| Howl |
| Summary: | When animals attack. The Leonis edition, now with wolves. |
| Date: | 14 May 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Ursa Major is its spiritual cousin |
| Players: |
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| Leonis |
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| A forest shouldn't be this quiet. The loudest sound comes from the gentle breeze ruffling the canopies of this vast expanse of evergreens, their trunks groaning ever so softly — mourning, perhaps, the fate of the Colony's inhabitants. But the strange silence notwithstanding, this remarkably well-preserved stretch of land seems completely untouched by the destruction the Cylons have wrought. Wide clearings open into azure skies or starlit vistas; knee-high grass sways beneath pillowy clouds or the overhanging moon. A small creek snakes through leafy ground and loamy soil, its clear water burbling softly over a bed of weather-worn rocks. So peaceful is this bucolic place — a full eighty kilometers from civilization — that it might even dispel, if only for a while, the nightmares of the preceding months. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #77 |
"So you're telling me we just got attacked by a pack of starving wolves." Daphne frowns, holstering her handgun after she secures the safety. "I mean literally, we got attacked by a pack of starving wolves." The chuckle is caustic and bitter. "This is going in tonight's dear diary. I swear to the gods." - ENS Daphen Kolettis, providing an apt summary
Another day has passed, another stretch of miles under the belts of the stranded Cerberus personnel as they travel toward the city of Kythera. Another punishing day across the forest terrain of Leonis. At least they, again, managed to avoid contact with the toasters. Night has fallen, the group has made camp in a clearing in the woodlands and most, at this point, are asleep. It is long past O'Dark Thirty, just after 3 A.M. for anyone who happens to have a watch turned to local standard time. There's no rain tonight, a small blessing, though the chill of wet weather still hangs in the air and clouds are heavy overhead, only the faint peek of stars occasionally visible through them. Irradiated though the planet is, the night can't really be called dead. A forest is a place always alive with noise. The wind in the branches. The increasingly desperate cries and howls of night birds and other hunters in search of increasingly scarce food. Leonis is still alive, if sickened with the slow, cancerous death of radiation.
Quinn has been with Trask most of the time, and he with her through the pain of her injuries and his back. Now he's sick as a dog and she's kept even closer to his side. They're practically sharing a sleep roll right now, she staying near to assist him should he get in, and keeping him warm when the chills come. They're practically brother and sister from the way they act and as close as they've been. Now, he's finally managed to sleep, and Maggie's pretty much there herself. The dreams that have kept her restless most nights coming on again, body shifting uncomfortably on the bedroll.
Allie's laid out on her own bedroll opposed to in it, the pilot unable to sleep. With a watch put behind her there's little to do as far as occupying herself is concerned, a fact that leaves her keenly aware of how time crawls. A glance here and there is given as she feels the need to check on some of the others but she doesn't move outside of the slight turning of her head, perhaps trying to at least appear to be sleeping.
A length of rope, a drape of canvas, and you've got a tent — or something roughly approximating one. With no above-and-below bunks to share, Team Ensign has instead claimed a tent. Tisiphone is wrapped up in an earth-stained blanket (dragged along in her duffel from the Eidolon) and hugs an even-dirtier pillow (also dragged along from the Eidolon) to her face and neck. Though she shivers occasionally in her sleep, she seems well and truly zonked.
No rain? At least there's Raine. Lunair is quietly dozing, which reveals that she tends to curl into a little ball or alternately splay across her bedroll. Rarely is she ever anywhere in between. For now, she's neatly curled into a ball almost like a dog or a cat. Dreaming of who-knows-what. She's been largely withdrawn when not engaged in some sort of task. Odd.
Daphne has no pillow, relying on her forearm for that important task. She's outdone, but not that much. Her arm's pretty dirty. It's not going to take the crown from Tisiphone's pillow, but she's clearly having a go at it. Her electronic diary, taken from the Eidolon, lays at her side, the device a constant for the woman. She's sleeping with her rifle, too. Go figure.
Still bandaged up from his the wounds his mind seems to at least partially deny being there, it would seem that Samuel's just woken up. He's currently on his feet, stretching as best he can with those bandages. Looking around at the sleeping people, he takes a few steps away from his bedroll, muttering something under his breath.
Quinn stirs in her sleep again, muttering beneath ber breath…"cry… please don't… cry…" It's almost begging, scared, pleading. Not the most pleasant of dreams, whatever it is. But at least she's managing to sleep. Who knows if anyone could even understand the words, as quietly murmured in her thick Aerilonian accent as they are…
<FS3> Alessandra rolls Alertness: Good Success.
<FS3> Samuel rolls Alertness: Success.
