Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Mar 22, 2016 23:50:57 GMT -6
Dieter was fast, not fast enough to get a killing hit in yet, but fast enough to carry out the slash that he hoped for. The slash was not fatal, but was deep enough to cause bleeding that would disrupt the man's vision somewhat, and cause the man to unable to avoid the coming shots that would end his life. His corpse was then kicked towards his comrade, knocking him back down as he attempted to get up. It took him a short amount of time to push away the body, and get himself back on his feet, but that should be enough for Gedeon to plan his next move.
With James, he finally managed to get the opening he wanted when he dodged a stab, causing the knife to lodge itself in the wooden door that James had backed down against. He took the chance to swing the tome into the robber's face, considering the book has a metal cover, it's pretty much equal to being hit by a hammer. The strike was enough to stun the man for quite a bit, and allowing James to finish him off with a stomp to the neck after dropping the man to the floor.
Tamara's water cannon did not hit as well as she expected, considering she need some time to cast the spell, but it did force the robber to abandon his attack on Kate to roll aside. The blast of water hits the man, but not directly, causing him to go flying but not hard enough to do serious damage. He recovers after a few moments, and charges towards Tamara, who was trying to pull Kate aside. If the girl in front of him gets the opening to do something like that again, it could be the end of him, so Tamara just became his main target.
"Ms. Ashborne, watch out!"
He charges at Tamara with his knife in hand, and attempts to slash at her, if not to kill her then to at least stop her from casting anymore magic.
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Rashidi did not expected Gedeon's action, as he thought the man would either keep his distance to dodge, or die from the flames. Instead, the man survives, and continues towards the leader even with his injuries. His barrier blocked the first bullet, but before he could feel relieved at the strength of his barrier, it was hit by yet another bullet, and then another. The barrier gets weakened after every shot, forcing him to focus the powers of the gem into strengthening the barrier, only to find it being overcome bits by bits. They were down to the 11th, then the 12th shot, and the barrier still stood, if greatly weakened.
When the mage knight prepares to swing his spear, Rashidi knows that the barrier won't be able to block this last hit. With gritting teeth, he instead gathers the gem's power for one final attack, and sends a fireball at the coming warrior at minimum range. The explosion, if it hits, would likely engulf both of them, but if the spear keeps going it's going to kill the man anyways, so he decides to try and bring his opponent down with him.
The explosion was more than enough to roast the caster, charring his skin and flesh, and sends him flying from the explosion. The spear had also sliced off his left arm, the one that he used to hold the gem. The gem that supplied the magical power quickly weakens, reducing the power of the spell by a bit, and drops onto the ground along with the severed arm. Finally it's over, with Gedeon as the victor, assuming he's still alive and well.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Mar 23, 2016 1:26:06 GMT -6
By the time the robber had got out from under the corpse of his former comrade, Dieter was right on top of him. Literally. In this case he threw himself forward in a shoulder check that would, hopefully, connect with the man's solar plexus. In addition to one more bowling him over, striking that spot also tented to knock the wind out of your body. A good spot to hit. The German would be going on this trip too, landing on top of him according to plan. He placed his knife beneath his body as he fell, letting all of his body weight press down on the handle to drive the blade firmly into the bandit's chest if he didn't manage to roll out of the way in time. With all of that force behind it, the blade would easily be able to punch through the ribs and into something vital for a finishing strike.
Of course, if that didn't work they would end up to be locked in a life-or-death struggle. So if he remained alive after that, the explorer would try his best to bring him down with shorter, ancillary stabs while the hand on his gun kept the robber pinned down and in place. A brutal engagement, which is why he hoped to avoid it.
Whatever the case, if it did work he'd quickly get to his feet and begin to move back towards the group. Once they joined back up, they could move on the elder and support Gedeon if needed. Of more pressing concern was providing backup to James and company.
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Post by Pitman on Mar 23, 2016 2:43:16 GMT -6
As Tamara was dragging Kate towards safety only for her to warn the teen. Tamara's eyes looked up as the enemy was coming at her with a knife. There wasn't much time to react as he was attempting to kill her. Tamara may have been good at casting magic and done it so many times. But one thing Tamara wasnt, well not yet anyways a seasoned knight like Gedeon. So for her this sort of close encounter came out sloppy and pain. Tamara's hand went up to try to stop the knife only to stab directly into her hand. Tamara screamed in pain at the blow. Blood gushing out of her palm as she was injured in such a way. If luck would have it the knife would struggle to come out, which Tamara would out mana into her free hand which would enhance it's strength to punch the man in the face. To anyone else it would be comical with thin arms and a skinny girl punching the larger man in the face which would be strong enough to scatter bone and possibly break the man's jaw.
Regardless of the outcome Tamara would hold her hand and try to stop the blood after all the knife was lunged in there very deep. It seems Tamara was completely out of luck this time as this would be second time she has come close to death's door. Which itself showed how truly Tamara relies on Gedeon on most situations, which would become more guilt on Tamara's part. Tamara would open her side pack she brought this time to take out first aide kit, though she would need help on this and luck would have it Kate would be next to her.
Meanwhile back with Gedeon the duel of fiery death was coming to its conclusion. As his plan was put into action Gedeon was riding this would work. As everything was falling to place he soon noticed it too late. The fake elder Rashindi was about to unleash his fire on to Gedeon and he had no way to dodge it. As his spear would cut the man's hand off as blood gushed out from Rishandi Gedeon would only comment,"Fuck..."
The spell hit Gedeon dead on with no way to use any of his spells to stop it. Pain entered Gedeon as he felt his skin and flesh burned away. His quite long curly hair burned into cinders as the god tier gem hit him like the sun. The explosion rocked him as the building roof would explosion upward and away. The force of impact was extremely intense the others could see it from the distance. Gedeon was pushed back and slammed into the wall which soon crumbled behind him at the force which prompted Gedeon to slam into another house. Bones broken from the result with no way to use his stone skin to stop the damage. Gedeon would feel intense pain he hadn't felt since his training with his mentor and would soon land on the ground.
