~Ahhhh fuuuckernuts. At 'im!~

[renferret]

The Columbia River Gorge Hive fight, part 1



Sai's GM Room(#3497RJ)
SCENE RULES:
1) Keep OOC Chatter to a minimum while the scene is going on please. Page people if you want to talk to them rather than paging the whole room. If you have a question for the GM, page Sai.
2) If you wish to contest an outcome in a GM pose, page Sai.
3) Keep track of your spenditures. Shift to appropriate forms (+shift/q

).
4) Rage and Gnosis cannot be spent in the same turn. Likewise, Rage + Talen activation are not possible in the same turn.
5) 1 Willpower point may be spent for an automatic success towards your FIRST action only. This does NOT guarantee success in doing said action, but provides a safety cushion in cases of botch most of the time.
6) Resist Pain: GM will not tell you how much damage you have accumulated numbers wise, but will give you a general idea of it descriptively.
7) If you must leave after the scene has begun, please notify the GM and your Pack Poser, who will be responsible for puppeting your character. NOTE: I will not kill a puppeted character. But, your character may be rendered unconscious and be placed in a highly dangerous IC scenario due to unavoidable circumstances.
8) This scene involves a high "rating" of R/NC-17, due to violence, language, disturbing images, etc. It is possible your character may be severely injured or killed in this scene. If you do not wish to participate, please leave the room prior to the scene's start.
9) PLEASE check: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYvJd4zZnMA4ZGc1YjZkNzZfNTVnNjNtbTJoZA&hl=en -- this Google Doc is the GM's reference to what/who is present at the scene. If your stuff/you are not listed, you will not be able to attend this event.
10) Have fun, and thank you for coming to this finale of the Roscoe & The Gorge Gut Hive plot.
Contents:
Viv
Speech-and-Silence
Norman
Kathryn-Laura
Camille
Dances The Edge
Nikiya
Anpu
Desh
Headshot
Paul
Kaz(#3820PJXc)
Nik
Sai
Obvious exits:
Nexus

The Gaian platoon arrives, finally, to the inner ringing border of the Gorge Gut Hive after enduring a series of traps. Most of the Garou have made it through the gauntlet okay, having spotted the traps set up using more superior senses to compared to the normal human being. Charlene started to fall into a pit trap, but saved herself from anything more than scratches against fecal-smeared stakes below. Chris tripped a series of projectile sharpened stakes, but their pointed ends proved to do little against the thick Glabro muscles of the Walker. Mouse nearly set off a shotgun pointed at her head, but the rusted, element-exposed weapon misfired - a close call. KL brushed off a glancing spear as her supernatural Gift allowed her to move before it could do too much damage.

Once they've arrived, the Garou see before them a long expansive moat filled with stagnant waters. Algae floats atop the brownish green opaque waters, and the smell is something that sinks into the nostril folds, clinging to the fur. For those unfamiliar with marshy, wet swampland, the smell is almost unbearable to the lupine nose. The expansive moat seems to be quite wide, but how deep is uncertain. The first obstacle presents.

Raging Phoenix calls a halt when the Garou are in sight of the moat. ~OK~ she growls, her voice low. She beckons everyone over towards her. ~Here's the plan. Ranged people, find some cover over there, and there.~ She indicates with an outstretched claw. ~Coup de Grace, Hammer-Of-The-Wyrm, Dances-The-Edge and Ears will go down there and try and summon them to us. Because I don't want to fight on that crap over there.~ She sniffs, distate writ large on her features. ~Ears will withdraw as soon as it's clear that we've got something. The rest of us will engage to give her time, then disengage, and run back up here. Shoot the bad guys when you've got a shot. Don't shoot the good guys. When they're close enough, jump on them and hit them till they die. Once we've dealt with that wave, we'll consider going further in.~ She stands erect. ~This is a hole of the wyrm. This will be a day that will be talked about for years. I /know/ that it will be with bated breath and awe for the deeds that the Sept of the Hidden Walk achieved. For the bravery and heroism of our people. For the victory we achieve!~ With a final flourish, she strikes her claws on a stone, sparks flying as she sharpens them. Alongside her, nose wrinkling slightly, Icetrap shifts to hispo and matches her actions. Dances the Edge nods once, and moves to help cover KL's flank. Hammer-Of-The-Wyrm tags behind KL in Crinos, his hammer held at the ready. The young modi looks hugely keyed up- excited rather than fearful. His tail lashes behind him as he listens to her instructions, letting out a growl of pride as she finishes her speech. He falls into formation alongside the Claw, ready for the off.

