The Hunting Grounds III - Second Most Dangerous Game

[Lady Serpentine]

[Rocky Waste]

The dragon banks hard to the left, folding its right wing, then snapping it open again moments later, upside down as it passes beneath the creature's left arm; should nothing interfere, it focuses on gaining altitude again for now, circling around in an attempt to get overhead for another pass at it, this time from the front - hopefully, it'll be set up to actually attack by that point.

[Forest]

Well then... No reason to deviate from what normally works on these mortals, in that case. If she's unnoticed, then so be it; her tactics rely on that, at least for the initial attack.

Perhaps a minute later, the boy's attention ought to be drawn by a blur of blue that passes inches from his eyes, shooting by like an arrow, then immediately reversing course - if he gets in the way, it might be a bit dangerous, but assuming he doesn't, he'll be fine; it's not actually meant to hurt him, just distract him... If it works, before he has a chance to get his bearings, he'll likely find himself with a seven-tailed fox demon at least as large as he is slamming into his back, jaws trying to close around his neck and shake, presumably tearing apart the veins and arteries, in addition to quite possibly snapping his spine, if it manages to get a proper hold on him.

[UncleWolf]

Rocky Wastes

(Recaiden, it's a little unclear about what you're aiming for, but I believe it is the eye on the end of the pillar arm so that is what I am going with)

Hunter's shot is mostly true, hitting off center of the eye but still rupturing the organ, making the arm flail about. It doesn't feel pain, but a sudden disruption of sensory input is definitely unfavorable for the creature. That said, the arm sweeps down quickly, and unless Patty and Wenomir are able to dodge it, they'll be batted aside with the force of a wrecking ball as the tentacles in the arm slither back inside it. At the same time, N'alae's shot hits inside one of the holes in the creature's left arm, but no visible damage can be see so far within. Despite a seeming lack of damage though, motes of blue-white energy begin to crackle around that left arm, slowly being sucked into that hand...

That's not a good sign.

Forest

The young man is startled by the sudden movement in front of him, making him fall back a step, but suddenly his instincts scream. He's not sure why, but he spins quickly, swinging his titanium baseball bat in a vicious upward swing aimed right at the fox-demon's chin. If it hits, there's a chance he'll snap the thing's neck or at the very least break the lower jaw and many teeth.

[Morty]

[Rocky Wastes]

Wenomir jumps in the air just as the arm nears him, performing a somersault before dropping right onto it in a perfectly-timed fall. He twists his body and points his sword downwards as he does so, thus landing on the arm with a tremendous force, trying to drive the blade into it.

[The Bushranger]

Rocky Wastes

Hunter's shot is mostly true, hitting off center of the eye but still rupturing the organ, making the arm flail about. It doesn't feel pain, but a sudden disruption of sensory input is definitely unfavorable for the creature. That said, the arm sweeps down quickly, and unless Patty and Wenomir are able to dodge it, they'll be batted aside with the force of a wrecking ball as the tentacles in the arm slither back inside it. At the same time, N'alae's shot hits inside one of the holes in the creature's left arm, but no visible damage can be see so far within. Despite a seeming lack of damage though, motes of blue-white energy begin to crackle around that left arm, slowly being sucked into that hand...

That's not a good sign.

Wenomir jumps in the air just as the arm nears him, performing a somersault before dropping right onto it in a perfectly-timed fall. He twists his body and points his sword downwards as he does so, thus landing on the arm with a tremendous force, trying to drive the blade into it.

Patty, meanwhile, dives to the side, taking the blow and converting it into her own motion, somesaulting away as she catches her breath, sliding to a stop in a cloud of dust...

Looking up, she spots the energy buildup, and without hesitating lifts her arm, throwing out her hand and sending a bolt of crackling purple energy of her own out from it, the thrown Soulblade glowing as it flies.

[Recaiden]

[Rocky Wastes]

Even if it can't be hurt, it can be damaged. That's good enough.