Gedeon was still alive miraculously, as any other human would of surely died from the attack. His clothes were scorched, and his hair all completelt gone. Not to mention his skin was so intensively burned it looked like a dead man was on the floor of the sand. Yet he still breathed and Gedeon unable to even move, the pain was excruciating as Gedeon looked like he would be a goner. Unable to think straight Gedeon began to remember all the faces he met but at the end of it he saw her at the end.
"Tamara...", Gedeon soon stated as he passed put from the pain.
Without knowing Gedeon would suddenly lose his breath and seemed to have died. However... his body would a moment glow black flames which would disappear just as quickly. His heart beat would begin once more, but Gedeon would not wake. The duel was over with Gedeon as the victor, but at a cost that almost killed him. Only beg one the question, what was those black flames?
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Mar 23, 2016 19:41:32 GMT -6
It looks like the bandit's not having his best time today, getting knocked down not just once but three times in a short amount of time. Although he tried to roll away from the coming blade, he was a bit too slow after the previous few hits, and gets stabbed right in his chest. However it wasn't fatal, not instantly anyways, the blade landed in his right lung instead thanks to his attempt to dodge. But the injury that he took from the stab was more than enough to weaken him to the point where he was unable to stop Dieter from finishing him off, and could just stare at him as he passes.
The man that was fighting with Tamara manages to block the punch with his free arm, the force was strong enough to break the bones of his arm, but nevertheless he was still alive to fight. When he noticed he couldn't pull the knife out, he releases it, and backs off instead. He was going to turn and run, only to meet James who gives him a few bullets to the chest, finishing him off.
Kate was quite relieved to see James' arrival, and finishing off the last enemy around, at least now they won't need to fight on their own anymore if the need still exist. However she noticed that Tamara had suffered a quite serious stab, in fact it went right through, so she goes to help her patch up with the first aid kit. Leaving Mei Mei to stand guard for them, James himself looks around, and spots Dieter coming back towards them after finishing the enemies that he was fighting.
"Looks like you're doing fine and well, we're all alive over here, with Ms. Ashborne taking a knife in her hand. Should we move on to help Mr. Salvator?"
He had more worries for Gedeon than the older man in front of him, at least he know that the German is a highly competent man that is unlikely to be defeated by some grave digging bandits. Gedeon on the other hand could possibly be fighting a spell caster with a powerful artifact, so he was unsure if the mage knight would be able to obtain an easy victory on his own. The explosions and flashes of light also added to his worries, wondering what kind of spells were being cast here.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Mar 23, 2016 20:42:02 GMT -6
The two parts of the group here met back up after the fight was over, it took the German a few extra minutes to link up with the other three. Combined with having to finish off the last bandit, he also had to make up all the distance that had been put between them while he was advancing. He raised an open palm towards James to signal to him that he was both friendly and in good shape, supposing that wasn't clear by him walking upright. The man was absolutely covered in blood from so many messy kills, if you ever wanted proof that knife fights were dirty work, here was a living example thereof. Luckily not much of it was from him, outside of some cuts from flying debris, Dieter came out of it mostly okay.
In the darkness he wasn't immediately able to see how badly Tamara was wounded, though he sprinted over with redoubled speed upon seeing the piece of metal impaled through her hand. He gave it a once over, but let Kate tend to the other girl since she had already began to treat it. No use in having another pair of hands that would just get in the way. They had other work to attend to, and he gave James a nod while rising to his feet to signal that he agreed with the notion that they should go find Gedeon.
"Not as smooth as I had hoped," he began, "but listen, it's far too quiet. Let's hope that is a good thing." The explorer was calling attention to the fact that the explosions and other racket of battle had ceased from the sage's house. Other than the hushed conversations of villages roused by the battle, there was little noise to compete with their conversation. This was either a good sign, or a very bad one.
Gerhardt didn't trust his luck by now, so he moved towards the center of town at a brisk pace.
It turned out that it was the very bad kind after all, the pair arriving on the scene just in time to see Gedeon burst into black flames. Suffice to say, that was not something Dieter expected to see. His exclamation of 'Guter Gott!' made his surprise abundantly clear. Small clouds of dust were kicked up as a result of him skidding to a stop at this sight, and he didn't begin to approach again until the ghostly fires had subsided. When he did resume moving, it was done at a slow and cautious stride. Who knew what to expect now?
"Careful, I don't know what we just saw, but we shouldn't be hasty," he warned the professor. In truth, he already had written the man off as dead, so that fire could as well be the remnants of the spell that did him in, or something to turn him into a minion to the false-elder. Even at a distance one could see Slavator's wounds, they weren't good in the least. Not far away they could also see the body of the villain in question, missing an arm and equally burned. Likely by the same spell. Light from the house glinted off the gem clutched in the disattached arm's deathgrip.
As for their friend: Nothing foul happened as they stood over him, but to Dieter's amazement, keen eyes detected that his chest was rising and falling with breath. Gerhardt dropped to his knees immediately to begin to care for the man.
"Doctor, please secure that gem and the elder. He knows you, and is probably panicked by the fight if he is even still alive, so you stand the best chance of being able to calm him and avert further tragedy. Moreso, you know how to treat the gem with proper respect as to not further anger Bastet. I will try to help Gedeon as best I can."
This seemed like the best way to take advantage of their manpower. With the grave robber's leader dead, and all of his flunkies out of the picture too, they should be safe to split up. Handling that artifact wasn't something he personally wanted to do, both for the reason stated, and because he had a lot of blood on his hands in general. No telling what might happen if the war god saw that when he touched it. Better to play it safe when dealing with deities, and the doctor was the expert here on that topic.