Devil's-Eye seems very uncomfortable with the surroundings. The crinos rumbles, ~They've changed the layout. The moat is new. They've changed it...~ Kaz mutters, ~I don't caaaare,~ and heads towards the low point. The rest of the pack -- Mouse in glabro, Camille and Nik in Crinos -- find cover as they can, on the solid ground. Once she's reached that point, Kaz, only her small shield as defense, sends out a grating, whining, extremely unpleasant sound. And waits, poised for running.

Desh and company linger behind the others, but near Kaz' group, for the sake of keeping near Mouse and the other ranged sorts. They are all careful to be stealthy, though Coyote's children seem to have a particular knack.

Speaks-Softly carries a satchel on his waist which rustles and sloshes now and then, and an open pack on his back filled with javelins. He keeps alert at all times, eyes up, and ears perked, gladly letting the Ragabashes ahead figure out the pitfalls.

Desh, shifting to glabro, reveals himself to be wearing a thin, flame-retardant suit, not quite as bulky and restricting as those of firemen, but similar in purpose. He has his normal revolver holstered at his side, along with a satchel of ammunition; a shotgun is slung over his shoulder. Both of the Striders seem to be moving with a certain speed and ease.

Song-of-Vengeance lingers just in front of the other two, a presence between them and any potential enemies. When directed, the three of them creep silently through the brush, listening attentively to the Fury; they all set themselves up behind cover, again with Song-of-Vengeance ahead of them. Speaks-Softly slides his thumb circling over the striker of his lighter in his off hand while Desh loads the first of his shotgun cartridges.

After the jittery approach with the assorted sprung traps, Chris leads Vendetta to their positions. He's currently in glabro and blurred, moving with his usual excessive sneakiness. Not a single sound emits from either him or his packmates, their movements shrouded by the rite of silence. Clutching his assault rifle in his hands at a low ready position, finger off the trigger and thumb resting on the fire-selector, he heads to a small rise of ground a little back from the moat. He drops to one knee and then goes prone, the cover of the long grasses and general foliage combining with his gifts and natural skills to conceal himself from view while he waits for the rest of Vendetta to take up their posts.

Alex seems particularly ill-at-ease during the approach, only getting moreso when the moat comes into view. He swallows visibly, taking up position with his pack as they finally get to their destination and find a spot. KL's rousing speech quells his nervous jitters somewhat, though as he finds a position beside a tree, using the trunk to steady his aim. He levels his gun in the direction of the Hive entrance, waiting...

With her blowgun held at the ready, Nikiya listens carefully to the Claw, her eyes scanning the area for anything of interest, anything that will enable safe passage across the disgusting moat. Her chest swells a bit at KL's speech, though her attention is focussed on the hive beyond, her sharpened teeth bared.

Speech-and-Silence carries a stolid expression as he approaches. Like his packmates, he makes no noise. When the order comes to take up positions, he crouches down behind some scanty cover, nearer to the Hive and its occupants than his compatriots, and there he waits, chewing his lower lip a little."

Raging Phoenix: Just to clarify on KL's pose: We're approaching from the north. KL indicated that the ranged people should take cover where they can find it to the east and west of the approach line, on raised ground if there is any. They should still be in easy sight of that approach line. It's an ambush, not a flanking maneuver.

The cover for the swampland is light, which makes it a little difficult to find /good/ cover. Most of the area has bushes and a few decently sized rocks, and to the east and west, indeed all around there are a few dunes to use, allowing for the ranged fighters to take their cover as best they can. But this is the inner ring of the Hive's 'bawn' - 100 yards of no-man's land turned into 30-50 yards wide of moat - certainly a good defense against intrusion. Up above, storm clouds appear to be gathering in the skies, heralding possible rain, a common sight for the Pacific Northwest.

