Revision as of 06:30, 21 September 2014

Participants

• Angus
• Cassidy
• Cirra
• Fenris
• Jera
• Kalt
• Natska
• Rokarion
• Sara
• Thelergramor

Date

21/9/477

Log

"I'll answer any questions you might have, and then I wish you the best of luck on your hunt." A small salute is given.

A youthful looking plant being, clad in his usual body covering heavy cloak, moves towards the avian soldier, his jasmine scent wafting around him as he walks. Stopping a few inches from the soldier, Rokarion speaks in his usual neutral and polite tone, "Hail and well met. So, may I ask why did the Ghosts desert in the first place? Seems a bit odd for a unit that was thought of as nothing more than a rumour to suddenly appear deserting its country."

Thelergramor was already by the soldier. Heard everything. He grins, not wearing his plague mask for one. Nor is his typical black coat present. Instead, the wolf is wearing a blood red gambeson with a matching hood. A golem grasper is worn on his right arm, leaving his left to hold a pistol. His golem, Rhomlyn, stands by his side. "I have no quesions. Just point me at the target."

Angus tugs on the straps of his his leather gauntlet, only looking up as he gets closer to the Avian. He frowns as he looks them over, the little silvery golem on his shoulders laying their motionless as Angus puts a hand on his hip. "When you say they have their defenses up what do you mean, have they gone to ground and dug in?" He asks curiously, wanting some insite before they charge in.

Cassidy tilts her head as she approaches the avian, adjusting her mask. "Oh ho! So trained military targets? This will be ~exciting~ then. What are our rules of engagement? Do we capture them alive? Kill them?"

Natska approaches the military officer alongside Cassidy, the jaguar's jaw set in a serious cast, her black domino mask not doing near as well at hiding her expression as Cassidy's does. She gives the bird a small nod, and waits to hear the answers to the questions from the other Freeswords.

Fenris had arrived shortly after the summons had been posted. Creators above! It was so much EASIER to get around when one was no longer two feet tall! The liger listens carefully to the briefing and the usual questions from his compatriots, all the while fiddling with his twirligig defender device. Handy little thing. "The longer we wait, the deeper they dig in," says the liger, "We should get moving." He was all for having all the information, but had had enough experience with military and with Cliffside to know that there would not be many straight answers here. Fenris straightens his long, black coat, showing the top of what seems to be a red heart emblazoned on his belly and readies himself for travel, and for battle, checking his sword under the coat and the spear strapped to his back.

Kalt yawns as she stretches for a moment, giving Angus a pat on the back as she grins. "I ain't got many questions... But M'figurin' if'n we can, gettin'em routed up an' all will be a right quick ordeal an' such. But, we gonna be havin' any aid from the military proper though?"

The silent Nurse Shark approaches. She looks for the person leading the expedition, having written on her chalk board. <Cliffside fugitives? Cirra will help. She might even know their tactics a bit.> She signs further with her hands rather than chalk. <Former Cliffsider here. Details not important. Will use knowledge to advance mission.> She puts the chalkboard away in her satchel, shifting it back under her oilskin coat.

A few branches cracking, and the rustle of leaves announces Sara's arrival who apparently only arrives moments after the briefing. After resting her hands on her knees, panting heavilly after her dash through the forest, and brushing off a couple leaves from her cloak, the lizard woman looks around and asks, "Uh.. since everyone's asking, how many of these.. uh.. ghosts?" the term comes out more as a question, unsure what she had signed herself up for, though it does pass before she continues, "How many are we going up against? And what will they be armed with?" After asking what questions she had Sara notices both Cassidy and Natska who each get a brief wave.

The soldier takes a moment to process how best to answer all the questions without getting into trouble with his superiors, shaking his head a little before looking up again. "They've had many hours to set up what they need to do. Sentries. Traps. Ambushes. For all you know they might already know we are here." He tells Angus, squinting a little. "I would have thought a Solacious would know more about military tactics. Especially one so...renown."

"No aid, I'm afraid." He addresses Kalt. "Like I said. We would like to settle the matter inhouse, but crossing the border with an army would be breaching quite a few agreements."

"A full, if small unit. They outnumber you guys maybe two to one? Three? But most of you are soulless, I bet. Shouldn't be too tragic.

Rokarion's question is left unanswered. "They're that way. Tread lightly." The soldier points, and then takes flight out of the forest. Moments after the soldier leaves. Echoes ring all about the forest. "Echo-o-o Echo out loud! Ghost troopers never let you down." The voices are scattered, and seem to come from all directions in a disorienting fashion. Echoing all throughout the forest.

