
Taran blinks at this. "...I feel I must ask how the terrorist tactic employed by the civilians was handled in this other scenario, that you feel my actions were praiseworthy," he notes. "I considered them necessary. Not merciful."
Taleyn flashes Jaymesin a smile as he brings the grog, then she shakes her head sadly at Taran's question. "The point being that you *tried* to get them out of the way, Lord Proxy. You didn't just shoot through them, you didn't let them slow you down much, either. It was an innovative solution to a really awful problem we face on the field of battle all too often in settings such as this."
Jaymesin distributes the drinks, making sure Aio gets her mug. The alcohol in this shadow is apparently fizzy stuff, the colour of a liquid best left unmentioned, and served in tall, thin glasses. "I've seen it before," he says grimly, "Though not on that scale. I hate it when they do that."
Taran blinks, perhaps surprised to hear that, and thinks it over as he samples the strange fizzy drink. "I am...not unused to psychological tactics being directed against me. It seems mormal that one wishes to test the limits of a knight's honor. All that I know tells me simply that one cannot allow a psychological attack to succeed. One does not win a battle by playing the enemy's game by the enemy's favored rules. I acted to discourage the locals from attempting such tactics. I am...relieved, more than glad, that you do not disapprove of the choice. I am further relieved that it could be turned to serve to heighten the distraction it was my duty to provide."
"Aye, it's a sleazy tactic to use. I've mixed feelings about it; part of me wants to find a way around the obstacle and make the enemy pay more for their wickedness. Another part of me simply wants to mow through the civilians to strike even more fear into my enemy's heart." Cyndre says as she drinks from her glass. "Horrible thing to admit, perhaps, but on the field of battle it's my life, my men's lives, or the opposition."
Taleyn exhales. "I'm beyond horrified at the enemy's response, but yes, I've seen it before." She is silent for a moment, then she sniffs the fizzy, er, liquid, and ventures a sip. "Mmmm! It's like a... well, like a soda." She smiles once more. "At any rate, I'm dreadfully proud of you lot, and pleased to be fighting by your side. I'm wondering if you'd like to have another go at the scenario some time? As I said before, maybe something a bit closer to the original scenario. We might have to cope with extracting our own troops who get cut off from us," she warns.
Cyndre bobs her head, "To fight by you fine lot? Aye, I'd welcome the chance again!"
Cyndre asks, "But can we have bigger guns?"
Taran smiles a bit at Cyndre's question. "I am honored to be asked. I would enjoy another look at this battle."
Jaymesin outright grins. "We can have bigger guns," he assures Cyndre. "I'll look for bigger guns along with everything else. I'm always up for another scrap, Knight-Major, especially if it means working with these ladies and gentlemen." He lifts his glass in a toast to the others in the room.
Taleyn grins from ear to ear at the irrepressible Cyndre, and beams happily at Taran's reply, then laughs at Jaymesin's own irrepressibility. "Lovely! Thank you all so very much. Some battles just haunt one, I suppose, and this is one I keep playing over and over in my mind, taking elements of other strategies and hurling at it, and the like. The Prince Marshal introduced me to it right when I was contemplating doing something very foolish, myself-- very much like this battle, in fact. I elected *not* to pursue my losing scheme, luckily for me."
Taran joins the toast, and says, "Until then, then. Duty calls me onward. When you are ready for another round, send word."
Taleyn rises. "Thank you for coming. I will call you for the next engagement."
Cyndre looks forlornly in the general direction of where her stock of toys lay. "I'm goint to need someone to cart me home if I'm to take all that." She smiles hopefully at Taleyn and Jaymesin. "Help a giantess out?"
Jaymesin nods to Taran. "My lord," he says, with a smile, then grins at Cyndre. "Whatever the Knight-Major commands, Knight-Major."
Taleyn grins. "Fine, let's head for home, Ladies and Gentlemen."
