Unusual Encounters

Fayla continued thinking while Rex inquired about who was faster between herself and Vala. In truth, Fayla had a bit more outright pace than Vala did, but the Heanta was more agile, meaning that in terms of combat speed they were evenly matched. Vala pointed this out to Rex, though either of them could outrun the creature they were contemplating using. It was called a Fenroc, a large canine that had armored plates on its back and large, muscled forelegs. It also had a long tail that ended in a bludgeon. Vala noticed Fayla thinking and knew what she was planning. The Eldari sighed in disappointment. "You're no fun. I reckon I could do it thought..." She trailed off again in thought. A new plan had formed in her head.

"I have another plan. If we lure it close enough to the camp, one of my Spectral Clones should be able to get him to attack it. I'll need to find a hidden vantage point though, because I can't move while I use them. What do you think?" It was the best idea she had, and it might actually work.

Rex couldn't tell if he should be amused or a little bit scared that Fayla wanted to ride what it was that they intended to use and ride it into battle. Then Vala mentioned the scouts. The blond grinned at the new idea. That made the job a little less risky. But the problem was the camp. It was a nice open field...there was no hiding an approach there. Aside from a tree here or a tree there, but not enough to hide in a reasonable time.

"Sounds like a plan. Lead the way, Vala. There's not a lot to get into position...but you were able to get to it once before. How are we going to lure it? I'm quick on my feet too, but I'm also bleeding...how is that going to affect this little plan?" Granted, the blood should be stopping soon, it was a shallow cut. But he bled more than most due to his blood regenerating faster than normal too. He'd have to have a major artery to two cut before he'd bleed to death, and even that would be a slower death than anyone else.

Fayla nodded at the new plan. "Yeah, putting blood on the clones should do it, as long as you stay out of the thing's sight." Fayla looked at Rex and nodded in acknowledgement. "You hopefully won't need to be fast, just quiet. Even if the Fenroc smells your blood, it shouldn't go after you unless it sees you, provided it's still chasing the girls." Fayla took out her bow and set off with Vala and Rex when it was all decided.

They soon found the trail to the Fenroc's lair, identifiable by the skeletons and rotting carcasses leading along a path of damaged foliage. Vala told Fayla to get in position for the plan, and Fayla slipped the two of them a fist bump. "Good luck. The girls will be here in a moment." Fayla retraced the path to the camp, and found a spot in a high tree with dense cover. "Alright, let's do this." Clasping her hands together in front of her chest as if praying, Fayla's eyes were suddenly completely green, and two copies of the Eldross appeared either side of her, in midair. They fell and landed below with a thump. One stood up, shoving the other one off her, and received a shove in return. "Knock it off you two!" Fayla hissed at them from above. "You've got a job to do!" The two girls pouted and ran off back to the Fenroc's lair.

The two clones reached where Vala and Rex were waiting. They  grinned and high-fived Rex and Vala. "Hi! You asked for a pair of ass-whoopers? You got 'em! I'm One! The first clone bowed. "And I'm Two!" The second clone bowed too. One looked at Two and narrowed her eyes. "Copycat." Two sighed. "How many times do I gotta tell ya? We're both copycats!" One wore an expression of dramatic realization. "Oh yeah." She then turned to the Asentari and the Heanta. "So, what's the job?"

Rex grinned. "I regenerate my blood supply faster than normal...so bleeding out on someone and leaving them for bait shouldn't be an issue." Then they were off. The scouts were...unusually not there. They were likely on the move then. When they got there, Rex waited for the clones. Once they did show up, he obliged the high five. When asked what the job was, Rex took off his sword. "I'm gonna smear a good amount of blood on the two of you. Then you're gonna lure a Fenroc to the Dying Sun's camp. While that thing messes up the place, Vala and I will get its commander. We'll go from there. Watch for Kronos though...I don't think he'll be able to do much against an alpha predator on his own, but he's good enough to rally the troops to fight against one." Assuming they had sufficient numbers, and they likely did.

And so he went about smearing that blood.

~

Kronos eased his horse into a walk. They had to stop earlier for him to wash his wound and bandage it up a little. He'd forgotten to do it sooner at the camp...but maybe the adrenaline hadn't worn off. They eased up on top of a hill, likely the same one that Rex had travelled. It was a decent view. It was getting dark too. Not like it mattered. Still, his heat vision was still going to be good.