Rokarion raises a petal for an eyebrow as the soldier departs, his question was indeed quite critical and he didn't expect a proper answer. His line of thought however is quickly interrupted at the sudden voices appearing around the group. Deciding to take the more cautious road, Rokarion uttered an equation attempting to cover himself in a protective layer.

Thelergramor waits until the soldier is out of site. "Yeah. Fuck you too buddy." He spits on the ground. "...I'll give him fucking tragic..." The wolf looks to his golem, then to the rest. Completely unmoved by the echoes of their enemy. He just shrugs. "They'll have to do better than that."

Angus flicks his ears, not even bothering to give them a retort as he instead just turns around and rests his right hand on the pommel of his sword. "Hm, odd." He states as they start speaking up, ears flicking back and forth as Mister starts to stir on his shoulder, sitting up to look around. "Everyone be on guard." Is his only statment as he frowns.

Cassidy folds her arms and looks over towards Natska. "No word on the rules of engagement! I guess that means they all die if they attempt to harm either of us. I wonder how terrifying of an end I can make it." She strokes the chin of her mask as she contemplates just that, ears perking a little at the sound.

Natska gives Cassidy a small nod, drawing her parrying knife as the ghosts call out. "They are just trying to unnerve us, Angus. If we fear them it will be easier. Go on towards their camp, Cass and I can watch our flanks to keep them from ambushing us from the side. Rokarion, do you want to be in front? I've seen you take a beating pretty well."

Fenris stays relaxed, allowing his twirligig to spin away in its loose orbit. "To the Northwest," he says quietly, "Small group, not the whole unit. Probably a scout." The liger nods to Natska, and starts to jog briskly in the direction indicated by the Cliffside commander, trusting his divine shield to protect him from any pot shots.

Kalt stretches and grins. "You got it boss!" The Vixen stomping her feet for a moment before cupping her hands around her mouth as she yells. "OOOOOH GHOOOOST TROOPERS, COME OUT TO PLAAAAAAY~!" Grinning as Fenris jogs by her, and quickly picking up to catch up with him. "Oi, don't go figurin' you're leavin' me from the front!"

At the sound of the echo, Cirra prepares her own arrangement of magics, summoning a water wisp and a coating herself in the protective dirt. She continues her trancelike state, setting up more spells to be ready once she has a better idea of the battlefield.

Sara looks to the commander as he flies off, quite shocked about his asshole-ness and mumbles a dark, "Well.. guess we know his take on the /gifted/.." stressing the politically correct terminology. As soon as her brief grumping is done, Sara pulls the musket from her shoulder and follows Fenris at a distance, her rifle, while pointed at the ground, remains ready to fire.

The moment Fenris starts his movements and Kalt yells back, the forest falls deathly silent again. It's a dark night with little moonlight illuminating the forest, and it almost always seems like there's something hiding in the forest. A shadow here, a rustling bush there. A track placed juuuust the wrong way. It feels like they've been here for years with how well they have things set up. The moment they stray just a little too far from the group, they get to see a well armed trooper with his arms folded smugly across his chest. "Echo-o-o Echo out loud. Ghost troopers never let you down." It seems like he's just one man making a distracting voice! He laughs out afterwards, a thick, dense fog rolling in and obscuring vision in the forest for the rest of the group. Making it hard to even see past one arm's length!

"Firers watch your front. Cock and put to safe. Targets never seemed so small, so small before..." Echoes all about the forest once more. Loud gunfire surrounds the two who'd trudged ahead! The flares of the guns being fired giving the pair a rough idea where the shooters are. But the flares are moving, and moving, and moving each shot. They seem to keep firing. Bullets ricochet about, though Fenris' shield does an excellent job of stopping most of the gunfire. One of them sinks into Fenris shoulder and another bullet grazes Kalt's thigh. Once the barrage stops, the attackers start to beat a hasty retreat back into the safety of the now foggy forest...

Rokarion,now covered in a protective layer, looked around into the fog, his leafy ears perking up at the sound of gunfire, however his serene facial expression remaining as it is seemingly unaffected by the sudden turn of events. Rokarion, not knowing what Natska was exactly asking simply nodded. Not having anything else to do, Rokarion's body started glowing a pale white light, as something slithered from under his cloak and appeared above his head, a vine with a blossom for a tip. Then the glow around his body started fading, and focusing on the tip of the vine hanging above his head, until it gave out a shimmering light, allowing his vine blossom to act as a makeshift lantern for the group, and most likely marking himself as a target too.