Cyndre beams, "Aye, then let's be off. I can't wait to see what I can come up with inspired buy these weapons. I really need a good collection of guns to get a better feel for making them."
Taleyn calls back, "Mission control copies. You're a go, Alpha Wolf."
Taran takes over ...well, hopefully the image is auspicious. They *look* like giant armored cockroaches. But hey, heavy cavalry is heavy cavalry, even if it's metal puncers and spear-legs instead of lances and axes.
Aio picks her small force with apparent care, selecting the men both for skill with their weapons as well as astute awareness. Having school them in target recognition she leads them down into the sewers, well aware of how the stifling heat of the place as well as the smell can combine to make it deadly. "Moving into position now, control."
Taleyn says, "Copy, Beta team. You're go."
"Sewer team and flight team are going in," Jaymesin says over the earbud-thing. "Stay together, remember the goal is to grab and not kill the targets. Distraction, this is your cue to get started. Draw their attention, draw their fire, and come back in one piece."
Taran checks his giant cockroach squad's formation, and sends, "Pest team ready."
It's a hazy afternoon. Heat waves roil off the sand, and off the bleached buildings and parched roads. The streets are relatively empty, as it's just after noon, and the populace seems to be recovering from the midday meal and sheltering from the twin suns.
Lorana sees the ornithopters and falls in LOVE. She spends most of her training on getting used to the vehicles and their lovely mounted heavy machine guns. She giggles a little as she watches the scenery from behind said guns, and looks over the other vehicles on distraction duty. "You heard him, Hummingbirds, let's move out!" she order, and they sweep for the target building in what looks like a frontal assault.
RPG: Aio challenges a difficulty of 9. Aio chooses Grace and the gift BLD-OB. Aio succeeds.
RPG: Jaymesin challenges a difficulty of 9. Jaymesin chooses Wits and the gifts BLD-OB, SKL-AR, and STY-UN. Jaymesin succeeds.
RPG: Lorana challenges a difficulty of 9. Lorana chooses Resolve. Lorana succeeds.
"FireGiant accompanying Pest Team. We'll kick in the front door for your escape." Cyndre responds over the coms, loaded to bear with automatic weapons and more mundane fair. And she walks tall alongside the bug-machines, jogging a bit to keep up, clanking the whole way.
RPG: Taran challenges a difficulty of 9. Taran chooses Resolve and the gift WAR-WH. Taran succeeds.
RPG: Cyndre challenges a difficulty of 9. Cyndre chooses Force and the gifts BLD-GT and FIR-WM. Cyndre succeeds.
"Ants to the picnic," says Taran as his sister's group takes off. It seems to be the cue for the cadre of giant cockroach vehicles to demolish a path toward the target building. Legs piercing, pincers ripping at anything in their path, skittering away from what must be considered the bug spray of return fire.
RPG: Taleyn challenges a difficulty of 9. Taleyn chooses Grace and the gift SKL-MC. Taleyn succeeds.
"Closing in target entrance," Aio notes from beneath the ground and from the sounds of her voice the heat might well be taking it's toll on her and her troops. And she's used to it. "Please advise on timing. We're blind down here to what's happening."
Suddenly, the screams of eagles pierce the air around the ornithopters! Surface-to-air missiles, seemingly launched from tubes pointed by robed-people on the ground, screech into the midst of the flying machines. Meanwhile, in the desert heat, odd plumes of smoke begin to crop up near the target building. The Cockroach Land-brigade finds its roads blocked with piles of burning debris!
In the sewers, there is the sound of sliding metal against concrete...
Jaymesin is ready at the ornithopter's open door with a rope, having apparently practiced with ropes before. "Roads blocked," he reports, "Air defences active. Watch out down there, they probably know you're coming too."
"Trap," comes the short response from Aio as she hears the noise ahead of her, pausing to examine her options. There are more muted orders as she directs her troop. "Explore with caution, look for secondary devices."
