| Logs |
2006 November 28
| Hunter |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
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| Realms: Hunter Logs |
Part Twenty-Six: Reap The Whirlwind
Triumph, moon of Eclipse
Georgia Quadrant
The crew is going over the map of the area surrounding Devon's camp beneath the rock formation known as Pilum Longinus. The three Jains are present, as are Deputy Lisbet and Ives Liao. The spire provides excellent cover. Presuming it's always manned, they have clear field of view all around the ravine.
Solbiort studies the maps a moment, then nods, "Raj, can outfit Kaushal viz means to communicate viz us?"
Raj says, "It won't take long to get all our gear synched up. Anybody that plans on being part of this, see me before we go and we'll get hooked up. We should be able to ping each other anywhere here unless somebody winds up on the other side of the continent."
Solbiort nods, "Goot. Make it happen, folks." She sighs, smiling ruefully, "Und now the hard part... waiting."
Amodini holds up a flimsie. "I have received word from the villages of Beth L'Chaim, Ste. Frances, and Avestha. They are willing to help. I'm a little surprised at that last, since they are the Zen Buddhists. I have received no response from Andalus.'
Solbiort looks pleased, "Excellent. Any idea how many each can contribute, und how vell armed? Ah, zhat reminds me -- Raj, if you need good milspec sniper rifle, still have mine." Nigel has been working on getting set up for triage, jaw set. The little doctor has been oddly silent.
"Ste. Francis has twenty-three adults armed with hunting rifles. Beth L'Chaim has thirty-two armed with a mixture of hunting rifles and crossbows. Avestha says they can get fifty-three volunteers with atlatls, slings, and threshing flails." Amodini says this with a perfectly straight face; she is not joking, nor does she denigrate the numbers.
Solbiort blinks, looking over at Amodini, then rumbles slowly, "...atlatls? ...am not even sure vhat zey are?"
Amodini considers, then holds up her hands about two feet apart. "It is a piece of wood about this long, with a slot in one end. A short spear fits in the slot, the wielder holds the other end, and uses the piece of wood as a lever arm to throw the spear further and harder."
Solbiort's eyes widen in horror... then she falls silent, thinking. Finally she nods, "Hokay. Veapons is veapons." Amodini nods soberly to Solbiort, who is silent for a moment... then looks up at the little doctor, "Di-di Nigel, got qvestion -- you can make perhaps somezing to blur their comm, but leave ours alone? Don't vant camp calling bandits vhile ve are setting up."
Nigel pauses to consider that, chewing on the inside of one cheek as he squints his eyes and rolls them as if reading something off the thin air. After a moment a grin spreads across his face. It's a disconcertingly impish smile on the curmudgeonly doctor. "Y'know, I think I can. I've got some stuff I've been tinkering with that I think might just be a good start." He skitters off and closets himself in his room, emerging from time to time for cups of tea, but then disappearing again. It takes him a day to do it, but when he's done he presents the device to Solbiort like he were a parent showing off a new baby. "If this don't work, I will smile and kiss arse for the next three bigwigs we see without bitching about it."
Solbiort nods solemnly, struggling internally to not laugh at Nigel's amazing turn of phrase! "Excellent; this should keep bandit camp incommunicado for us. Sheh-sheh very much, di-di. Set up in cargo for Raj und Elgyn to take out, ya?" Nigel smirks and saunters out to find Raj and Elgyn to show them how to set the device up to block everything but the frequencies they're using.
Elgyn smirks. "Fortunately for you, Doctor, I have every faith in it working. Because I know how you hate not bitching," he murmurs, when the doctor reuses his turn of phrase in front of them.
Over the course of the last week, Raj has been giving a quick course in chemistry to the local farmers, craftsmen, and bored young-folk. Nothing gets the attention of bored teens like a fiery explosion, and after the first demonstration of the end-result he's looking for, his helpers fall into two categories: somber or excited. Each group has their place in the process, and in surprisingly short order their assembly line begins turning out an amazing supply of small, lethal packages from common materials found on any farm. The most difficult part is fitting as many as possible with remote detonators. Raj does this work himself, set well apart from the group and behind a small wall of sandbags, humming quietly.
