Day 163, Closed | WE HUNT!

[freedom_engineer]

Who: Colin Starfury, everyone who responded to his rallying cry
What: Hunting a Gasfella for a fallen friend
When: Day 163, "Oh God" Early
Where: The Skyway
Format: Whatever the heck you want, we're all big kids here
Open: Closed to those who responded.
Warnings: Violence, oh boy is there gonna be violence. Also, this thing has killed one person already, so there's that.

He'd gathered his crew. He'd interviewed Rin. He'd examined Night's body, the wounds she'd suffered. He had all the evidence he'd be able to get here, and now it was time to head out. He'd grabbed his pistols and an ammo belt, wearing both openly. Also, he'd fashioned a bandolier some time ago to carry grenades, and today was the first time he was going to wear it out.

He wasted no time in getting everyone who said they wanted to come. He was mindful of the residents who didn't want anything to do with it, those who needed only to sleep and mourn. But for those who were going to hunt this thing down, Colin was there, waking them from their rest and rousing them to meet at the Skyway entrance.

There, he set out what was coming in what he hoped was easily understandable terms.

"Okay everyone," he announces. "Our first stop is where this all went down. We need to find more information so we can track down the creature. Rin tells me it was a BIG Gasfella, different coloration than the ones we normally see out there. She'd tried to talk to it, and it attacked them mercilessly. It didn't want them there."

His eyes narrowing, he continues. "So we're going there, we're going to find what it was guarding, and then we're going to find it. We are going to give it one chance to surrender, and if it does anything other than lay down its weapon and put its hands in the air, we are going to kill it so certainly that it will have to crawl into its afterlife."

He looks at Nanaki briefly, then he looks at Paarthurnax and Alucard. "Again I'm going to say... No eating this thing. It tore apart two full-power demons, I don't want anyone getting close enough for a hug, because that will open you up to all kinds of hurt," he explains. "We can inflict plenty of harm WITHOUT opening ourselves up to close range attacks."

Comments

It's Gasfella time

[freedom_engineer]

Their investigation had been fruitful. They'd recovered several pieces of Night's sword, and while Colin wasn't sure it was all of them, he was certain that they hadn't left any behind.

Alucard had managed to find a likely-looking trail, and it was time to follow that. What would they find at the end of their quarry? Success, or a check for a whole lot of pain, just waiting for them to come and cash it?

Either way, Colin unsecured his pistols and made sure they were loaded. He wasn't going to be caught off guard.

[windgod]

[Ippo was going to stay near Colin...there was safety or at the very least added security in numbers; he had no idea where the others had gotten off to, but with Colin's...well, everything and Ippo's strength and speed, he figured they'd be marginally okay.]

Do you think we're close? I'm starting to get a bad feeling...

[freedom_engineer]

If you haven't had that bad feeling since we hit the battle site, your deployment instincts aren't yet honed.

We're close enough that I'm anticipating an ambush at any moment.

[Hope you weren't hoping for comfort, Ippo.]

[windgod]

No...I've had it since I put the anger and sadness to one side; it's just getting worse.

[He brought his hands up and tensed up his body; he wanted to be able to move at a moments notice after all. He was actually thankful for Colin's realism in this situation...it was something to keep him grounded in the here and now at the very least.]

[freedom_engineer]

That's nerves. With the amount of blood and remnants at that site, I anticipate that the Gasfella will be in an even worse mood.

If it's too much for you at the moment, hang back and watch our backs. You're not going to deal the first hit anyway. If it charges, I'm having everyone who can hit at range hit it hard.

[windgod]

I can handle it...if it comes to blows, I'll do what I do best.

[He gave his gauntlets a firm tap together to show he meant business; he was here for the truth, but if the Gasfella was going to give him a reason to attack...he was going to make sure to put it down for a permanent 10 count.]

I'll be sure to follow your lead on this, you know what you're doing.

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin's never actually been in charge of a search and destroy mission before, but he won't tell Ippo that until later. No sense in shaking his friend's confidence.]

You may want to be a little saner than I am.

[He grins at him.]

You're going in with laser gauntlets. I'm going in with grenades of varying payloads.

[windgod]

Well...that's one way of handling the situation, I'll...make sure to stay clear of that.

[He actually enjoyed walking around, the last thing he needed was to get a leg or both blown off accidentally.]

Wait...what do you mean by "Varying Payloads"?

[That sounded mildly disconcerting.]

[freedom_engineer]

Two high explosive, one incendiary, one sonic pulse, two flash bangs. I like to be prepared for a variety of situations.

Don't worry, though. I'm not carrying any biological or radioactive payloads.