"That would be the point," comes Taran's bland response as the fiery defenses rise. "Units two and six, fire suppression." This order sends two of the giant bugs to the sides, 'chewing' through brick and mortar to smother flames by dropping...well, more debris on it that isn't flammable. Smothering the fire with the civic equivalent of dirt. And, of course, dirt too. Once the fire's out the bugs continue their approach, metallic legs climbing over the debris.
While Aio's troops search for traps in the sewers, a scout hisses a warning. A sewer connection, theoretically from inside the target building, is opening.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Lorana barks, and the Hummingbirds swoop gracefully away from the incoming missiles. She takes careful aim with the machine gun and starts returning fire, encouraging the others of her unit to do so to make it look like a desperation tactic in the face of opposition. She doesn't need to hit anyway, she's just the distraction! She does try to take out some of those missiles, though.
Aio orders her troops back against the wall, out of the line of sight of the opening. She then brings up the two best shots she has to the fore with her and waits patiently for signs of more movement.
Cyndre is NOT blocked by mere piles of debris, and uses her size and might to try clearing some of the burning mess. At least to get a small path opened for the machines to get through. She's fireproof, so... Of course, she's mindful of opposition, if there's any.
Taran sends to Cyndre, "We're maneuverable. See if you can knock out those flyswatters aiming at Lora, would you? Four and Five, go with her for backup."
Jaymesin's ornithopter darts and evades with the rest, the tall Weir hanging onto the rope. His 'thopter isn't a distraction, though; along with another, it makes a break for the target building.
Lorana's guns blaze, and several of the anti-'thopter missiles blossom into flaming clouds, through which the mighty birds swoop and dodge. It does seem that a *lot* of enemy resources are concentrating on keeping those ornithopters away from the target building. Meanwhile, on the street, Taran's fire-suppression bug tactics chomp down on the street blazes, and Cyndre is immunely swinging fires out of the way, left and right! But yes, many of the missiles are coming too close to the flying machines for comfort, and Cyndre would be well-spent taking those missile tubes out.
In the sewers, a HUGE GUSH of water comes pouring out of the opening, forcing Aio and her men to cling for dear life to any hand- or toe-hold available!
"On it." Cyndre responds, and makes double-time to the tubes. She opens fire on them when she's near, adding her own firepower to the mix to make things too hot to handle for any operators of the tubes.. Assuming the tubes have operators.
The tube-handlers scatter, yelling in terror at the fire giantess's otherworldly visage. But many more remain-- she has her work cut out for her. Meanwhile, a missile comes screaming through the air, RIGHT AT JAYMESIN.
Aio all but growls into her head piece as a couple of her men are washed away, short orders coming to try and maintain both the moral and the position of the others. "Jam yourselves in, as tight as you can. Brace your body against the wall. That's it!" There is also some swearing, which only the Chantris blooded will have the joys of as it's in Irribrim.
Confident that the guns have more to aim at than just the aviation branch of attackers, Taran spreads his four remaining units out widely, trying to force the target building to spread its defenses thin to deal with him. The giant bugs take heavy fire as a result, and deal with it by alternating which of them is closest to the compound at any given time.
Jaymesin's overgrown revolver spits small metal shards at the missile heading in his direction; it was too fast to have been a conscious decision, Jaymesin moving to deal with the threat almost before it's registered. He swears as well, but only one word - the worst Cibola has to offer.
[EDIT: The missile blossoms into a third sun briefly, showering Jaymesin with debris and singing his hair.]
Cyndre arrives close to a missle tube, and lets her gun hang from the strap so she can do something truly horrifying! She unhooks those chains she brought with her, and uses them to smash and shred any who remain near the tube! Gore! Bone! Blood! Screams! Sexy flames! She tries to figure out how to load an and fire a tube to turn it against the attackers. Hey, she can pick one of those things up like a personal bazooka, right??
Cyndre can, in fact. It's a 3-man rocket-launcher, in essence, and she has no problem bracing it.
