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Reaper Cavern |
Lower cavern located in the foothills north and west of Coesbur known to host Reapers. Not the same caves visited by the scouting party on another recent mission. |
It is Day on Mon Jul 18, 2149. |
It takes some time to get across the river west of Coesbur and to the Reaper tunnels. It's unknown if they lead to Mount Weather itself or just into the vicinity, and there's only one way to find out: get some people into the tunnels and find out. One problem with that plan, they're called Reaper tunnels for a reason: they're filled with Reapers. So first, a group has to clear away or lure away the first knot of Reapers, gathered fifty or so feet into the tunnel at the first splitting of ways. Luckily, there is another twenty or thirty feet of clearing between the shrubline and the tunnel entrance, so there's a little more space to work with. The sun is almost to its zenith as the small group — one of many poking at the varied Reaper tunnels in the area — sets up in the shrubline.
<FS3> Lionel rolls Alertness: Failure. (5 6 4)
Now they have come, each of them can spread out around the clearing. Among those who have concealed themselves in the bushes is Khesu, trying to be as quiet as possible as he gets into position. In his hand he carries an axe though he also has a bow. This warrior knows that Kai doesn't have one and she will be forced to fight hand to hand with the Reapers. Wren isn't here to watch her back, so will do so if needed.
Khesu stays low to wait, quiet and patient in the dappled shade of the trees and bushes as he watches and listens. He is ready to break cover if the bait is taken and Kai is able to lure the Reapers out. Dark eyes study the cave entrance, aware of the others gathered around with the same intent.
On a space station where no one is shooting back at you, or hurling bladed weapons at you, cover is not so important. Down here, on the ground? It's the difference between laughing at jackholes trying to climb walls and smacking them in the head with a club or getting impaled. So Grey has his left shoulder pressed against the fallen bole of a nurse log, his assault rifle up and ready. This time, they're not there to capture, so he has it set on burst-fire from the start. Tuck the butt into his shoulder, rest the barrel on the log, sight down the carry handle… oh look, movement. Try not to look at how fuck-ugly the Reapers are… aim center mass… there we go. Time to get this party started… once they walk this way.
As much as Britt would've loved to volunteer as bait, seeing as how this was partly her idea, an aging archer with a bad knee is really /not/ the person you want to send in to moon the Reapers and run. And so she catches Kai's eye before all this begins. "<In Trigedasleng> Take care," she says in soft concern to their bait, before moving off to take up a good covering position. Erson is around somewhere too, for the record.
Morgan doesn't climb trees. Not that he has anything against climbing trees but he has a tendency move in and hit things with his sword at times. Plus he needs to be mobile to treat people as they get wounded and being in a tree can make that difficult. Accordingly, he's taken cover behind a tree that has a nice amount of low hanging branches and shrubbery around the base.
Lionel Weeks hates being the one in charge. Don't get him wrong, he loves bossing people around. He just hates the other part of being in charge, which means he has to be responsible for all those under him, and make sure that everyone comes home alive, and is the one who has to explain why those who didn't, didn't. But, the Corporal is going to do his best, damn it. He crouches down next to Britt — having made it clear to the woman that he is going to defer to her wisdom here as the superior ground fighter — rifle slung across his shoulder, but in such a way that all it takes is a proper shoulder jolt to sent it swinging into his hands. He sets his forearms across his knees, staring at the Reaper tunnel's entrance. He shifts slightly aside, trying to get a good view. He sees… torchlight, vague movement, and he suddenly wishes for night vision goggles. Kane said no. Bastard.
Pontus was covered in soot and ash and was uncomfortably crouched behind breaks in teh rocks and sparse foliage. Felt like home! The Trikru scout rule was get comfortable being uncomfortable right? There was a nod to Britt and took up a spot opposite Erson. It was days like this that got the adrenaline going and that was just fine. His spear hung low in his fingers and one of many knives waited at the ready waiting for the ambush. He didn't like using Kai as bait, but it was as good as any plan. Being the lure was warrior work. No time like the present to learn it. Quietly the scout waited.
There's a nod of Kai's head for Britt's words. Let it not be said that the Second's a coward. Not at all. There's a rub of the back of her head with a hand before she elects to approach the tunnel from the left hand side. The idea is simple, sight, screech, run to the right to get out of the line of fire the quickest. Avoid going into the dark spot full of hungry, hungry cannibals if it can be avoided. So it is that she finds herself creeping up on the left like someone trying.. well, actually to not draw attention before the right moment, but hey, works for trying to fake like she's trying to escape, too.
It's the bit where she reaches the entrance that counts, and sure enough there's at least a deep breath before she turns like she's going to head into the tunnels, three steps for maximum echo opportunity. Blame Leo, and all his horrible pop culture movies, maybe it's a little bit from The Shining, maybe it's Psycho inspired.. maybe it's equal parts genuine terror and the determination to simply drown it out in fury.. regardless.. the girl's got some lungs on her for the inarticulate reverberating screech before she turns to rabbit off in the other direction because she's sure as hell not suicidal enough to stick around.
Part of the Milita. Not like Asher had much choice. He was considering helping them clear the Reapers. He's got people in that mountain. But he isn't good at taking orders. So whent they shoved a rifle in his arms and said he could quit tomorrow, Asher just took the gun and moved along to go shoot some shit. So here he is, in his grounder leathers, ducked behind a tree trunk with a rifle. It's like the worst place for him, but even he isn't dumb enough to go running off into that tunnel, axe out…He'll do that later, after he's failed to shoot a few of them.
What was pretty much desultory moving and shoving in the torchlight inside the tunnel stops for a heartbeat at the bouncing, echoing shriek. There is a murmuring buzz of near-Trigedasleng, and then a couple of whoops and a hollar, and the movement gets much faster, and starts to come out toward the entrance. They'll be in rifle and bow range for a while longer before they get within range of throwing weapons, but they're definitely moving fast… perhaps half a dozen of them, or a few more.
Britt knocks an arrow, but just waits until Kai clears the entrance before loosing it. No sense shooting down a dark tunnel that contains her favorite ex-Skaikru Second. She takes aim on the one closest on Kai's heels.
Khesu bides his patience and doesn't allow himself the temptation of drawing his bow. He could, but there are plenty here with ranged weapons - he only needs to be careful NOT to run out into the missiles. So he keeps hold of his axe and stays very calm, quiet. Soon enough they will come out to play.
<COMBAT> Asher fires fullauto!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper2 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper2 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper3 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper4 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper1 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Lionel fires fullauto!
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper11 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper11 with Assault Rifle - Light wound to Right Hand.
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper13 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper4 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Grey fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper1 with Assault Rifle - Light wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper1 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper1 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Britt attacks Reaper2 with Bow - Light wound to Right Arm.
<COMBAT> Reaper11 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Reaper2 has been KO'd!
