Post by Talithe Anyadottir on Feb 23, 2014 19:09:27 GMT
An Ordinary Mission
Technically this is an everyone journal but whatever, y'know?
Talithe folded her hands and sat down against Mathieu, waiting for her team. The snow drake nuzzled her hand, begging for attention, and she stroked his head.
Gone were her black robes, replaced instead by equally dark armor. The steel had been painted black and lacquered. She only wore it when she was going on a mission — she much preferred robes and other items of clothing - the uniforms of diplomacy - to the heavier armor of missions.
Larael was the first to approach, the wind from the deck bringing some snow into the drake stables. She brushed some off her shoulders, and nodded to Talithe as Fateseeker plodded to her side and laid down. “Talithe.”
Talithe smiled, embracing her friend. “Larael! How are you today? Are you rested and prepared?”
Larael returned the hug and looked back towards the door, nodding. “A bit cold for my liking. Other than that today has been good thus far.” She stretched, her arms reaching over her head, fingers extended. As her arms fell back to her sides, she spoke again, warmth retreating behind her exterior of efficiency. “What’s our target?”
Talithe reached into a bag on Mathieu’s saddle and pulled out a weathered map of the mission area. “There’s what we believe to be a nest of scornips here.” She pointed to a location at the base of a mountain. “Hopefully it’s an easy cleanup.”
Larael nodded and turned towards approaching footsteps to see two Tiros, one male, one female, approaching. She saluted them, and they returned the gesture, though the male’s eyes did not meet hers. She stepped towards the two, extending a hand. “Pryfektus Larael Astriddottir.”
The girl shook her hand, smiling. “Ayveh Joldottir, Tiro. Pleased to meet you.” Larael moved her hand to the young man, who took it and shook.
“Finn Edwardsson. Tiro.” He didn’t sound particularly amused to be here, or particularly excited to be going on a mission with one of the Vetr.
Larael paid it no mind, explaining the details of the mission as Talithe had explained it to her, including detailed strategies on how to deal with scornips and to fight in behemoth lairs.
Talithe let her explain. Larael enjoyed being the prime “doer” of any mission, and she didn’t mind if Larael handled the briefing. Indeed, Larael often took command of missions, even when equals or superiors were involved. Something in her attitude and manner compelled others to follow her, even if they technically weren’t obligated to listen.
—
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Drakonborg, Loureen rolled over in bed. What time was it? Should she care? She shut her eyes again and began to drift off to sleep when she remembered she had been contacted by one of the Vetr for a mission.
She sat bolt upright as she remembered that today was the day of the mission, shouting “Shit!” and sprinting around the room in an effort to get ready, grabbing anything that she could need and throwing it on.
—
Finn looked at the Tiro next to him. She was younger than he was by maybe a couple of years. He had to admit to himself that she was kind of cute, though saying it never crossed his mind and probably never would. He kept his thoughts to himself, partially out of a belief that no one wanted to hear them and partially because he didn’t want to be judged based on his words rather than his actions. He crossed the room, lifting the halberd off his back and beginning to swing it at the training dummies present along the walls. Being without magic, he was separate from many Drakonrhedi. Never present at any of the discussions on the practical applications of magic, Finn instead found purpose in cutting the training dummies of the Drakonborg in half with his polearm.
—
Larael watched with interest as Finn began to hack at a training dummy with all his might. A good warmup, perhaps preparation for the battle to come. She turned to Talithe, “When are we leaving?”
Talithe looked around, clearly thinking about something. “Well. We’d be able to go whenever if we were all here!” She laughed. “I figured this would happen. Sit down, relax. We have a few more minutes.”
—
Loureen sprinted through the halls of the Drakonborg, rushing to the stables.
Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit!
What if the Vetr threw her overboard for being late? What if they demoted her back to Tiro? Could they even do that? She worried about these questions as she came around the corner, running up to the two women sitting with their drakes. Still panting, she managed to speak. “I’m… sorry I’m late! I didn’t miss anything… did I?”