The ground defenses take on a different look as Taran spreads out. From all over the city, plumes of smoke go up. But they're not, seemingly, from roadblocks. From every house, every building, people start pouring out-- men, women, little children, pregnant women, women carrying babies-- and all are standing in the road, blocking the machines with their bodies.
Taran eyes his new 'blockade' for only a second or two before ordering, "Nets. Capture them and use them as shields. Continue approach. Let's see if the people they would protect love them as much in return."
Shrapnel off one of the shot missiles tears through the wing of Lorana's ornithopter and she curses in much more traditional style. "SHIT! This is Hummingbird Leader, I'm hit, I have to break off," she informs the others, "Hummingbird commander, take over from here." Weaving and bobbing, Lorana's ornithopter manages to air-hobble its way off to safety.
Taleyn says, "Hummingbird Gamma, break off with Leader to escort to safety. The rest as you were!"
In the sewers, after the torrent abates, the passages are calf-deep in wastewater. There is further banging, with discernible (though not necessarily understandable) speech coming from overhead. Then a gun barrel appears at the opening and sprays the passage with bullets.
Having kept her men pressed against the wall Aio now looks relieved at the choices she made. The sharp shooters at the front are commanded with a simple gesture of her hand to take out the people shooting at them. She picked her men with care, the barrel is soon under a barrage of its own.
Taran's nets seem to be doing the trick. There's a lot of screaming and wailing and it's all heart-wrenching, but nonetheless the people are not being harmed, and they are being taken out of the way... until enemy gunfire tears into the human shields, killing their own people in order to get to the attackers.
Jaymesin adds a couple more choice swearwords - Lyonne and Jadean respectively - at what he's hearing through his earflower, but other than that remains silent as he waits for his turn to fight.
Jaymesin, meanwhile, makes it to the roof of the target building. He and his group have seconds to get down the rope-- precious seconds in the air, as targets!
Aio's group returns fire, and the gun barrel retreats-- there are soldiers up there. Are they attempting to use the sewers as an escape passage?
If they are it's a tactical error. Aio gives her troops the once over to check for injured, leaves them in the passageway and orders the advance. "Targets look to be making for the sewers, control. We have suppressive fire. Making the most of it."
Cyndre DOES cackle now, as she starts using the missiles and launcher as her own personal cannon. FWOOSH! *TH-BOOOOM* She blows up a missile launching platform, and explosions roar and missiles fly everywhere! swoosh swoosh swoosh BOOM BOOM BOOM. "YES! OH BY THE BLAZING FURIES YES!!! DIE! DIIIIEEE!!!" *FWOOOOOM* BOOOM! Another platform down!
Taran nods slightly to himself, as if this response answered a question. "Unit three. Take the dead shields back to their people. Two, with me. Let's give the wolves some fog." As he and his partner create 'fog' in the form of the dust clouds of collapsing masonry, one of the cockroaches scoops up the nets of dead would-be shields in its pincers to take back to other people who might have the same idea.
Jaymesin launches himself down the rope with a terse, "Alpha team, go," as though he's done this sort of thing before - but then, he's a Defender of Kolvir, and ropes are a speciality. He lets gravity take him, judging his landing so that he makes it to the roof heavily but intact, and comes up firing at the enemy.
Aio's group is advancing into the building, encountering enemy militia soldiers, and-- is that a glimpse of one of the targets? It's true; the warlords, or at least some of them, seem to be headed to the basement. And Jaymesin's group is well on their way to ensuring they've no other place to go!
"Spread out," Aio tells her men as she spots the targets. "Remember the pictures you've been given. Disable, don't kill them." And then she sets to, quite happy to be back in combat once again.
Taran's fog-cover, combined with Cyndre's barrage of heavy fire, makes it far easier for Lorana's bird to limp away without, say, crash-landing in the middle of the hostile city! Her ornithopter and its escort head safely out into the desert, toward the Mission Control base.
Taran sends over comms, "Let me know when you're in and we'll try to draw them out."
