Imak wheels around as blood flies and his foe falls. His mind flashes back to the first night he picked up this blade. He forces the memory from his thoughts as he notices the remaining mutants doing something to the largest. He lunges towards them as he remembers his studies to try to figure out what these creatures are doing
Imak carries the sword low as he moves, the tip leaving a track in the dirt as he prepares for an upward strike.
"Blech, dead flesh.That's something I'll pass on in the future."
Volk then moves toward the closest gnoll, attempting to deliver a kick to its head.
I assume they have began the melding process on their last turn and the barrier is already in effect? Also, can I interject a free action at the top of the order to shout to everyone to keep the mutants from merging?
Guthrak grins as the gnoll goes up in flames, but as he sees it start to heal that grin fades. He hefts another bomb in his hand and lobs it into the gathered gnolls, stepping closer to do so. His mind races as he ponders what sort of mutation causes this.
This is gonna be the water caravan all over again...
Araden's thunderous shots rang through the air like thunder. His first shot, leveled at one of the twisted gnolls standing over the dead gnoll, appears spot on but, as it almost connects, the evergrowing light from the crystal semi-solidifies into a semi-material barrier. The round smashes into the barrier and falls to the ground, smashed like a piece a twisted scrap metal. His second shot, leveled at the other mutated gnoll, meets with a similar results, shattering upon the semi-tangible barrier of azure light.
Dr. Guthrak hefts another bomb towards the mutated gnolls. As the bomb arcs towards them, it suddenly shatters against the glowing barrier barrier, flames cascading out to scorch the gnolls.
Volk dashes towards the nearest gnoll and swings with a mighty roundhouse kick to one of the mutant's head, but is suddenly stopped by the barrier, the clashing forces nearly knocking him to the ground.
Imak dashes towards one of the mutants, his sword cutting the sun-scorched earth, and swings high at the beast. His sword manages to cleave the creature in twain, gore showering high into the air and coating the ground in filth.
As the last remaining mutant touches the mangled remains of the massive gnoll, the creatures begin to fuse with a horrifying speed, twisting flesh twining together. The creatures' flailing limbs also attach to the other mutant corpses and draws them in, their flesh melting on to the rapidly forming creature, which has expanded to over fifteen feet high! Numerous tentacles, claws, and less easily identified parts begin to grow on the abomination. Whatever is happening, it most definitely can't be good and judging by how rapidly this fell transformation is occurring, you know that you do not have long before the fusion process is complete.
Imak has seen what these mutants can do when they fuse. As long as he drew breath, this town would not suffer the same fate as so many others. He feels the familiar burn of the Lazurite Radiation, but his health is not the priority at the moment.
Imak turns to face the final mutant. At this moment, he does not know fear or pain, he only knows burning hate for these monstrosities.
x2=30
Guthrak spits a curse in Orcish as he watches the fire splash off of the barrier. The doctor pulls the massive bladded wrench from his back and charges the abomination.
One of the blades catches on his lab coat as he raises it to swing causing him to stumble to a stop next to it.
Darnnit cuz..you make it look sooo easy
Ahhh.. Hey Imak! Volk! Git this ugly beasts attention and draw it away from th' town. I've gotta plan!
"Urgh... I'm not feeling so good... but I'll try!"
Volk drops to all fours and uses a withdraw action to run about 60 feet from the creature towards the edge of town.
"Hey ugly! This way!"
Clicking back the hammer on each revolver, Araden grimaces and takes another step forward, firing each gun at the beast. Strange, I remember that less than anything else...
Araden's twin shots tear through the air towards the mutating beast. His first shot misses the beast by several feet, but his second shot makes it through the barrier and connects, taking half of one of the composite creature's faces with it.
Dr. Guthrak curses in frustration at his bomb missing it's mark. He draws a bladed wrench and attempts to swing it at the creature, but it catches on his labcoat, grinding his swing to a halt. Thinking quickly, he shouts a warning to his comrades, telling them to lure the beast out of town. As he finishes his shout to his comrades, he begins to feel faint and, looking down at his arm, he sees that his veins have turned black and his skin has several patchy black spots like his skin has been scorched.