Lionel swings up his rifle when Kai starts to play dramatically injured Grounder girl. He has to smirk a bit. "All those movie nights paid off," he says more or less to himself. Then he tucks the weapon's butt in tight against his shoulder and looks down the sights. He flicks a little switch near the trigger, turning the assault rifle into an automatic assault rifle. He pulls the trigger back sharply, sending a wave of bullets at the front three. One drops, he smirks, and then switches back to single shot. "Feed me, Seymour," he says, though really only Britt and anyone close by could hear him.
<FS3> Khesu rolls Resolve: Success. (5 2 7 6 3 3)
Popping out from around the tree trunk, Asher brings the butt of his rifle to his shoulder and lines up on several of the oncoming reapers. Spray and pray. Round after round leaves the rifle as the automatic bolt action slams back in a resounding *CLACKCLACKCLACK*. The bullets slam all around the oncoming Reapers and one of them actually gets hit in the chest. Not a conservative use of ammunition, but then, Asher has minimal firearms training. Asher ducks back behind the tree, wraps his forearm around in the shoulder strap of his rifle and waits a moment.
Grey waits until Kai has cleared the tunnel mouth, and then takes draws a bead on one of the lumbering shapes. Breathe in, breathe out… holy hell, autofire is loud, especially when it's from two different types of assault rifle at once. Very distinctive sounds. Oh, right, breathe out, fire. He puts a trio of rounds into the tunnel, and manages to somehow only clip his target. That is definitely not according to plan. "Asher, keep an eye on your ammo!"
Britt's arrow goes wide, hitting the Reaper in the arm instead of in a more central location. Whether the poor shot had anything to do with Lionel firing full-auto right beside her or not is anyone's guess, but the stream of bullets sure gets a holy shit reaction from both Britt and Erson. Britt, being closer, actually flinches a little at the burst of noise. Kai had described it to her, but there's really nothing like seeing it first-hand. She stares for a second and then forces her attention back on the badguys. "Feed you? What?" Who's Seymour? These Skaikru are so strange.
By the FLAME! The guns start firing and Khesu just about shits himself! The NOISE! This Trikru wasn't around when the original fighting between his clan and the Skaikru was happening so this is his first /personal/ taste of firearms. The stories don't do them any justice! The startled warrior about jumped out of his skin but he manages to hold his place and not -literally- soil himself. Less afraid than greatly surprised, his dark eyes are wide as he watches in fascination at what damage the firearms actually can do to a man's body as the Reapers down in the tunnel start to get blown apart. His breathing and heart rate jumped up, Khesu has tensed up but must wait until the Reapers come out.
Run Forrest, Run! Kai will probably smack Lionel one for that being stuck in her head as she clears a rock and bounds like Speedy out of the way. She knows well the rapport of rifle fire and that really being anywhere close to it is a world of bad as much as slavering cannibal Reapers. So the Second keeps running even after she's clear of the immediate range of fire until she's reached a place she judges reasonably unlikely to be in the line of fire before jerking her sword free and pivoting in place. Reapers being slaughtered on their way out of a tunnel are way less scary, and there's a grimly gleeful smile etched on her face at the sound of bullets hitting flesh in her wake.
Pontus was a seasoned scout. THe smell of reapers was nothing compared to the anxiety of possibly recognizing one of them. His eyes stayed locked on the entrance gauging the movement in teh darkness by way of the flecks of light that bounced into the cave and the sounds therein. It was party time. The spear hung loosly in fingertips at his side, but that knife waited ready to find a mark.
As Kai starts 'running away', Morgan takes aim at one of the Reapers chasing her and misses the one behind the one he was aiming at. Right. This time he steps away from the tree where the breeze can't blow any leaves into his line of sight. That's his story and he's sticking with it.
The Reapers falter a touch under the sheer weight of lead (and arrows) streaming into the tunnel. Two fall, writhing on the ground in as much shock as bloodloss or actual bodily damage. But when they're this hopped up on a near-toxic mix of amphetamines, steroids, and psychotropics… well, 'discretion' takes a good deal more doing. They continue charging, nearly the end of the tunnel. Once they burst out, they'll be near enough for Kai to engage and Pontus to strike with his knives… and for them to respond.
<COMBAT> Morgan fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Lionel fires fullauto!
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper13 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper13 with Assault Rifle - Critical wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper13 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Right Hand.
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper4 with Assault Rifle - Serious wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper4 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Asher fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper4 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper4 with Assault Rifle - Serious wound to Left Arm.
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper4 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Grey fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper1 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper1 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Right Arm.
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper1 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Britt attacks Reaper3 with Bow - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Reaper13 has been KO'd!
Lionel blinks over at Britt at her inquiry, and he opens his mouth to say something most indignant. But then he closes his mouth, and just offers her one of his award-winning grins. He settles on a rather amused, "Would you like to see a movie with me, Britt kom Trikru?" Kai's out of range, she can't possibly hear him pose that question. He quickly shifts his aim when another Reaper drops like. "That's two," he says. Not that he's keeping count. Not really… hey, look, there's an archer next to him. But he isn't really a dwarf.
Watch your ammo?? That sounds like an order! At least Grey is one of the 100, like him, so he doesn't immediately watch his ammo on the jerk giving him orders. Instead, he switches the gun to burst and rocks back around the tree trunk, unloading three rounds in less than three seconds at one reaper. Two go wide, one goes int the reapers upper arm with a thud. He really needs to practice with this thing. "Fuckin' guns…" he mutters and ducks back around the tree to check his axe and make sure it's there. It is. It will come free soon.
Morgan sets the rifle to burst, carefully squeezes the trigger then frowns as all three shots miss. Raising the barrel, he gives it a look and says "Damn it, Weeks. You must have given me one with a bad sight." And hey look, it attracted its attention to him. Fine. Moving back to the side of the tree, he takes aim again. This time compensating for the BAD SIGHT that must be there.
Britt still flinches when the rifle spits lead again - that's gonna take some getting used to - but she manages to hit the Reaper in the head this time. It's a glancing blow, not enough to take it down, but enough to get the thing's attention. Britt's eyes narrow a bit at that realization. She draws back another arrow, just in time to hear Lionel's question. "See a what?" She spares him a brief WTF? squint before refocusing on the Reaper.
As the Reapers near the entrance of the tunnel, Grey fires off another burst, "Man, I want a damned open field." At least he slams a couple of bullets into his target this time. "Four-hundred meter shots. Minutes under fire." He might need a moment alone. The lessened volume of fire from Asher draws a sharp nod from Grey, "Nice." Morgan's complaint causes Grey to chuckle roughly, "I bet you say that to all the boys."
Kai waits for them to get clear, she knows what she's looking for, the one that charges at her. If anything it makes the grey-eyed girl smile even more brightly, she picked her spot for the broken litter of rocks and dirt before her and she's got the patience to wait for the moment to try and stick her sword straight into his neck, hopefully. That's the plan. Murder. Straight out. Cannibal murder, but still.
Khesu is with Britt on this one. He flinches when the gun fire starts back up, his gaze intent on watching that tunnel. How on earth they aren't hitting Kai, he has no idea. The bearded Trikru warrior flares his nostrils and edges forward, eager to use his axe. He waits, but shouldn't have to wait much longer.