So with that, he did his best to try and help Gedeon with his full-body burn wounds. The stink of burning meat, and worse, burning hair, was nauseating. In some places there was no skin left, he could see muscle. How this man was alive confounded him, nothing short of a miracle. Not the first they'd seen on this trip, but my, he was beginning to feel that they were pushing their fortune in getting them. At any rate he moved to try and keep him stabilized, and keep the damage from getting any worse. Which they very well could being on sand, so he quickly retrieved a tarp from their vehicle to place him on to keep anything from getting in further contact with exposed areas. After that, he moved to stop any bleeding that hadn't been cauterized, and then dealt with the burns themselves. There wasn't a ton that could be done out in the middle of a desert, but emergency care could go a long way.
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Post by Pitman on Mar 23, 2016 21:27:14 GMT -6
Tamara soon sat down as Kate began to work on her hand as she was checking her wound. Of course Tamara was completely lucky that the blade though deep didn't damage her hand as much as she thought it would. It was quite painful being in an very sensitive part of her body. She made quite the face which would normally look comical if in another situation as Kate soon took out the blade carefully, and with precision.
"Oh Fuck!", Tamara soon screamed out in pain as the blade was taken out and Kate moved quickly to stitch her up extremely well.
Of course Tamara helped in any way Kate needed with that done she soon picked up her head to notice the silence around. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad as soon Kate finished Tamara got up and check if she feels alright. As soon as that is done she turns to Kate then asking, "Lets head to the elder's home."
With that Tamara would soon rush towards where James and Dieter would of headed only to find the building ruin which brought worry to her face. Then she notice Dieter was frantically moving a burned body that she almost didn't recognize into a tarp.
In that moment she recognized the body which unable to move she only manages to first mutter, "G...g..ed...e..on.... no way... no!! NO!!
Then only a scream came out, "GEDEON!!"
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Mar 24, 2016 1:34:52 GMT -6
"Indeed, it could definitely have gone better than what happened here. Judging from the silence, our mage friend has also finished on his end. But I don't see him coming back, not exactly a good sign..."
Really there's little reason to keep Gedeon from returning, and most of those few reasons are disastrous to him, or even to the entire group. It's bad to see a friendly face depart from the world of the living, and worse if his foe was powerful enough to defeat him, either way it's not going to be a good result if it has to end up that way. Hastily, he follows Dieter towards the battleground, and was just as surprised to see the dark color flames surrounding the mage.
His first thought is that there is an enemy, and the fire is the result of whatever attack that was sent towards Gedeon, however a quick look at the charred corpse suggests that his foe seems to dead. Perhaps it is some sort of curse? While he was trying to determine what is the cause of the fire, it seems to have died down, whatever it was seems to be gone for now.
James was thinking of checking up on the mage knight, but was reminded of the more important roles he might have, and nods back to Dieter as acknowledgement before running into the elder's home. Several minutes later he returns with an old man on his back, the elder was tired and shaken by the happenings, but was otherwise unharmed.
"I found the real Mr. Rashidi, at least we're getting some good news from this."
The old man thank the group for their effort in defeating the villains and liberating the village, after all they have little material gain from this. Everyone in the village might perish if it wasn't for the group, so him and the other villagers were truly thankful to them. As for the artifacts, after some discussion between the professor and the elder, they have determined that it would be better to repair the damaged statue in the middle of the village, and place the gems back in its place. However this will take a bit of time, so for now they could keep it in a jewel box for now. The elder then lead the villagers in kissing the ground, and singing songs to praise their deity to show their respect towards her. James then takes out some incense and scented oil from a storage inside the elder's home, places them neatly on the ground, and sets them on fire not with magical means but by hand using the most primitive method of friction.
Really this is not exactly the best choice, but they don't really have much to choose from. Bastet might be an old and well respected goddess, there are little mentions about the offerings specific to her, so they carry out rituals that covers most of the Egyptian deities in general. For now, this should be good enough, or at least give them enough time to stop the curse from advancing anymore until they could finish off the rest of the bandits.
While the elder continues his ritual, James slowly walks away from it backwards, dusting off his footsteps as he goes. Turning back to the rest of the group, he now see Kate and Tamara arriving after finishing first aid. He joins the rest in looking at the charred mage knight, not exactly looking well... unless you mean well done. None of them here knows any healing magic, and they lack the equipment or expertise to carry out a medical operation, so there is little they could do here.
Flipping through the Book of Coming Forth by Day, he tries to find something useful that he could use, but was not very successful considering the book's main topic was dealing with the dead. In the end, he decides to try using spells that would otherwise be used for the deceased, hoping it would work to a point.
"'O you sycomore of the sky, may there be given to me the air which is in it, for I am he who sought out that throne in the midst of Wenu. I have guarded this egg of the Great Cackler. If it grows, I grow; if it lives, I life; if it breathes air, I breathe air."
Like the magic that summons the spears, it was not a spell that he created, rather something he took directly from the book. Originally the spell is to give the dead the ability to breathe and drink, something that is important because the Egyptians believe the afterlife is simply another world, and you would still need to live somewhat like a regular person during your journey to the sun. James is trying to use this spell to improve Gedeon's ability to breathe and maintain fluid within him, hopefully that would help with his third degree burns.
The spell would cause a faint blue light to surround the charred figure before disappearing in a flash, if successful the man should feel quite a bit better, and be a step further away from passing away just like the bandits they had killed. That is all James could do for him until they find actual medical attention.
"Don't touch him Ms. Ashborne, with this level of burn we have to try to reduce the amount of contact we have on him, or else without any surface protection his muscles might suffer from even worse injuries. Mr. Gerhardt, perhaps we should call some of your men for some help in getting Mr. Salvator to some medical institution. By the time they arrive, we should have already began or ready to begin our assault on the camp, so hopefully it would not cause any more problems. Catherine, how about you? You're not hurt are you? It would pain me to see you get injured anymore than you have already been..."
"No worries, I only got a bit of scratches, it was Ms. Ashborne that had a more serious wound."
Confirming that Kate was not injured, James turns to Tamara to see what her choice might be. The girl's been taking quite some beating during their trip, and her mentor is laying there like a piece of charcoal, so it's understandable if she is having second thoughts and losing some of her nerves.