Kaushal sets out for his posting, hoping to reach his position in a day or so. He carries with him very little, is dressed in a manner other than as a Jain, and carries the communicator as well. Amodini, for her part, still attempts to contact the village of Andalus, with no luck.
When several rough crates are stowed on the Chimera, Raj makes sure the crew knows where they are, and passes the det codes to Elgyn and Solbiort. "I expect you may have to fire some of these from the ship. You'll have a better view of what's going on than we might. Lots of these we'll place ourselves, and can trigger manually." He considers the dozens of deadly little packages, so many put together in so little time, and says, "Do you think we brought enough?"
Solbiort snorts amusedly at Raj, then claps him on the back, "You did great, Raj. Vill be enough."
Raj ponders for a moment, then says, "You can never have too many grenades, you know."
Solbiort grins, although there's not much humor in her eyes, "Und vhen you run out... ve strafe zem from ship." She adds to Elgyn, "Pretty, bring rifle case from cabin, ching?"
Elgyn nods, his eyes glinting. "You've got it."
Solbiort adds to Raj, "Is sniper autolock rifle in excellent condition, unused for, oh... 5, 8 years now. Might vant to take day or so, make sure sights are still perfect." She smiles a bit wistfully, adding, "Is lofely veapon... take goot care, ya?"
A few days pass. It's always the waiting that's hard to do, and in this case it's even less enjoyable. What they're waiting for is nothing less than Devon's people to ride out to sack a town. Amodini returned to her village, hoping to still get in touch with Andalus. She has also tried to keep an eye out for the mole that Devon has in her village. On the morning of the fourth day, however, the comm system blerts for attention. Kaushal is calling in, saying that a mounted column of twenty riders has started their way out from under the shadow of Pilum Longinus. Solbiort laughs delightedly as the message comes in to the bridge, slapping the ship's comm to cheerfully yell, "Time to ride, kids!" Solbiort is not good at waiting.
Elgyn is in the middle of sharpening his blade when he hears that. He does not smile... he doesn't respond outwardly at all. It's taken time to purge himself of the anger he felt... he needed to be ready. Now he is. He puts on his Midgaardian leathers quickly, smoothly, sheathes his krisara, holsters his revolver, and extinguishes his incense before moving swiftly towards the bridge.
Solbiort is warming up the ship's engines, waiting for the all-clear for all her crew being aboard. To Molly she cheerfully growls, "Contact Amodini to make vakeup call for villages. Use ze code ve specified, ching. Keep ear out for vhich village under attack, und keep in contact viz Kaushal." She comms Elgyn, "Hey, pretty! Bring leathers to bridge for me, ching?" As the Chimera takes off, Kaushal informs them that the raiding party seems to be heading for Beth L'Chaim.
Elgyn is there a moment later. "One step ahead of you, Captain," he says with a small smile, handing her a bundle. "Should I and Raj wait in the hold so you can drop us off quickly?"
Solbiort nods as Molly reports that, "Closest von, excellent. Ve pick up from most distant village first, zen, und vork invards, zen hop over Beth L'Chaim to spire." Her pronunciation of the village's name is a horrific mangling... but fortunately no one from there is present to take umbrage. She grins at Elgyn, "Sheh-sheh, pretty! Neh, be in hold to bring in villagers. Haf Raj velcome zem in -- you stay hidden to cover zem, in case ve pick up mole too. Also, vhen you und Raj disembark to plant explosives, be sure to cover each ozzer, ya?" She reaches out to give Elgyn a quick hug, "Kick ass out zere, pretty!"
Elgyn squeezes Solbiort back. "No worries, flamebird. We'll be safe. And the bandits... won't," he murmurs.