Pontus got quiet. Too quiet. There were loud noises he wore like a blanket to his his own intent. Back the bricks as they once said. He crouched low and aimed high. It was goof for avoiding most errant throws, friendly fire, and wild swings. Not his first rodeo, but Reapers were not, and should not, be something one got used to. He didn't look back to Erson, Khesu, and Britt. He trusted them to do their job. he Skaikru? Well he couldn't wrap his brain around them, but he trusted them to follow Britt's lead on this.
Another Reaper tumbles to the tunnel floor, half his back blown out, but now they're out of the tunnel and sprinting across the open ground of the clearing. Shouts of rage and pain go up, and motion can be seen behind the first bunch, another group of Reapers attracted by the shouts of their fellows… and apparently not yet familiar enough with the sound of rifle fire to flee.
<COMBAT> Reaper14 attacks Kai with Sword - Serious wound to Neck.
<COMBAT> Reaper12 attacks Morgan with Thrown Knife and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Reaper1 attacks Grey with Thrown Spear but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Reaper4 attacks Asher with Thrown Knife and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Pontus attacks Reaper23 with Thrown Knife - NEAR MISS!
<COMBAT> Morgan fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Grey fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper1 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper1 with Assault Rifle - Serious wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper1 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Reaper3 attacks Britt with Thrown Axe but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper4 with Assault Rifle - Critical wound to Right Hand.
<COMBAT> Kai attacks Reaper14 with Sword - Critical wound to Neck.
<COMBAT> Britt attacks Reaper3 with Bow - Moderate wound to Right Arm.
<COMBAT> Asher fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Reaper1 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Reaper14 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Reaper3 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Reaper4 has been KO'd!
Lionel spends 1 luck points on What Kind of Guard Doesn't Have Alertness, You Fool..
<FS3> Lionel rolls Alertness+3: Good Success. (1 7 3 3 4 5 8)
"A movie… a story told through moving pictures," Lionel explains, and then he shrugs a shoulder. "Hard to explain… much better to see. What you doing on Friday?" He at least doesn't linger too far on this topic! He has Reapers to shoot! When his next target drops like a sack of potatoes — not that Lionel has any idea what a sack of potatoes looks like — he starts to trail his rifle deeper into the caves. His eyes narrow, looking down the sight as a focus point. "I've sighted four more, and then nothin'!" He looks to Britt. "Your scouts got a clear entry into the tunnels once we get these guys out in the open."
Quick, quicker than Kai was anticipating, certainly. To judge from the speed at which his sword finds her. She still needs to watch her focus, definitely, given that his sword manages to slice her neck pretty badly, but if his attack was bad.. she virtually decapitates him in response, backing up from her spot to raise her free hand to her neck and check her wound with a grimace. There's satisfaction there, too, though. That one. There. The pez dispenser. He's hers.
Britt ducks a little as an axe sails over her head, then fires back at the Reaper and takes him down. Her eyes narrow in concern when she sees Kai take a hit, instinctively shifting her bow in that direction. But it turns out the Second doesn't need any help, and Britt allows herself a tiny smile. Go go Kai! As she finds another target, she spares Lionel a brief glance. "Now is hardly the time." For planning movie parties, that is. His comment about the scouts gets a little nod.
Erson fires an arrow into the fray as well. He may not understand what a movie is, but he's savvy enough to catch the drift. And on top of hearing the story of what'shisname the healer doing something similar in the last Reaper fight, he smirks and asks, "Is this your new thing now? Getting hit on in the middle of a battle?" At least he's taking it in stride. Britt just snorts and rolls her eyes.
Pontus was not used to having gunfire behind him. It was a non-optimal condition, and even in spite of that one twisted blade made from a once-yeild sign found its target. The only problem was the target moved at the last moment taking a piece of its collar with it instead of flesh. If only this guy knoew about baseballs he'd have had a field day as a pitcher in the day. Quickly he grabbed the next nearest one from the sleeve on his forearm and rapid thre it as his target closed into range. "<In Trigedasleng> Britt, We have more inbound"
And here they come! Khesu finally breaks concealment when some of the Reapers burst out of the cave - and one of them comes right in his direction! He moves to stand, coming out of the foliage with his axe held low, eyes intent. Not to watch the Reaper's sword but the Reaper's eyes and peripherally, the shoulders to telegraph what the rest of the body is doing. Khesu attempts to subtly knock the sword's blow out of line that is aimed for him and see if he can't use the momentum of his axe to cleave the Reaper open. This is NOT the time to think about the Reapers being of his own people, of the Trikru! Don't think, just do what needs to be done, fast and focused.
Another three shots, but only one lands. One for three is not great odds. Still, he's not good enough yet to snipe. So Asher ducks back behind the tree, takes several short breaths and then moves back around it, crouched on one knee this time, lightly pulling the triger to release another three rounds off on the same sword wielding target he was aiming for before.
Morgan is definitely going to get this damned rifle checked out when he gets back. Should have brought his bow. HItting the tree next to him with the barrel to dislodge anything that might be in there throwing his aim off, he takes aim at a new one to start fresh. "Only one at the moment, Grey."
Apparently, despite Grey's fervent wishes for long, wide-open spaces, it gets easier to shoot your target the closer they get. A spear thumps into the nurse log Grey is sheltering behind, and he coolly puts two more rounds center-mass before the bullpup weapon's recoil pulls the third shot off-target. The third miss might also be because the Reaper drops to the ground like a sack of unprocessed soy-sludge. Yes, it comes in sacks. Whatever the cause, Grey nods to himself, then spots another Reaper eyeing him and turning sideways in preparation to launch another spear at him. That guy, he's the next target. "Well, focus on your breathin', not your rifle, it'll help your aim."
The last survivor from the first wave throws herself at the Trikru advancing on her as well, just as the second wave launches themselves out of the tunnel, with the third close behind.
<COMBAT> Reaper23 attacks Grey with Thrown Spear - COVER stops the attack.
<COMBAT> Morgan fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper23 with Assault Rifle - Serious wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper23 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper23 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Right Leg (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Khesu attacks Reaper12 with Axe - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper23 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Asher fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Neck.
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper12 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Pontus attacks Reaper23 with Thrown Knife - Critical wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Britt attacks Reaper5 with Bow - Serious wound to Left Arm.
<COMBAT> Reaper12 attacks Khesu with Sword - Moderate wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Reaper12 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Reaper23 has been KO'd!
"I dunno… I could die…" Lionel doesn't seem to linger on it though. He does seem greatly amused however. He doesn't miss the comment about flirting, and casts Erson a broad grin. "I was just offering… a cultural exchange." Then he hefts back up his rifle now that he's decided on his next target.
Granted, there's blood on Kai that's not hers, but what's on her hand when it comes away from her neck? Yeh, definitely hers. Still, there's the wipe of her fingers on her pants as she readjusts her grip on her sword. She elects that caution is the better part of discretion.. well, a little belatedly for her neck at least. Waiting off in the wings for one to get close enough for her to try and take out without giving up any more of her blood for the moment.