Talithe shook her head, laughing and patting the Iduneus on the back. “There, there, Miss Halford. We waited for you.”
Larael sighed. How could someone just be late for a mission? With a Vetr no less! Larael would have disciplined Loureen on the spot, but apparently Talithe didn’t want to. Or perhaps she was delaying until after the mission, to keep morale high. Larael respected that, if that was indeed what Talithe was planning.
Loureen looked around for a moment, then gave a whistle. Her snow drake, Ellie, plodded over, already equipped for the mission to come. Loureen looked at Talithe questioningly, and the Vetr smiled. “You’ll find that everything you need is there.”
The Iduneus looked through the bags on Ellie, and indeed found the normal assortment of bullets, in addition to a small red box. Opening it, she found more bullets, but these had runes glowing on them. “Fire bullets?”
Talithe nodded. “Fire bullets.”
Loureen checked out the rest of the saddle, and, finding her equipment exactly where she would want it, if a bit cleaner than it normally was, threw herself onto Ellie. “So. What’s the plan?”
Larael explained the target again. Ayveh listened again, standing off to the side. Finn had come over and listened again, as if making sure that he didn’t miss anything important. Where he had been practicing, a training dummy lay in pieces on the floor.
Everything having been explained, Talithe folded her hands in front of her and spoke up. “We are leaving now. Mount up.”
Ayveh hopped onto Ellie, while Finn got on Fateseeker behind Larael. The three drakes, complete with riders, walked over to the door and lined up on the edge of the Drakonborg. Talithe cast a small spell to shield her eyes from the wind. Loureen, Finn, and Ayveh pulled down standard-issue flight goggles, while Larael took a helm with glass eyepieces out and put it on.
Talithe gave a signal, and the drakes leaped from the deck into the air. Spreading their wings, they fanned out into a triangular formation with Talithe at the lead.
—
Finn held on tight to Larael’s waist as they launched towards the mission area. Unlike most Tiros (who were generally not used to flying at high speeds,) he was silent, and didn’t make a move to speak to her. That was fine by her — more room to concentrate on the mission. Looking to her right, past Talithe, she could see that Ayveh and Loureen were shouting at each other, though she couldn’t make out the words.
—
“So we’re going to blast them until they all stop moving, and then we’re gonna come back and celebrate! At least, that’s what I’m going to do!”
Ayveh sat behind Loureen, looking down nervously. She wasn’t exactly -scared- of heights, she just never really liked them. Her partner for this mission seemed to be an excitable Iduneus who had a strong interest in shooting things. This was fine — most Drakonrhedi got excited about one method of killing or another. Ayveh never really felt this way and only killed out of necessity, never letting bloodlust into her heart.
As they neared the mission area, Loureen drew a gun from a holster and pointed it ahead. She turned her head a little, and shouted backwards to Ayveh. “Never hurts to pull out your weapon too early!”
—
Talithe reached into her armor and pulled out a small mirror, observing both pairs behind her with it. Loureen and Ayveh seemed to be getting along well — they were shouting back and forth, and Loureen’s confidence was likely to help any uneasiness Ayveh might be experiencing.
Finn and Larael on the other hand, rode in silence. Larael’s efficiency and Finn’s generally quiet demeanor meshed well. She made a mental note to pair them up again in the future, and then returned her attention to the mission area. She pointed towards an outcrop and landed Mathieu there, waiting for the other two drakes to land and approach before speaking. “We’re here.”
Below, in a crater, black, sticky scornip eggs rested in nests of bone and the mucus excreted by the beasts in question. Several of them wandered between nests, picking at the ground for scraps of food.
Larael created a small magnification lens out of magic and looked through it. Talithe knew what was coming, and was going to let her take charge of this mission. The Pryfektus pointed to the sky, dragging her finger through the air in a small circle. “Iduneus Halford and Tiro Joldottir, I want you to circle and try to pick off as many of the beasts as you can. Tiro Edwardsson and I will go in close and destroy the eggs. Vetr Anyadottir will provide support from here by executing those who are injured but not quite dead.”