"Great. Gunshots. I knew these pansies wouldn't fight face to face!" Thelergramor calls out loudly; both hoping to demoralize and draw fire. Not making any mention of the fact that he has his own firearms. He points his golem towards where Kalt and Fenris went. "Go slaughter somethingn Rhomlyn. Uh, not something friendly." Afterword the wolf just hangs back and looks to Angus. "Orders? Or am I free for now?" The wolf grins, licks his lips.

Angus narrows his eyes as the fog starts to thicken, and the light doesn't help as he sighs. "You're free." He answers as he steps away and pulls his shortened musket with his left hand, cocking the hammer back as he stays low within the fog.

Cassidy peers at Natska for a moment, then looks towards Fenris and Kalt before scoffing. "Those daft fools. I ought to just smash them in the back now. I'd be doing them a favour, yeah?" When the bullets fly towards them, she only snorts softly before nodding at Natska. "I'm going to be a little more -subtle- and tactical in our approach. I'm going to set up for a flank and ambush. Try to take them from behind. Care to join me?" With that said, she kicks up a bit of air magic and vanishes into the canopy to begin seeking out the 'scout' in a more discrete way.

Natska sighs, ears pinned back at the sudden onslaught of gun fire; she nods her head then, and quickly follows after Cassidy. "Fog is my thing. I've got your back, Cass." She quickly moves along with the fennec, moving quietly through the fog.

Fenris grunts and grits his teeth as the ball slams into his shoulder, stepping out of the open before dropping to a knee to tend his wound. He had not expected them to be so close! This was not a chase, this was a trap. He couldn't charge into battle with a disabled arm! The liger reaches into his coat and produces a small device, his personal sacred doctor! Hopefully, the little thing could patch him up enough to be battle ready. "Run first aid protocol," he whispers, holding the device to his injured shoulder, "Primary user." As the fog surrounds the group and the little device starts its work, Fenris is free to devote his attention to a little air magic, attempting to clear the air a bit.

Kalt lets out hiss as the ball grazes her thigh, patting her ribbed pants with a growl. "Oh... M'gettin' what you're plannin' an' all... Go gettin' a shot, an' then runnin' off to hide once more eh?" The Vixen taking in a deep breath as she closes her eyes for a moment and punches her hands together to let the metal gauntlets slam together! "Oh Ghosts oh Ghosts, Can you go keepin' your boasts? I kill men bigger than you, just what you figurin' you can do? Oh Ghosts, oh Ghosts, don't you see I stay true to my Boasts? You ain't runnin'way this day, 'cause you that fight we're gonna slay!" The Vixen calling out loudly as she pushes forward, trying to match their own rhyming as she keeps pressing on, knowing that diverting the enemies focus, and making them think they have the upper hand will go a long way.

The large amount of suspended water in the air gives Cirra a devious idea. She hadn't been planning on taking her other elemental out just yet, but with the fog blocking her vision, she decides that there's enough water to serve. She uses mathemagic to condense her titanic water elemental from the fog, clearing both a patch of air in front of herself and giving herself another ally. She uses the opening to try to scan for targets among the enemy.

"I'll give /you/ a small target!" Sara shouts as she charges past both Fenris, and keeps a wary eye on Kalt, and the golen for as long as the fog could allow "Not making my life any easier.." she mumbles to herself before looking down the rifle. With her nerves calmed, Sara fires off into the tree line, first the musket, then the two pistols at her sides each in quick succession, using only the rustling leaves, branches, and footfalls to track their movements. "And I've got plenty more where that came from!" she continues before ducking behind a tree and continuing to reload the weapons. As she reloads the looks to both Fenris and asks, "You doing alright?" before looking to Cass and Natska. Noticing the two ducking off into the fog Sara however remains quite quiet, not wanting to give their possitions away to the Ghost Company.

The escaping soldiers say something rather unusual as they escape. "Shit shit shit, the soulless have put up fog...run for it!" "Yes sir!" No Cliffside accent. The light indeed does make things worse, making the shadows intensify and creating more imaginary opponents as light refracts and reflects in the dense fog. Thel's golem manages to catch up to one of the fleeing soldiers who tripped and impales the poor thing into the ground with a blade arm sinking into soft soil. The body is wearing armor distinctly familiar to everyone who's served in the army...standard issue Firmament military gear. That's if anyone bothers to stop to take a look at the body. Shards of ice from Cirra's coalesced elemental take another two retreating soldiers down. Sara's shots fly true, and she gets the last of the Firmament unit.