Volk follows the good doctor's suggestion and runs on all fours towards the edge of town. As he runs, he feels weakened and, looking at his fur, sees a few strands of fur have gone bleached white, as if drained of vitality.
Imak shrugs off the intense feelings of weakness he feels and swings his blade in a massive arc. His blade connects, cleaving the emerging abomination nearly in twain. It screams from it's four mouths in pain, a terrifying sound that fills the air.
Surprisingly, the massive wound dealt to the beast did not kill it, despite the ungodly amounts of foul blood washing the area and the fact that the creature's entire upper body was cleaved in twain. Ropy strands of ichor covered muscle begin to grow and bridge the gap between the two halves of the split beast, slowly pulling it back together. The creature flails madly, it's tentacles swinging through the air. Dr.Guthrak... is slammed by a tentacle, knocking him to the ground with a sickening crunch, unconscious and barely clinging to life. Guthrak's brother Imak... manages to duck under another tentacle just in time to avoid a crushing strike.
Guthrak staggers back as he takes a pounding from the tentacle. His blood singing in his ears and his vision blurring. He grumbles something incoherent and draws out a home-made stimpak and drives it into his chest.
He then collapses unconscious, but breathing and not bleeding.
Once more working the action of his revolvers and holding them out, Araden takes a deep breath and fires again, the lead pounding forth.
Imak snaps to attention as he sees Guthrak fall to the ground.
I keep telling him to learn to duck.
He rushes over to his cousins side and starts casting a spell
Smiling, he says
See, this didn't turn out anything like the water caravan.
A small white floating eyebot-like robot decloaks 10ft above and to the right flank of the threatening beast and fires a Red Ray. At the same time, it releases tiny finger size flying automatons that streak towards Imak and Doc and the tiny automatons come to a hover before them near their hands waiting for something.
"Gah, I can't take another hit like that... Guess the luring strategy didn't work. Time to die, abomination!"'
Volk charges at the creature, attempting to defeat it once and for all with a flying kick. As he does, his footpaw is surrounded by a crackle of... electric energy?
+
All of a sudden, you hear a strange voice in the air "Decloaking FIDO Model 126.9. Target identified. Analyzing situation... Loading combat diagnostic... Commencing attack in 3...2...1...". Ten feet above and to the right of the massive abomination, a spherical white robot around three feet in diameter with a red eye lense fades into view and fires a beam of red energy at the beast, the laser burning through the monster's necrotic flesh, leaving a smoking swath of burnt flesh.
Araden levels his shining revolvers at the flailing abomination. Time seems to stand still for him as he aims. He takes a deep breath and fires a shot from the revolver in his right left hand. The bullet practically screams through the air, connecting in the side of the abomination and travelling through it, splattering the tissue connecting the two flailing halves as a whole, spraying the Half-Orc cousins with sticky gore. Araden then levels his other pistol and fires another round in one of the beast's twisted heads, leaving a deep crimson stain covered in meaty bits where there was a head. Just to make sure it's dead.
Imak take a moment to catch his breath once the mutants seem actually dead. He takes a moment to wipe some of the blood out of his eyes and surveys the seen. He snaps out of his respite when he sees Gruthrak in the dirt. As he rushes over to his kin he thinks, I keep telling him to learn to duck, dammit.
He kneels down and begins casting.
And you were worried this would end up like the water caravan. He says grinning as Guthrak regains consciousness.
He turns to his companions How is everyone else feeling?
FIDO does a flip in response to the permanent death of the undead creature and launches an additional tiny flying automaton directing it towards Volk. Like the other two automatons, the third one hovers near the hands of or just in front of Volk. They act like insects when you swat at them and then return back to their original hovering position. All three flying automatons are waiting for something.
