caveofsapphires | smaller patch of fading sky [ open ]

smaller patch of fading sky [ open ]

WHO: EVERYONE. All PCs thus far will be in this log, through active tagging or implication.
WHAT: THRILLS. SPILLS. Hiking trip toward the Diamond City.
WHERE: The Overworld.
WHEN: Forward-dated to May 1st (Tuesday) through May 7th (Monday).
WARNINGS: May contain violence or other mentions of physical harm. This is not summer camp.
NOTES: More information can be found on the OOC post here. Please read it!

Gathered in the morning haze, Sleepers were brought to the mouth of the Cave with plenty of supplies and equipment. Compasses that would point them toward the City. Backpacks full of clothes and food, medical kits, tents and even weapons. Stun rifles and knives — to fight off any unwanted company, they said. ("Watch out for their bite," Ryan had commented. "Those fuckers are downright feral.") The straight and narrow path would get them there in six days if they kept a good clip. They were sent off just like that. Refusals to leave were met with a wall of guard force officers blocking the entrance back into the cave city. No way to go but forward, unless someone was particularly stalwart about remaining.

From the exterminator's station near the mouth, leaving the Cave was as simple as a short hike upward into the fresh air of the Overworld. Dust and an uncomfortable sort of heat pervaded the atmosphere, light winds stirring up the sand and teasing the meager bits of vegetation that had grown. No matter what direction you looked... it was all wasteland, cracked ground and desolate emptiness. Jutting up from scarred ground were boulders and small spires made entirely of glass and patches of stone; instead of reflecting the harsh sunlight, they seemed to absorb it and only add to the muted loneliness of the atmosphere. As far as the eye could see, there was no life to be found.

With no other option, the Sleepers eventually made their way onward.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The day progressed as relatively normal as could be. Walking, talking, breaking for food and a moment's rest, everyone continued onward. At first everything seemed fine. Murmuring of the wind across the ground steadily grew louder, louder and louder until it was soon apparent that it wasn't the wind at all.

It was the ferocious yowl of something gigantic and feline. It was coming for the Sleepers. It was ready to hunt.

When the first yowl came, Re-l tensed. It was pure instinct, nothing more. Her body might be out of shape, but it remembered danger, and she reacted instinctively.

It was early afternoon, and the sun was high in the sky, meandering through a cloudless heaven. The light was strong, but the angle was good, and unlikely to interfere with her aim. The dust, on the other hand, was drier than ever. Visibility would be the main risk, when whatever it was attacked.

It never occured to Re-l to assume it might not attack. She wasn't built for optimism.

She glanced around. Only an hour since they'd stopped for food, so the group was relatiely compact. She glanced from one face to another, assessing the crowd. Too many people for her to protect alone. Should she stick to herself, or try to enlist the most useful help? Some of the people she'd met, in the caves or on the journey, might prove useful.

She couldn't be sure. Best to wait and see. Even shouting a warning might do more harm than good, if people panicked. And not everyone here looked useful in a fight.

Her hand dropped to her belt, and she regretted the loss of Awakening once more. This stun gun simply didn't have the range or power she required. Keeping a firm grip on the handle of her gun, she lowered her stance and waited for the onslaught.

That was not a friendly noise. Likely some natural life on this planet, something that was likely coming to slaughter them, or at least make their day very, very unpleasant. Malcolm brought his weapon (such as it was; what he wouldn't give for a kill setting on these stun guns) to bear in the direction the noise had come from. In the harsh sunlight, he wasn't sure if they'd be able to even make it out until it was too late, but they could clearly hear it coming. Best prepare for a fight and hope that a stun setting was enough.

Re-l felt rather than saw the gesture, but she knew it instantly. Someone was raising a weapon. She glanced to the side, and saw a man. He was thin, but he looked reasonably strong. And he knew how to hold a weapon. On the balance of things, probably not a liability.

She rolled her shoulders, tense from carrying a pack for a day and a half. It was something of a hinderance, but unless she was forced to, she didn't want to let it go.

The noise was growing louder, and among the rocks and the ruins it was hard to distinguish where it was coming from. A yowl, a leap, and suddenly there was a huge beast in their midst. Re-l had no name for it, no easy tag. There were no cats in her memories.

She drew her gun and shot in one fluid movement. The shot was slightly off target, hitting the cat but not well enough to knock it out at once. Re-l ground her teeth together. She was the best shot she knew. Her muscles should not be doing this. She should not be this weak.

More animals leapt down, yowling furiously. Re-l tried to count them, but their quick movements made it impossible. Her gun moved back and forth, waiting for the first to leap.

