Mitheral
"Growf!"
SIG MCX - Wikipedia.
Black Mamba
Jake Corman had made himself useful in providing some very nice hardware. His Russian counterparts did likewise, clearly not wanting to be outdone. Corman had supplied SIG MCX Low Visibility Assault Weapons (LVAW). Its folding stock would make it ideal for crawling through ducts - and it was small enough to be an assault rifle to Chum. They also gave her a taser pistol.
In fact taser pistols were issued all around. The Russians also had their own supply of gas for use in hostage situations - plus gas masks. But Ellen declined when Corman pointed out the dangers. The Russians pointed out that they had people in harm’s way as well.
While the group discussed strategies they were approached by some hostile looking men - just six of them. One of them motioned for four to stay back when the GRU agents started to bristle at the mere sight of the men.
“We come in peace. Vasilij here is maintenance. Has plans of building. Just want girls safe, yes? And … they were friends. So, we help you. You help us. Hope they give you trouble, yes?”
This the GRU understood. If the pirates tried to fight, the fight would turn quickly lethal. The man who spoke to them was Bratva. But he had no issues with letting GRU deal with the problem. If something as simple as providing a map helped, fine.
The GRU took pics of the map for their own use. They downloaded it to an iPad for Chum and gave a quick demonstration of the map use.
Corman handed the thermite paste to Ellen after demonstrating its safe use. Ellen smiled and handed it over to Olrion. “We aren’t out there anymore. Fire is a lot safer here. But let’s try not to burn the hostages. If you don’t need to use it, save it for another time. Like when you are low on mana.” She looked at Karoshi, “battle plan?”
Karoshi was none too bright when it came to technical matters. Military strategy and tactics on the ground was another matter. “Chum, when you get into position, let us know. Wait for our move. Plan is going to be simple. Captain, Rae, Rose, Orion and myself will pelt the room with the knockout vials. At that time I arranged for a distraction on the far side of the pirates. We just needed an exact set of coordinates. Sybil is going to send in some of her Zhelynes to draw fire. Ellen wants to take on the troll orc.” Karoshi looked displeased. “Black Fang belongs to Chum. If the knockout works as planned, the pirates and hostages should fall. We may miss a few though as they outnumber us.
“After that it is pretty straight forward. Tasers are probably best. Even if we accidentally hit one of the girls instead, it won’t kill them. If all the pirates fall except Black Fang and the troll, I say we turn them all on the troll and light his ass up!” She looked at Ellen, “unless this is an honor thing?”
Ellen smiled. “Actually, that would be fine. I made my plans before they gave us the tasers.”
Karoshi nodded. “Right. Chum, our distractions will be your signal to move in. Hopefully Black Fang will be distracted by our efforts.”
**********
Battles rarely go according to plan. Black Fang had his own caster at work. While the crew was spying on him, he had been spying on them. Unfortunately, he couldn’t HEAR their plans. The one big surprise was the opening of Enola’s portals. Four Zhylene stepped through the portal holding large shields forged of laen. The laen proved tough enough to handle bullets.
Chum’s part of the plan worked perfectly right up until the part where she entered the room. The rest of the crew made it to their positions and tossed in the vials, getting a spray of automatic gunfire in return. The worst failure was the fact that by the time Chum was in position, Black Fang had a knife to Kelpie’s throat. They could take him down, but he would take Kelpie with him. If he even thought he was going down, he would probably end her. That was the whole reason Ellen had opted for the small area effect of the vials and avoided trying to use them on him.
Moonshadow hadn’t really been a factor in Karoshi’s plan. And it looked as if that was probably a good thing as she spent the early moments of the battle cowering on the ground, terrified of the noise. The suppressors really weren’t proving to be much use, not with Black Fang forewarned.
The Russian girls did one useful thing. They cowered. The pirates hadn’t really thought to use them as the more personal hostage that Black Fan had. Neither were they accustomed to advanced weaponry. Rae, Karoshi and Rasitah did more with their weapons on single fire with a very few rounds than the pirates did with whole clips spent on autofire. Then they moved in to extract the hostages.
Ellen moved in calmly to face off against the troll. For this she didn’t even draw a weapon. She had taken a single potion in preparation. The effects of that potion were soon evident. She was trained in a combat style not unlike aikido. It took all her will not to get distracted by the events that transpired between Black Fang, Kelpie, Chum and Moonshadow. She took the troll’s weapon away from HER and tossed it away. The potion had magnified Ellen’s strength beyond that of the troll. Soon the satisfying sounds of cracking bones and painfully screamed curses in orcish filled their ears as Ellen twisted and snapped joints and used the troll’s own weight against her.
Black Fang did the unthinkable. He knew his time was at an end. He knew Kelpie would be useless as a shield. So he chose to demoralize his foes. He yanked back hard on the knife and flung Kelpie away from him in a spray of blood from her throat.
“CHUM! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE RUNT?” He knew Chum wasn’t with the rest of the crew. He just didn’t know where the runt had gone.