Talithe gave a little wink at Finn, who had raised a brow at her. Larael spoke again, “Let’s go, then.” She drew her gun, runes flaring, and took off with Finn.
Loureen did likewise, soaring into the air with Ayveh holding on tight. As they began to circle, Loureen drew a second gun, pointing down at the beasts who were now aware of their presence. She shouted, taunting the behemoths. “Wake up! It’s time to die!” She began to unload her guns, bullets streaking downwards. One of the behemoths was struck by one, its right pincer slamming to the ground from the impact of the round.
Talithe focused her energies, sending out tendrils of invisible magic, searching for an entry to the bodies of the scornips. As she found the unfortunate one who had been shot, she sent the tendrils into its body. Suddenly, she could feel the bodily systems of the behemoth in addition to her own, and quickly searched for the central nerve cord that guided its actions. As the magical tendrils sought it out and wrapped around it midway down the body, Talithe willed them to contract. The cord resisted for an instant, and was severed.
The scornip in question twitched as its nerve was severed, and it dragged itself by its front legs towards its nest, the movements slow and wretched. Larael swooped low, and Finn dragged his halberd through it, cutting the beast deeply and ending its misery. As they continued along the ground, he thrust the polearm into the eggs, blade dragging across the stone floor of the crater. Yellowish, pus-like liquid spilled out of the giant spheres as they ruptured. The scornips that remained (three, two of which constituted the remaining breeding pair,) hissed loudly and ran to their nests to protect them.
Unfortunately for the scorpion-like behemoths, they were not able to completely cover the nests, and as Loureen fired she could tell some of her bullets were finding purchase in the eggs. Ayveh, meanwhile, was shooting small amounts of water through a screen of cold air she had concentrated, flash-freezing them into sharp projectiles. The makeshift icicle-bullets buried themselves in the chitin of the behemoths. One of them, a lucky shot, penetrated one of the scornip’s armor in the middle of its back and destroyed the nerve cord there, rendering it immobile. Loureen and Ayveh both concentrated their fire on it.
Larael continued to add magical bullets to the continuous spray of fire coming from above, while Finn did his best to destroy the eggs with timed thrusts from his polearm. He tapped Larael’s shoulder. “I’m going after the remaining scornip.” Larael thought it perhaps a foolhardy effort, but they did have the leader of the Medics with them. If anyone would be able to save him in the event of a mistake, it would be Talithe.
She nodded, dipping low to let him off onto the ground of the crater. He rolled and spun his polearm as he stood up, dashing towards the last living behemoth in the crater. It clicked and spat at him, stinger twitching in anticipation of combat.
Loureen noticed this and looked at Ayveh, “Is he crazy? He’s going to get himself killed!” She loaded the incendiary rounds Talithe had given her into her weapon. “Hey! Up here! She fired. The round activated as it was shot out of the barrel. The bullet streaked through the air, glowing white hot. It melted through the chitin of the behemoth, and it screeched.
Finn could feel his berserker rage rising as he charged the now-distracted scornip. He struck it once in the center of its head, the weapon crushing the beast’s head. He swung again, losing himself in his fury. Again, and again, he raised the weapon and brought it slamming down on the behemoth. These beasts were responsible for the condition the human race was in. None of them could live.
What felt like years later, he could feel his rage abating. The scornip had been hacked quite past “to pieces,” and Finn realized he was covered in ichor and mucus from the mangled beast. He turned around. Larael, Loureen, Ayveh, and Talithe looked at him. Ayveh and Loureen were wide-eyed, while Talithe looked slightly amused. Larael’s face betrayed no emotion, though that didn’t surprise him. Talithe stepped forwards, turning to face everyone. “A job well done, everyone. I’m proud to have seen your efforts, even in the departments of… impressive overkill.” She nodded to Finn, who looked at his stained boots. “Let’s go home.”