Hitting the tree with the rifle obviously fixed whatever was wrong with it. Looking satisfied, Morgan scans the field again and meets the eyes of one of the Reapers. The look clearly says 'you dinner'. The return looks says just as clearly 'eat hot lead for dinner'.
Khesu's trick almost works! Enough to slightly deflect the sword but not enough to stop it from hitting him in the side of his chest. Almost simultaneously he cleaves the Reaper in the /head/ with his axe, teeth bared. The blows exchanged stagger the Trikru off balance but he keeps his feet as Asher's bullets then rip into the same Reaper, twisting it about as it's riddled with gun fire! That freaks out the Trikru warrior a little bit. Khesu jumps back, not caring to be shot himself! Blood begins to slick his armor but adrenaline this early on is a good thing to keep a man going and ignore pain. That'll have time to kick in later. Khesu at once looks for another Reaper to attack, a quick sweep of his gaze to see how the others fare.
Three more bullets, one more hit. Asher grumbles quietly to himself and switches the rifle to semi-auto once more. He moves out around the tree once more, though he doesn't duck behind it further, instead moving out into the open and taking several steps closer to the fray, attempting to land one good shot this time. Just one good head shot.
Pontus set his jaw and really, he considered himself a reasonable guy. If he threw something at you he let you die peacefully on the first through. But no… reapers were rude and cruel abominations. With an efficient throw he zipped that second dagger like a hummingbird right into the Reaper's chest as it was running up on the Skaikid. He watched it slump long enough to confirm the kill before stabbing spear int the ground. Ducking low he went about pulling both knives from secondary sheathes in boots.
Grey's nurse log collects another spear, this one high enough up that the point comes out in front of Grey's face, and his shot jerks up and away from his target. "Woah." And then the Reaper sprouts a knife in the stomach, and falls down, "Thanks whoever did that." And the Reapers are getting real close now, and Grey flicks his rifle back to burst fire.
Britt puts an arrow into one of the Reapers, but then there's another closing in on her and she shifts fire to that one. "You will if you don't pay attention to the battle," Britt mumbles dryly to Lionel. And then Erson chimes in between arrow shots, "Is that what the skaikids are calling it these days." He offers a wolfish grin. "You're definitely her type." It's really a toss up whether he's screwing more with Britt or with Lionel at this point.
Britt nods to Pontus, as well. "I see them." But she doesn't call the retreat - not yet, anyway.
<COMBAT> Reaper5 attacks Khesu with Thrown Knife - ARMOR on Abdomen stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Reaper22 attacks Grey with Sword but Grey DODGES!
<COMBAT> Reaper21 attacks Britt with Axe - COVER stops the attack.
<COMBAT> Reaper6 attacks Morgan with Thrown Axe - Light wound to Chest (Reduced by Cover) (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Reaper24 attacks Kai with Sword - Serious wound to Left Hand.
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper7 with Assault Rifle - ARMOR on Chest stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Khesu attacks Reaper5 with Axe and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Grey fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper22 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper22 with Assault Rifle - Serious wound to Neck.
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper22 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Britt attacks Reaper21 with Bow - Light wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Morgan fires a 3 round burst!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper6 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper6 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper6 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper8 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Kai attacks Reaper24 with Sword and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Reaper22 has been KO'd!
Morgan stepping back to the tree, Morgan takes aim and… is hit in the chest with an axe. Sure, it glances off the tree and then his armor but it's still enough to throw his aim off. Switching to single burst for the less recoil, he lines up a shot at the Reaper charging him.
The reaper Asher targeted? His bullet goes wide. With a grunt, Asher slings his rifle over his shoulder and unsheathes his axe. This was more his speed. That Reaper with the spear starts towards him after that bullet went wide and so Asher runs at the reaper, full speed ahead. Tactics aren't really his thing. Hacking things to bits while leaving himself totally open to being killed? That's his speed. "BRING IT, BITCH!" he yells at as he charges.
This time a Reaper comes up right before him with a knife. Khesu makes ready to thrust out his axe for it's face to see if he can impale the weapon's spike into an eye socket, only the Reaper doesn't close in! He throws a knife at the Trikru who tries to twist but it still hits him. Thankfully, the new armor Starling made deflects the blow and saves Khesu from further injury. It also makes him miss his jab. The dark haired warrior growls and tries to force closure on the distance between them to get the Reaper within reach.
Lionel takes everything in stride. He is all grins to Britt and Erson, but then he is pretty much coming face to face with a Reaper. Shit. He fires off a desperate shot, but it goes a bit afar and just slams into the Reaper's armor. He drops the weapon, letting it fall on its harness, and quickly draws out his shock baton. It snaps to life with a soft izzzz. Lionel's expression goes serious as he is now in immediate melee range with a rather ugly ex-Trikru.
Damn it, at least it wasn't the neck, but still Kai comes close to losing a couple of fingers on her off-hand to the one whose attention she attracts, certainly it and her neck are going to slow the Second down, and the expression on her face is more grim determination with feral smile than outright sadistic glee, but it would seem that although she cedes further ground from the tunnel entrance she's not yelling for help in dealing with her new 'friend'.
That Reaper almost gets to Grey. She's drawing back her sword when Grey punches a bullet into her chest, and then blows out a good portion of her neck with the second. The sword strikes nurse log even as Grey is stepping back and away, and the third bullet misses. Slinging his rifle, he glances around briefly, rolling his eyes as Asher goes rushing out to meet the Reaper, then spots the Reaper hurtling toward Morgan. The shock baton snaps out at his right side with a flick of his wrist, and he comes up behind the cannibal, a tight grin on his face.
Britt ducks under the Reaper's axe, giving a satisfied grunt as the weapon chops into the tree she was hiding behind. She quickly shifts her bow to her back and draws her sword, scrambling away from the berserker. Kai getting hit again is noted out of the corner of her eye, so she begins shifting in that direction in case the Second needs a hand. There's always a fine line in a battle, knowing when to retreat. Here it's more complicated, since if they don't divert the Reapers enough their mission is for naught. But it also doesn't do any good for them all to die either. Conscious of the third wave coming down the tunnel, she decides to give it a teeny bit longer.
<COMBAT> Reaper21 attacks Britt with Axe but Britt DODGES!
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper7 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper6 with Shock Baton - Critical Stun wound to Neck.
<COMBAT> Britt attacks Reaper21 with Sword - Light wound to Right Arm.
<COMBAT> Reaper6 attacks Morgan with Axe - Light wound to Left Arm (Reduced by Cover).
<COMBAT> Reaper5 attacks Khesu with Sword but Khesu DODGES!
<COMBAT> Reaper8 attacks Asher with Spear - Light wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Reaper7 attacks Lionel with Sword - Light wound to Right Hand.
<COMBAT> Reaper24 attacks Kai with Sword but Kai DODGES!
<COMBAT> Pontus attacks Reaper6 with Thrown Knife - Light wound to Left Arm.
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper6 with Assault Rifle and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Khesu attacks Reaper5 with Axe - ARMOR on Abdomen stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Kai attacks Reaper24 with Sword but Reaper24 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper8 with Axe - Light wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Reaper6 has been KO'd!