Alessandra sits up slowly and reaches for her rifle, her eyes narrowing slightly as she does so. One last look to see if anyone else has heard is made before she gets to her feet. "I don't think so," she whispers to herself, passing by Samuel when she walks in the direction the howls seem to be coming from. The injured Marine's given a quick nod, a guesture for him to follow her along with the placing of a finger to her mouth, a silent 'order' to keep quiet.
Samuel stiffens a bit as he hears something, and lowers himself to find his rifle. Nodding a bit at the gesture from Alessandra, he moves to follow her as quietly as he can.
In the wake of another long day's march, and a thankfully more varied meal, Kulko is well and truly unconscious. Armor stacked neatly beside him, rifle propped up against a downed tree, he slumbers on one side, under a hastily constructed lean-to topped with a sheet of canvas. A mere howl will be insufficient to rouse this particular JiG.
Twitch. Twitch twitch. Do Lunairs dream of electric sheep or is that just androids? Either way, she's still curled neatly into a ball still. She sleeps like the dead - at least before your average zombie movie.
Whatever other people are hearing, Lasher doesn't seem to have any part of it. He lies flat on his back on a slight incline, arms at his sides as he drifts in and out of sleep. He stirs at the sounds, mumbling some bit of muffled jibberish, but doesn't rise.
The whispers and pacing feet of those still awake don't rouse Tisiphone, nor does the howl drag her from her sleep. She coughs once — the day of trudging in the rain seems to have left her with the sniffles — then is still again.
Quinn continues stirring a bit, "No, no, shhh… shhh… please… don't…" she whimpers out, about to roll over and,w ell, her leg does NOT like that. Her breath catches in pain, eyes suddenly shooting open as she catches herself from crying out but, dammit, that hurt. No rolling in her sleep. It doesn't WORK right now. She sits up, brow pinched, breathing a bit too hard, completely unaware that anything else might be going on.
While it's not easy to spot those beasts ghosting out there in the darkness, Alessandra has good ears and pin-pointed the direction they're coming from. And the creatures remaining on this blasted world seem to have abandoned stealth when the promise of a warm meal reached their noses. The shapes, canine in nature, are unmistakable as Alessandra and Samuel near them. Wolves. A pack of five at least, though the howls coming from all around the forest suggest there are more of them out there. And they are hungry.
"We almost got taken out by a pissed off bear," Lucky whispers while making her way towards a tree, "I'll be frakked if we all get our asses taken out by a frakking rabid wolf." Shaking her head, the soft click of her weapon's safety being thumbed off has her wincing, it being louder due to the relative silence of the forest currently. "I can see it now. Got shot by Cylon…survived. Crashed my Viper three times…survived. Had a frakking bear almost fall on me…survived. Get preyed upon by doggies….killed. Yeah. That'd merit a big ol' what the frak, wouldn't it?" Seeing the wolves, she pauses and frowns, not taking a shot yet. "Go on. Get the frak out of here," she hisses at the lupine, not wanting to have to kill more of the Lords' creatures just now.
Samuel nods a bit as he hears that, "At least it's not kittens, sir?" he offers, with a bit of a grim grin. Readying his own weapon as he gets in position to fire at the wolves, if they don't leave. "Wonder how wolf taste…" Said quietly.
Wriggle. Wriggle. Whothewhatabout doggies now? Lunair is woken by a combination of Quinn's torn dreams and hungry hungry puppies. She looks comical, blinking owlishly. With her headscarf/helmet/whatever headgear off, it turns out her hair is in the awkward teenage state of being somewhat but not quite growing out. Perhaps she was a porcupine with an afro in a past life. "…? Kittens?" Where? Lunair likes kittens!
Quinn swears lightly as she hears the howling getting, well… Too close for comfort. "..Are you frakking -serious-?" Quinn grumbles, her lilt thicker than usual, showing that she's still half asleep. However, she doesn't immediately reach for the small pistol at her side. She leans slightly over Trask, hunting for the rifle they had with them. She's shot too many wolves in a chicken coop before to just use a pistol. Hopefully she's not tooo out of practice. Even if part of her is still blinking sleep out of her eyes.
"Shaddup, Kutaa. S'just wolves." So grumbles Tisiphone, still mostly asleep. She rolls over, huddling into a tighter ball, and tries to burrow her cheek into her pillow. The sound of more and more muttering voices reluctantly drag her eyes open and she blinks slowly several times before pushing up onto her shoulder to frown blearily out at the camp. "Th' frak?" she grumps.
The increasing volume of the howling and yipping is enough to finally drag Laskaris back to a state of half-consciousness. "Whazza frak?" he mumbles, bleary eyes narrowing in a scowl as he tries to shake the sleep from his eyes. He's not having much luck, it seems, as he fumbles around for his rifle — only to knock it away, out of arm's reach. Another muffled curse and he pulls out the pistol at his side instead, the one that's still loaded with regular hollowpoints.