[dragonform]

Ryu isn't much use as a detective, that much is true. But when a fight starts, they can be certain he'll be able to end it. The entire time they've been searching, he keeps his right hand on the grip of his sword. At a moment's notice the blade can be drawn and put to good use. So far, however, everything seems to be quiet.

So far.

"Got a plan, Colin?" He asks in a slightly hushed tone on the chance the Gasfella is nearby.

[freedom_engineer]

"Once we find it, I'm sending Paar on high so he can cut off the escape route," Colin explains. "I'm marching forward to address it, and all of you are fanning out so you can take it in a crossfire. Once the initial salvo is launched, I want melee fighters to close in while our ranged attackers hang back and hit with suppressing fire. If it survives the initial assault, our ranged sorts likely aren't going to be dishing out enough harm to bring it down, so we'll have to get messy."

He pauses.

"And wary of the dragon. Paar is on another level far above all of us," he adds. "If Paar needs us out of the way, we get out of the way, period. Fortunately, Paar is more overwatch than artillery in this engagement. I don't want any surprises, and he'll be able to keep the entire field in sight the whole time."

[dragonform]

He nods, noting where exactly Paar's presence will be. Though it does leave him with a lingering question. "When you say we'll have to get messy, what do you mean?"

He has at least half an idea as to what Colin means. The Gasfella goes down. The only question is how much overkill Colin wants brought to the table.

"I really hope it just surrenders."

[freedom_engineer]

"I mean that I'll be wanting out melee attackers in there hampering it and hitting it where it hurts. I want it disarmed, dismantled, and destroyed. Not necessarily in that order."

He glances at Ryu, and he nods. "Surrender would be preferable, but I predict less than an eight percent chance of that actually happening," he adds. "Unless it's sorely wounded. But we don't know the full extent of its injuries yet. Or even if it's still injured. OR if it found friends."

[dragonform]

That worried him pretty significantly. "I've had experience hunting a wounded creature before. If you thought it was dangerous when it fought Rin and Night, it'll be even worse now." He mentions, memories drifting back to the Nue that Bunyan had the boys hunt years ago. He also remembers the conclusion, and Rin's description of the Gasfella.

"Do you think it has cubs of its own?" If the Gasfella attacked them for entering a particular bit of territory, that made about as much sense to him as the possibility of someone or something else controlling it.

[freedom_engineer]

"You're not the only one," Colin said. "We had a..."

He pauses, and glances at Ryu. "We had a space eel nest in one of our mining claims almost a century ago. Finding it was easy, but once it was wounded, it took down two ships before we finally cleared it out. Wounded creatures are always dangerous."

He marches in silence for a moment, considering his answer to the second question. "I've considered the possibility," Colin says. "It's a non-zero chance that I'm sorely hoping isn't the case."

[dragonform]

"Do you have a plan for that as well?" He asks, for Ryu it wasn't a question that needed answering. The Nue cubs were already dead when he found them. However, the sight of the dead cubs didn't do all that much to assuage his guilty conscience.

[freedom_engineer]

"Three," Colin confirmed. "None of which will satisfy everyone, and one of which I'm fairly certain will turn everyone else against me. Needless to say, that's my last ditch scenario. If the scenario manifests, I'll share the plans, but I'd rather not put that thought in everyone else's head just yet."

He has plans upon plans, but very seldom is he willing to share the more extreme ones.

[daughterofursa]

Zuko has kept to the outskirts of the group the entire time, hanging near the rear or one of their flanks. She isn't used to working with people who neither know her nor fall under her command, and from the way she carries herself, you'd think she was doing this solo. She doesn't trust any of the others to watch her back, and she doesn't see any reason for idle conversation.

As far as she's concerned, they said everything they needed to before they even set out. They have a trail to follow, and a job to do when they reach the end of it. It should be that simple.

A wild GASFELLA appears!

[bastionpc]

On the bright side, there isn't a small army of Windbags, or even just a posse.

On the down side...

Something suddenly seems to come slamming down in from the sky. It slams right down into the ground with something, just narrowly avoiding whoever is at point. The impact is forceful enough to send debris- dirt and rock- scattering everywhere. Anyone not careful might find themselves briefly blinded or hit in the head with a small rock.

Those with their eyesight clear will get a momentary glimpse of the creature- a Gasfella with unusual coloring and twice, maybe three times, as big as them. It's skin is a toxic green, and its eyes bright from beneath its hood. There's a wound on one shoulder, bubbled over in a strange way.