The Call of the Wyrm rings out from Kaz, and the howl is soon answered by shouts and whoops and howls that echo from the mounds and holes seen of the hive. Someone has stirred up the hive, and any moment now, the warriors are going to come out. The first sights are of shabby dressed humans, stick-thin and ragged, hollow and desperate looks on their faces as they clutch an array of knives, pipes, clubs, chains, and three of them looking to have hunting rifles. None of them look like the warriors. The water of the swamp-moat ripples, and a large dark red fishy looking fin the size of a sailboat's sail cuts the water, pointed towards the direction of the Caller. Then it follows with the algae covering the swamp rising up in a mound, and a huge serpentine-fish creature with the head and body of a eel, fangs of a snake, gill-like appendages and around 10 eyes with two main blood-red orbs lifts out of the waters. It makes no noise, save for the heavy clap-clap of its large tooth-lined maw opening and closing.

The Zolom first directs its gaze from its vantage to Ears-to-the-Ground's group. A few of the humans that came out of the hive are the first to scream in terror, fleeing in erratic paths southwards, dropping their weapons. The screaming attracts the attention of the Zolom, though, and it turns to swim towards the retreating bite-sized people.

The barking spray of bullets flying into the air accompanied by guttural, inhuman shouts herald the coming of something far more - and less - that human. The fomori have arrived! Three lead the charge, their skin cracked and covered with weeping sores, hardened carapaces encrusting naken flesh, slimy tentacles wriggling from their backs as they charge towards the Caller of the Wyrm with no regard for life or limb, faces twisted into masks of rage. Behind them stands a motley assortment of freaks, mutants and genetic rejects - most are armed with 9mm pistols or illegal submachine guns, but a few possess powerful shotguns or even foreign-made assault rifles. Chattering in their blasphemous tongues, they fire off rounds into the air then move close behind the tentacled berserkers, ordnance flying in every direction from where they stand.

Raging Phoenix and crew watch the eel-thing with interest, Norman taking the opportunity to move into a low crouch and half-close his eyes, concentrating for a moment on another gift, before reacting when the Formori hove into view and shifts to the warform. KL looks at Kaz, and gives a nod, before the Fury, Icetrap, Hammer of the Wyrm and Dances The Edge take a few steps forward to engage with the Fomori, hoping to slow the rush down noticeably, and delay the gun-toting ones behind, getting them to bunch up. Hammer-Of-The-Wyrm's body lights up like a Christmas tree as he activates the warpaint talen, and his hammer is raised ready to swing at the targets.

Kaz says, ~Ho, shiiiiiit,~ as the Zolom lifts itself out of the water, but manages to stand her ground and shoots off another Call, grating, irritating, whining; and then she scrabbles for footing and books it back towards her makeshift pack. The rest of them -- Mouse, Nik, Camille, Roscoe -- all wait, Mouse takes aim at one of the Hive's openings, but doesn't fire. Nik pokes his head out from cover when he sees the giantic beast. He is exposed only briefly as his eyes flicker over what he can see of the creature, gauging any soft spots.

Bad Company et al mostly wait, gauging the situation and waiting to see which creatures can be picked off or assaulted without risk to their allies. Song-of-Vengeance remains crouched, labrys ready, watching the Zolom, watching the fomori, and waiting for any of them to even make an indication that they'll be moving toward her temporary pack.

Speaks-Softly peeks out from behind a rock now and then, alternating sides, trying not to hold too much of a pattern in how he looks. The Galliard grimaces bitterly when he hears the calls in the distance, his displeased expression only growing as the eel makes it's first appearance. He lingers from behind cover to eye the slimy beast, then ducks back to begin preparing. He sticks his javelin in the ground, muttering to himself as he pulls a handful from his back to stick into the soft ground, their black tips pointed at the sky.

Desh simply readies his shotgun from behind what cover he can manage.