Daphne stays pleasantly(?) comatose, though she does turn onto her back and cover her ears. Clearly the wolves are interrupting her well-deserved nap. Mutters she, "Stop it, Beagle. Stop it. Mom has a present for you. You smell like dog fur."
Kulko is dragged out of blissful unconsciousness less by the howling and more by the collective profanities of the camp. A yawn later, he stumbles out from beneath his lean-to, armor and rifle left behind. At the sight of the pair by the trees with the weapons, he draws his service pistol and trots over. "Report," he says in a hushed tone.
And out of the darkness they come. Still dim shapes, and hard to get a bead on through the trees and in the cloudy, partially starlit light, but at least five ghostly wild wolves are now running toward Alessandra and Samuel. The howling has turned to snarling. Perhaps the lack of rain tonight wasn't such a blessing. The scents of the campers are easier to pick up on the wind.
Wait. Wolves. Not puppies. Not kittens. Not Gemenon Scout Girls with tasty crack filled cookies. Oh no. /Wolves/. Lunair is instinctively filled with worry because they always go for the slow, stupid members of the herd and she's got 'National Geographic Special Voiced By Jack Bauer' stamped on her forehead. It's a dissonant note, a *ting* into consciousnes. Once, mankind feared bears and wolves on a more daily basis. Some part of the mind, genome, something remembers that, dark eyes turnedd towards the skies in horror, huddling in caves towards comfort. Lunair will reach for her gun and fumble for non-AP rounds.
Daring to give Kulko a look over her shoulder, she whispers a single worded reply. "Wolves." And it's now that she sees that shooing the errant pups is not going to be an options. "Sorry…" she mutters to the first wolf she levels her rifle at, finger slowly squeezing the trigger in a practiced manner.
"Headshots… work good… otherwise these… Fraks… they stay kickin' a long time… like chickens…they do. And apparently… Humans." Maggie calls just loud enough over camp that her voice might be heard, memories of childhood making her cock that rifle she's stolen from Trask just a bit too easily. She still doesn't have the best shooting position, not able to get up and take cover easily, but she settles the rifle on her shoulder, readying until she can get one of the canines in sight.
Lasher stifles a yawn, his mouth a thin slash against his face as he turns slowly around and gets his bearings. His fuzzy post-awakening confusion begins to fade as he starts to register the ever-so-louder howling — and then it's gone with a bang, as it were, as the first shots ring out. "Like the frakkin' Wild Kingdom from hell," he growls throatily to no one in particular as he levels his pistol, squinting as he tries to find a target.
Samuel frowns a bit now, aiming carefully for the second of those wolves. "Just a little closer…" he mutters, before squeezing the trigger.
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Wolf9 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf7 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf3 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf8 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf6 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf5 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf4 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf2 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf1 passes.
<COMBAT> Samuel attacks Wolf2 with Rifle AP but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Alessandra attacks Wolf1 with Rifle Ap - Light wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Cidra has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
The barking and snarling grows louder and more desperate, and is met by bullets from the Marine and pilot. Samuel's misses. It's damned hard to hit anything at that range in the undergrowth and light. But Alessandra grazes the ear of one of the creatures. Which prompts a high-pitched snarl that's a mixture of pain and mad rage. As they get closer, one can see the truly sorry shape these creatures are in. Near-bone skinny from months trying to hunt an irradiated food supply, bloodied from old wounds only partially healed. If they aren't rabid, they've gone near-mad with hunger and desperation. Their eyes seem to glow in the darkness.
Oh boy. That's bad. Lunair so doesn't want to be a strangely hilarious and ironic example of natural selection in action. She'd be the antelope just chillin' then BAM predator out of nowhere. Lunair is more awake. While she may be goofy at times, there is - deep at her core - as much instinct and training as can be instilled in an officers. Her purple eyes narrow as she tries to catch up once the shots ring out.
"Everyone /up/," Kulko shouts back to the camp by way of an alarm, though hardly necessary after Alessandra's shot. "Firing positions." Then he's drawing a bead on the nearest shadowy form, picking his shot carefully, and squeezing off a round of 5.7mm.
Alessandra gasps and winces. "Frak…" This is not as easy as putting the injured/dead bears out of their misery was and she steps back some, trying to put a little distance between herself and the wolves before taking another shot at the same pup she tried to take out before. "Bad dog. Baaaaaaad. No…nonono…" she whispers while taking a second shot. Frak her, this is not going to end well.
Samuel grumbles a bit as he misses, aiming for the same wolf this time. Waiting for a few moments longer before he squeezes the trigger.