Pontus let loose to let one fly at the creature bearing down on the mad Doctor. For his own reasons he was going to see Morgan live through this. Getting him to admit that though was another story. If there was one thing he was a bit of a sucker for it was a perfectly good cause. It seemed he wasn't the only one who felt keeping the doctor alive was a splendid idea. The knife flew from his fingers and took flesh from the Reaper's arm as it came up to bring war to the angry medic as Grey blast a hole through the thing. "<In Trigedasleng> Morgan, status?"
Damn it! Morgan shakes his head left arm as an axe bounces off it. That's going to bruise. And then the Reaper falls at his feet as Grey administers some electroshock. "Maybe we should take this one back with us." he muses out loud then glances over at Pontus. "Fine. Help Kai." Which is exactly what he intends to do.
Lionel manages to get one more shot off in desperation, the bullet grazing past the Reaper's head, leaving a path of blood across his temple. He then starts to stagger back, throwing out his hand to catch the Reaper's sword swipe — an instinctive gesture that causes the blade edge to cut across his hand, blood welling. He grunts slightly when he hears Trigedasleng, saying in a learned phrase, "Ste kamp raun Gonasleng." Beat pause. "Please?"
There's a whole lot of whiffing going on between Kai and her current Reaper pal, which at least is better than him carving more bits off of her. He goes high, she goes side, both catch nothing but air but she's not about to go more aggressive, again, pain and the slickness of blood trickling down inside of her armor is enough to keep her both focused and determined to try and keep the rest of her bits fully attached. Her wounded left hand curled upon itself to try and keep blood and loose bits together. Totally not likely to get complaints from her about assistance at the moment though.
Khesu gets attacked with a sword this time and that's more what he knows how to deal with, than thrown knives. The gun fire doesn't let up though and it makes the Trikru warrior jumpy. He does manage to dodge the Reaper's weapon at least! His axe comes up at a angle between the Reaper's legs and lodges into the maniac's gut, but the thick hide armor or whatever the Reaper is wearing catches and stops Khesu's axe! The two break apart in the battle, "<In Trigedasleng> Damn your keepers!" It's a snarl from the normally quiet warrior as Khesu moves in again, intent clear a path in blood!
Rushing into combat leaves Asher with one evident fact: He's at a disadvantage in this fight. His opponent is a reaper, which sucks, and has a spear, which means he has to get inside the reach of the weapon without being impaled. The reaper thusts at him and Asher manages to evade it mostly, only taking a light cut through the armor. He shoves the spear away and rams his way close with his shoulder before hacking up across the Reaper's chest with his axe. Unfortunately the axe only leaves a line of blood on the reaper. Shit.
The great thing about shock batons is that when you hit bare skin, you drop the target. Grey lunches forward, slapping the baton to the back of the neck of the Reaper attacking Morgan. He's not quite quick enough to keep the cannibal off Morgan entirely, but when the electrical arcs play over the back of the Reaper's head and neck, the cannibal arches back, and then crumples. Grey looks about again, and then turns his course toward the Reaper attacking Asher, "Heads up, Asher. Left side." Medic first, members of The 100, then everyone else. That's how it works.
Britt gets a little ding in on the Reaper that's advancing on her, but once again manages to duck aside when it swings its axe. Then she shouts to the group. "Start falling back! We don't want to get overrun by the next wave!" She stays on Kai's flank, "You got him?" she asks Kai, breathing harder from the exertion.
<COMBAT> Reaper5 attacks Khesu with Sword - Moderate wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Pontus attacks Reaper24 with Thrown Knife - Serious wound to Neck.
<COMBAT> Reaper8 attacks Asher with Spear - Light wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Reaper21 attacks Britt with Axe but Britt DODGES!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper24 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper7 with Shock Baton - Moderate Stun wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Kai attacks Reaper24 with Sword but Reaper24 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper8 with Shock Baton but Reaper8 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Britt attacks Reaper21 with Sword but Reaper21 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Reaper7 attacks Lionel with Sword but Lionel DODGES!
<COMBAT> Reaper24 attacks Kai with Sword and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Khesu attacks Reaper5 with Axe - Serious wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper8 with Axe - Critical wound to Neck.
<COMBAT> Reaper7 has been KO'd!
"You heard her!" Lionel snaps off to the Skaikru present, again deferring to the senior fighter in this. "Let's move 'em back." Then he strikes out against the Reaper in front of him with a quick, precise strike that slams across the belly that incites a terrible noise of pain and anger. The Reaper staggers forward, trying to gut poor Lionel, but the man sucks in his stomach and leans back, dodging the hit. The Reaper falls flat two steps after the retreating Guard.
"I'll get him." Kai asserts, even if Pontus has done more damage to him than she has thus far. It's the principle of the thing. Of course she has him. Though the call to retreat from Britt makes her choose to lunge forward to try and put an end to her tete-a-tete with the Reaper even with others coming in to help.
Did Lionel say something? Because Asher was too busy not listening to anyone with stripes on their jacket to notice. The former delinquent seems to be caught up in the moment with this reaper. He's shoved back with the spear haft and a flicker of the spear blade cuts his chest again, but Asher dodges the worst of it. At Grey's words, Asher rolls to the right and comes up with a fist to the side of the Grounder's knee and then a hack of his axe to the Grounders throat. Blood spurts, but the Grounder isn't down for the count. "Son of a bitch…"
"Roger that." Morgan says though he doesn't move. He can't very well retreat when the others are still fighting, can he? Of course not. Especially not after shooting it in the chest. You don't leave wounded animals alive.
This is pissing him off a little bit. The big, tall, dark haired Trikru gets tagged again by the Reaper's sword and Khesu really lays into the foe with all he's got. That damned Reaper is so hopped up on whatever the Mountain Men jab into their necks, the crazy cannibal almost dodges away before Khesu can reach him! But the axe still bites, landing solidly into the Reaper's chest and coming out again, opening up armor and flesh alike into a decently gaping, serious wound. Breathing fairly fast from the exertion, Khesu presses to see if he can finish off the madman before te Reaper can do any more harm. The axe comes back up for a good, /hard/ jab!
Grey comes up on Asher's left as promised, whipping his crackling shock baton past the Reaper and drawing its attention. Asher manages the rest, more or less. Britt and Lionel's orders cause Grey to grit his teeth, and he growls out, "I've got two more mags. We can clear this nest for the scouts." Despite his complaints, however, he starts to back up, whistling sharply to get Asher's attention, "Ash. We're out."
Pontus nodded to Morgan, and with that, threw the last of the blades he had in hand. with more than sufficient alacrity it found is frightening mark with a meaty thunk into the neck of the reaper bearing down on Kai. Then it happened. Britt have the signal for fall back was given. Britt got a nod and with that the Jigsaw puzzle made a few hand motions to the other scouts. what they did not want was to draw attention back to themselves betraying all the efforts. Pontus grabbed his spear and made to duck back into the cave and whatever awaited for them.