When he activated it, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. After couple of minutes, he saw something. Two red dots running towards the camp. There was two of them. Grinning, he simply waited for the signal. Only to see a much larger red mass following them. Eyes widening, he broke the horse into a dead run back to camp, the others following suite. "What's wrong?"

Gritting his teeth, Kronos snarled. "Those fuckers lured a god damn Fenroc to us!" He just hoped their commander stayed alive or not get captured in the commotion....

One and Two pouted childishly as Rex explained the plan and covered each of the clones with blood from his wound. One looked at her bloodstained clothing and then glanced at Two. "I swear we don't get paid enough for this crap. I'm gonna talk to the union when this is over." Two face-palmed and began walking into the cave. "We don't get paid at all. We don't have a union. We're not real, you dunce." One pouted again in childish defiance. "Speak for yourself!" Two groaned in exasperation, a sound that was answered by a growl from the cave in front of them.

Meanwhile outside, One and Two ran as fast as they could towards the camp. "Waaaaaaah! Why is it always us!" Two yelled back as the Fenroc tore through a tree after after them. "Less yapping, more running!" They ran past the tree that Fayla was camped in, and the Eldari exhaled, deeply grateful that it wasn't herself down there. She gazed in the direction of the camp and heard sounds of alarm and stuff breaking.

One and Two disappeared as Fayla broke the spell, having completed her side of the plan. She was about to drop down to the forest floor, only to hear Vala shouting at her from behind. She turned to see Vala and Rex running towards her, but it was what was following them that was the issue. A female Fenroc was chasing them through the foliage. Fayla watched the beast, an evil grin spreading across her face. Vala said she couldn't ride the original Fenroc. She never said anything about a different one. Fayla waited until the Fenroc passed underneath her, and her course was set.

Fayla leapt from the tree and landed on the creature's back, her hands gripping the top of one of the beast's spine plates. Fayla hauled herself until she was just aft of the Fenroc's neck, gripping tightly as the creature continued its rampage through the woods in pursuit of Vala and Rex. She saw the camp coming into view, the male Fenroc already causing mayhem there. "Surprise, motherfu-" The rest of her sentence was drowned out by a booming howl from the female Fenroc as it charged directly to the camp.

Rex was already on the run. He wasn't going to wait around. "Already ahead of you!" Sometimes, you didn't have to be the fastest...just faster than the slowest person. He was asked a question as he heard things breaking behind him. "If these things are similar to Crag Drakes back home, you're gonna kill both us and them at the same time!" Just one Crag Drake was difficult to deal with, mostly due to its thicker skin than a typical drake. And being twice the size while barely losing any speed and agility.

Once he scurried out from the forest, he went into a dead run, seeing some horses, one having Kronos, heading straight at the hole that the first one made. Not even paying any attention to them. Or so he thought. The blond continued running, jumping when he got close enough to the wall, scaling it for a few feet, before swinging his scythe.

The weapon separated into a six sectioned staff, chains connecting to each section. The chains allowed it to stretch up to twenty feet, and the young Asentari held on to the one end. It was long enough, combined with his small scale and jump, to reach the top and hold him there. He extended his other arm down to Vala. If she jumped and managed to grab it, he'd give her a boost up with a throw.

And he'd do the same with Fayla if she used the beast to do the same. Only then did he retract it, sending himself up there and jumping down to the other side. "You are crazy, Fayla...but whatever, let's hope that thing doesn't breach the walls before we're done. Lead the way."

~

Kronos jumped off his horse and jumped again from the beast's back, sword drawn, a fire whip with almost a scorpion tailed tip on the end coming from where the blade met the guard. He swung the blade, making the whip burn the right ear, making the beast roar and back off.

"Long Spears! I want a triple line at that opening! One facing this way, two the other! Rexie brought a second one, I want it to stay outside! Spears! Archers and Crossbowman, aim for the eyes!" Kronos dived out of the way of the tail, and whipped out, aiming to burn the damn thing down.

"Scorpions!" They had three of the siege weapons. Hopefully someone can get them out to the front and had decent aim. He tried to keep the damn thing occupied while their formations formed. This was going to be a long ass night...