"Frak. Daphne, wake UP-" Tisiphone roughly jostles Daphne's shoulder once, twice, thrice before stumbling out of their makeshift tent and fumbling for her sidearm, wobbling sluggishly on her feet as she looks around.
Lasher finally advances far enough to get a glimpse of the first of the attacking wolves, their gaunt forms loping through the dark towards the Colonials' campsite. "Just shoot the godsdamn thing," the irate captain snaps over to Alessandra, before he lines up the first pathetic beast with his own pistol and squeezes off a shot.
Daphne blinks, "Wha? H…" She snaps to life. "Oh -frak-." She reaches for her handgun and tumbles out of the leanto-like thing, lucky to be on her feet at all at such notice. "I am getting too old for this." suggests the twentythree year old.
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Wolf9 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf6 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf5 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf4 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf1 passes.
<COMBAT> Samuel attacks Wolf2 with Rifle AP - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Quinn attacks Wolf2 with Rifle AP but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Daphne passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf8 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf7 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf3 passes.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone passes.
<COMBAT> Lunair attacks Wolf1 with Pistol - Serious wound to Abdomen.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Wolf1 with Pistol - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Alessandra attacks Wolf1 with Rifle Ap - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Wolf2 passes.
<COMBAT> Kulko attacks Wolf1 with Pistol - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Cidra has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Wolf1 has been **KO'd!**
She's up. Ok, so it took her a moment, but it had nothing to do with being in the booze or drugged: Kai just hasn't slept in… well… days. Gun at her side? That sucker is picked up in two seconds flat, the marine making it to her feet on alert. Hey, you work with bombs your whole life, you're living on the edge anyways, right? It's just that -fight- with her -blastedfrakkin'nogoodsonsofbitches- TENT that has her late to the party. And when she does come out it's with a growl and a pointed gun… Pretty much at anything right now.
Well, there goes one of those desperate creatures. Downed in a hail of various kinds of military firepower. It slumps with a whimper over a fallen branch. The others continuing coming, however, the howls of their friends out in the darkness getting steadily nearer now. They seem to be circling around the camp, and the shapes of at least four more of them become distinct. In another minute they'll be close enough to lunge…
"Someone's testy without his frakking coffee," Lucky grunts out towards the short-tempered Captain before taking her shot, her jaw tensing as she watches the first canis lupis hits the dust in a dead heap. "Where I understand the gravity of the situation, sir, I'd appreciate it if you saved biting my frakking head off for a time when I deserve it, eh?" Realizing that rifles are way overkill she switches, unholstering her service pistol while dropping her rifle carefully on the ground once the safety's back on.]
Quinn is not in good position and, frankly, too damn tired to be shooting at wolves in the midle of a pitch black forest. So while she might have been a pot shot in the chicken coop in her younger days, now her round goes sadly wide, hitting a poor, irradiated tree instead of the wolf she's aiming at. She swears quietly and cocks the shot again, trying to level the big gun enough she can get at least one good round off. "So frakking… dark out there…" She growls beneath her breath.
Snarling wolves and the snap-crackle-pop of gunfire clear the last of Tisiphone's sleepy cobwebs out in a hurry. She keeps her sidearm lowered until she reaches the edge of the clearing, then raises it to aim at one of the onrushing wolves.
"Frak it…" Samuel mutters to himself, glancing around at the others, then back to the wolves. Lowering the rifle, he reaches for his pistol now.
Lunair moves close to Quinn. She will help protect the wounded pilot. She doesn't seem to be doing too badly though, for a spoiled, sheltered rich child. It is a strange thing, for Lunair herself to take up a doglike protective attitude while shooting at a wolf, but there it is. Amazing how close a sheepdog can be to their wild cousins. Regardless her pistol is out, and pinging at the wild life. "And here I thought they used to be afraid of us more than we were of them." Radiation and hunger must do funny things.
"Switch to sidearms!" Kulko calls as his first shot strikes home in a wolf's skull. "Ain't got armor, so don't waste your ammo." Another flash of fur amidst the shadows and trees; Stephen brings his handgun to bear and lets loose another shot.
Daphne looks around for the nearest bush and gets beside it. "What the frak. Did we crashland onto the set of Wild Kingdom or something??" She crouches, both hands on her handgun, and swings it towards anything that looks like it has a disproportionate amount of fur and teeth.
"What the frak is this, social hour?" Lasher hisses, drawing out the last phrase for emphasis. He doesn't look at Allie, though, his eyes staying locked on the attacking wolves. "Frak. Let's just drop our weapons and invite 'em in for a cuppa afore they tear our throats out, while we're at it." The first wolf goes down with an agonized yip from several gunshot wounds, including a chest hit from Laskaris. "Just shoot those godsdamn mangy buggers, or you'll have a lot more to worry about than my teeth in your arse." Another shot
rings out from Lasher's pistol.