He'd heard stories about large, vaguely cat-like creatures picking people off in the harsh desert, but that was back on Vulcan, which this clearly was not. Still, they were hardly friendly kittens, and he wasn't about to let anyone get picked off under his watch.

A woman nearby fired off the first shot, not bad, but though the beast had been hit, it did not go down, so he followed through with a shot of his own, and one more to be safe, before growing increasingly concerned about the numbers. If they weren't taken out, the creatures might manage to outflank them. Was anyone else going to take up arms?

Malcolm was not a fan of these guns, but he could adapt. Still, he hardly knew their strength, and there hadn't been any time to take one apart on the trip and figure things out. Still, better to shoot them than trying to take one head on for stabbing.

He set his sights on the next largest, the biggest threat among all the other threats with sharp teeth and nasty claws--and his vision suddenly blurred. It wasn't the dust, of that he was certain. He froze for a few long moments before his eyes seemed to refocus themselves, and he shook his head. Strange...too much walking, too much sun, bad time for his body to fail him now, whatever the cause.

Malcolm let out a quick volley at one cat who was getting decidedly far too close to the group, though it darted about too fast to take it out in one go. "Everyone stick together and take aim!" No sense in anyone getting stuck out from the group for easy pickings, and the more gunfire, the better. Even if they didn't all go down, the might get spooked.

The cat leapt, and Re-l shot. Her aim was getting stronger, as though her body had begun to remember the movements years of training once ingrained on them. She scooped up dirt with her foot and kicked, sending a plume into the eyes of the beasts around her, and followed the cloud up with a volley of shots. One to each beast. They worked fine if she hit the chest squarely, and so she tightened her aim. The heart must be somewhere near there.

She spun around, firing shot after shot as she went. Luckily the gun didn't seem to need to reload, though she might have traded that for a pump action shooter. She missed Awakening more than ever.

As she moved something caught her eye. The confident man had faltered, just for a moment. He recovered, but it was a dangerous sign. His shooting was imperative right now - she couldn't handle this on her own. She moved closer to him, ready to help if it happened again.

Their group was tightening, hemmed in by the ferocious beasts. It was good and bad: the closer everyone was, the easier it would be to protect them, but also the easier it would be for the animals to surround them. Part of Re-l wanted to glance, to see if those she knew were alright, but she couldn't afford the moment's distraction.

The cats had backed off a little, moving away under the gunfire, but they were lean and hungry. They wouldn't leave it at this.

"We need a strategy," Re-l said, more to herself than anything.

"We need more skilled shooters." He didn't know how many people among them had ever even held a gun before, much less fired, and though they got an impromptu lesson, it wasn't the same as real training and experience.

Malcolm had noticed the shots to the chest. At least their cat-like anatomy seemed similar enough in that regard. He was going over basic ground battle strategies in his head, but he was much more experienced in fighting sentient beings than wild animals. People could be predictable. Beasts were a different matter.

"If we can find a tight pack of rocks, we might be able to funnel them." A few more shots squeezed off. One leapt gracefully out of the way, leaving another to get caught in the face. What he wouldn't give for a squad of capable MACOs right now. "And we need to get them down fast. We've no idea how long they'll stay stunned."

"We're lucky to have as many as we do," Re-l said, her voice tight as she focused her aim. Three more beasts fell, but from the corner of her eye she could see the first animal twitching slightly. The stun guns didn't last forever.

"The terrain around here is fairly inaccessible," she said to the man beside her, "but I did see a canyon some way back. Do you think we could engineer a rockfall?"

It sounded desperate, even to her own ears, but if they didn't do something soon, exhaustion alone might bring them down.

"That would require moving and not getting mowed down in the process. We'd probably need a distraction, and I don't think you'll find any willing volunteers." There were other considerations. If they even could make a rockfall with what they have. Making sure they didn't inadvertently block off their own path to the city. There had to be something better. And there weren't even any good places to make a strategic retreat to. He channeled his frustration into a few more controlled shots. They couldn't keep this up. Even if they managed to hit every beast, they wouldn't be down for long.

"If we overload the power pack these guns must run on, we might be able to get a decent explosion out of it. Cause your landslide. Or scare them off, take one or two out." Or it could just spark and fizzle a bit, but Malcolm was an expert at making things go boom.

Day 2 (May 2nd)

Re: Day 2 (May 2nd)

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i'd like a minor injury and/or opportunity for some telekinesis, if you're amenable?

I'm up for whatever!

woot!

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