Jaymesin's team gets to the roof, and then they head inside. Jaymesin may not have done this sort of thing with firearms before - but he's done it with crossbows, and the guns just make him all the more lethal than he was already. "Alpha team inside." His voice is calm and clear.
Cyndre launches more missiles, her aim improving every time she uses the thing. Now, however, she sends them streaking at the city walls and gates. *FOOOM* *FOOOM*
There are casualties inside the building-- people are scared and desperate, and the warlords none too eager to be caught. But the teams begin to search the building and round up the targets, Jaymesin from above and Aio from below.
Aio makes sure it's all done methodically, with each person - alive or dead - checked against the pictures she had. She's leaving nothing to chance if she can help it.
Taran's forces finally make it through, getting into position to secure the perimeter. They are coming under heavy machine-biogun fire from the locals, though, and their shielding has only a few good minutes left.
Cyndre is rendering the ornithopters' paths much clearer. Guns still target them, but the big screaming rockets seem to have taken the better part of valor for now.
Jaymesin's search of the building is quick, a wolfpack neutralising the shepherds and pulling down the prey. "Third floor clear." And then a little later, "Second floor clear."
It's not long before AIo's team is meeting up with Jaymesin, with a couple of extra bodies neatly tied up in tow.
Taran directs his remaining cockroaches, "Focus on taking out the guns. Don't damage the buildings further. Retreat if you can't hold position; we've done our job."
Cyndre continues the slaughter outside until there are none left that fire on her or her compatriots. After, she'll play snatch and grab with some weaponry, including rockets.
Jaymesin's team meets up with Aio's, and everyone heads downstairs and into the sewers. Jaymesin and his men scout at point, making sure the exits stay clear.
Aio picks up her wounded along the way, keeping a studious silence on her way down as she also keeps an eye open for traps, or anything missed.
As Taran receives confirmation of the teams' penetration into the fortress, he calls his own critters to retreat before gunfire reduces them to scrap. "We're done here. Pull out; honors to the victors and the fallen." Somehow it's said in the same tone as 'let's go for coffee'.
Back at the headquarters of this particular mission, Taleyn is waiting for them. The prisoners are given over to the Shadow's military, and the volunteers are given mess hall privileges while Taleyn shows them how to take off their biotech safely. "Thank you all. Anyone who has time for a debrief, I'd love to have you stay around. If you have to leave, however, do so with my deepest gratitude."
Jaymesin has time for a debrief, it seems - but first, he has time for the butcher's bill, and the acquisition of booze for sharing at the debrief.
"I can stay, but when I go I'll be taking my spoils of war with me." Cyndre states excitedly. She has a small stockpile of things to take back for study. She's kind of like a child at christmas morning.
Taran gets his gear taken off, with some help, and studies it thoughtfully. "I have a little time, yes," he says. "Successful mission?"
Taleyn sighs at Cyndre, shaking her head affectionately. "They won't work in Amber, you know-- but yes, I know that's not the point." She says it as one who, herself, has been known to collect the odd shiny object from Shadow. Nodding to Taran, "Successful indeed! When Prince Jaymesin returns, I'll fill you in on the background. This Shadow is very close to one that was the scene of a tragic military defeat, a catastrophe in the annals of warfare. I wanted to come here to see if we could put our heads together and make it come out better." She pauses. "There are a few other tweaks I should like to experiment with. For instance, this Shadow is far enough away from the inspiration-world that the communicators worked throughout the battle. In the original, they stopped working. And there were other hitches, too. I must say, you lot really did a lovely job on navigating the threats you encountered-- and you gave a thought to keeping the human suffering to a minimum."
"I trusted Lord Taran would keep the human suffering down as far as he possibly could," Jaymesin says, ducking into the room with a faint smile and a tray of full glasses (with one cup). "Nice work, ladies and gentlemen. The mug is for Captain Aio, please don't steal it."