Hunter lowers the rifle for the moment, and gives her wurm new instructions. Forward, circle around it, trying to get right in front of it. That shoulder armor looks impenetrable, and she doesn't look forward to testing that out while there are alternatives. As long as it's busy with the dragon and hunting those two in close range, she can move safely enough to get a good line of fire for later.
Right?

[Darkcomet]

[Rocky Wastes]

N'alae is fairly sure whatever this thing is doing is going to be focused on the dragon, but given how much plasma it spat out before, that's no guarantee of safety for everyone else here.

She diverts her armor's power from the transporter unit (keeping that at a minimum to maintain the patterns in the transporter buffer) to its shielding systems in preparation for the attack to come, and...fires again, this time at any visible eyes. Might as well try to screw up its aim.

[Lost_Deep]

Camp Cultist

A good ways outside of a certain camp in the grounds, someone flits into a tree and takes a hunting rifle off of her back. She looks like a cross between a human and a petradon, extensively tatooed in various ways. She looks through the rifle's scope, trying to get a good look into the camp.

"Ugh, I don't like this place," She says into an earpiece, "I know there's some conditional no-dying thing going on, but that doesn't make it better. How do we know the guys we kill will stay dead?"

"We'll worry about that later," the reply comes, "for now, scout out the base, and let us know if there's anything with big teeth coming."

[Fenric]

[Hunters of Tenjin]

The camp is easy enough to spot: thank whomever that lawful-evil tends to be quite obsessive about camp layouts. A cleanly regimented "more permanent than it ought to be" encampment lies ahead, with neat rows of plywood-sided, canvas roofed "tents". It stretches a surprising distance, all things considered: if there are only fifty of them then each one must have his or her own building... or there used to be a lot more of them.

There are people patrolling at three different distances from the camp, but it won't take long to tell that they are armed with utterly pathetic, short-range electro-laser rifles and dressed in a costume that would get one summarily kicked out of a cosplay party.

[Lost_Deep]

Hunters of Tenjin

The scout reports this, and after a bit, the reply comes back, "Shoot some guys outside the east wall of the compound. Let's try something sneaky."

The scout sighs, and flies around to the east side of the wall, ideally sneakily. There, she'll get comfy, and try to shoot a guy. It's a hunting rifle, not a sniper rifle, but she's fairly good with it.

[Fenric]

[Hunters of Tenjin]

A completely clueless looking 16 year old is now writhing around in the field, clutching his left shoulder and screaming his head off!

This gets a lot of attention, as one might imagine: a lot of people are now looking in the various reasonable directions that the gunshot might have come from.

[Lost_Deep]

Hunters of Tenjin

Why is there a dumb kid in this camp? Eh, whatever. The scout/sniper chooses a meatier target and tries to kill them, instead. Might as well kill someone who might be a real threat as opposed to someone who isn't.

Away from the west wall of the compound, a group moves through the trees. Sneaky, they aren't, but they aren't the ones shooting people, either. They aren't close yet, they're waiting for the camp to be a bit more riled up about the mysterious gunwoman...

[Fenric]

[Hunters of Tenjin]

BOOM! ... livershot. Not quite as impressive, but very effective: a musclebound Street Fighter wanna-be falls to the ground, liver pierced and spine shattered by a direct hit. Sure, he could be saved with immediate assistance, but that's just not really likely..

zzzzzzZZZZ CRAK! zzzzzZZZZ CRAK!

the electrolaser guns are as noisy as they are ineffective. But away in the camp, and alarm is blaring and activity is heating up!

[Lost_Deep]

Hunters of Tenjin

Gill (for that is her name) snickers to herself. She elects to shoot one of the gunmen, next. Maybe they'll think they're real threats to her if she does that.

The not-terribly-stealthy group gets a little closer. If there's anyone still over on that side of the camp, watching, they might see something that looks like a small crude tank working through the underbrush? It's TRYING to be sneaky, so it's hard to tell details, but it and the people behind it have a large amount of metal stuck to them, so they stand out a lot more than the green sky person does...