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Wolf5 passes.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Wolf3 with Pistol - Light wound to Abdomen.
<COMBAT> Alessandra passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf9 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf8 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf7 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf6 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf4 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf3 passes.
<COMBAT> Wolf2 passes.
<COMBAT> Samuel passes.
<COMBAT> Quinn passes.
<COMBAT> Kulko attacks Wolf3 with Pistol but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Daphne attacks Wolf3 with Pistol but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Lunair attacks Wolf2 with Pistol - Serious wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Wolf2 with Pistol and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Cidra has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Wolf2 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Wolf3 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Wolf9 has left the combat. (Cidra)
<COMBAT> Wolf8 has left the combat. (Cidra)
"This just in-" Tisiphone starts to mutter toward Daphne, words cutting off as she takes a shot at a wolf as it runs between one tree and the next. The shot catches it in its underbelly, sending it to earth with a nerve-scraping whine. "-wild animals live in wild places, Daphne," she finishes. Her eyes sweep onward for another target.
Maggie, once putting down the rather too previous rifle, scoops up her pistol that's been at her side the whole time. Should have been using in the first place. She mentally curses, shifting on her not broken leg so the swollen knee is slightly bent and she can more comfortably twist her body to get a good sight on one of the wolves prowling. She braces her gun loosely with both hands and takes another shot into the darkness. "Maybe we'll scare them away… and not get cylons breathing down our necks."
Two more of the snarling creatures fall as they run out of the treeline, and another pair still possess enough sense to be spooked enough by the bullet to run off. But the others in the pack have not given up. Perhaps they're hungrier, or have just lost what lingering fight-or-flight response they have left. They're close enough to lunge now. But, easier to hit. If you're one who's looking for positives.
Daphne's face is illuminated by the muzzleflash of her handgun. She mismanages the recoil, drawing the gun too far upwards and needing a moment to recover. Sure, the wolf is dead, but she has no idea if she even hit it. "Thanks for the info, Tis. That's really helpful."
Samuel gets his pistol ready, aiming for one of the wolves now, with a bit of a frown. Not paying too much attention to the others, except for making sure he won't get caught in their fire.
Lunair stays near Quinn, following the pilot's targets. It must take a dog to fight a dog. She does look somewhat canine herself hunched and shooting, strange eyes narrowed. Her pistol turns aside a muzzle. She nods, "I hope so too." She agrees quietly with Maggie, looking briefly to Kulko and the others before turning back to her duty.
Alessandra's mouth quirks in a slight smile as she takes careful aim, the weight difference of her newly chosen weapon quite noticeable compared to that of the rifle she was firing previous to this. "Sounds like it could be fun," she teases playfully. "But maybe we should save the ass biting for our second date. Wouldn't want the squaddies to think you're easy, after all." That's all for the joking from the El-Tee, the severity of this occassion finally stripping her of her sense of humor, leaving for a serious Lucky. With a soft sigh she picks a new target once she sees more fall over and play dead, literally, that causing a light sigh of relief to trickle from her.
Kulko watches his shot go wide, but keeps the reflexive profanity to himself. Instead, he flattens up against a tree and takes aim at the nearest flash of grey.
Laskaris either is stubborn, stupid, or simply has ice water running through his veins. Or, perhaps a combination of all three, knowing the Viper captain. In any case, he doesn't shrink away as the gangly wolves get ever so closer, standing flatfooted in the clearing with his pistol leveled in a two handed grip. Allie only gets a snort and quick headshake before he's methodically pulling the trigger, a twisted expression on his face.
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Wolf7 attacks Laskaris with Knife - Serious wound to Neck.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Wolf5 with Pistol - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Daphne attacks Wolf6 with Pistol - Serious wound to Left Arm.
<COMBAT> Wolf6 attacks Lunair with Knife - Light wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Wolf5 attacks Samuel with Knife - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Wolf4 attacks Alessandra with Knife but Alessandra DODGES!
<COMBAT> Samuel attacks Wolf7 with Pistol - Serious wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Quinn attacks Wolf6 with Pistol - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Lunair attacks Wolf6 with Pistol - Serious wound to Abdomen.
<COMBAT> Laskaris attacks Wolf7 with Pistol - Serious wound to Abdomen.
<COMBAT> Kulko attacks Wolf4 with Pistol - Serious wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Alessandra attacks Wolf4 with Pistol - Serious wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Cidra has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Wolf4 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Wolf6 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Wolf7 has been KO'd!