"Mr. Ashborne, do you want to stay here with Mr. Salvator? Or come with us like the original plan?"
It would have been better if they have more time to get more treatment for Gedeon, but that is not the case here. Who knows how long will it last before the curse continues, and who knows if the bandits would find out about their operating, and run away from the place? They will have to keep going, and strike fast if they want to finish all of this. If Tamara wants to she can stay with Gedeon, it would be one less damage source for the team, but if she is mentally unstable it would be better to leave her here. Tamara herself was quite injured too, so it is still reasonable to pick that choice.
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Whatever their choices might be, they would eventually have to deal with the grave digging camp. At the moment they have not noticed what happened at the village yet, as it was not the time to report to their boss yet, and to prevent suspicions they have not installed any communication equipment in the village.
The setup of the camp is pretty much the same as before, however the patrol routes are quite different. By morning, the men would have noticed some of them missing, and are more alert to enemy attacks. Stealth won't work as well as it had before, if the morning sunlight did not make it anymore worse. With Gedeon down, they won't be able to use his magic to head inside without being noticed either.
However the equipment of the bandits are of the same level, looks like they did not bring any bigger guns with them, so they won't have to deal with more fearsome weapons if they decides to head right in. They have killed 10 of them at the village, 11 counting the leader, so there should be roughly 50 more at the camp and that's not really a small number to deal with.
Patrols are in larger groups, now in groups of five rather than in two, and there are four teams of them patrolling inside and outside with two on each area. A total of eight are on the watch towers, two more in front of the ruins, and the rest are staying here and there inside the camp. All of the men are armed, being on alert, but that doesn't necessary mean they are all on guard. Many of them are still somewhat relax, but that would likely to change if they spot any enemies.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Mar 24, 2016 14:11:53 GMT -6
Dieter finished working on Gedeon rather quickly. Not because the guy didn't need a lot of work, quite the opposite, but because there was only so much that he could do here on the battlefield. It was a bleak thought, but he honestly debated if putting him down himself wouldn't be the more merciful option. Even if he survived, he'd probably be a hideous, crippled shell of a man. Who would want that? Ultimately, however, God or the gods decided that it was not his time, so the occultist was in no hurry to go against their wishes. Only time would tell what they had in store for Gedeon. What he did do, was make sure his wounds wouldn't get any worse, and provide a means to safely transports him when help arrived. Now all they'd have to do is lift the tarp without touching the mage himself, which was good, because manhandling a burn victim could cause further harm.
As was said, the best they could do.
He only caught bits and pieces of the ritual being carried out around him, this took much more of his focus, but the parts he did pick up were, at the very least, beneficial. The elder was alive, they truly had got all the bandits, and they had some ideas on how to work on appeasing Bastet. Silver linings, one could suppose. Even so he was rightfully unhappy looking when James came back to speak with him. He gave the doctor a quick rundown on what he had deduced of Gedeon's condition, after the intellectual had finished applying his own aid in the form of a spell.
"I will be frank with you, professor; I have no idea how he is still alive. This level of damage should have killed a man instantly. I'd be amazed if he could ever see or walk ever again, supposing he makes it through the day. The worst wounds are on his front, indicating the attack that seared him was used at extremely short range from that direction. While this means that damage to the spine and nervous system aren't as severe, the likelihood of organ damage is significantly increased. You can see in a few places where subcutaneous fat deposits were ruptured and ignited, leading me to believe that internal trauma is indeed a factor. His clothes presented some defense, but now they're melted to his skin and will have to be surgically removed, along with some of his skin." Gerhardt wasn't a doctor, but he was a trained battlefield medic. It was about as good when it came to diagnoses from injuries. It was a pretty grim situation. "I notice no magical abnormalities. This doesn't mean there aren't any, and in fact, I suspect that there must be some involved. There is simply no other way he could have not perished, though I don't say that unhappily."
He agreed to the idea of getting Gedeon out. They'd have to call in a pickup, which would be troubling logistically, but they couldn't leave the man to die. It would definitely push up their timetable though, the camp might be close enough to hear if they have Gedeon lifted out by air. So they'd probably have to call it in right now, and then immediately move on the enemy base so that by the time they realize what's going on, they're already being destroyed. Speaking of destruction, they lost their second heavily hitter and actual warrior here. This didn't make him very optimistic, especially if those guys had managed to gather anymore artifacts of power. Gransela didn't mention any from the tomb here, but if this wasn't their first dig, they could have some left over from others. Well. The Book of the Dead proved useful so far, and the man wielding it was no slouch himself. It'd just have to do, they couldn't afford an angry goddess's wrath.
Tamara would feel a hand on her shoulder while she was kneeling over the scorched body of her friend and mentor. He gave a soft squeeze, attempting to counsel her. "As the doctor said, you may remain here if you wish. You've been through more than anyone has any right to ask, I wouldn't dare push you for more. The choice is up to you if you desire to come with us or not, but I'm afraid you'll have to make the choice quickly. The evac for Mr. Salvator will be here in a short time, we'll have to be at the camp by then. Think about it and let me know."
Typically he'd have ordered her to stay put out of hand and called it a day, considering her wounds from now and before, combined with her mental state at everything that had happened. However, if he knew Tamara, he guessed that she was the type to want burning, furious revenge. If not for herself, than definitely for her guardian. It wouldn't be right to deny her that as a warrior, although as a gentleman, the line wasn't so clear. Still, at the end of the day, it was her choice and her right to make it. For all they knew, Salvator could be dead by midnight, wanting a piece of the people responsible for that wouldn't be an unreasonable request. If she wanted to sit back they could probably handle it.
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It didn't take very long for the German to arrange for someone to come and pick up the badly burned magician, and as soon as that call went out Dieter had the group of them saddled back up in the wagon and heading for the camp. Now they were on a deadline that they'd have to keep. He drove most of the way one handed, the other being used to talk to his subordinates over the radio to assure that everyone was still on track. Once done he confirmed with his team here.