[Cyber Punk]

[Rocky Wastes]

((Sorry about this, but I removed Raven from my list of characters before I remembered this thread.))

A newcomer arrives! Said newcomer is Solomon Pearce, or as he prefers to be called, Fixer.

Fixer has been less busy for a bit. After visiting huntside and hearing about the hunt in progress, he decided that it would be the perfect time to stretch his legs, and many other things.

Now he's here, the first thing he does is survey the area. Four other beings and a dragon are fighting this giant of a monster. The lady before him (Na'lae) just shot at the monster. In a flash, he's beside her. He then turns his hand into a plasma spitter and fires at the monster's eyes as well, the one that Na'lae didn't shoot at.

"Sitrep, please." He says to her.

[Fenric]

Hunters of Tenjin

Gill (for that is her name) snickers to herself. She elects to shoot one of the gunmen, next. Maybe they'll think they're real threats to her if she does that.

The not-terribly-stealthy group gets a little closer. If there's anyone still over on that side of the camp, watching, they might see something that looks like a small crude tank working through the underbrush? It's TRYING to be sneaky, so it's hard to tell details, but it and the people behind it have a large amount of metal stuck to them, so they stand out a lot more than the green sky person does...

Gill hits the capacitor bank of the man's rifle, causing the high capacity unit to discharge wildly into the man. He jerks and twitches wildly for a time before going still. Most of the others all turn and start to shoot in Gill's general direction, not yet having a good bead on her, but a few run back toward camp.

The tank and it's accompaniment have been noticed from the camp, and the sound that comes now is of .30 magnum hunting rifles firing on the approaching group. Not the best anti-tank weapon, to be sure, but a lot more capable than the electro-lazers.

[Lost_Deep]

Hunters of Tenjin

Well, it was a good plan. Now that he's obviously found out, the tank will rush toward the wall.

"Tank" is actually the right term, even though it isn't a real, military tank. There's just no other words for it. He's like a man in iron armor which is itself in iron armor, but with giant hammers for arms.

This mass of metal and a little bit of crazy person is running as fast as he can toward the wall, and he intends to run right through it. His backup is hanging back a bit, still trying to be sneaky to hide their numbers.

[Fenric]

[Hunters of Tenjin]

The rifles continue to crack out their deadly sound: all concentrating on the "Tank" now. Statistics say eventually they'll hit something important, right? 30 cal magnum is not a negligible round... right?

Nothing more interesting has shown up as of yet.

[UncleWolf]

Rocky Wastes

Wenomir will find his move successful, though it doesn't appear that it causes any actual pain to the creature. The arm will continue swinging with him on top of it. At the same time, he'll find tentacles shooting out of holes around him in an effort to wrap around the fighter. With as much as the arm is swinging, he'll likely be thrown off if he lets go of the sword or pulls it out to fight the tendrils with it.

When Patty's soulblade flies towards the hand that's building up energy, she'll see the blade divert course before getting sucked in as well. When that happens, the motes around it change, matching the purple while growing more jagged in form rather than spherical.

At the moment, the only truly visible eyes are the smaller ones around the large damaged one at the end of the arm that Wenomir is standing on. If those wanting to shoot at the eyes there are welcome to do so, or they can try to hit the far more obscured eyes behind the armored ribs on its chest. Either way, whether they shoot at any eyes at all or not, the hand that was gathering energy is leveled off towards the group before firing.

There is no noise from the creature itself when it fires, instead the ground instantly begins to shake as a flat purple disc slowly moves through the air several feet off the ground. The disc begins to change its shape into a spiral as it moves, beginning to spin faster and faster despite it slow velocity. Eventually, about three quarters of the way towards the gunners, it stops moving and a loud shriek can be heard as its spin hits a blur. At that point, everyone in the area, even the monster, will feel gravity suddenly begin shifting towards the disc. It steadily grows more and more powerful and those that aren't careful will find themselves having to dodge the sharp rocks that begin flying through the air around them towards the disc as they are sucked into the center first.