These are trained soldiers against hungry, emaciated wolves. It's not contest, really. They launch their wasted bodies as the military personnel, but for the most part the poor doggies are put down hard. They still have teeth, though. One of them nearly succeeds in making a meal out of Laskaris' throat, and another adds a wolf wound to the bear wound Samuel's already collected while another snaps at Lunair. Nature hates Marines, clearly.
Alessandra's eyes dart towards Las and she freezes for a second, face clammy and pale. "No…" she whispers, not seeing the shots that have fallen a bunch more of the pups, her shock almost rendering her unable to act any further. It isn't until the shock gives in to rage that she does anything further, the last wolf aimed towards and shot at, Allie screaming angrily as she does. So much for being rendered emotional over having to kill animals.
Firing off his shot at the wolf that's trying to rid the universe of Laskaris, and seeing the thing go down, Samuel wasn't quite aware of the wolf heading for him, and pulls back too late to escape it. Trying to get his pistol properly pointed at the canis lupus, and squeeze off a shot.
"S'what I'm here for. Educating the cityfolk." Tisiphone's lip curls back a little from her teeth at one side of her mouth as she snorts. Turning to try and keep a bead on the last visible wolf, she doesn't see what's happened to Lasher — and so ironically, his throat — in the last few moments of attack.
Lunair finds it somewhat ironic poor Laskaris is taking it in the neck now. Karma works in mysterious ways for ill or better. Although it seems pilots beat her to observing this cosmic coincidence. Though she frowns, "Medic." She voices softly. It's more instinctual than anythin else. Though she winces as one dog gets a nibble in on her. She tries not to yelp herself. A hiss through her teeth. There's a look of concern for Samuel too. For now, the cityslicker takes another potshot at the last wolf.
Quinn finally seems to have found her farm girl feet (or hands, considering she's shooting a pistol) and she pops one wolf straight in the chest. It's not a killing head blow, but it'll do, some blood splattering into the night and a cry of pain from her furry fiend who thought they might be dinner. She frowns deeply, flickering a glance across her shoulder as she realizes some of their party WAS attacked… but they've got to finish the last one before starting clean up, lest more come. So she does line up one more shot.
"/Me/dic!" comes the snap from LTJG Kulko, not soft in the least, pointing with his free hand Laskaris' way. He lets the remainder of the squad handle the straggler wolf, instead holstering his weapon, heading to the Captain's side and taking a knee. Gods, that's not good at all.
As it turns out, Laskaris sets his eye upon a wolf that has its eye set on him. Lasher stands his ground, which proves to be something of a mistake. The wolf is on him before he's able to squeeze off that shot; a well placed lunge puts the thing at neck level, and the ensuing bite is only about three inches or so away from tearing his throat out completely. Instead, it gets him right where neck and shoulder join, and Lasher goes down with an enraged, pained howl, the hungry wolf still on top of him. Much of its bite strength has been sapped by the radiation sickness and lack of food, however, and Lasher's rolling in the dirt is enough to throw the wolf loose. As the animal tries to struggle to its feet, the prone Laskaris aims his pistol(somehow still in his hand, miraculously) and shoots the thing in the gut. It yelps and dies; Lasher, for his part, puts his free hand over the wound as blood oozes over said hand and onto his uniform with a grimace.
"Bet they'll taste gamey." Daphne lands a shot into one wolf's leg, splattering blood while the other shots rip into it and turn the poor pooch into kibble, pun not withstanding. Her head twits towards Kulko and his plea, and then she takes a few steps sideways, turning back towards the last remaining wolf.
<COMBAT> Triggering new turn.
<COMBAT> Wolf5 attacks Samuel with Knife - Moderate wound to Right Arm.
<COMBAT> Tisiphone attacks Wolf5 with Pistol - Serious wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Quinn attacks Wolf5 with Pistol - Moderate wound to Right Arm.
<COMBAT> Laskaris passes.
<COMBAT> Samuel attacks Wolf5 with Pistol and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Lunair attacks Wolf5 with Pistol - Serious wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Kulko passes.
<COMBAT> Daphne attacks Wolf5 with Pistol - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Alessandra attacks Wolf5 with Pistol - Serious wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Cidra has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Samuel has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Wolf5 has been KO'd!
She's gone from holding a gun in her tent to making it a medkit she's gripping instead, but the … ferocity?… of the battle doesn't really put a timeline in Kai's noggin. Kulko's yelling? She's running, and for once not straight to Samuel. Dropping down to Laskaris, she's already making for the bandages and healing and.
Kai treats laskaris:
< Neck (Serious): successful
The screeching whimper that last wolf howls as it falls is almost pitiful. Almost. It would be slightly more sympathetic if it didn't take that last lunge at Samuel's throat. Starvation makes even lead worth wading through to get a meal.