There's not much time to get a good eyeful of it. In a flash, its swinging its enormous ax with reckless abandon. It's making an effort to hit anyone in the group who's too slow, but it doesn't seem to mind when its ax drives into the ground to fling about more dirt.

For Alucard and Kitten, they'll be able to hear something if they're paying attention and not more focused on trying to save their own hides.

DON'T COME DON'T TOUCH THEY ARE NOT YOURS DON'T COME DON'T COME DON'T BRING DON'T COME DON'T YOU DARE, MINE

Considering it is more or less screaming it- at least that's how it will feel to their minds- it might be hard to miss. Not once does it let up on swinging its ax, however. It doesn't seem much interested in conversation.

[freedom_engineer]

As it happens, Colin has taken to the front of the group to follow the trail. He's asked Paar to keep to the sky, to prevent the Gasfella's escape in the event that it chooses to flee when confronted. It turns out that's likely not going to be an issue.

But Colin's been on the receiving end of a Bulrathi air drop before. The plummeting Gasfella triggers all sorts of warnings in his eye, and he's already jumping to the side to avoid the first slash of the axe, and then into the Gasfella's personal space, making it difficult to hit him with the axe.

"FALL BACK AND SPREAD OUT!" He yells, throwing a punch at the Gasfella's wounded shoulder, not trying to hold back his augmented strength in the slightest. "TAKE ITS BACK AND GET IT IN A CROSSFIRE! ALUCARD! KITTEN! TELL IT THAT IF IT DOESN'T LAY DOWN ITS WEAPON, WE ARE GOING TO TURN IT INTO A GREASY SMEAR ACROSS THREE KILOMETERS OF SKYWAY!"

[superdrowningskills]

Alucard had stuck close to Colin to assist in tracking, and would have been caught in the Gasfella's attack had he not immediately thrown himself in full reverse and out of the way of its axe. He doesn't bat an eye. Attacks from above are hardly anything new, after all.

What is new is the fact that the Gasfella is bothering to announce that it's guarding something. He keeps in its line of sight, but makes sure to remain out of reach for the moment, directing his next words to it.

"We are not here for whatever it is you wish to protect! Lay down your weapon, or we shall be forced to put an end to you!"

[windgod]

[In a normal situation, the sudden appearance of the giant Gasfella would have been enough to toss Ippo well off balance; both mentally and physically, but this was not a normal situation. The second the Gasfella touched down, Ippo's body was already sliding backwards out of range of the wildly swinging Axe, any shot that came within range of him was deftly woven around with the skill he'd cultivated over his intense training with Coach Kamogawa; this Gasfella was big and fast, but Ippo was definitely on the faster scale here.

Underneath his focus however, he could feel something boiling...it was like a beast patiently waiting in the brush for the right time to strike; whatever this Gasfella was talking about...whatever Alucard has said about whatever it was wishing to protect, this axe-wielding psychopath had about five seconds to explain itself before Ippo unleashed hell.]

[therealprotagonist]

[Raimundo was closer to the back so he wasn't in the full range of the attack from the giant green monster. He dove to the side to avoid the dirt and rocks that came flying at him. He ran around the beast, going with Colin's suggestion to get behind it. The thing had a hood and if he could just get behind it, maybe he could pull the thing over its eyes. This thing was going down, protecting something or not. Rai didn't much care either way.]

[daughterofursa]

Zuko is far enough back herself not to have to worry about that ax just yet, but she does duck out of the way of a rock or two. She draws her swords as she straightens up, but she holds them defensively for now and keeps her distance, waiting on the minute possibility that it might back down.

It sure doesn't look like it's going to, though.

[bastionpc]

The slam into its shoulder earns a loud sharp hiss, air being forced out of it. Even with Colin's augmented strength, however, it's not much forced back- there's a reason Rin and Night together couldn't take it down. Its ax might do much good this close, but its been born with two hands. One hand keeps the ax, and the other makes a lunge to take Colin's head in its massive palm.

Whether it succeeds in this or not, one thing has been made sure of: it's focused so much on those in front of it that it doesn't keep an eye on its back. Raimundo succeeds, momentarily blinding the large creature.

For Alucard, there's nothing but more desperate and angry screaming the entire time.

DEATH BRINGERS! DEATH BRINGERS WHOSE TOUCH DESTROYS AND DESTROYS AND RUINS, DON'T COME DON'T BRING DON'T COME, YOU RUIN BUT TOUCH NOT MINE, NOT MINE! I'LL KILL YOU!

Now blinded, it trashes about violently, whirling about to slam whoever is too close. At the moment, that includes mostly Colin and Raimundo if they're not quick on their feet.