FIDO's center laser eye slowly turns from red to blue.
Doc grins and mutters something gutteral as the ghouls falls. The half-orc jabs the homemade syringe into his chest a moment after and then collapses into the dirt.
He comes to as his cousin heals him and sits up and dusts himself off.
Theres still plenty ah time for things to go wrong. Least this time we gots no brahmins to worry about.
He stands and looks around for the elven lady. Y'all alright miss?
"What... what is this thing? Identify yourself, thing of steel and iron."
Volk is bewildered at the appearance of the machine. He's never seen anything quite like it. He also responds to Imak:
"I'm a bit worse for wear. That wave of energy really took it out of me."
FIDO floats down to about waist level still with a Blue-eye. The tiny flying dragon-fly like automaton looks at Volk in the eyes, then at his hand, and repeats itself.
Thinking that the machine is not hostile, Volk cautiously outstretches a paw, offering a perch to the flying object.
The flying machine lands on Volk and quickly proceeds to walk over to Volk's finger, then wrapping itself comfortably around one of Volk's fingers. In your (Volk's) head, you can hear, "Hello anyone there, I sure hope FIDO was successful in delivering the Comm-nans?! Then Volk hears, "Ruff.. Ruff." FIDO and the unknown voice pause, "FIDO, activate common speech protocol." ... another pause ... "Common speech protocol activated." ... yet another pause ..."Greetings, I am Ultramatrix Zero and the robot in front of you is FIDO."... FIDO conducts a hovering somersault ..."I just told him to speak common instead of dog sounds as originally programmed so he could be easily understood by all. I am mostly deactivated at the coordinates I will give you. If you can spare some time and goodness in your soul, I need someone to fully reactivate me. Lastly and most importantly to remain cordial, what is your name?"
Imak watches Volk's interaction with the floating sphere with cautious interest. It seems to be ok for the moment so Imak looks around to find the woman. He starts to walk over to check on her, then remembers he is covered from head to toe in mutant goo. He casts create water above his head to clean up a bit before walking over.
Are you ok ma'am?
The tiny dragon-fly automaton avoids the field bath, then follows Imak, and hovers around his hands when he stops to help the woman.
Noticing the small automatons appearing in the battle, Araden gives them no heed as he fires, the commandments of the Way of the Gun echoing in his head. He allows himself the tiniest of smiles as his bullets plow through the beast, killing it definitively this time. Ropes decay, grow brittle and weak... Nothing kills muties like hot lead and iron.
Spinning his pistols, Araden replaces one in its holster and flicks open the others rotating chambers. He begins reloading them almost absentmindedly, moving over to the robot as he does, and by the time he reaches it, both revolvers are at full capacity once more.
Staring into the thing's "eye," the man's face betrays no emotion. What is this? he wonders, trying to recall if he's seen its like in his wanderings, but unable to remember anything more than what he already has. "What are you?" he asks bluntly, his hands falling to rest his wrists on the butts of his revolvers.
FIDO looks at Araden then looks at the tiny automaton flying around his hands, and then repeats the process.
Cautiously, Araden points out a single finger, his other hand shifting to grip his revolver, ready to draw it if necessary. Goes against everything I learned in the Wastes...
The tiny dragon-fly automaton lands on Araden's finger and then wraps itself comfortably around his finger. Like Volk, the automaton ring does not count against your ring count. In your mind, you hear ...
The gunslinger is about to shake his hand to throw the automaton off--purely by reaction--when the voice comes into his mind. Raising his hands to his head--
getoutgetoutgetOUTofmyhead
--the gunslinger leans over a little, taking an instant to recognize that the voice is that of another, and no issue. Waiting until the... transmission?... is over, Araden thinks back...
Certainly, Unamatrix. I am called Araden, a wanderer of the Wastes. I'll certainly come to find you.
Turning to the others, Araden glances at the small robot once more before striding forward. "Looks like ka guides us already onward."
FIDO does a flip ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSUXXzN26zg