[OOM] Kazic III.

[stuck_mynock]

Jaq is sat upon a clifftop, staring outwards into the distance.

There was someone in the trees earlier, watching from afar, but he's gone now. Jaq doesn't suspect he'll come back soon.

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[guppy_sandhu]

"Okay, thanks Jaq. Same departing message as before."

Guppy sets off in the right direction, at speed.

[ostro_goth]

Teja follows easily, stalking through the snow with long legs like a grim stork.

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

Kate hurried along the path, keeping alert. She had her bow out by her side. She had also brought her vibroblade along.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

It isn't long until there is movement after them. People they may recognise as guards from the village - they wear furs that are more extravagant than most, and carry vibroswords and blaster rifles - start moving through the forest towards them.

There are about six in total. They all have blood on their faces.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy glances behind, unsure whether these are people who need help or are about to attack them.

[ostro_goth]

"Eyes," Teja whispers, grimly. "Look at their eyes!"

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

Kate's eyes narrowed, and she tensed.

"Guys, I don't think they're here for a warm send-off."

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy whips out his stun gun, pulls Teja and Kate close, and sets off the sonic screech - they are protected by being next to him. He then shoots a round of stuns at them all.

[ostro_goth]

When they are hit by those, Teja pulls out his sahs. "Do we ask them questions?" he wonders. "Can we ask them questions? Or shall we give them the mercy stroke, and be on our way?"

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

They seem entirely unconcerned by both sonic screech and stun bolts. They don't even appear to notice, merely continuing towards the three.

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure if they can even talk. Let's just stop them and get out of here." She readied her bow, and fired some arrows at their limbs to slow them down.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy puts his stun gun away, gets out his blaster and his sword. He fires the former and keeps the latter ready.

[ostro_goth]

It takes Teja a moment to string the short Hunnish bow made by Attila; then, he shoots for the attackers, also, not aiming for their limbs, but for their hearts, meaning to kill.

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

Kate still wouldn't kill, but she was certainly trying to injure them to stop them. That meant arrows to kneecaps, and feet.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

There are numerous direct hits, with bursts of blood and (in the case of Guppy's blaster) sparks. They don't stop moving, but the jerky awkwardness in their gait becomes more apparent: They begin to move less like people and more like extremely ungainly and inflexible costumes.

[guppy_sandhu]

"What the hell are these things?" Guppy asks, firing another round of stuns.

[ostro_goth]

Teja gets out his fold-up naginata and opens it, ready to slice into the creatures when they come closer.

Planting it into the snow, he keeps shooting.

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

"In a word? Zombies." And that changed the game a little here to include headshots with here arrows until they get closer for hacking with her vibroblade.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

Headshots are about as effective as body shots, it seems. One of them, though, near the centre, does slow down.

It's not for a good reason - his bottom half explodes as a mass of whiteish tentacles writhe their way out to provide a new, and seemingly faster, form of locomotion. They start to wind their way out of his mouth and eyes, too.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Time for surgery."

Guppy comes forward with his sword, slashing at the tentacles of the nearest one.

[ostro_goth]

Teja is right beside him, and he starts slashing at the monster's tentacles with his naginata.

This must be destructible!

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

Kate grinned at Guppy, "New catchphrase?"

But the tentacles cause her expression to quickly be grim. Crap, of course. She waded in, slashing, hacking, and stabbing as quick as she could.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

The tentacles are thick, but fleshy, and are severed quickly enough after a few hacks and slashes. The wounds made, though, start to sprout smaller tentacles, which writhe about before expanding into a multitude of human arms and hands, milky pale and grasping.

Nearby, several of the other men start suffering similar deformities: One opens his mouth inhumanly wide to let a cluster of arms start sliding outwards, while another one bends his head back into his neck to replace it with a long, thrashing tentacle.

So that's all good.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Yeah, been working on my act." Guppy says, continuing to slash.

"Oh man, this is like that dreadful Disney thing with the brooms. Except more gross."

He stops talking to concentrate for a moment. Hands. What's the weakness in hands? Too short notice to give them all repetitive strain injury. Paralysis might work.

Rather than amputation, he starts aiming his slashes for where the brachial plexus, the nerve bundle in a human shoulder, would be on these arms. For the ones that are just hands, he aims a short slash at the wrist, hoping to either sever nerves or get the creatures to bleed out.

[ostro_goth]

Teja keeps swinging his axe, destroying what he can reach. If he is fast enough, perhaps he will hack off more than these creatures can grow in that time.