Chris waits until the fomori are fully exposed before opening fire. The combination of the blur, the flash-hider on his weapon and his rite make it quite eerie to watch- there's a minor disturbance of the grasses and then a sharp hissing sound as the bullets whisper towards their targets. Almost impossible to pick out their location. He aims towards the gun-toting ones, giving them a healthy saturation of fire at fully automatic. Hot cartridge cases pile up on the damp ground next to him as he works the stream of fire through their ranks like a hose. Once the magazine is exhausted he swiftly reloads, slamming a new mag into place and awaiting fresh targets.

Meanwhile Alex hunches low in the bushes, prone with his gun steadied. He pales at the sight of the slaves, but the fomori presenting as a new target cheer him. He aims at one of the assualt-rifle toting fomori, squeezing a round off aimed between its eyes. Again, that silent detonation and hiss of a bullet..

Speech-and-Silence remains crouched and mute, though he chews his lip a little harder at the sight of the fishlike apparition. He forces his attention to remain on the weapons crew, awaiting the word to charge.

Setting the blowgun on her belt, Nikiya draws her bow and arrow, notching one as she watches the insanity unfold before her. Pulling the string back, she takes aim at the vitals of the lead Fomori; without a single noise, the Fury lets the string go, the arrow flying silently towards it's target.

With a flash of movement and a couple of screams, four humans and some of their weapons simply disappear, eaten by the Zolom. The creature's eyes turn upon the fomori coming out of the Hive, gauging them briefly as stray bullets seem to bounce or lodge against the creature's scaly, finned hide. The continued call from Kaz turns its head, and a groan followed by a splash of water soaks the ground of the land about. The Zolom turns west, sliding out of the water and towards Kaz's group whilst others engage other enemies. From the depths of the Hive, there are other calls of the Wyrm creatures within, made fearsome by a haunting, echoing quality. The sky continues to darken as clouds form.

Sai: To Everyone: Once the Zolom has moved west, it becomes noticeable that the western portion of the moat has been carved out a bit due to the weight of the creature, and creates a shallow crossing that will still get you wet, but lets you get closer to the hive's entry/exits.
Sai: If, that is, you want to try and get around the Zolom.

In the meantime, KL and company see Hammer-of-the-Wyrm blaze up as a nimbus of white light surrounds him. The carapace-bearing fomori that rushed out in front are given pause by the sudden glare, stumbling for a moment as they turn their eyes - only to be swiftly cut down by the Modi and the Gaian Philodox, carapaces snapping as the Garou rend them in two. Nikiya's arrow thumps into the dirt close by them. Meanwhile Chris' ministrations with the assault rifle cut down three of the panicked monsters before they go to ground, finding what light cover they may among the scrubs and dusty embankments, firing blindly at the Garou - a few stray bullets find each member of KL's group, but only enough to sting and annoy, save Paul who takes a rather substantial spray from a MAC-10.

Deprived of enemies to fight, Raging Phoenix snaps a ~Go for the giant fish creature!~, and launches herself to do exactly that. Icetrap snarls his battlecry of ~Come on then if you dare face a Fenrir!~ and charges into the fray with claws bared ready for combat- Rip! Rip! Dances the Edge lopes after Norman, clearly aiming to go low where he goes high. Or vice versa. Hammer-Of-The-Wyrm joins the war-party attacking the Zolom. His hammer begins to cycle up again as he leaps to the attack, rage burning to bring it down three times upon the critter.

Nik barks out a quick suggestion to his pack. ~Eyes! And gills!~ He looks up at the thing coming down upon them, both hands moving to his back to draw his knives. Kaz skids to a halt near Camille and Roscoe, and pants, ~Wait t'jump it,~ pant, ~Til it gets closer.~ Mouse, not one of the jumpers, changes her aim, gun pointing straight to the thing's eyes. And shots are fired. Evenly, calmly.

Shifting his focus now, Chris engages the fomori who have gone to ground with short controlled bursts. First he sights on one, and then after firing shifts immediately to the next- using his heightened position and the blast of their weapons to get his line of fire. There's a broad grin on his face as he watches them go to ground, finding it /so/ much easier.

Speech-and-Silence seems to be growing more and more frustrated as he hunkers down, with bullets and arrows from his packmates flying over his head. But patiently and obediently, he bides his time, still awaiting a signal to move.