Britt nods to Kai, even as she brings her sword up to block the Reaper's axe. There's a clang of metal that jars her teeth, and she pushes herself off the … thing, stabbing at it and scooting back a few steps. She's not leaving Kai, though. Erson provides covering fire for them with his bow. To Grey, she shouts. "I didn't say stop shooting them, I said move back."
<COMBAT> Britt attacks Reaper21 with Sword - ARMOR on Left Leg stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper24 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Abdomen.
<COMBAT> Khesu attacks Reaper5 with Axe - Serious wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Reaper8 attacks Asher with Spear - Moderate wound to Abdomen.
<COMBAT> Reaper5 attacks Khesu with Sword - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Reaper24 attacks Kai with Sword and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Kai attacks Reaper24 with Sword - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper8 with Shock Baton - Moderate Stun wound to Right Arm.
<COMBAT> Reaper21 attacks Britt with Axe - Light wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper21 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper8 with Axe - Light wound to Left Hand.
<COMBAT> Asher has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Khesu has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Reaper8 has been KO'd!
"If I don't see people starting to move their asses back…" Lionel's voice has lost its playfulness, and he's growling. He is making a steady backward walk, swinging his rifle back up into his hands in a smooth, well-practiced motion. He flashes a look at Grey, jaw working slightly. When Britt speaks, the Corporal nods. "What she said! If you were paying attention to your training, you should know how to do that." And he proves what it looks like by focus-firing with Britt on one of those ugly mugs.
"Kai! Move back. He'll follow." There's a slightly sharper edge to Britt's voice when Kai charges forward at the Reaper instead of starting to fall back. She hisses softly when she doesn't quite duck back far enough and the Reaper's axe bites through her armored vest.
Kai will stand down after Reaper24 is dead, damn it! He whiffs, but she strikes him upside the head, turning him into a latter day Van Gogh with the arc of her blade, but the bastard is still standing. So while she retreats to draw him after her she's not about to cede the battle while he's still mobile. He might be bigger, meaner, and uglier than her but damn it she's not about to let him win.
There's a meaty thunk as Asher was trying to figure out what he was supposed to do here. He's being 'ordered' to fall back while in the middle of being attacked! What the hell! And then he stops thinking as that meaty thunk was the sound of the spear piercing his armor and sliding into his stomach on the right side. Asher grabs at the spear haft and hacks his axe down on the Reapers hand to make it release the spear. He spends the next moments extracting the spear from his stomach with a grunt and he staggers back down to one knee. Asher stands and stalks off towards another reaper and looks back to Grey, "Start shooting these fuckers!"
So long as everyone else starts backing up, Morgan will too. "I have been Asher. And good work protecting your neck. Stop playing with it, Kai. Take it out already."
Grey whips his shock baton around, driving the Reaper back and sending it scurrying on hands and knees away from the fight. And then Grey reaches out to help pull Asher up to his feet, "We're movin', we're movin'. It takes a second when someone's tryin' to eat your face off." And then Asher's running off again, and Grey rolls his eyes and growls, "Goddamn it, people!" The shock baton is tucked away again, and he brings up his assault rifle instead, even as he starts retreating, "We're moving back."
Khesu is focused enough he doesn't hear Britt's call right off. Hit hits that Reaper another very sound blow, hacking it's chest open and somehow the drugged up crazy cannibal JUST WON'T DROP! It's a bloody raving mess and still it won't go down like a whore should! The Reaper makes a wild, unexpected swing that catches Khesu in the head! The tall Trikru staggers and falls, momentarily stunned and blood coming from his brow to obscure his vision. Rattled soundly, he does his best to get back up, to fall back, but staggers.
<COMBAT> Reaper24 attacks Kai with Sword - Serious wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Morgan attacks Reaper21 with Assault Rifle but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Khesu attacks Reaper5 with Axe but Reaper5 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Asher attacks Reaper5 with Axe - Moderate wound to Right Arm.
<COMBAT> Reaper21 attacks Britt with Axe - Moderate wound to Right Leg (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Grey attacks Reaper24 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Reaper5 attacks Khesu with Brawling and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Britt attacks Reaper21 with Sword - Serious wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Lionel attacks Reaper5 with Assault Rifle - Moderate wound to Neck.
<COMBAT> Kai attacks Reaper24 with Sword - Critical wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Kai has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Reaper21 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Reaper24 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Reaper5 has been KO'd!
Lionel shakes his head, hissing through his teeth, "Get over your goddamn selves and be soldiers, for fucksake." He narrows his sights on the Reaper barreling down on Khesu, and his instincts kick in as he sees someone in his unit about ready to become Reaper food. Grey took care of Asher's ugly friend, Lionel takes care of Khesu's with a nice shot right across the neck that creates a good bleeder. He advances forward a step so he can reach out, rifle falling away. His arm immediately goes under Khesu's own arm, hooking at his shoulder. "I got you, I got you."
And they drop like flies. Except so does Kai. Putting the safety on his rifle, he goes to take care of her wounds. "Grey, see if you can tell how fresh that Reaper you stunned is. Check the hypo marks on its neck. If there's a ton, just shoot it."
Pontus was not heard from. Was not seen from. None of the scouts were. It either means they had the area surrounded, or successfully slipped into the cave. Like ninjas it was hard to tell. We'll just take it on faith that the scouts showed up and did as was bade of them. As they say, sometimes no news is good news.
Just before Lionel's bullet rips into the reaper's neck, Asher's axe hacks into it's right arm, forcing it off balance before it could really attack Kensu. He stops when the Reaper falls and slides his axe back into the loop on his belt and starts to pull his rifle off his shoulder. His gaze flickers to Grey then to Lionel, "I've got it under control, Grey." He snaps and turns his rifle on the mouth opening, "Now are we running away, or are we clearing a path?" Of course, the path looks clear, but who knows what's in there still.
This is how Britt almost lost her leg the last time - only then it was a big old honking Azgaeda guy chopping into it with an axe, instead of a big old stinking cannibal berseker. It's not as deep, thankfully, but it still elicits a snarl of pain. She takes advantage of his awkward position to plunge her sword deep into his chest, and then they both fall. One dead, the other just wincing. "Britt!" Erson's concerned voice calls to her, and he's moving to her side. She waves him off. "Help Kai," she tells him. Morgan's behind her, so she doesn't realize he's coming over to do the same. But Erson does see the Skaikru medic, and moves to help Britt up instead. Seeing the field clear of Reapers — for now — and everyone sliced and diced a bit, Britt says, "Keep falling back. Regroup on that hill back there."
It's a shame that it seems like there's a balance between safety and aggression that just isn't Kai's friend. She retreats, alright, and where she judges that she has the right spot, right after Grey puts one in his head, she jams her sword in there, too, eye-socket, even, but the wild flail as he goes down catches her in her fashionably(?) shaved head and down she goes, leaving her sword (for the moment at least) jammed rudely in her opponents eye. Well, good thing that at least it wasn't likely to get back up and kick her while she's down.