—
Technically this is an everyone journal but whatever, y'know?
Talithe folded her hands and sat down against Mathieu, waiting for her team. The snow drake nuzzled her hand, begging for attention, and she stroked his head.
Gone were her black robes, replaced instead by equally dark armor. The steel had been painted black and lacquered. She only wore it when she was going on a mission — she much preferred robes and other items of clothing - the uniforms of diplomacy - to the heavier armor of missions.
Larael was the first to approach, the wind from the deck bringing some snow into the drake stables. She brushed some off her shoulders, and nodded to Talithe as Fateseeker plodded to her side and laid down. “Talithe.”
Talithe smiled, embracing her friend. “Larael! How are you today? Are you rested and prepared?”
Larael returned the hug and looked back towards the door, nodding. “A bit cold for my liking. Other than that today has been good thus far.” She stretched, her arms reaching over her head, fingers extended. As her arms fell back to her sides, she spoke again, warmth retreating behind her exterior of efficiency. “What’s our target?”
Talithe reached into a bag on Mathieu’s saddle and pulled out a weathered map of the mission area. “There’s what we believe to be a nest of scornips here.” She pointed to a location at the base of a mountain. “Hopefully it’s an easy cleanup.”
Larael nodded and turned towards approaching footsteps to see two Tiros, one male, one female, approaching. She saluted them, and they returned the gesture, though the male’s eyes did not meet hers. She stepped towards the two, extending a hand. “Pryfektus Larael Astriddottir.”
The girl shook her hand, smiling. “Ayveh Joldottir, Tiro. Pleased to meet you.” Larael moved her hand to the young man, who took it and shook.
“Finn Edwardsson. Tiro.” He didn’t sound particularly amused to be here, or particularly excited to be going on a mission with one of the Vetr.
Larael paid it no mind, explaining the details of the mission as Talithe had explained it to her, including detailed strategies on how to deal with scornips and to fight in behemoth lairs.
Talithe let her explain. Larael enjoyed being the prime “doer” of any mission, and she didn’t mind if Larael handled the briefing. Indeed, Larael often took command of missions, even when equals or superiors were involved. Something in her attitude and manner compelled others to follow her, even if they technically weren’t obligated to listen.
—
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Drakonborg, Loureen rolled over in bed. What time was it? Should she care? She shut her eyes again and began to drift off to sleep when she remembered she had been contacted by one of the Vetr for a mission.
She sat bolt upright as she remembered that today was the day of the mission, shouting “Shit!” and sprinting around the room in an effort to get ready, grabbing anything that she could need and throwing it on.
—
Finn looked at the Tiro next to him. She was younger than he was by maybe a couple of years. He had to admit to himself that she was kind of cute, though saying it never crossed his mind and probably never would. He kept his thoughts to himself, partially out of a belief that no one wanted to hear them and partially because he didn’t want to be judged based on his words rather than his actions. He crossed the room, lifting the halberd off his back and beginning to swing it at the training dummies present along the walls. Being without magic, he was separate from many Drakonrhedi. Never present at any of the discussions on the practical applications of magic, Finn instead found purpose in cutting the training dummies of the Drakonborg in half with his polearm.
—
Larael watched with interest as Finn began to hack at a training dummy with all his might. A good warmup, perhaps preparation for the battle to come. She turned to Talithe, “When are we leaving?”
Talithe looked around, clearly thinking about something. “Well. We’d be able to go whenever if we were all here!” She laughed. “I figured this would happen. Sit down, relax. We have a few more minutes.”
—
Loureen sprinted through the halls of the Drakonborg, rushing to the stables.
Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit!
What if the Vetr threw her overboard for being late? What if they demoted her back to Tiro? Could they even do that? She worried about these questions as she came around the corner, running up to the two women sitting with their drakes. Still panting, she managed to speak. “I’m… sorry I’m late! I didn’t miss anything… did I?”