"The camp seems unaware of our attack on the village, there is some positive news. They've bumped up their patrols, but that is actually also a good thing. My troops will make short work of them before we move in for the assault. Four teams of five, twenty men total, roughly half of their number, supposing that estimate of sixty from the other day included the ones at the town. Let us hope, right?" Gerhardt told the other two, or three if Tamara had chosen to come along.
Dieter stopped the car roughly where they had the other day, hull down at the bottom of a hill. If they squinted, they could just barely see the two closest mechanized squads off in the distance to their north and south as they had arranged prior. It was morning now, so this wouldn't be as easy as it could be. Luckily, this time it was less of a break in and more of an all out raid. So, light wouldn't matter as much for either party. Supposing that Tamara was here, the spear bearer would make a small detour to drop her off with one of his teams and wait there. No use risking more harm coming to her by going straight into the mouth of hell with the rest of them. Kate could remain behind too if so desired and provide ranged support with her.
"Are you ready?" He asked his team, and then his soldiers over the radio. Once he had received confirmation from both, he set things into motion with a single command. "Feuer!"
Dieter's Hanomags were technically referred to as the OT-810, a Czech variation of the original Sd.Kfz 251. His were a further modification that had a small autocannon in a turret on top to provide fire support for the mounted soldiers, replacing the primary mounted machine gun. Four of them, one per squad, brought an explosive opening to the fight. The first two targeted the guard towers at each corner of the base, first shooting the ones closest to them, and then the one opposite. The high explosive shells would probably rip apart the wooden structures and make short work of anyone unfortunate enough to be inside them, supposing the fall didn't kill them. The other two OT-810's opened fire on the camp itself, using their cannons to barrage the tents of both the commander and his soldiers. It was really a shame that they were forced to carry out this attack at daytime, because at night with everyone asleep, they could have probably ended this entire ordeal right here and now. Alas, that fate saw fit to deny them that privilege. It wouldn't stop them from delivering judgement on these rogues, just make it harder. The gunners were careful to not hit the temple with their shots, it'd be very counterproductive to anger a second god while trying to appease the first. Hopefully Miss Ashborne would remember that as well.
The rest of the men, whom had taken positions belly down on the tops of dunes not far from their cars, couldn't reach the camp with their STG's...but they could reach the patrols. And did so, those squads would find themselves under heavy automatic fire from multiple directions seemingly without warning. Same as their leader, they packed the sizable 7.92 kurz round, not a fun thing to get hit by. Anyone surviving that would ideally be pinned, which was crucial for allow Dieter and James to get into the camp. That said they were engaging them at pretty long ranges so that their ambush wouldn't have been sighted preemptively, so that might help the robbers somewhat with making it through the initial attack.
"Here we go, zum sieg!" The man bellowed, slamming his foot into the gas and sending their jeep blazing out from behind cover and towards the camp as fast as the machine could carry them. His automatic pistol was kept firmly in his left hand while they sped over the sands, the right remaining on the wheel. Hopefully his warriors would keep the patrols pinned down sufficiently to let them breech the camp's perimeter without suffering too much damage. That was why he wanted the towers gone first, they could have warned the others of their approach and given them time to react. He wasn't fully confident in things going perfectly all the same, so he kept his head down as much as possible so that any lead slung their way was more likely to hit the car rather than skin. Ideally, James and anyone else riding along would be doing the same.
The autocannons ripping through the camp would cease fire by the time they began their charge, so as to not risk friendly fire. The level of coordination here was very precise, much better than one would expect from run-of-the-mill mercenaries. Dieter would take the vehicle right over the fence, which shouldn't be able to withstand its speed and mass since it was only rooted in sand. From there, James could begin the summoning to really kick off the battle.
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Post by Pitman on Mar 24, 2016 18:54:06 GMT -6
It couldn't be, it mustn't be true, alas before Tamara's eyes it was the bitter truth. Since coming to this world she originally felt like Gedeon was nothing but a hindrance, and been the most horrible person to him. Now in a situation should didn't want to believe it could happen, he was a trained Mage Knight, a man who studied under the Spear of the God Slayer himself. Tamara knew Gedeon was strong but that strength she didn't believe would give out so easily. Now his strength and what was left of the guardian was now only a charred mess. She couldn't think straight on the how but part of her truly simply wanted something else. Younger, inexperienced, and quite emotional, if anyone would take notice they would notice not to get in her way. As James was talking which simply went inside one ear and out the other she would suddenly feel the firm hand of the older Dieter. She looked up though she had tears in her eyes they were not sad, no Dieter saw what they showed. I am useless, I must do something, I must take my revenge. Whatever had happened she didn't even answer she soon got up wiped her face then toward the vehicle, which she hid her face from others. But if someone notice the face it showed coldness as if something far darker was waking up. Tamara would jump into the vehicle and ready to go, that was her answer to the others. Gedeon may live or may not but she promised she would kill all those who caused this, with the fake elder dead, she couldn't take revenge on him. What else that is the best option left for her then? Why the men who followed the fake elder in the first place.
As the battle was beginning Tamara stayed low, the gun fire itself would easily kill anyone as they would charge in once they were inside the vehicle she saw how well Dieter and men his worked. The more she saw the more she felt she and Gedeon were truly out of element here. In fact she would be impressed on what she was seeing, and now understood what James talked about much earlier of the weapons of this world. Military are organized and anyone could be trained into these tactics easily. Well Magecraft took years, this needed less time to be able to do, as they hit the fence Tamara held on tightly. Once done she would wait for the right time to strike, she began to gather mana in her hand with a familiar spell, of course the flames of Vulcan's hammer can be seen in her hand as she used on the cruise ship. She would soon throw it as soon as they stopped at the closest tent would be. Anyone caught in it if they survived the bullet fire would now find them selves on fire. If they would look at Tamara now it was no simple teen girl, no it was a vengeful girl who had no remorse.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Mar 24, 2016 22:19:11 GMT -6
"It does seem difficult for someone with that level of injuries to stay alive, perhaps it is the existence of mana that is playing a hand towards that. Mana is a power that reacts to imaginations, mental powers, so a person with great wishes to stay alive might be able to use it to maintain their life. That said, it's just a theory. Plenty of people with great will power had fallen against their will, so it is not almighty, nor will it give you immortality."