Kai treats samuel:
< Chest (Moderate): successful
< Right_Arm (Moderate): successful
"Oh, for frak's sake," Lasher spits at all the commotion, his teeth set. "I'm fine." That's a lot of blood, though, for someone that's 'fine'. Hurts like hell, too, though he can still walk. A look down at his bloodstained uniform, however, seems to correct that impression; his face blanches, and he pulls his bloodstained hand away from his neck, allowing Kai to work at the wound unhindered.
Samuel gets his arm up to cover his throat, howling a bit back at the animal as the teeth sink into said arm. And since it's the arm that holds pistol, the only thing his shot would hit would be something up in the trees, or something. Trying his best to keep his arm in the way of the gaping maw, he uses what energy he has left on that.
"Frakkers…" Allie turns and moves swiftly, scrambling towards where Lasher has wound up. "Godsdammit," she grumbles once she sees the blood that seems to be intent on making a mess of things. "Should keep your ass in a Viper, sir. Stay safer that way." She is staying out of the way of whomever will be trying to treat the Captain; she's going to treat the man like she would everyone else if they were to wind up injured like he has but she is clearly worried, the humor she tries to keep in her voice not really reaching her expression.
Lunair might be more sympathetic towards the wolves if you know, they didn't try to take a bite out of the Marines. She frowns, "Will your Captain be alright?" She voices quietly. Quinn gets a look over too. She seems to feel some compulsion to watch over the red-head. She lets Kai go to work and doesn't get underfoot for now. She has to take a deep breath and set her pistol down.
Tisiphone lowers her sidearm and tries to listen for the sound of more wolves. It's pointless, really — her ears are ringing too much to hear more than the muffled roar of nearby conversation. She stalks carefully into the forest toward the spots she remembers wolves falling, giving the canines rough prods with her boot-toe to check on their actual dead-ness.
Quinn sighs, just sinking back into her bedroll for a moment. She's not a medic and not exactly mobile, so as much as she wants to scamper over to the others, she just takes afew heartbeats to catch her breath. She frowns up towards the near by Lunair, earnest, almost motherly worry in her eyes…"How bad are they? Think…think we scared the rest of the frakkers off… now just gotta listen for toasters on our tail…"
Next ground mission, Sam, leave the red shirts at home.
Kulko waits till it's clear Laskaris has plenty of folks seeing to him, then heads for the injured Marines. "Raine, what's your status? The Corporal?" He looks to Samuel's form, battered as it's been the last couple days.
Daphne lowers her handgun and coughs. muttering to herself. "Motherfrakkers." She follows after Tisiphone. Team Ensign backs up its own, you know. She stalks into the forest with her. "I'm thinking stew." It's a dry, angry comment wrapped inside four words that are trying awfully hard to sound chipper. They fail.
Poor Corporal. "I'm alright. The Corporal got bitten again. I told him not to wear the barbecue sauce boxers," Lunair frowns. There's worry in her voice. She looks to Quinn. "They're being tended to. They're alright," She promises. No one seems to be dying or bursting into flames at any rate. She nods. "I think the others ran too. At least there's more meat now I guess," She rubs the back of her head. "You're not hurt are you?" She looks worried ocne more, though Kulko gets a glance too.
Strength leaving him again now, Samuel lowers his hands, and slumps a bit. Overhearing Kulko's question, he turns his head a bit in that direction, "Someone… get me the fur from that wolf, sir?" he offers, before Lunair's words make him laugh, something that make him wince quite a bit. "Daddy told me to always feed my pets," he comments a bit absently.
Kick-kick, Five-seveN aimed at the dead wolf's head. Dead? Next. Tisiphone paces from wolf to wolf, repeating this little routine for each one. As she walks, she glances over to Daphne and says, "There's barely anything left on these. Look at how bony they are. Poor bastards." Her mouth twists, almost sympathetically, despite the fact she's kicking a dead wolf in the neck as she says it.
Quinn closes her eyes, just taking a few breaths in through her nose, steadying her head, or perhaps her stomach. She rests one hand against the still, miraculously, sleeping Trask's side. Assured he's still breathing, just in fits of a fever and completely not lucid, she relaxes a hint more and reopens her muddy green eyes to look back up to Lunair. "Fine… Can't believe Kal slept through that shite. More worried 'bout him and the boys…" She nods towards the wounded Samuel and Lasher…"Than me…" But she does look a bit ashen, if anyone can tell in this light. "…If no one else can skin the thing, bring it over here. I can do it."
"Fur? Hades, you can have the whole damn pelt." Kulko matches Samuel's grin, crouching down to see to the man's wounds. "Ain't near as bad as the other day. Just hang tight and we'll get you patched up." A glance to Kai, to see if she's still busy with Laskaris, or if he should take the initiative.