For now, the pull is only a little above a single gravity, strongest close to the disc.

[Morty]

[Rocky Wastes]

Wenomir pulls the sword out of the arm and immediately swings it around himself in a lightning-quick cutting motion aimed at the encroaching tentacles. He makes his way towards the joint of the arm, or what passes for it. He keeps his balance on the moving appendage by swaying and jumping in perfect sync with it, while at the same time using the weight of his sword to balance himself as he keeps swinging it at every tentacle that tries to attack him. It's a graceful, perfectly-calculated exercise in power and motion.

[The Bushranger]

[Rocky Wastes]

Well that did NOT go as planned! Patty thinks as her blast of magical energy is absorbed - and as the beast launches its projectile, she dives aside, running already, intending to move around behind the monster...

When rocks start flying around her, though, she looks back - and her eyes go very wide.

"Singularity bomb! EVERYONE GET CLEAR!" she screams, before looking up at the beast - and running in the direction of its legs, once again manifesing her soulblade in glittering purple.

From all appearances, it looks like she's getting ready to try to hamstring the beast...

[Darkcomet]

[Rocky Wastes]

"Target is extremely large, hates dragons, and has a rapid fire heavy plasma weapon and the gravitic weapon appears to absorb energy attacks, so aim elsewhere." N'alae herself doesn't seem too bothered by the gravitic...thing, backing away as loose flying rocks occasionally glance off her armor or, if they're fast enough, shields. "You might want to take cover. In fact, let me help." This is the part where N'alae grabs Fixer and, her shields deactivating to allow the transport and also because she has to divert power back, beams the two of them to the opposite side of the monster. (Insert 'attempts' where appropriate.)

What?

It is the single biggest piece of cover.

"Now fire."

It's with noting that once they pop back up again she no longer seems to have the anti-materiel rifle, having traded it out for an oversized armored gauntlet over her right hand, along with some odd boot attachments that weren't there before that heavily resemble...Union hoverboots. She doesn't do anything with them yet, but still.

[Cyber Punk]

[Rocky Wastes]

((I'm gonna have to drop out of the scene. Getting busier IRL and too many scenes to post in. Sorry for the inconvenience, DC.

Continue on without me.))

[Recaiden]

[Rocky Wastes]

The more obscured eyes behind the armored ribs were her target, but there's new priorities as sharp rocks begin striking her. The first few just bounce off or scratch her armor, but they're clearly picking up speed.

The gun vanishes from her grip as Hunter leans down and grabs tight to her krotiq's fur.
"Dig."
And the monster does that, striking the ground with its front claws and tearing a hole in the stones and then in the earth underneath, which it and its rider quickly vanish into.

[Lost_Deep]

Hunters of Tenjin

Some of those shots hit-you can hear them-but that doesn't stop the tank. Whether that's because the bullets bounce off or just don't do enough damage is in question. Assuming that the Tank can smash through the wall, the tank will then work on smashing anyone with a weapon. He's faster than he looks. True, most normal people are more agile than he is, but the tank is not some kind of slow juggernaut.

Following in the tank's wake, other Freakshow barrel toward the opening in the wall. Most of them are fairly normal punks with hammer or claw arms, but... some look to be dwarves, encased in heavy armor, given weapon arms, and then with barbed wire braided into their beards. The Dorfreaks are the least cautious, and are quite willing to rush people with guns. Other freaks, at least, are armed with pistols. Anyone who's up for a quick count should count twenty-odd freaks, including the tank and probably less than ten dorfs.

Leading the freak brigade is a woman with a metal saw for a left arm, with a laser gun in her good hand (which is also metal?) and she's wearing a kilt and a one-armed leather jacket. Not only is she showing more fashion sense than the rest of the freaks put together, but she's shouting orders occasionally.