Talithe shook her head, laughing and patting the Iduneus on the back. “There, there, Miss Halford. We waited for you.”
Larael sighed. How could someone just be late for a mission? With a Vetr no less! Larael would have disciplined Loureen on the spot, but apparently Talithe didn’t want to. Or perhaps she was delaying until after the mission, to keep morale high. Larael respected that, if that was indeed what Talithe was planning.
Loureen looked around for a moment, then gave a whistle. Her snow drake, Ellie, plodded over, already equipped for the mission to come. Loureen looked at Talithe questioningly, and the Vetr smiled. “You’ll find that everything you need is there.”
The Iduneus looked through the bags on Ellie, and indeed found the normal assortment of bullets, in addition to a small red box. Opening it, she found more bullets, but these had runes glowing on them. “Fire bullets?”
Talithe nodded. “Fire bullets.”
Loureen checked out the rest of the saddle, and, finding her equipment exactly where she would want it, if a bit cleaner than it normally was, threw herself onto Ellie. “So. What’s the plan?”
Larael explained the target again. Ayveh listened again, standing off to the side. Finn had come over and listened again, as if making sure that he didn’t miss anything important. Where he had been practicing, a training dummy lay in pieces on the floor.
Everything having been explained, Talithe folded her hands in front of her and spoke up. “We are leaving now. Mount up.”
Ayveh hopped onto Ellie, while Finn got on Fateseeker behind Larael. The three drakes, complete with riders, walked over to the door and lined up on the edge of the Drakonborg. Talithe cast a small spell to shield her eyes from the wind. Loureen, Finn, and Ayveh pulled down standard-issue flight goggles, while Larael took a helm with glass eyepieces out and put it on.
Talithe gave a signal, and the drakes leaped from the deck into the air. Spreading their wings, they fanned out into a triangular formation with Talithe at the lead.
—
Finn held on tight to Larael’s waist as they launched towards the mission area. Unlike most Tiros (who were generally not used to flying at high speeds,) he was silent, and didn’t make a move to speak to her. That was fine by her — more room to concentrate on the mission. Looking to her right, past Talithe, she could see that Ayveh and Loureen were shouting at each other, though she couldn’t make out the words.
—
“So we’re going to blast them until they all stop moving, and then we’re gonna come back and celebrate! At least, that’s what I’m going to do!”
Ayveh sat behind Loureen, looking down nervously. She wasn’t exactly -scared- of heights, she just never really liked them. Her partner for this mission seemed to be an excitable Iduneus who had a strong interest in shooting things. This was fine — most Drakonrhedi got excited about one method of killing or another. Ayveh never really felt this way and only killed out of necessity, never letting bloodlust into her heart.
As they neared the mission area, Loureen drew a gun from a holster and pointed it ahead. She turned her head a little, and shouted backwards to Ayveh. “Never hurts to pull out your weapon too early!”
—
Talithe reached into her armor and pulled out a small mirror, observing both pairs behind her with it. Loureen and Ayveh seemed to be getting along well — they were shouting back and forth, and Loureen’s confidence was likely to help any uneasiness Ayveh might be experiencing.
Finn and Larael on the other hand, rode in silence. Larael’s efficiency and Finn’s generally quiet demeanor meshed well. She made a mental note to pair them up again in the future, and then returned her attention to the mission area. She pointed towards an outcrop and landed Mathieu there, waiting for the other two drakes to land and approach before speaking. “We’re here.”
Below, in a crater, black, sticky scornip eggs rested in nests of bone and the mucus excreted by the beasts in question. Several of them wandered between nests, picking at the ground for scraps of food.
Larael created a small magnification lens out of magic and looked through it. Talithe knew what was coming, and was going to let her take charge of this mission. The Pryfektus pointed to the sky, dragging her finger through the air in a small circle. “Iduneus Halford and Tiro Joldottir, I want you to circle and try to pick off as many of the beasts as you can. Tiro Edwardsson and I will go in close and destroy the eggs. Vetr Anyadottir will provide support from here by executing those who are injured but not quite dead.”