Fenris' air magic clears the fog partially and weakens the cover that Natska and Cassidy get. They don't get far flanking before they're spotted by more soldiers. "Stop. Stop! Don't move any further, Ghosts! Or we'll shoot!"

What seems like a failed offense from the ghosts soon unravels into a masterpiece of a plan. In the chaos, and with everybody so, so trigger happy...the ghost voices ring out once more to add to the confusion.

"Bows raised high. Let arrows fly. And the flares go up. Like flowers in the sky." Arrows. A rain of arrows that glint like stars in the blackened night sky rain down onto the forest.

Rokarion shaked his head, best thing about blind fighting is friendly fire, and how did the the Lord Solacious not know about the movement of the military units around here. Rokarion shakes his head it was time to focus on battle, not on Sweetwater's military imcompetence. However, he came back to his senses too late as he finally realized the rain of arrows targetting the group. Clink, clink, clank the arrows went as they fell harmlessly on the layer of stone around Rokarion's body, each arrow taking off a chink of the armour until by the end the layer of ablative stone was no more. Look, like he would need to actually dodge the next attack. Rokarion ran towards a more defensible location nearer to the group as he thought about what he should do now.

Thelergramor shrugs as a shitload of arrows drop from the sky. He just stands there, staring right up at them until they allmiss him. "Well, there ya go." The wolf just grins and jogs up to where his golem impaled a soldier. He kneels, checking the body. "Firmament soldier, eh? Not my fault." A sigh. "Good job Rhomlyn. First kill." With some serious effort, Thele pulls away without looting the corpse. "Hey, watch for friendlies! Got more Firmament troops here!" The wolf heads off towards where they retreated to, his golem following behind him; its blade dripping with the blood of its first kill.

Angus curses as he hears that they were just tricked, turning to watch the arrows fall as he activate his warding rune. As the arrows crash against the ward they fall harmlessly as the fox raises his voice to the others. "Regroup, someone throw up some wind to discourage more arrow fire!" Leaning down he lets Mister hope off his shoulders to the ground, patting the fox on the head before he points towards where the voice came from. "Find the target. Disable." He commands the little golem before it darts off.

Cassidy pauses at the word of warning given by the soldiers before her attention is drawn to the arrows coming from above. She wasn't about to get caught by a trick she often used herself! She lifts a hand to the sky to channel a bit of airmagic to bloe the immediate arrows off course and into the ground around her, or if nothing else avoid them with some artful dodging, before she turns to the soldiers, hoping they were still alive, and removes her mask. "Cease! By order of captain Cassidy Solacious! We are being played for fools! We are not the ghosts. We were here to get rid of them ourselves." She then replaces the mask on her face and looks off for Natska, hoping she was well!

Taking after Cassidy, some quick thinking and fast math from Natska helps gudie the arrows falling towards her just far enough off track to land around her, instead of in her. Her ears perk at the voices and she grumbles, giving Cassidy the 'I'm fine' nod as she moves up to take her position at her shoulder. "They're out here, somewhere. They can't have gotten too far!" She turns, then, ready to set off into the woods to chase the Cliffsiders down.

Fenris straightens and snarls as a fiery arrow smacks into a tree just beside his head. "A setup," he growls, "Of course a setup." But why? Why set a bunch of Freeswords against a regiment of the Sweetwater Army? The liger rolls his patched up shoulder, pocketing the little bullet that fell from the wound. With a quick, air magic assisted hop, Fenris takes to the canopy, and takes a moment to be still and listen.

This wasn't right... This wasn't right at all. Kalt was left to blink after she tucks and rolls from the rain of arrows, coming up next to one of the fallen soldier's bodies. "... Oh that sunnovabitch." The Vixen turning before she raises her voice and tries to take a spot behind a tree to refocus herself before she pushes out once more, walking slowly into the woods as her cloak whips behind her as she holds her hands up. "Not a Ghost! Freeswords, we're bein' played!

Cirra winces as the arrows ablate her armor, though she calls up another defense agaisnt the attacks of the archers. Using more Earth magic, she elementally fortifies herself, her wisp and her Elemental, positioning herself so she can determine the locations of as many enemies as she can find.

As one of her shots strikes true, Sara laughs and pumps her arm into the air before her face falls and she recognizes the armour of the fleeing forces. "W-we're friendlies! Don't fire!" she manages to shout to the few remaining Sweetwater forces before more of the rhyming reaches her ears, and sky is blanketed with arrows. While the tree above her takes most of the arrows, a few do manage to sneak through the canopy and with the help of the chainmail covering her, Sara remains ultimately safe. "Anyone hear where that came from?" she calls to anyone in earshot.