Alex's shots come off slow, measured, aimed and careful. Aiming for the heads of any fomori who hold still long enough to get a shot right to the head. His tension is waning and he grins. He's starting to enjoy this!

Nikiya watches with a frown as she notches another arrow on the bow. She raises it, her eyes narrowed as she focuses the arrow directly at the eye of the Zolom. Focused intensely on the shot, she lets the arrow fly towards its target.

Speaks-Softly strikes up his lighter and sparks one of his pitch-smeared spears to life, making sure that he's got at least one additional source of fire before the looming clouds above open up on them. He glances out from behind his rock, then hides once more, taking note of the eel creature's approach and the fomori firing from the banks. Speaks-Softly counts down from ten and grabs two unlit spears from his backpack, touching them to the burning one to bring both to blazing life. Song-of-Vengeance Glances over her shoulder to Speaks-Softly and nods solemnly, turning her attention back to the exits from the hive. Desh aims his shotgun to the north and west.

Twice, First-Strike proves her deedname as bullets bark from her Roach Clipped gun. The first shot plugs into the main left-side eye of the Zolom followed by a second bullet to hit, drawing first blood. It bleeds a foul looking, bright blue colored blood that has the consistency of Liquid Plumr gel. The Zolom thrashes its head, hissing something fierce and alien before lunging towards the rest of Kaz's holding crew, tooth-filled maw wide open.

The Zolom's length is long enough that KL's group has the pick of its choice on where to strike upon the scaled hide. Raging-Phoenix is the first to jump forth, her Gift's supernatural spirit aiding her claws to find the monster first out of the group and cut into the flesh of the creature to spray out that foul blue blood. Swiftly following up the attack is Icetrap, but his claws even in their razor sharpness fail to penetrate through. Dances the Edge finds the same to be for her, as her attacks strike the scales to no avail. Wyrmhammer's mighty blows make a bit more progress, the three blows landing hard against the creature's body followed with some audible cracks. The snake-like body lashes, striking the Get ahroun, but doing little save to shift his position - the fullmoon is like a rock.

It is clear that most of the fomori that joined this attack have little more than a few mutations and a bad case of indigestion on their side - as Alex and Chris fire upon them, a few seem to jump in place, panicking - Alex's pistol finds one, but he continues firing, two bullets from his assault rifle stinging the Ragabash in the chest, scads of other bullets flying past him. Chris' gun fares much better, superior stopping power flattening two fomori in white dress shirts, staining them a gruesome red as brittle bones crunch.

The arrow from Nikiya's bow manages to plug into a lesser eye of the Zolom, but it doesn't appear to have done much more save to anger it. A lot. And it continues to aim towards Kaz's group.

Raging Phoenix points at the small wound she's made in the side of the beast. ~Make this wider!~ she growls, ripping at the edge with her claws. Dances the Edge falls with a will to helping dig into the creature, slamming in in her turn after Norman and KL.Icetrap needs no repeat of the orders, and barely needed them in the first place. Snarling with battle-lust, he rams the claws of both hands into the flesh at the edges of the damaged section, braces, and hauls as hard as he can, trying to tear the scaly flesh away and expose the vulnerable innards. The bodyblow from the huge creature rocks Wyrmhammer back on his feet before he blinks a couple of times and laughs. ~Bitch, /please/.~ He snicker-snarls at the creature. And then moves so fast he's practically a blur, another pair of hammer blows smashing into the creature's body.

~Ahhhh fuuuckernuts,~ growls Kaz. ~At 'im!~ Nik's crinos form attempts to dive out of the way, and the scarred black wolf twists around if that head lashes past, leaping for the gills on his side with both knives drawn and aimed down directly for that blood-inflused flesh. Roscoe follows with tooth and claw. Eight Mile launches herself at the head of the thing, attempting to follow the Shadow Lord's advice and attack the gills. She concentrates as she slashes with her claws, her hand flexing as she does. Kaz is launching herself at the creature as well, but aiming for the eye that Mouse isn't shooting at. Mouse, meanwhile, fires at the eyes while stepping back, trying to keep its attention.