Talithe gave a little wink at Finn, who had raised a brow at her. Larael spoke again, “Let’s go, then.” She drew her gun, runes flaring, and took off with Finn.
Loureen did likewise, soaring into the air with Ayveh holding on tight. As they began to circle, Loureen drew a second gun, pointing down at the beasts who were now aware of their presence. She shouted, taunting the behemoths. “Wake up! It’s time to die!” She began to unload her guns, bullets streaking downwards. One of the behemoths was struck by one, its right pincer slamming to the ground from the impact of the round.
Talithe focused her energies, sending out tendrils of invisible magic, searching for an entry to the bodies of the scornips. As she found the unfortunate one who had been shot, she sent the tendrils into its body. Suddenly, she could feel the bodily systems of the behemoth in addition to her own, and quickly searched for the central nerve cord that guided its actions. As the magical tendrils sought it out and wrapped around it midway down the body, Talithe willed them to contract. The cord resisted for an instant, and was severed.
The scornip in question twitched as its nerve was severed, and it dragged itself by its front legs towards its nest, the movements slow and wretched. Larael swooped low, and Finn dragged his halberd through it, cutting the beast deeply and ending its misery. As they continued along the ground, he thrust the polearm into the eggs, blade dragging across the stone floor of the crater. Yellowish, pus-like liquid spilled out of the giant spheres as they ruptured. The scornips that remained (three, two of which constituted the remaining breeding pair,) hissed loudly and ran to their nests to protect them.
Unfortunately for the scorpion-like behemoths, they were not able to completely cover the nests, and as Loureen fired she could tell some of her bullets were finding purchase in the eggs. Ayveh, meanwhile, was shooting small amounts of water through a screen of cold air she had concentrated, flash-freezing them into sharp projectiles. The makeshift icicle-bullets buried themselves in the chitin of the behemoths. One of them, a lucky shot, penetrated one of the scornip’s armor in the middle of its back and destroyed the nerve cord there, rendering it immobile. Loureen and Ayveh both concentrated their fire on it.
Larael continued to add magical bullets to the continuous spray of fire coming from above, while Finn did his best to destroy the eggs with timed thrusts from his polearm. He tapped Larael’s shoulder. “I’m going after the remaining scornip.” Larael thought it perhaps a foolhardy effort, but they did have the leader of the Medics with them. If anyone would be able to save him in the event of a mistake, it would be Talithe.
She nodded, dipping low to let him off onto the ground of the crater. He rolled and spun his polearm as he stood up, dashing towards the last living behemoth in the crater. It clicked and spat at him, stinger twitching in anticipation of combat.
Loureen noticed this and looked at Ayveh, “Is he crazy? He’s going to get himself killed!” She loaded the incendiary rounds Talithe had given her into her weapon. “Hey! Up here! She fired. The round activated as it was shot out of the barrel. The bullet streaked through the air, glowing white hot. It melted through the chitin of the behemoth, and it screeched.
Finn could feel his berserker rage rising as he charged the now-distracted scornip. He struck it once in the center of its head, the weapon crushing the beast’s head. He swung again, losing himself in his fury. Again, and again, he raised the weapon and brought it slamming down on the behemoth. These beasts were responsible for the condition the human race was in. None of them could live.
What felt like years later, he could feel his rage abating. The scornip had been hacked quite past “to pieces,” and Finn realized he was covered in ichor and mucus from the mangled beast. He turned around. Larael, Loureen, Ayveh, and Talithe looked at him. Ayveh and Loureen were wide-eyed, while Talithe looked slightly amused. Larael’s face betrayed no emotion, though that didn’t surprise him. Talithe stepped forwards, turning to face everyone. “A job well done, everyone. I’m proud to have seen your efforts, even in the departments of… impressive overkill.” She nodded to Finn, who looked at his stained boots. “Let’s go home.”
—