Solbiort grins at Elgyn, then glances over at Molly, "Mei-mei, am going to slave laser to my console. You vill haf railgun, for more damage, ya?"
Molly nods quickly. "Aye, Cap'n, I'll take care of that."
Solbiort comms, just to be sure, "Di-di Nigel, everyzing locked down in medbay in case ve fly rough?" She sets in the parabolic course to the village most distant from the Pilum Longinus, then swiftly yanks on her leathers. Best to be ready, just in case. She grins again once she's done, settling into her seat, her emerald eyes alight with anticipation. Action, finally! She also comms Liao, to be kind to him, "Ve are on flight, Liao. Tie down anyzing you not vant flung around, ya?"
Elgyn comms Raj. "Captain wants me on overwatch when we bring folks in. You get to be the greeter," he reports. His call finds Raj in the hold, checking the heavily laden back-packs one more time. As he tests the detonators, they flash briefly in sequence. He slips them back into place and secures them. He stands, toggles the comm to the bridge, and says, "Acknowledged." He tests the straps one more time, then takes a seat near the door.
The first village is the Jain village, followed by Ste. Frances and then Avestha. When the Chimera arrives at the village, it seems like the entire adult population files aboard... most of whom are armed with slings and sharp sticks without a firearm amongst them. Elgyn watches them quietly from above, not disdainful. He grew up in a culture without firearms -- he thinks well of them for being willing to fight in the face of superior firepower, especially considering they were not born and bred warriors. Solbiort shakes her head, watching from the bridge as the villagers sans firearms load up, and murmurs quietly to Molly, "Eizzer zey are incredibly foolhardy... or incredibly brave. Don't know vhich."
Molly comments softly, "Well, they are Jains. 'Magine they might not've seen need for firearms 'till now."
Raj is seated casually by the external hatch, but is clearly geared for war. His clothing, armor, and skin are artfully mottled to blend in with the terrain, but stand out in the hard lines of the hold. As the villagers come on board, Raj greets them and organizes them into small groups. He finds the designated leader of each group (or designates one) and makes sure they're up to speed on any last minute details. On closer inspection, there are perhaps five hunting rifles amongst the Jains, held mostly by the older and less hot-headed of the group.
Nigel answers after a bit, sounding like he's been perhaps doing something strenuous last minute to make sure everything is secure, "Yeah... nobody's gettin' knocked out by a scanner."
Solbiort chuckles at Nigel's last minute response, "Sheh-sheh, di-di! Ve are on our vay, zen." After she's picked up the last of this batch of villagers, she comms the ship, "Velcome aboard Chimera. Please listen to Raj, as he has plan. Shall be dropping you off soon. Ching follow plan Raj gives you, so ve can eliminate all bandits, ya?"
Solbiort checks in with Kaushal to be sure the bandits have not done something unexpected and doubled back... and also keeps an ear out for the alarm from Beth L'Chaim. The next stop is the Orange Catholic village of Ste. Frances. This one is much better armed, and all twenty or so adults who pile on have not only a hunting rifle but also what look like a few miniature molotov cocktails. Solbiort grins at Molly when she spots that, "Ah. Think maybe they have bone to pick viz bandits, ya?" She repeats the ship-wide comm message again once they're airborn to the new set of villagers.
About the time that the Orange Catholics come aboard, the call comes in from Beth L'Chaim that Devon's people have arrived and started their usual extortion song-and-dance -- except it seems like it has a bit of an edge this time, and they seem to be doing a rather thorough search of the village. Solbiort frowns thoughtfully at the message... then muses to Molly, "Think Devon perhaps expect to find Liao there?"
Molly nods, "Probably."
Beth L'Chaim reports that there seems to be twenty riders there. But Devon is not amongst them. That is the last transmission from Beth L'Chaim. Solbiort draws her breath in slowly, worrying... then comms Raj and Elgyn privately, "Kids, Beth L'Chaim report tventy riders... but Devon not zere. Is possible zis is ambush for us... vant you to keep fery, fery sharp eye out, ya? Und at first sign of trouble, call us in! Is most important to me to keep you both alive und vell."