Samuel looks content with that answer, before getting a bit more weary now, "Sorry if I'm going to slow us down, sir…" he offers, after a brief pause.
"Yeah, well, last time I was in a Viper a blighted Centurion nearly shot me out of it," Lasher grouses, his voice thick with pain as he looks up at Allie. Not the best highlight-reel moment of his flying career, that's for sure. Blood continues to flow slowly from the wound, onto his shirt before it begins to drop on the ground and mix with the dirt.
"You keep droppin' whatever tries to kill us, you can slow us down all you please." Kulko takes a knee and looks over the Corporal's shoulder and arm. "Raine, can you grab the medkit from Zaranj when she's done?"
There's the Captain all the Knights know and love, Lasher's gruff reply taken as a sign that he should be alright. "Yeah, well, you have better luck in the Vipers than I do so don't want to hear it," Allie comments easily while reaching out, try to get a look at the wounded man's neck. "Seriously, Anton. First you guys piss off the bear and now this. What are you going to do next? Get bitten in the willy by a mutant duck?" Because that'd seriously be the icing on this big frakking cluster-frak of a cake, now wouldn't it?
Samuel nods, "Yes, sir," he offers, and goes silent as he closes his eyes, and is out of it for now.
"So you're telling me we just got attacked by a pack of starving wolves." Daphne frowns, holstering her handgun after she secures the safety. "I mean literally, we got attacked by a pack of starving wolves." The chuckle is caustic and bitter. "This is going in tonight's dear diary. I swear to the gods."
"So starving they charged bullets to try to eat us, yeah," Tisiphone says, after punting the last wolf and declaring it D-E-A-D. "Wanna help me drag them to the edge of camp? Grab that one over there." She reholsters her sidearm before grabbing the front legs of the nearest wolf and starting to pull it toward the cluster of ATVs.
Quinn frowns a touch more. She'd love to help drag to the edge of camp but… She's not all that good for dragging. "Ensign…" She calls over to Tisiphone, trying to put a bit of that commanding power behind her voice that she might not quite feel yet, but it's her job. "Bring one or two over here… i can start skinning and cutting it up. Meat… well, it'll be best if we don't run out. might as well use what we can." And the fur will be an interesting prize for Samuel back home.
Lunair tilts her head and nods. "I will have it brought over if he can't," She offers a smile to Quinn. "You shoot pretty well," She offers. She moves momentarily towards Samuel and Kulko, to give Quinn and Trask some space or now. "I can help drag it if you like. Or carry poor Corporal."
Quinn gives Lunair a thankful, quiet smile, "Grow up on a farm… learn to shoot wolves, and coyotes, and all sorts of things…" She murmurs to the Marine, before carefully rolling over towards Trask. Her hand reaches up, gently brushing across his forehead, the frown on her lips deepening somewhat. "When we have a moment… river water ain't all that safe to drink, but I could use a cloth full'a it ta put on Bootstrap here. He… he feels like a frakking oven…"
Daphne nods, "Yeah, sure. I've got it." The other pilot gives one of the corpses a kick of her own, then crouches. She starts to drag the body towards the ATVs. "How are you doing for ammo?"
"Sir?" Tisiphone pauses in her dragging to squint at Quinn. As if that'll help her hear better. She stares at the Harrier Captain for a few seconds, as if considering possible responses, then nods. "Yessir." Her dragging route detours, bringing her to Quinn's side. Lo, a gift! One (1) very dead and emaciated wolf. After straightening and rubbing at the back of her neck, she purses her mouth for a moment before saying to Daphne, "Half-dry. You?"
Alessandra gets Laskaris off to be tended to before recovering her dropped rifle, that shouldered before the pistol is safety'ed and holstered. "Yup…mutant ducks," she whispers to herself while warily sitting herself against her tree. "Lasher better start wearing a cup..frak, so should the rest of the guys." Her watch is checked. Maybe there's enough time for some shut eye before the next round of travelling has to begin.
Trask shifts a bit, restless from fever while his body attempts to cook off what ails him. He otherwise doesn't rouse, even if some fitful groaning does emerge from his slumber.
Quinn nods a thanks towards Tisiphone, giving a pale but grateful smile. Once she's finished with the mumbling, feverish Trask, she sits up straight and turns her body just enough she can drag the carcas into her lap. She pauses then. Not on the bed roll. Carefully, she shifts herself off of their 'clean' bedding and onto the ground before she begins cutting into hide. A faint song is hummed as she goes about the grunt work.
"We'll drag over the rest, Sir, and then I can help," says Tisiphone to Quinn, watching her for a moment before trudging wearily into the forest again. Quinn, Kulko, Tisiphone — gutting and cleaning the wild beasties of Leonis since… well, Sunday.