Grey pauses at the shrubline, tracking Kai's attacker. He grazes a bullet along the side of the thing's head, but it's Kai's blow that really puts the creature down. But then Kai's down too, and he grimaces, "Be right there, Weeks." He slings his rifle and darts forward, ducking to wrap an arm around Kai's torso and start to haul her back toward the treeline, "Screw that, Morgan. We got orders to withdraw. You can check her out when we get to the others." Evidently, in Grey's mind, retreating when ordered is all well and good, but you don't leave anyone behind when you do it. "We're fallin' back, damn it, Asher."
Khesu is in rough shape but he's still on his feet after a stint of unsteadiness. The blow to his head really got him off balance. The Trikru warrior breathes hard and growls at being cheated of his kill, but on the other hand, he's not the one dead and sprawled on the ground. And he very well could have been. He looks towards Asher and Lionel and grudgingly gives them a nod, hand to own bleeding chest. Adrenalin's wearing pretty thin and he's panting some for breath. With bloodied axe, Khesu falls back a few more steps and leans against a tree, holding his side.
Lionel shakes his head at Morgan's words, lips curling back over his teeth slightly. He flashes his eyes to the med-tech. "Blackwood, get Kai and help her get back with the others." Then his eyes flash to Asher and Grey. He offers cover fire as he continues to backward step, ensuring that Kai is given a fair shot at being hauled back and that the Grounders and Skaikru alike are allowed to retreat safely.
OK, they are falling back, retreating from the caves a little distance. Khesu is able, his head clearing enough to think straight. He wipes blood from his face and moves to rejoin the others, hurting. He looks for Kai though. She was in pretty bad shape and is glad to see others have her. Khesu frowns and tries to see if she's still alive but he hunkers down in the foliage to rest, get his breath back. He's taken a few hits himself, but nothing as bad as Wren's Second.
Kai's dragged off. Dead weight. Dead, bleeding weight. At least most of what's on her armor isn't hers. That hand is bad, but at least she wont lose it, even if it's fairly mangled right now. Her neck? That's pretty serious, and in the way of these things has pretty much coated the side of her neck and under her armor in blood. But the armor itself? Did it's job. Yay Starling craft! Prodding around on her head though makes the former Cadet's grey eyes flutter open with a jerk as her brain 'reboots' straight into 'KILL' mode and reflexively grasps for a sword that isn't there. Totally not Morgan's fault the head wound doesn't get the attention it needs for the moment given the way she flails until she can sit up and look for her sword. Because eff losing that.
"So let her bleed for a while and leave a trail of blood and grow weaker while there are no enemies in sight? That sounds like a great idea!" Morgan scoffs. He motions for someone to come help Kai then goes over to look over at the unconscious Reaper. USDA choice or prime? Select?
"Blackwood! You get your fucking ass in line or this will be the last goddamn time you see the field!" Lionel shakes his head, lips curled back over his teeth. "You agreed to follow orders, and orders have been given!"
Khesu should have used a bow early on, but thought they'd come out a lot faster. So I waited and was all melee myself. Probably shouldn't have done that.
Britt leans on Erson, hobbling a bit. The two archers bring up the rear of the group as Britt looks around, keeping a wary eye on the tunnels, because for all they know there's going to be another cluster of Reapers charging out of there at any moment. She also counts heads, making sure nobody gets left behind. And that's when she notices Morgan going back to fuss with the Reapers. "Morgan! I said fall back to the hill!" she shouts, almost in stereo with Lionel.
Since they are retreating, Asher keeps his gun out. When Morgan needs someone to help with Kai though, Asher moves over to grab Kai and help her out. He pulls her arm over his shoulder, pointing the gun at the ground. He's barely injured, anyway. He's gonna keep out of all this orders nonsense. He came to help, he's helping. See Asher grow.
Grey starts hauling Kai back, snarling at the medtech as he goes, "Morgan, get your ass back to the hill." Now there are two Guards and a Trikru yelling at Morgan, their words overlapping one another. At least Grey's words come out between puffs of breath. It's not like Kai's heavy, but she's pretty solid muscle and armor and… woah hey, she's flailing, "Shit, damn it, Adams." He's going to have to work on the instinctive response. Wait, Grey is hauling Kai back out of a fight?
Screw it. They're going to attack the mountain soon anyway so time is running out to experiment on Reapers. If the Grounders don't care about saving them, he's not going to. Unslinging his rifle, he shoots it in the head. "You don't leave a live enemy behind you." he lectures them. He's see enough videos to know that. Once that's done, he head to the hill.
"You also don't go back to finish them off when your people are leaving and there may be a dozen more coming out of that fucking tunnel," Britt snaps, continuing to watch said tunnel as they back up toward the hill.
"Sword." is the slurred insistence from Kai. It doesn't particularly occur to her immediately who it is that's helping drag her ass up the hill, though Adams from Grey at least registers that it's not actually a Reaper trying to take her off for dessert. It'll probably sink in once the birdies stop doing their tap dancing routine in her skull who it is, but her head lolls in the direction of her blade though really, between Asher and Grey she's not likely to fight them both off just to go grab it.
Khesu has nothing with him and no real first aid training to stop his own bleeding, but he removes the cloth wrapped around his lower arms and stuffs it between his armour and his body where the wounds are. Lila would probably have packed them with moss but it doesn't occur to him. He lays himself down on the ground to wait and watch, trying to rest. He's hurting but keeps his eyes and ears sharp, keeping his silence while others yell at Morgan.
"We'll get it later, damn it." Grey up nods to Asher when the bigger man helps haul Kai up to the hill. Grey passes the adults up as they cover the retreat of the can't-follow-orders-Delinquents, moving to set Kai down alongside Khesu so that Morgan can tend to them.
Lionel sinks into quiet, steady anger once they make it up the hill. He looks between the so-called delinquents, and his voice comes out in a cold, crisp manner. "Next time an order is given, you follow it. I don't care about your feelings, I don't care about your motivations, or your reasons. I care about whether or not I can trust you… because I put a gun in your hands, I put you out on a battlefield like that, and you decide to go all rebel warrior, then I got no fucking clue if some boneheaded decision is going to get someone else killed." The guard's words remain steady despite the choice words. "If you're given an order, you follow the order… even if you think it is the dumbest idea this side of the goddamn moon. You follow it. You can come air all your grievances with me later, and I'll even probably fucking listen to what you have to say. But, I'm not going to let you risk the lives of other people because you think your ideas are better than everyone else's. You were ordered to fall back, to make more space between the Reapers and the scouts going in. Delays in following that order could have risked the Trikru going into those tunnels. You worry about our wounded and you move." The Corporal's voice barely fills with rage. "You pull that shit again, and I'll make sure the only field you see is the grassy lawn next to the lake." Then anger filters into his voice. "You got it?"
Kai's vision is still not what she'd like it to be right now, but sitting down is good, back against a tree is good. Hell, Khesu's presence is welcome, too. She knows Britt's there, somewhere, red hair is dead obvious. It's the opportunity to curl her wounded hand in her lap for now and let herself sag back, uttering all but under her breath,"So bossy. Glad he's not my boss." with way too much amusement right now,"<In Trigedasleng> You okay, Khesu?"