Raj grins slightly and says, "Trust me, Captain, I'm not shy about calling for help. You'll as soon as I do if it hits the fan." Solbiort chuckles, reassured by that. Elgyn stiffens at that, and starts watching the folks in the crowd very carefully. They never got more than a cursory description from Lisbet on what Devon looked like, but if he's in the crowd, likely someone else would be aware of it... someone who's seen him in person.
And not long after, the ship arrives at Avestha. The fifty or so who pile on are about as sober as the Jains and as heavily armed as the Orange Catholics -- if one counts 'armed' as a variety of wooden and metal tools and weapons of a dizzying variety, most of which seem to have once had some sort of agricultural origin. Solbiort blinks suddenly... then looks at Molly, "Hey, mei-mei, chust thought somezing... you think Beth L'Chaim villagers vould recognize non-bandits on horses from bandits on horses?"
Molly blinks at Solbiort. "Er... I don't know, Captain. One rider or a few, they might not think they're bandits, but a bunch of them on horseback they'd be mighty suspicious.
Solbiort nods slowly, "Vill hope so. Vill not be happy if most of zose riders are actually Jain hostages." She mutters, "Means more bandits for us at Pilum, if so. Hm, who might notice... ah! Kaushal." She contacts him, asking if he got a good look at the 20 riders -- is he sure none of them were his companions from the town?
Kaushul responds: "I don't recognize any of them as Jains, or other sort of hostages. They all look to be riding free, without any bonds, so I would guess they are all brigands. Twenty riders... is a little smaller than the usual visits we get from Devon, by about five to ten riders."
Solbiort mutters in shock, "Ten short -- thirty riders?! Logispawn! Thought ve vere talking tventyfour or so!" She immediately comms Elgyn and Raj privately with this news, warning them to expect Devon to be leading a counter-ambush.
Raj nods, "We knew he had people reporting to him. He knows something's up, but not what. Any reason to change our plans?"
Solbiort thinks carefully... then replies, "Expect there vill be more lookouts. Devon may try using hostages as human shields, or negotiating vith you. Vant me to land you vays avay, or right on top of Pilum? Shuh-muh, meant at ambush point." She thinks a bit, then says slowly, "Actually... ve fly anyvhere near, Devon vill know. So... am thinking best to land comm jammer at very least."
Raj thinks for a moment, then says, "All we know for certain is that we don't know where all of Devon's men are. It complicates things, but I don't see any reason to change our plans."
Solbiort says, "Hokay. Sound goot to me, und you already know to call if you need backup. Ve stick viz plan zen." Soon thereafter, Solbiort drops the ship at the pre-selected landing spot. As she's landing, she comms to Cargo (currently full of villagers), "Hokay, ve are landing in von minute. Sheh-sheh for vorking togezzer viz us, und ching follow Raj und stick viz plan. Goot hunting!" She murmurs quietly to Molly, "Sure I am some excitable boy vill screw up, but hopefully repetition vill help zem remember zis a little bit longer." She adds privately to Raj and Elgyn, "Take care of yourselves, boys... haf goot time, keep your heads down, und come back in von piece, ya?"
Elgyn smiles and replies into his comm, "I'll eat my footwear if I get taken down by this pile of go-se." Solbiort chuckles quietly.
The ride hasn't been completely the Sunshine Express; still, the three groups seem to have a courteous 'agree to disagree' arrangement about things -- including Devon. To hear them, the Orange Catholics would like to do decidedly un-Catholic things to Devon, while the Buddhists and Jains keep whatever vindictiveness to themselves. Once they're landed, however, the seventy or so villagers tumble out of the ship, starting to head towards the hill. Kaushal meets the band about half a kilometer from the landing zone. He looks much the worse for wear after spending so long out in the field, but he seems healthy.