Chris just keeps doing what he's doing, picking another couple of targets amongst the fomori and delivering short staccato bursts of fire against them. He's wearing a wide grin on his face as he watches the havoc his bullets wreak, looking almost smug behind his cover of foliage and blurring gift.

Nikiya notches yet another arrow into her bow, this one aimed for one of the gun-toting Fomori, her teeth bared. Without a single noise, the next arrow is sent flying towards its target.

Alex hisses in pain as the bullets strike him and he has to stifle a cough. Ow ow ow ow ow. In a flash, the Fianna is up in his Glabro form, gritting his teeth and laying flat against the ground while he heals up those hits. He looks over to Kevin, gesturing with his gun. You want?

Speech-and-Silence makes a thoroughly positive gesture back to Alex, though he still holds grimly onto his silence, and when Alex passes it over, the crinos ragabash grabs it eagerly and levels it at the enemy.

Speaks-Softly grabs his remaining javelins out of the ground and shifts them to one hand, giving him three in one paw, and one in his throwing hand. The Strider takes a deep breath and bolts out of cover, keeping low to the ground as he moves in closer to the action. Desh follows suit, shouldering his shotgun for the moment to briskly draw out his revolver and fire towards the many eyes of yon Zolom. Meanwhile, Charlene maintains her position, watching the Hive and its exits, watching for any stragglers approaching her temp-pack.

The Zolom's irritation grows. The creature's maw is about to snap shut around the slower Ears-to-the-Ground, its shadow looming over the Gnawer, before Devil's-Eye aborts his follow up attack with Nik to push the Alpha out of the way. The Silver Fang ahroun almost full-on disappears into the mouth, blood staining his white fur. Mouse's gun fires again, but this time strikes hard scale instead of the hard-to-target eyes. Nik's knives sink into the gills, sticking and cutting out a chunk of the creature's bony parts. Eight Mile's claws tear out another section like a bear looking to get into a honeycomb.

The Raging Phoenix and her cohorts strike again this time at the vulnerable opening in the flesh of the Zolom, tearing away at its body and covering them in chunks and flecks of blue ooze for its blood. This time the Garou find their claws much more effective, but there is a lot of muscle to get through. Wyrmhammer's hammer breaks more ribs with audible cracks, but this time he is not so lucky in escaping the heavy body's own defenses. Fins flared, the Zolom thrashes, its sharp appendage slicing heavily into the Get ahroun's midriff and flaring his Rage to the point of a battle-frenzy about to overtake him. The same fin slams into Icetrap's side like taking a baseball bat to the gut, but the lucky theurge manages to avoid getting toppled or breaking anything in the process.

From the group of Desh's side, comes a shot from a bullet that suddenly bursts into a flare right at the Zolom's eye level. The creature rears back even with Devil's-Eye in its maw, its head lifting out of reach a few stories up above the ground.

The first burst from Chris' gun riddles the flesh of one of the fomori, sending him falling to the ground, cheaply-made assault rifle clattering against the dirt as an arm and leg fly off of his body - they continue to twist and writhe even as their former user raises the gun with one arm and sprays bullets everywhere. The second burst pings in the dirt, only cracking a skull once. The bullet does its work, however. Nikiya's arrow flies towards a bloated, jumpsuit wearing frog-man, who lifts his MAC-10 and fires wildly at it, shearing the missile into several tiny pieces. Kevin's bullet finds its mark in his gut, and he grunts, training his submachine gun on the Glass Walker now, screaming as he empties his clip in the Walker's direction, scoring several small hits before bellowing an order. The remaining fomori who are still alive and have limbs make a break for the tunnels, hoping to lose the werewolves in the darkness.

As the wounds are opened in his belly, Wyrmhammer throws his head back and lets out a howl of psychotic fury, his eyes going blank as a frenzy takes over him. Raging Phoenix takes a couple of steps to the side, hoping that the Get will focus his attention on the big fish thing rather than her. Once she's done that, she launches herself into the hole they've created, her claws digging away at the hopefully softer flesh within. Icetrap follows her, gnashing with jaws and tearing with claws to do as much damage as he can. Dances the Edge dances in battle, making sure not to be hit by her own side, slashing at the creature's other wounds with icy precision.