"Sure, whatever." Morgan says without looking away from the wounds he's taking care of. "And once Cam is safe, I'll be happy to let you go play soldier without me. Someone pass me some water to flush these."
The hell with tending to him. Grey brings Kai and lays her down near him and Khesu's focus turns to the bloodied girl Trikru. A flick of his dark eyes up at Grey for a second, wary of that man he doesn't know and who has become his niece's Houmon, then his attention drops back to Kai. Khesu grimaces, knowing nothing to do to help her. He speaks very low to her in Gonasleng, "Rest you. Be still." Quietly, Khesu tries to find something, any piece of cloth he can very gently press against her head wound to see if he can slow /her/ bleeding. She gets a nod from him, "Aye, be all right."
And there's Morgan coming up to have a look at them both. Khesu is wary of him, but cautiously he'll let the other man at his wounds. "Kai, she is hurt worse than I."
Grey gives Khesu a flat look back, apparently used to such looks from Trikru. And then he recognizes the other man, and blinks, but before he can say anything, Lionel's doing his chewing out thing. Grey starts bristling at Lionel's words, but as the Corporal goes on, apparently he decides they aren't intended for him, and starts nodding along, even as he finds a spot where he can drop to one knee and take aim in the general direction of the tunnel. "He's right, Morgan. That kinda shit'll get people killed. Hey Weeks, should I pop the downed ones from here, make sure they're dead? Or I can go up and finish 'em off with my knife and get Kai's sword while you all cover me."
Britt shuts up once Lionel starts lecturing the Skaikru, though it takes gritting her teeth to do it. She casts a concerned look back at Kai, but then she and Erson keep watch at the back with the bows, and she says softly. "Scouts made it in. We did our part." Hopefully they don't get eaten. Hearing Grey, she looks to Lionel and shrugs. His call, apparently.
"This isn't fucking playing soldier, Blackwood… in case you haven't noticed, there's an actual war brewing here, and if you are only here for Scott, then you're a liability to the rest of us. I'll be sure to let Kane know that you can stay home for the rest of this. Because, honest to Eden, if you don't care about this… kru, then I don't think we can trust having you around it." Lionel shakes his head, stepping away to deal with his own hand. Then he looks over at Grey. "Get Kai's sword, but do it quietly and quickly."
"This isn't fucking playing soldier, Blackwood… in case you haven't noticed, there's an actual war brewing here, and if you are only here for Scott, then you're a liability to the rest of us. I'll be sure to let Kane know that you can stay home for the rest of this. Because, honest to Eden, if you don't care about this… kru, then I don't think we can trust having you around it." Lionel shakes his head, stepping away to deal with his own hand. Then he looks over at Grey. "Make sure they're dead, and get Kai's sword, but do it quietly and quickly."
Khesu 's face is bloody from his own scalp wound. When Morgan moves away, he rolls back over and refastens his armor with a grimace. Then he's back to trying to hold the cloth so Kai's head wound won't bleed so badly. Gideon's uncle watches Grey for a long moment again ere his attention goes back to the caves. Very low he rumbles to himself, "<In Trigedasleng> Pontus, the Flame watch over you, my friend." It would be a nasty way to for the scouts to die, torn apart by Reapers inside those dark caves.
Kai knows, well, everyone present, and likely it shows in that even in her current state she doesn't stop Morgan from doing what he can to flush and bind her wounds, though no doubt the amount of blood that has seeped from her neck wound into her top probably looks more alarming than it is. She's got no qualms about being taped back together by the other Delinquent, grunting for Khesu's words and staying put for now at least. Especially as she just heard that her sword's going to be retrieved. It gives an opportunity to try and get her eyes to focus properly, after all, because there's a long walk back yet,"A bunch less Reapers, and the mission's complete, Leo, not his fault I tried to block with my head.. damned lucky he was here though, yeh?" she holds up her bandaged hand to point out the why. She doesn't endeavor to move away from the cloth held against her head,"<In Trigedasleng> The Flame?" that's one Kai's heard but doesn't know much about, yet, though she elects to second it with,"<In Trigedasleng> Until we meet again, Pontus. Good luck."
Grey waits for Lionel's response, then slings his rifle, tightening it down across his back and noting quietly for Britt, "She'll make it. She's tougher than she looks." And then he's up and moving forward at a dead run, ducking branches and leaping logs as if they were diving linebackers. In his mind, they probably are. Still, he resist showing off the spin move around a tree. He's there to do a job. As he reaches the first Reaper, he draws his knife, giving the thing a wary kick in the shoulder. It doesn't move, so he's on to the next one. It's better than getting your hand near their mouths to check for a pulse, and it's probably a little quicker than just slitting every throat. It's certainly a lot less bloody. It takes about half a dozen throat-slittings, and then he has to wipe off his blade, tuck it behind his belt again, and put a boot to the face of Kai's second kill, prying the sword out of the Reaper's eye-socket. Ew.
Britt and Erson share a brief look that may hint at how satisfying it is to hear Lionel ranting. But then she's looking back to Grey. "We will cover you," she says, bow at the ready. Never mind that she can't bear weight on her leg just now. That's what leaning on trees is for.
Lionel starts to patch the cut across his hand. The wound is deep and aches at the center of his palm. He looks at Kai, his expression serious. "Being a good medic doesn't excuse him, Kai. And this has nothing to do about him going back to help you." Then he breathes in, and says the next words in a tone he wishes he didn't have to use, "I'm sorry, kid… I'm glad he helped you… but if he can't follow orders, he's a risky asset." He looks at Britt now, offering the woman a slight nod. "Thank you, Britt kom Trikru."
Britt nods to Lionel when he says her name. "Could have gone better, but… none died. That's something." More than can be said for many missions. "Thank you." Once Grey is safely on his way back, she lets Erson wrap a cloth around her leg wound. Because she'd have to be dying before pride would allow Morgan to tend her, and she wouldn't like to lay odds on whether he'd even do it then. And then as soon as Kai's tended, they can start the long ride back to the lake.
"None died," Lionel repeats, agreeably. He rubs at the back of hi sneck with his good hand. He doesn't say more, merely resting his head back against the tree. His eyes start to close, taking a moment to find his center again. He seems to have forgotten movie night and all the jests. Shit just got real.
Kai even has thanks for Grey when it comes to getting her sword back, even if right now she can't spend the time to tend it as lovingly as it deserves. She slides it back in it's sheath and offers a hand up for Khesu so that the party can all limp back to safety without so much as a feather in their caps or a yankee doodle dandy.
As he sprints back through the woods, blood sword under one arm like a football, Grey can feel Reaper eyes on his spine. Granted, none come rushing out to attack him, so there probably aren't any there, but he can feel them nonetheless. When he returns to the hill, panting lightly, he pops one knee up, tucks the hilt of the sword under his left arm, and extends his right arm in the classic 'Heisman' pose that none of them knows (except maybe Weeks). It's horrible living among Philistines when it comes to football. Only then does he give Kai the sword back, changes his half-used magazine for a fresh one, and then settles in for the walk back with the mostly-wounded party.