[Fenric]

[Hunters of Tenjin]

The wall is thin wood and easily smashed, tumbling four of the gunmen unceremoniously to the ground where they are easily grabbed, trampled, and generally mauled.

The remainder who did not fall make the dorf's desire for mayhem a little harder by running away along the platform at the top of the wall.

Inside, the compound is orderly and regularly arranged, with a wide path leading to a central tent. From this tent, three figures in armor emerge: two have large backpacks connected to a rectangular weapon by a thick cable and even at this distance the annoying high-pitched whine of a charge pump powering up a capacitor array is clearly audible, the third has an unpleasantly large rifle with a complex looking recoil-compensator.

For hopefully obvious reasons (:)) The rifleman is ready to fire first: the roar is impressive as a 60-caliber slug is sent the Tank's way at some 2500 feet per second.

[Lost_Deep]

Hunters of Tenjin

The Tank definitely feels that hit, and it is momentarily staggered. There's a great hole in it now, going in one side and out the other. He's bleeding, too.

The whole 'dying' thing, however, isn't happening.

From one of the Tank's shoulders, a tube pops up. Out of this tube is pneumatically fired a frag grenade at the group. Kilt, for her part, shouts, "Over there! Shoot 'em!" and starts firing her laser gun at the trio. Any freak paying attention (so, about a third of them) follows her lead, firing in that direction. Gill will join in, too, if she can see the targets. If not, she'll keep picking off who she can see.

[Fenric]

[Hunters of Tenjin]

That is so very much not what was supposed to happen that the rifleman stands dumbfounded. The other two jump: one to the left, the other backwards and so the grenade does little more than inconvenience them. It's really hard to hit people who are jumping around, and their armor is pretty good, so that's all the two with railguns suffer for now. The one who jumped backwards now fires: the small projectile tracing a distinct path through the air with the sharp crack of a sonic boom as it heads for an unfortunate dorf. The other seems to have an equipment failure of some sort, and his gun does not fire at all.

The third (with the rifle), however, is staggered by several direct hits before the grenade explodes at his feet. He collapses to the ground, though whether alive or dead is difficult to tell just now.

[Lost_Deep]

Hunters of Tenjin

A dorf loses an arm. The weaponized limb is blown right off. The response is a scream of anger and pain and the dorf running for the man who shot him. At about the same time, the tank rushes forward. Kilt follows up on that, spinning up her saw, and digging it into the ground like a drive wheel, firing wildly. Seeing their leader charge, a few less notable freaks join in, a bit slower and also firing wildly.

In general, the freaks are proving hard to kill. Wounds that should be fatal stagger them, and then they seal up quickly and the freaks keep going. Headshots and other nervous damage are effective, but shots that hit other serious organs just aren't scoring the kills they should.

[Fenric]

[Hunters of Tenjin]

Overall, the camp is getting pretty close to deserted now: anyone who was close to the walls has fled - folks running off in every direction. Anyone not close to the walls has either already fallen to the Freakshow or soon will.

Of the three moderately well-equipped leaders, the one with the high-powered rifle is summarily torn to shreds, rendering the question of his earlier status moot.

The one with the broken backpack goes down fighting, pulling a sizeable pistol and blasting furiously until he is overcome.

The last one, is not so easily taken: having a better suit with better shields he is still unharmed. And he has boot-jets! He jumps high into the air and fires respectably quickly now that his weapon is ready - just over one shot per second - as he bounds away from the rampaging freaks at a decent clip. He clearly means to escape, not remain and engage.

[Lost_Deep]

As the rocketman makes his escape, he'll hear the call, "SKEEET!"

Telling people who to shoot is leadership. Listening and shooting who you're told is being a good follower, something that the Freakshow aren't known for. But Skeet? Skeet is sport. Every freak with a ranged weapon and nothing better to do will pop a few shots in the direction of the rocketman, even if only a very few actaully stand a chance at hitting and even then only Kilt and Gill have weapons strong enough to pack a real punch at that range.