Nik keeps one of his knives imbedded in the creature, using it as an anchor point to hang on while he continuously stabs deeper and deeper into its neck with the other. Camille continues her own ministrations to the creature. Kaz, saved by Roscoe, just barely manages not to fall over and says, ~Holy shit,~ as he's chomped; he flails as the creature tries to consume him. ~Fuck youuu,~ Kaz snarls, and bites and slashes at the nearest eye, trying to kill it dead. Mouse stops moving and, with a rigid calm, fires repeatedly at its eyes. Or gills. Whichever is more accessible.

As the fomori rise up to their feet and begin to run, Chris just beams. Nice upright targets.. The rifle he holds fires on fully automatic again, emptying the rest of its clip at the fleeing survivors of Vendetta's ranged wrath. Having fired he rises to a kneeling position and reloads, getting ready to move out.

Bleeding somewhat from his bullet wounds (but they are already starting to heal) Speech-and-Silence breaks cover. On all fours -- or rather on all threes, one arm clutching his weapon -- he shuffles forward, closer to the retreating enemy, then pauses to loose another shot at their backs.

With a silent nod, Nikiya slinks forward from her hiding place, her blurred, silent form moving low to the ground to the safety of another rock, closer to the action; another arrow is notched, and sent towards the retreating back of one of the fleeing Fomori, her teeth bared.

Alex grins at the damage his pack is wreaking, though he pales when he looks up to see the damage being wreaked by the giant worm-fish-thing. Holy shi-- Then there are bullets flying over his head to worry about and he ducks down, pressing against the ground. Until the bullets stop flying and he lifts his head, grinning at the retreating backs of the fomori. The Glabro rises to a slow crouch, moving carefully forward with his pack, letting his body regenerate those wounds.

Song-of-Vengeance growls softly, shifting in her crouch from one foot to the other. It seems the monster is being taken care of and the Fomori are being whittled down without too much trouble. She remains alert, watching the exits from the hive, listening and scenting as best she can for any kind of warning before the inevitable attack. Desh retreats back to cover, holstering his revolver and unshouldering his shotgun. Speaks-Softly hoofs it over towards the shallow area of the moat, and from far over to the side, Speaks-Softly takes aim and sends a flaming javelin flying at the creature's head with a mighty throw.

The Zolom swings its head from side to side, not having any movement troubles there even with a crinos stuffed in its bleeding maw. A couple of snaps later, the roaring ahroun disappears fully into the gullet of the Zolom. Nik's bowie knive digs into the gills along with Eight Mile's claws, together the two of them rip away an entire section of the snakefish's breathing apparatus on its right side. Though Kaz's claws miss the eyes, she does slash catch a long rake down the scaled belly of the beast, the injury splurting blue goo-blood onto her face and chest, temporarily blinding her with its gel-like nature. Mouse has a little more luck and finally catches the other main eye in her shot range. Amazingly, though, the bullet only lodges into the flesh and doesn't seem to do much harm to the Zolom.

The Claw's group creates a gaping hole in the side of the beast. Wyrmhammer's attacks fall to primal claws and bites, the Get abandoning his warhammer which drops harmlessly to the dirt. Combined, they create an opening big enough to almost fit the smaller Fury elder into, even in her crinos form. With all the incoming attacks, the Zolom slips backwards the way it'd come, retreating into the water.

As it falls back, Speaks-Softly's flaming javelin sticks to the head of the Zolom, flaming there but not doing very much either. The small group regroups and recons wisely.

The eerie silence of Chris' full-auto fire cuts down more retreating fomori, one of them helped by Speech-and-Silence and Nikiya's arrow plugging two extra. In the end, the last few fomor left alive don't even escape getting wounded, but manage to slip into the shadows and safety of the Hive once more.

Kaz's Call rings out once more, despite her current be-slimed state.

Hammer-Of-The-Wyrm just continues with his assault, not even caring that the creature is now retreating. The rest of his rage is spent in a burst of claws as he burrows into the hole he's made, seeking out soft juicy innards to rend and burst; mindful only of its destruction until the last of his rage-tank is drained. And then he simply falls back from the zolom, flaked out and still in crinos. KL and Norman gallop after the creature, raking at the holes already created in it; Rianna follows, helping the Fury, this time.