James agrees with Dieter that it is nothing short of a miracle that Gedeon is still alive, suffering injuries that would otherwise kill several people. But mana is still something that is not completely clear, even to himself who had invented these theories, so perhaps their unknown property could be taken into account. If Gedeon still have the chance of survive and recover, the spell that James casted would definitely increase the small bits of chances, and speed up the recovery process. For now there are little they could do, even Dieter who had medical training could not do anything without the suitable equipment, they would just have to leave the man to the doctors while they carry on.
As for Tamara, James was unsure about taking the girl with them. He doesn't know what exactly is she thinking of, but he knows it's not exactly flower and birds. It could be dangerous to have her on the battlefield if she is emotionally unstable, could be risk to both herself and the rest of the team. But if she decides for herself that she wants to go, he can't really stop her either.
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Now for dealing with the camp, this is a bigger problem then a sneak attack to free the village. Not only are they attacking a (lightly) fortified location, there are also several times more enemies, and lack the night to cover their movements. Not only that, they're missing Gedeon, who might otherwise be handy to disrupt the enemies. On the other hand, they have Dieter's forces here to support them, so it's not completely bad.
Kate has decided to go with the team, seeing that they would need someone to provide fire support while James and Tamara use their magic. There's already plenty of fire support with Dieter's men, so there's no need to have her join in for that. Mean while Mei Mei is standing on the vehicle to act as a shield, her low mobility means she won't be able to do much in terms of attacking, so she stands guard in case they get shot at.
The team charged right in, at full speed and running over anyone before them. Leaving Dieter to drive, and Kate to pick off enemies with her rifle, James can focus on the summoning instead. But before he begins, he yells out towards the camp just as they break through the fences.
"Pay for your crime! Sinners!! This shall be divine punishment, in the name of Bastet! The daughter of Ra and the Goddess of Warfare and Protection!!"
He declared their goal for coming, devoting the coming victory of this battle to the goddess in order to calm the flames of her anger. It also served as a reminder to the team, they did not kill these people because they want to, but rather because they need to do this for the better goal. Right after he's done with his declaration, he opens the spell book in his hand, and begins his summoning.
"Walkers of the plains of the underworld! I empower you the ability to breathe! To see! To walk on the world of the living! Let my energy satisfy your ka, let your service satisfy my wishes! Call Servant! Come forth! Mummy Warriors!!"
As they charge through the camp, James summons one mummy after another, choosing locations that won't be hit by Tamara's magic. The summoned mummies appears out of a casket that suddenly burst up through the sand, opens up and out comes a mummy, armed with a scimitar and dressed similar to how the statues from the trials had shown. They would charge towards the bandits, fearless of the coming bullets, and tries to hack their targets into pieces. The mummies are not as tough as Mei Mei is, but they won't die just from a shot or two either, so they instantly become problems towards the robbers if the appearance of an undead warrior is not scary enough.
Tamara's magic is another thing for them to worry about, setting many of them on fire as they go, and burning up the camp with the flames. However this does have a bit of problem, the fire would also light up the mummies, causing them to be more dangerous but also fall in battle faster than they would have hoped them to have done.
"Ms. Ashborne, be careful of where you aim those flames! If you hit a vehicle, it might explode and put us all in danger!"
Kate reminds Tamara of what might be inside the tents, but did not do anymore than that. She was shooting an enemy that was ready to shoot at James, and ducking to avoid some gunfire from several others. It would have been better if they brought a machine gun or something, but no use complaining about it now. At least they have Mei Mei who can easily block ammo, and seems to have figured out that she could flick back the bullets with her strength to use them like projectiles enough to kill.
However, more and more of the bandits are gathering to fight the team, and with that more and more bullets are flying at them. If they're not careful, they could be hit by some of these shots, and could suffer serious injuries. Though the jeep is fairly durable, it's not going to be able to take too many shots to it, so they would need some skillful driving to avoid that fate.
Some of the enemies instead try to fight back at the mercenary group, using the sand dunes as cover to get closer without being gunned down. Although they only have assault rifles, it doesn't mean they can't try to fight their way out, even if it's a quite futile attempt. Some managed to throw some grenades in their direction, hoping to destroy, or at least damage the AFVs so they could have more chance in battle.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Mar 25, 2016 5:24:22 GMT -6
The PMC soldiers were having a pretty good time of it, comparatively. Like fish in a barrel, since they got to hold back at distance from prearranged positions. They didn't move too much as the lines of both sides began to stabilize, though they did attempt to keep fire on the bandits moving towards them between cover. They had picked the best perches possible, so they had excellent vantage points from which to pick them off - though it wasn't an entirely futile effort on the robber's parts. Both sides fought hard, but the mercs had a definitive advantage in being better prepared and emplaced. Anyone shot would be drug back by the squad's medic to be patched up while the rest continued to try and gun down the approaching groups. The fact that there were roughly twice as many mechanized infantry out here as there were robbers didn't make it any better for them, no matter where they went they'd be under fire from multiple directs and with more intensity than they could apply back to try and suppress the professionals. At these ranges, the thrown grenades weren't particularly effective, though they did make for breaks in the fire while the halftracks moved to evade, so that was a small relief.
With their boss in the camp, these same tracks were now able to use their autocannons to support their men. This would be very bad news for those patrols, and they'd soon be treated to 20mm explosive shots landing all around them, tossing up big plumes of sand where they missed, and causing more grisly things to happen when they hit. Despite loses or damage, the mercenary groups' morale held firm. There'd be no easy escape past these guys. The hanomags used their ammo conservatively against the patrols, short bursts only. Their primary function was to destroy any enemy vehicles that might try to flee, so they hold back so that they can open fire immediately on any of those should they happen to show up.