Faylandrea Shor once again found herself questioning her decision-making process, as she clung for dear life to the back of an enraged female Fenroc that was hurtling towards a mercenary camp that was already being attacked by a male Fenroc that she had lured there herself. She saw Rex hoist Vala over the wall before heading over himself. Fayla smiled at the success of their plan, before realizing what was about to happen. The Fenroc she rode slammed violently into the wall, and the sudden halt sent Fayla flying high over the wall and over Vala, who was fighting a bunch of soldiers. Inside, Fayla thought some more about how she makes decisions, and decided that she would need to have a look at it if she didn't die. On the outside, it was far more basic. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
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Bob emerged from the barracks, full of anticipation. He had joined the Dying Suns just recently, and now was Bob's chance to show what he was made of. Bob's friends had told him he was making a mistake. That it was too dangerous, and that Bob would get himself killed. Bob had waved all of the warnings away. He knew what he was getting himself into, Bob had told them all, everything was going to be fine and he would come back rich and famous. Bob was sent to man the camp where Thalbjorn, a Dying Suns commander, had set up his base of operations. Bob couldn't wait. He knew that normally people got bored of guard duty, but Bob had heard that somebody was coming to try and get to Thalbjorn, and Bob knew that if he protected Thalbjorn from the intruders, he would be rewarded. So, upon hearing the alarm sounding, Bob had carefully put on his armor, and picked the best sword he could find. Everything needed to be perfect, so nothing would go wrong. Then finally, Bob was ready. He stood in front of the barracks, and witnessed a Heanta land nearby and begin fighting the men there. Bob smiled. Now is my chance. Bob took a step, then looked up. It was at this moment, Bob knew, he fucked up. Bob realized this, when he looked up and was crushed by a flying Eldari. Bob should've listened. Don't be like Bob, kids.
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Fayla stood up, feeling bad about the guy she had just crushed. He didn't look like a bad guy, but now he was a flat guy. She drew her sword and looked around. Vala had just started dispatching numerous guards, when Thalbjorn emerged, pleading with her to stop killing his men. Vala demanded the information they had tracked him down to get, but he asked to fight in an honorable duel. At exactly the same time, Fayla and Vala looked at each other and shouted, "I call dibs!" Fayla ran over to Vala. "No fair! You and Rex got to kill all the guys in the forest. Let me have this one!" Then she had an idea. She lifted a fist in the air."I've got it! Rock, Parchment, Knife!"

Rex just kind of...stood there and watched. Most of the others were fighting the fenroc, why these morons were here instead of helping defend their base against an alpha predator was beyond him. He did almost laugh his ass off when Fayla came flying over the wall and ended up crushing a poor soul. Then the fighting came to an end. With their target approaching them, spouting honor. Rex chuckled darkly and stepped forward, leering at the rest of the guy's men around him. "I hear Kronos calling. You lot should go help him. Especially with a second one outside. Of course, I could add your heads to my collection..."

Many of them looked at each other before looking at Thalbjorn. Then left to assist. Rex settled his eyes on the one armed man. "Honor? That's rich coming from a lot that robs people on the paths. Or attempts to in my case. And that's not saying to the fact that you took on a traitor. This is a stalling tactic...Shade taught me some interesting tricks for interrogation that he found quite effective in his two hundred years. I'm anxious in recreating them elsewhere. The more we dawdle here, the worse it gets us. Let's just knock his ass out and get out of here with him. We can put quite the distance if we rush this."

Rex gave the two a side long glance. "I get honor. We have our own codes. But there is also a time and place for it. You think Kronos or the rest of them will care if we're still waiting on your match or you two arguing over who gets him? Even with one arm...he's still strong. I can tell that much..." Whether it was both of them, or all three. They needed this to be quick.

Rex rested his scythe on his shoulders and stalked forward. But waited overall. They needed to make the first move. That was key when you're the odd one out in a formation and needed to be included in. It was a sloppy way, but it worked.

Thalbjorn launched into a speech about his mercenary band and how their original premise has been somewhat led astray by Thassa. Vala sarcastically applauded his speech and prepared to fight. Rex tried to alert them to the potential danger of Kronos once he dealt with the distractions they brought, but Vala's course was set, and the Heanta stepped froward. Fayla protested. "Aw come on!" Vala suddenly shouted and pointed behind Fayla. Fayla narrowed her eyes and sighed. "Really?" Vala nonetheless leaped into combat with Thalbjorn. Fayla turned to Rex. "I know it would be easier if we jumped in, but we need what's in Thally's head. Which means we have to play by his rules for now. We can't blow our opportunity."

Vala fought ferociously, denting the big man's chestplate. However, Thalbjorn managed to find an opening, shoulder-checking Vala and following up with a slash that cut her shoulder open. Thalbjorn stopped his advance and called out Fayla. The Eldari ran over to her friend. "Are you alright?" Fayla turned to Rex. "It's my turn. See what you can do for her. Keep her safe."