Black Mamba
Jake Corman had made himself useful in providing some very nice hardware. His Russian counterparts did likewise, clearly not wanting to be outdone. Corman had supplied SIG MCX Low Visibility Assault Weapons (LVAW). Its folding stock would make it ideal for crawling through ducts - and it was small enough to be an assault rifle to Chum. They also gave her a taser pistol.
In fact taser pistols were issued all around. The Russians also had their own supply of gas for use in hostage situations - plus gas masks. But Ellen declined when Corman pointed out the dangers. The Russians pointed out that they had people in harm’s way as well.
While the group discussed strategies they were approached by some hostile looking men - just six of them. One of them motioned for four to stay back when the GRU agents started to bristle at the mere sight of the men.
“We come in peace. Vasilij here is maintenance. Has plans of building. Just want girls safe, yes? And … they were friends. So, we help you. You help us. Hope they give you trouble, yes?”
This the GRU understood. If the pirates tried to fight, the fight would turn quickly lethal. The man who spoke to them was Bratva. But he had no issues with letting GRU deal with the problem. If something as simple as providing a map helped, fine.
The GRU took pics of the map for their own use. They downloaded it to an iPad for Chum and gave a quick demonstration of the map use.
Corman handed the thermite paste to Ellen after demonstrating its safe use. Ellen smiled and handed it over to Olrion. “We aren’t out there anymore. Fire is a lot safer here. But let’s try not to burn the hostages. If you don’t need to use it, save it for another time. Like when you are low on mana.” She looked at Karoshi, “battle plan?”
Karoshi was none too bright when it came to technical matters. Military strategy and tactics on the ground was another matter. “Chum, when you get into position, let us know. Wait for our move. Plan is going to be simple. Captain, Rae, Rose, Orion and myself will pelt the room with the knockout vials. At that time I arranged for a distraction on the far side of the pirates. We just needed an exact set of coordinates. Sybil is going to send in some of her Zhelynes to draw fire. Ellen wants to take on the troll orc.” Karoshi looked displeased. “Black Fang belongs to Chum. If the knockout works as planned, the pirates and hostages should fall. We may miss a few though as they outnumber us.
“After that it is pretty straight forward. Tasers are probably best. Even if we accidentally hit one of the girls instead, it won’t kill them. If all the pirates fall except Black Fang and the troll, I say we turn them all on the troll and light his ass up!” She looked at Ellen, “unless this is an honor thing?”
Ellen smiled. “Actually, that would be fine. I made my plans before they gave us the tasers.”
Karoshi nodded. “Right. Chum, our distractions will be your signal to move in. Hopefully Black Fang will be distracted by our efforts.”
**********
Battles rarely go according to plan. Black Fang had his own caster at work. While the crew was spying on him, he had been spying on them. Unfortunately, he couldn’t HEAR their plans. The one big surprise was the opening of Enola’s portals. Four Zhylene stepped through the portal holding large shields forged of laen. The laen proved tough enough to handle bullets.
Chum’s part of the plan worked perfectly right up until the part where she entered the room. The rest of the crew made it to their positions and tossed in the vials, getting a spray of automatic gunfire in return. The worst failure was the fact that by the time Chum was in position, Black Fang had a knife to Kelpie’s throat. They could take him down, but he would take Kelpie with him. If he even thought he was going down, he would probably end her. That was the whole reason Ellen had opted for the small area effect of the vials and avoided trying to use them on him.
Moonshadow hadn’t really been a factor in Karoshi’s plan. And it looked as if that was probably a good thing as she spent the early moments of the battle cowering on the ground, terrified of the noise. The suppressors really weren’t proving to be much use, not with Black Fang forewarned.
The Russian girls did one useful thing. They cowered. The pirates hadn’t really thought to use them as the more personal hostage that Black Fan had. Neither were they accustomed to advanced weaponry. Rae, Karoshi and Rasitah did more with their weapons on single fire with a very few rounds than the pirates did with whole clips spent on autofire. Then they moved in to extract the hostages.
Ellen moved in calmly to face off against the troll. For this she didn’t even draw a weapon. She had taken a single potion in preparation. The effects of that potion were soon evident. She was trained in a combat style not unlike aikido. It took all her will not to get distracted by the events that transpired between Black Fang, Kelpie, Chum and Moonshadow. She took the troll’s weapon away from HER and tossed it away. The potion had magnified Ellen’s strength beyond that of the troll. Soon the satisfying sounds of cracking bones and painfully screamed curses in orcish filled their ears as Ellen twisted and snapped joints and used the troll’s own weight against her.
Black Fang did the unthinkable. He knew his time was at an end. He knew Kelpie would be useless as a shield. So he chose to demoralize his foes. He yanked back hard on the knife and flung Kelpie away from him in a spray of blood from her throat.
“CHUM! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE RUNT?” He knew Chum wasn’t with the rest of the crew. He just didn’t know where the runt had gone.