Taran blinks at this. "...I feel I must ask how the terrorist tactic employed by the civilians was handled in this other scenario, that you feel my actions were praiseworthy," he notes. "I considered them necessary. Not merciful."
Taleyn flashes Jaymesin a smile as he brings the grog, then she shakes her head sadly at Taran's question. "The point being that you *tried* to get them out of the way, Lord Proxy. You didn't just shoot through them, you didn't let them slow you down much, either. It was an innovative solution to a really awful problem we face on the field of battle all too often in settings such as this."
Jaymesin distributes the drinks, making sure Aio gets her mug. The alcohol in this shadow is apparently fizzy stuff, the colour of a liquid best left unmentioned, and served in tall, thin glasses. "I've seen it before," he says grimly, "Though not on that scale. I hate it when they do that."
Taran blinks, perhaps surprised to hear that, and thinks it over as he samples the strange fizzy drink. "I am...not unused to psychological tactics being directed against me. It seems mormal that one wishes to test the limits of a knight's honor. All that I know tells me simply that one cannot allow a psychological attack to succeed. One does not win a battle by playing the enemy's game by the enemy's favored rules. I acted to discourage the locals from attempting such tactics. I am...relieved, more than glad, that you do not disapprove of the choice. I am further relieved that it could be turned to serve to heighten the distraction it was my duty to provide."
"Aye, it's a sleazy tactic to use. I've mixed feelings about it; part of me wants to find a way around the obstacle and make the enemy pay more for their wickedness. Another part of me simply wants to mow through the civilians to strike even more fear into my enemy's heart." Cyndre says as she drinks from her glass. "Horrible thing to admit, perhaps, but on the field of battle it's my life, my men's lives, or the opposition."
Taleyn exhales. "I'm beyond horrified at the enemy's response, but yes, I've seen it before." She is silent for a moment, then she sniffs the fizzy, er, liquid, and ventures a sip. "Mmmm! It's like a... well, like a soda." She smiles once more. "At any rate, I'm dreadfully proud of you lot, and pleased to be fighting by your side. I'm wondering if you'd like to have another go at the scenario some time? As I said before, maybe something a bit closer to the original scenario. We might have to cope with extracting our own troops who get cut off from us," she warns.
Cyndre bobs her head, "To fight by you fine lot? Aye, I'd welcome the chance again!"
Cyndre asks, "But can we have bigger guns?"
Taran smiles a bit at Cyndre's question. "I am honored to be asked. I would enjoy another look at this battle."
Jaymesin outright grins. "We can have bigger guns," he assures Cyndre. "I'll look for bigger guns along with everything else. I'm always up for another scrap, Knight-Major, especially if it means working with these ladies and gentlemen." He lifts his glass in a toast to the others in the room.
Taleyn grins from ear to ear at the irrepressible Cyndre, and beams happily at Taran's reply, then laughs at Jaymesin's own irrepressibility. "Lovely! Thank you all so very much. Some battles just haunt one, I suppose, and this is one I keep playing over and over in my mind, taking elements of other strategies and hurling at it, and the like. The Prince Marshal introduced me to it right when I was contemplating doing something very foolish, myself-- very much like this battle, in fact. I elected *not* to pursue my losing scheme, luckily for me."
Taran joins the toast, and says, "Until then, then. Duty calls me onward. When you are ready for another round, send word."
Taleyn rises. "Thank you for coming. I will call you for the next engagement."
Cyndre looks forlornly in the general direction of where her stock of toys lay. "I'm goint to need someone to cart me home if I'm to take all that." She smiles hopefully at Taleyn and Jaymesin. "Help a giantess out?"
Jaymesin nods to Taran. "My lord," he says, with a smile, then grins at Cyndre. "Whatever the Knight-Major commands, Knight-Major."
Taleyn grins. "Fine, let's head for home, Ladies and Gentlemen."
Cyndre beams, "Aye, then let's be off. I can't wait to see what I can come up with inspired buy these weapons. I really need a good collection of guns to get a better feel for making them."