Nik snarls as he sees the thing swallow up the Ahroun, and his efforts redouble on the thing's neck, still clinging on by that one knife. It's almost like he's trying to dig /though/ the creature to reach the fallen Roscoe, ripping great gashes with his knife and delving deep as he can. "No you goddamn /don't/," Mouse snaps, though there's little she can do beyond keep firing. Which she does, in fact, aiming at that eye, aiming at any bit of gills not already covered by enraged crinos. Kaz, meanwhile, having tried that Call one more time, goes about killing fomori who are still breathing. Then she stares at the situation, eyes narrowed.

Camille aids Nik, with claws rather than knife.

Song-of-Vengeance hefts her axe and slinks across the ground, staying low to avoid crossfire, getting in the vicinity of Speaks-Softly since she is supposed to be guarding the ranged folks. Speaks-Softly, meanwhile, mutters and pulls one javelin from his pair, leaving two in one hand and one in the other. He looks ready to walk across the water when Kaz belts out another call, causing him to look at her, than expectantly at the Hive's entrances. Desh also follows, but keeps to cover, shotgun at the ready.

The Zolom's retreat seems to halt as the Sept Alpha's Call of the Wyrm belts out gratingly once more. Half in the water, half out, the creature rears up and fins flare as the Coup De Grace continues to tear away chunks along with Nik and Eight Mile.

Just as the monster seems to be readying for a final hurrah, a bolt of lightning streaks down from the stormcloud gathered heavens to strike at the tips of those flared fins. Like a lightning rod, the current is channeled down through the body of the serpentine monster. The power behind it is unmistakeable, blowing off Nik, Camille, and Coup De Grace's Garou all in one go. The Zolom starts to topple. It does. The sound of thunder cracks deafeningly through the air, causing ears to ring and heads to hurt - especially for those with heightened senses. And at the end of it, the Zolom lies dead against the wet ground.
A light rain begins to fall.

Rising to his feet now, Chris leads his pack forwards to a better firing position to support the front fighters, as the battle line has now advanced somewhat. He finds the best cover he can close to the others and goes down on one knee, aiming his rifle towards the mouth of the Hive. Ready to open fire again in a very human manner- in contrast to some of the feral savagery taking place elsewhere on the field.

Speech-and-Silence, with no more fomori to aim at and seeing the Zolom begin to sink back into the water, fires off a rather hopeful shot at the creature a split second before lightning descends and blasts it to smithereens, leaving Kevin looking rather astonished, as though he thought for a second his shot was responsible.

Once in a suitable hiding place, Nikiya notches her last arrow, sending it flying towards the Zolom's eye once again as she moves. Her arrow supply spent, she casts the bow to the ground, drawing out her blowgun and preparing a dart, watching the Hive's entrance expectantly. "Come out, mother fuckers. I kill you all."

Alex drops to all fours as they come up on their next position, eyes wide on that worm and his lips pulling back. Suddenly, like a leash had just been cut, he's in Hispo form and charging straight for the worm... Only the skid to a halt as the lightning shoots down out of the sky, frying it in place. The Fianna's eyes go back, eyes wide and head ringing from the thundercrack.

Nikiya: I didn't say that! That was pack chat-ey. XD
Sai: Temporary blindness and deafness for all! Ring ring, who's calling? YOUR GRANDFATHER.

Nik emits a yelp as the two Crinos are blown from the neck of the Zolom, unable to retrieve their target. Nik hits the ground and rises a little more slowly than the others, shaking his head as he pants like an old man. Quickly, he moves to retrieve his probably hot knives from the creature and resume his place near Kaz.

~Thank you, Grandfather /Thunder/!~ Kaz yells, almost knocked off her feet. ~Holy fuck! Give him a big hand,~ she adds rhetorically. And then she pauses, to regard the scene. ~Ahh fuck,~ she growls unhappily. And then, mind to mind, with her Gift, she says, ~OK. Coup and my bunch'll go in and be Obvious. Vendetta, Bad Company, be fuckin' sneaky as you can be and ambush folks once us bunch engage. OK?~