Down in the camp, Dieter proved himself to be an excellent driver in combat as well, he brought them to weave between flaming tents, fallen towers, and larger groups of soldiers to continually break off line of sight and keep them out of the enemy's crosshairs. Bullets here-or-there pinged off the metal chassis, but nothing too bad yet. Between the fire, smoke, and buildings/tents that were still partially intact, they had a lot of cover to drive between. Combat for them mostly consisted of short bursts as they moved from one piece of concealment to another, either side exchanging rounds with each other as they did. Such highly mobile warfare favored the team, of course, particularly with Tamara needing to gather energy between spells. This would allow her more time to do that, and also the rest of them time to reload.
They actually did have a machine gun of a sort, this very mission was why the German brought that auto pistol of his instead of using his typical sidearm of the Luger. While bypassing larger groups of bandits, he sprayed them with quick bursts of fire in what would these days be called a 'drive by'. Any solitary thieves, he wouldn't hesitate to ram bodily with the car and dispatch that way. What was a mechanic's bill compared to appeasing a war goddess? In his current predicament he couldn't really cast spells, so his weapons for the moment would be that gun and the jeep itself. Stopping would also surely see them surrounded and destroyed, so top priority was staying mobile and evasive, with attacks coming in secondary. Which was another advantage to bringing an automatic, they were very forgiving of poor accuracy. Whoever was riding shotgun with the explorer would hear the grenades he picked up in the tomb rattling in the jeep's glove compartment, so someone who had their hands free could very well pull those out and make use of them as another force multiplier, the driver himself was obviously too busy to make fiddling with explosives a safe venture.
In general, he runs along the circuit of the camp so that at any point, only a fraction of its defenders can shoot at them. This also worked to distract them from the more pressing concerns of the mummies that were running riot within their own perimeter. Once riling up a group he makes sure to drive back towards the summoned monsters in hopes of luring pursuers into the arms of the undead, so that they can help take some of the pressure off their car. It was very likely that they'd be focusing on the kubelwagon blazing through their camp full of armed men and people throwing magic moreso than the man-sized targets only holding swords, so ideally, they wouldn't realize that they had conjured up allies until it was too late and they were already within distance of being charged. That said, he was careful not to hit the mummies himself; no telling what chaos would happen if they did that, saying nothing for it being a waste of resources.
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Post by Pitman on Mar 25, 2016 13:24:55 GMT -6
Tamara heard James soon saying not to use the flames to blowing up the area, which of course what she initially intended. It was then noticing the mummies about which meant she could use fire anymore unless she wished to give less chance of killing the enemy. As well Kate soon pleading were both acting almost like an annoyance to her. After all Tamara was not in the right state of mind, after everything that has occurred it was though something else was pushing her to kill. The others were forced to kill Tamara wanted to kill these men, not because it was for a goddess no it was to make her feel better. If Kate or James notice they would not see a hint of emotion almost like she ticked suddenly. She would soon nod then change her tactic, this time she would call upon the earth.
'By Gaia give thy enemies no respite!! May you tear and show no mercy to my enemies!! Earth Shatter!!', Tamara would soon shout as she would begin moving the earth near the tents which would not only shake but move parts of the earth as cracks would appear under any of the tents.
The whole in this? Well to force the bandits outside the tents and into the open. Not to mention it would help the others to force the enemy into the bullet fire. She would continue to do this to force the enemy out at the right time for the others to strike. They stated no more fire but didn't say anything about crushing her enemies.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Mar 25, 2016 22:32:56 GMT -6
By now, the group and their vehicle has drawn plenty of attention from the bandits inside the camp. That, along with the bandaged undeads and the cracking Earth is enough to force them to focus their firepower towards the group, more than doubling the amount of gunfire being sent their way. They also try to predict the direction that the jeep is heading, then set up blockades to slow down the charging vehicle in order to get a better shot towards the group.
The team is right about the enemies having vehicles of their own, and they're not hesitate to use them in combat against their attackers. Charging into the middle of the road, blocking the path of the jeep is an light truck, modified with extra armor for protection and a mounted 12.7mm machine gun on the rear. Within moments the gunner gets the weapon ready, and begins to fire a barrage of bullets towards the jeep and the people on board.
To deal with the truck, James had summoned a few more mummies to attack it, so some of the fire were drawn away from the team. However that is still a large number of bullets coming their way, more than the number that Mei Mei can block. The higher caliber rounds are also enough to damage the Jiangsei, knocking her down and shooting some holes into some of the thinner locations on the vampire. She also falls on Kate who she was trying to cover, so Kate won't he able to keep shooting with Mei Mei on top of her, she will however act as a shield for the lady to prevent her from harm.
The extra armor of the customized truck would make it more difficult to destroy it, they would of course be able to outrun it if they choose to do so, but that's not something easy to do when the truck is armed with something that could destroy the jeep.
The bandits have also setted up some ramps in some paths, so if Dieter didn't notice them, it could send all of them flying through the air. If they lose their mobility then it's surely going to spell death for them, more so when several of the grave diggers begin to bring out old but still powerful RPGs to attack the group. Looks like they were planning to use it on the mechanical infantries outside, but had decided to use them on the closer target first.
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The patrol teams outside the camp are definitely outgunned by the mercenaries, but they have little choices here. With their camp also under attack and not doing too well, their only chance of survival is to break through the enemy lines, something that would surely drop most of them before they could get out of here. So even under shell fire, and the attack of the more superior group, they gather the team in a loose formation and prepare their attack.
With the help of a volley of frag and smoke grenades tossed towards the group, they charge towards the mercenary formations in what is similar to a banzai charge. They hoped that the explosives would help disrupt the enemies, and give them the opening they need to run past the armored vehicles, or get close enough to have a better fighting chance. Their gunfire are concentrated into a single area, which means the team they targeted will likely suffer much higher casualties from their assault, but that is the same for the attackers just as well.