Fayla Shor turned to Thalbjorn, analyzing the effects of his fight with Vala. His chest armor was severely damaged from Vala's punch, a detail that immediately stood out to Fayla. She surged forward, hurling her sword with all her might at her foe. Whatever Thalbjorn's response was, Fayla continued her run and slid low between his legs while the blade had him momentarily distracted. She called her blade to her hand as she rose behind him and brought the blade down upon him, aiming to take his other arm. She then leaped backwards, leaving her Second Chance clone behind to take Thalbjorn's retort. She then surged forward again, using her Strike Slash. She slashed at him from the front and then flashed beside him, attempting to run him through the chest. She then backflipped out of his weapon range and braced for the counter.

Rex glared down at Fayla. "Honor is different in every culture. To some, selling slaves is an honorable profession, while in others, it's regarded as disgusting and vile. If he doesn't go by his word, we wasted a bunch of time. But fine. I'll back off this once...but if he doesn't abide by his word...well, I told you so and then I'm gone." For an assassin, time was often of the essence. Whether it was limited or not. He leaned up against the wall, and watched them fight. Not interfering. But he also kept an eye out on the fight in the frontlines. It seemed like the first one was almost dead...but Kronos was also looking awfully rough...

Fayla shot an angry glance at Rex as she recovered from her flurry. She had almost been hit when Thalbjorn had glanced her attempted stab away, and now she was having to deal with backchat. "It's not about honor, you dunderhead. Unless you have a secret ability to read minds, then we don't really have a choice but to go along with this for now. So butt out- hey!" Fayla was cut off as she suddenly had to duck an axe that was aimed at her head. She cursed herself for allowing Rex to distract her, as she turned to deal with the onrushing Thalbjorn. He aimed a slash for her shoulder, and Fayla knew that she was severely outmatched in the power department, so she knew outright blocking was not an option. So she turned and parried the blow to her right. The maneuver left her exposed to her left though, and she suddenly felt her leg go out from underneath her, dropping her on her back. She saw the giant boot of Thalbjorn coming down on top of her, so she rolled to the side, avoiding it just in time as it crunched the ground where she had just been. In the same motion she brought Grace around and attempted to wound the man's leg, hoping if she made contact that his leg armor was less formidable than his breastplate had been.

Fayla kipped-up as Thalbjorn backed away from her. She needed a new strategy. She zigzagged towards the man and leaped high into the air above him, bringing her blade down on top of him. On the way down she activated her Elemental Blade, doubling the weight of her sword. In addition, she activated the shock-wave effect, meaning that as soon as the blade made contact with something solid, be it the ground or Thalbjorn's weapon, a burst of kinetic energy would erupt, sending a wave of kinetic energy through everything within 10 ft. Given Thalbjorn's size and strength, this would most likely just stagger him rather than knocking him flying. Fayla would follow up with a sweep at his legs, attempting to ground the big man. If she succeeded, she would attempt a coup de grace, attempting to pin the man to the floor by his shoulder. If she had failed with her sweep, she backed away and prepared for the next phase.

Rex yawned and chastised Fayla. "Focus on your fight at hand. I've backed down for now. I'll give you my response to that later...." Seriously...for as old as she might be, she should have known better and stayed focused, he wasn't going to fuel distractions for her. He did turn to Vala and tilted his head curiously. "You know, it's a little telling that you automatically assumed I meant the Heanta. I don't know their culture enough to make that judgement, yet you went on the defensive." He left it at that. He was already warned about Karcenak. And after talking to some people about that place...he just hoped he would never visit there. That kind of culture will break him. And make him declare war on the entire city. He focused on Fayla's fight.

Until a loud crash occurred just feet from them, the Fenroc's eyes spewing fire. With Kronos at the side, shield gone, and bloodied up. If looks could kill, all three of them would be dead, and Kronos spoke in his and Rex's native tongue. You're all cunts. Every single one of you. I'll skin you all alive for this!" He stalked off to assist with the second one, which was barely being held back by long spears...

Rex simply grinned and gave a girly wave at him. Almost too cocky about the current plan. But they were swiftly running out of time...