Solbiort lifts the ship once everyone's unloaded, rising into high atmo to wait for the call for the Hammer of God attack they're hoping to pull off. As she's leaving she check-beeps everyone's comms, making sure they're all still connected.
Elgyn doesn't seem to be doing too badly with his pack. Those muscles are apparently not just for show. "Anything new we should be worrying about?" he queries of Kaushal.
He shakes his head. "Nothing. There are some brigands still in the camp, but the last I checked they weren't moving. They seemed to just be securing the place."
Elgyn tilts his head. "What about the children? Did you see any sign of them in the camp?" he queries, his brow knitting.
The area for the ambush as the group approaches is quiet. Pilum Longinus towers far in the distance, still too far to discern any notable features. The site for the ambush is the ravine ahead, about ten meters deep as it starts to rise up to normal ground level. Kaushal shakes his head at Elgyn's question, looking grim. "No, no sign. I couldn't get too close, though. I suspect that they're being held en masse in one or several of the huts."
Elgyn nods, and scans around for a safe place to stash his pack before going on the hunt with Raj. "Raj, get the jammer out... we need to set that up first, just in case we aren't able to stay sneaky..." Kaushal sketches out a rough map in the dirt. Most of the lookouts make use of Pilum Longinus -- convenient, but it concentrates them in one place. They can't be flexible. There are a few who patrol the edge of the ravine around the camp, but they don't roam too far down through the ravine itself. So long as the ambushers are careful and hold to the terrain, they shouldn't come to the attention of the lookouts on the Pilum.
Raj unpacks the jammer, attaching various bits and pieces and testing the connections. Unrolling a series of long, thin bands, he says, "Not the most lovely thing, but it seems to be working fine," and unrolls them away from the central device.
Elgyn snerks. "Doesn't need to be elegant to work like a charm. After all, Nigel's skill isn't dependant on talking pretty either..." he replies, putting his pack down under the shadow of a rock, and removing some of the charges. He stashes them here and there on his person. "Kaushal, you've done well... now get yourself back with the others. We've got some not nice things to do," he murmurs to the Jain, drawing his knife.
There are a few moments when against the horizon the group thinks they can make out one of the roving lookouts, but they don't come close, and don't seem to catch the group. Neither does any alarm seem to go up when the jammer is turned on. Raj turns to Elgyn and says, "If they've not bothered to put folks up on the close hills, it might be best for us to stay together and put the charges between them before moving to a good vantage point."
Elgyn nods curtly, peering around. "You're the expert," he grunts. He moves swiftly and carefully at Raj's side, keeping one eye out for those lookouts... as the two of them place charges at Raj's direction, he carefully conceals them with dirt and rock, making them look no more than part of the landscape. Raj does, in fact, have to pull him away a couple of times when he starts to get artsy and looks for tumble weeds to complete the picture.
The villager-cum-ambushers get into positions as appropriate for their weapons, though they recognize the interior of the ravine is going to be a hailstorm of small, fast pieces of metal when the brigands return. Elgyn and Raj hurry to set the charges, hoping to get them in place before the brigands return from Beth L'Chaim. They needn't worry -- they're already settled in on the eastern hill by the gully before Kashul spots telltale dust clouds kicked up by horses. And yet, there is still no word from Beth L'Chaim....
Shortly, then, the twenty riders are riding towards the entrance to the ravine. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any hostages with them. But they sure don't look happy. Elgyn is ensconced in a hidey hole up top, on the other side of the escarpment from Raj, and closes the breech on his hogleg as he thumbs on his comm. "Hammer time," he reports.
Solbiort, lounging in bored restlessness on the bridge, almost scares Molly as she jerks upright and whoops! "Incoming!" Molly almost falls out of her chair at Solbiort's whooping cheer, and pulls herself back into place with just enough time to man the guns.
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