Their determination and last attempt to fight for survival allows a fierce offense. With no other way of survival, they would just have this one great gamble in a single attack, if not to save themselves then to breakthrough the enemies for allies to escape.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Mar 26, 2016 9:22:29 GMT -6
The thrown explosives did in fact disrupt the PMC soldiers, however, a keen commander would have noted that they hadn't been using their own grenades yet. Surely they'd have brought some considering they had heavier gear than that. It would happen that they did, and were just saving them for purposes such as this one. They were forced to give ground as the incoming attack hammers them hard, but they didn't fall back empty handed. Instead they hurled stick grenades down range into the bandit's formation, causing even more fiery chaos between both units. This was made worse for the robbers by the fact they were charging across mostly open terrain now, with little area with which to hide from the fragmentation bombs. Dieter's troops still took losses of course, but they drug back their wounded to the nearest halftrack under cover of the autocannon. Once there they took refuge behind its heavy armored plating and resumed opening fire from behind the protection of steel plates, which could easily stop an assault rifle round. By the time the bandits got to the top of the hill the mercs were formerly attacking them from, they'd have no real defense at all from the cannon nor the soldiers, meaning they felt the full brunt of the counterattack from them, which came at a blistering pace to break their charge. In addition to the crossfire from the other two halftrack teams to their flanks, which was no less substantial.
Furthermore, now that they were closer, the machine gun built into the front passenger's side of the vehicle also opened fire on the thieves.
Once at their car they did not retreat further and dug their heels in to fight, with even the wounded-but-active firing out of the back of the vehicle to amplify their lead output. Their crazed charge had definitely drew more blood than trying to stand off, but their route out was still closed, and it didn't seem very likely that they'd be able to run by nor take out the rest of them. They wouldn't know it, but these men could mount up in their car at a moment's notice and outpace the bandits to fight at a distance akin to the panzergrenadiers they were based on, should they actually come under risk of being overwhelmed. It's just that it was more advantageous at the current time to stay put, but if pressure got too high they'd easily be able to do so and turn any shred of hope into a forlorn one.
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Down in the camp, things were getting significantly more chaotic. Gerhardt had to watch his driving due to ramps, barricades, and fissures tearing open the ground. It was starting to become a nice little slice of pandemonium that they had themselves in, here. The German found himself shooting less so that he could focus more on skirting these manifold obstacles and the increasing numbers of warriors coming to fight them. Being defensive turned out to be a good thing when the enemy revealed a vehicle of their own, an armored truck with a heavy machine gun. Spotting RPGs in the enemy's ranks made the threat grow to an even higher level, now they'd have to be really careful.
For the truck atleast, he had a plan.
He approached it at a diagonal angle, taking that flare out that he had grabbed much earlier. It was lit with a hand and hurled towards the truck. It immediately lit up the area with red smoke and light of an equally bloody hue. From there, he performed a bootleg turn and whipped the jeep back around the way they had came, going about 20 yards that way before twisting again at a breakneck degree to put the ruins between themselves and the jeep. The purpose of the flare was to signal fire support from his men. Two of the hanomags turned their autocannons onto the lit area and threw shells that way via plunging fire, explosive hail dropping amongst the truck and anyone around it. That ought to give it something else to focus on rather than following after them.
Along with the autocannons, snipers from the squads not being rushed earlier acted to pick off soldiers with heavy weapons, vehicle mounted or handheld. If none of those were left, they'd just take out regular people to try and further ease the troubles of the jeep team.
"Tamara," he asked, "that hole trick, do it under the truck if you'd be so kind."
This request was also made. Probably the easiest way to deal with that thing would be to sink it, since they had that ability. If nothing else, putting its back end into the ground would make its weapon useless. If that didn't work, getting it stuck would make it unable to dodge the attacks leveled at it. A good thing, either way.
"And remind me to find a faster way to use spells when we're done here. I think I have an idea inspired by what we saw here today."
Indeed, there was little time for him to do much else than drive and thing. Certainly no spellcasting. Any shooting he made was at priority targets only, namely, guys with RPGs. He spent his shots very carefully, because each reload took a creative combination of uses of his elbows, thighs, teeth, and wrists to assure he had a hand on the wheel at all times. The entire scene of driving and firing while doing this wouldn't be out of place at all in an Indiana Jones movie, or perhaps more fittingly, an episode of Johnny Quest. Despite his skillful maneuvers, rifle fire blew out their windshield and rent numerous holes in the wagon. To try and curb the damage he made clever use of the emergency brake, combined with the loose soil, to skid across the ground at dizzying angles to throw off fire...and sideswipe groups of bandits. As before, he didn't hesitate to ram anybody that looked like he had an rocket launcher. Killing those guys was top priority. However, as was said, he mainly tried to stay evasive and leave the killing to the mummies and the rest of the group. He didn't hesitate to take the kubelwagon through the rows of tents to keep themselves hidden, for he knew which ones Tamara had undermined and could swerve around them. Hopefully the rocketeers, and the truck if it followed them, wouldn't risk shooting here and taking out their own allies.
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Post by Pitman on Mar 26, 2016 19:55:48 GMT -6
Tamara would continue her attacks as Dieter lead them through the battlefield on the vehicle. Until they had a vehicle begin to follow them she soon would take cover so not to be hit by stray bullets. As the vehicle was being followed by the other from behind of course it made trouble even worse. Tamara didn't use her magic right away in fact she waited until Dieter soon requested to attack it.
"Oh with pleasure.", Tamara soon closed her eyes for a second and chanted her spell once more.
Turning towards the truck from behind she took her hand before her and aimed toward the truck. To be precise on the ground behind which would have the ground slowly shake as cracks would start appearing behind them. The Truck would have a moment to get out but if they didn't take notice thy would suddenly find their vehicle begin to fall. With the job well done she soon turns to Dieter with a reply, "Not hard, its done to how well you can mentality do it. But sure it would be good to know it later."
With that done Tamara turned to the others soon asking, "Any other requests?!"
If there was done all would be left is to kill the remaining forces which she began to prepare her mana again on whatever needed to be done next.
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