The shock-wave failed to knock down Thalbjorn, but it wobbled the big man enough that the leg sweep floored him. However, he still had the wherewithall to roll out of the way of Fayla's attempt to impale him to the ground. Fayla withdrew her sword from the ground just as a loud crash was heard nearby. Kronos appeared there, having apparently dealt with one of the Fenrocs, obviously with some difficulty given his appearance. He spewed some Draconic at them, before heading off to deal with the second distraction. Vala spoke in Eldari to Fayla, and Fayla hoped the Heanta had made a mistake in her speech. Vala's Eldari was rough but it was improving. "Well, I mean... sure? But I didn't think he was your type..." Fayla kept her focus on her enemy this time, not allowing herself to become distracted again.

Meanwhile, Thalbjorn regained his vertical base and began his counter-attack. Fayla found herself backpedaling as the big man led with a pommel strike followed by a slash across her chest. She dodged those first attacks, but she was caught as Thalbjorn shoulder-checked her with surprising speed. He followed up with a straight boot to the chest that connected with a crunch. Fayla was knocked onto her back and slid several feet. She stood up, gasping for air. The pain she felt in her torso was the all familiar sensation of a broken rib.

Doing her best to block out the pain in her ribs, Fayla put her hands together and summoned her Spectral Clones. The two clones appeared either side of Fayla and drew their weapons. The clone to her right spoke first. "One, reporting for duty!" Then the other one. "Two, also doing that!" The clones looked at Thalbjorn and studied him for a moment. "Hey Fayla, who's the big oaf?" Fayla sighed in annoyance. "That's your target you pair of planks." The two pouted childishly and stepped forward. One pointed at him. "Hey ugly! How about you take a walk? Or do you want me to come even out those arms for ya?" Two face-palmed. "You know he's gonna splat us right?" One glanced at Two in defiance. "What do you mean?" Two shook her head. "Because we always got splatted." One stuck out her tongue like an infant. "But I taught that big monster a lesson earlier?" Two shook her head again. "No, you slipped on his drool and hit your head on a rock." Fayla interrupted, her patience at an end. "Um... in your own time, dip-shits."

The two clones turned and charged Thalbjorn as one. Two led the attack, taking whatever strike Thalbjorn reacted with. She would vanish as soon as she got hit, but One would follow her in and attempt to grab on to the limb that was exposed by the attack. If she succeeded, she would grapevine the limb and then explode, dealing weak damage to it. If she failed to grab on, she would simply miss and face-plant the ground, before exploding anyway.

If the tactic worked, Fayla would set herself in a combat stance and prepare for the retort.

If not, she would face-palm and shake her head. "That's just embarrassing. I need to have a talk with those two blithering idiots."

"Sorry, I meant your race, not the actual act. You made your feelings quite clear. And fair point." Now that she'd pointed that out, it was a fair point to be made. And he'd let the conversation die. Then she said something in a different language that Fayla understood. Leaving him a bit confused. "I don't know what you said, but he called us all cunts and promised to skin us alive for this...if that's even remotely relevant to what you just said..." If not, oh well. He shrugged and watched the fight at hand. And hoped Fayla ended this soon.

Fayla looked sheepish when her clones once again made an arse of themselves. Thalbjorn expressed incredulity at how Fayla and Vala have manage to survive, asking if they were kids or just incompetent. Fayla knew her clones' performance meant any semblance of competence was pretty much gone now. "Honestly? Probably a little of both." Vala then approached and Thalbjorn decided to give up. Although he believed they would be killed by Thassa if they found her, he wanted them to knock her down a couple of pegs. He said there was no honor left in the Dying Suns.

Vala got through her own interrogation, and asked if Fayla wanted a crack at it. Fayla sheathed her sword and gave Vala a playful punch in the arm. "You were kind of on a roll there, but if you say so. I thought you were gonna ask him for dinner too while you were at it." Fayla looked at Thalbjorn and narrowed her eyes. "Well, I suppose the obvious ones first. Where is she hiding? How many men does she have there? Anything of note about that location? Anybody else important there? What's her favorite color?" Fayla stroked her chin for a second. "Okay scratch the last one. But answer the rest of it please."

Rex raised an eyebrow. That was...anti-climactic. But he wasn't going to complain. And just stayed quiet. Though it was amusing...perhaps he could teach the Heanta, and maybe even the Eldari a bit of his native tongue. But anyways, he'd listen. So, they were hired to kill Vala. By one of her own kind at that. Interesting. Then came Fayla's questions. He didn't have any himself. So he just let the girls handle it. Though he did admit...for as young as he was, he did share a bit of Thally boyo's thoughts. But he wasn't going to say that out loud.