Finglor's eyes wide as he takes in everything happening around him. He leaps from his speedor, Byrum's shot blasting into the vehicle a few seconds later. Charging ferociously with his sword in one hand and a dagger in his left, Finglor cuts through the four peacocks. As he is on foot whilst they are still sitting speedors, he has the advantage in close quarters and dives between them, slashing or shoving any who come between him and Petricoff. Still, despite the speed and skill with which he smashes or simply pushes aside the guards, he reaches the river just as Petricoff throws the harness.
"You fool! What have you done-"
He breaks off as the sky begins to rain bursts of white energy: the Triplane has completed the circle it began after dropping off Finglor, and has swung back around, now flying west. Its gunners bombard the river just ahead of the harness, ice blocks as big as boulders forming where their shots land. The Fire Harness melts ice that comes into direct contact with it, sending small clouds of steam into the air, but the growing number of mini-icebergs floating a few feet ahead of it mark its progress down the river, so the Sabretooths can track it halfway across Chima if necessary.
Meanwhile, back at the HQ, ice blasts resume pelting out of the sky. But this time they're coming in straight lines, directly out of the sky. Small dots above slowly form into the distant shapes of the biplanes, as the Minor Tribes' realise why the retreating biplanes went straight up. After seeing how accurate the anti-aircraft cannons were, the pilots took their planes as high into the sky as they would go, gathering directly above the HQ. Now they attack again on a vertical line: individual soldiers who crane their necks can see the planes bombarding them, but the heavy cannons that might be able to shoot them down cannot aim straight up, allowing the biplanes to attack unmolested.
Petricoff stares at the Fire Wing Harness slowly rocking through the icebergs in the middle of the river.
Petricoff: "Darn... What lies at the end of a Great Illumination, that the Hunters fear it so?"
He hears the bombardment on Minor Tribes HQ.
Petricoff: "Guess now's not the time for philosophy. I've done all I could regarding the Fire Wings; my tribe comes first."
Petricoff and any surviving members of his force run across the field toward the town, not even bothering with their damaged speedorz anymore, and instead using their remaining fire chi to power themselves as they try to do what they can for the HQ.
The biplanes continue firing as they descend, trying to freeze every exposed surface in the HQ. They particularly focus their fire on rooftoops, where the sudden and rapid accumulation of ice and snow should cause the roofs to give way under the added weight.
The Minor Tribes' soldiers also find themselves threatened by the bombardment: Fire Chi orbs might stop them being frozen by physical touch from a Hunter, or a normal sidearm blast, but even a recently-plugged orb offers only limited protection against a direct hit from an aircraft cannon.
The Hunters on the ground no longer seem to be actively advancing, and hold back whilst the aerial assault takes place. Finglor moves to the nearest group of Sabretooths and uses their radio to start giving orders to the rest and organising a group to follow the river south-west.
OOC: I checked the map to see which rivers run through Minor Tribes territory. Since Petricoff was trying to escape into Rhino lands when his speedor was damaged, I think we can assume the Harness is in the river that starts in the Iron Mountains and goes south of the Minor Tribes HQ, so the Harness should now be entering the Great Plains.
Petricoff stares at the Fire Wing Harness slowly rocking through the icebergs in the middle of the river.
Petricoff: "Darn... What lies at the end of a Great Illumination, that the Hunters fear it so?"
He hears the bombardment on Minor Tribes HQ.
Petricoff: "Guess now's not the time for philosophy. I've done all I could regarding the Fire Wings; my tribe comes first."
Petricoff and any surviving members of his force run across the field toward the town, not even bothering with their damaged speedorz anymore, and instead using their remaining fire chi to power themselves as they try to do what they can for the HQ.
The biplanes continue firing as they descend, trying to freeze every exposed surface in the HQ. They particularly focus their fire on rooftoops, where the sudden and rapid accumulation of ice and snow should cause the roofs to give way under the added weight.
The Minor Tribes' soldiers also find themselves threatened by the bombardment: Fire Chi orbs might stop them being frozen by physical touch from a Hunter, or a normal sidearm blast, but even a recently-plugged orb offers only limited protection against a direct hit from an aircraft cannon.
The Hunters on the ground no longer seem to be actively advancing, and hold back whilst the aerial assault takes place. Finglor moves to the nearest group of Sabretooths and uses their radio to start giving orders to the rest and organising a group to follow the river south-west.
OOC: I checked the map to see which rivers run through Minor Tribes territory. Since Petricoff was trying to escape into Rhino lands when his speedor was damaged, I think we can assume the Harness is in the river that starts in the Iron Mountains and goes south of the Minor Tribes HQ, so the Harness should now be entering the Great Plains.
OOC: Yeah, I was picturing that river. Though now I don't really know what to do here. Hopefully batonmaster500 comes back.
IC: Petricoff and his men merge with the Minor Tribes forces around the HQ, and do whatever they can to defend the buildings.
The biplanes continue firing as they descend, trying to freeze every exposed surface in the HQ. They particularly focus their fire on rooftoops, where the sudden and rapid accumulation of ice and snow should cause the roofs to give way under the added weight.
The Minor Tribes' soldiers also find themselves threatened by the bombardment: Fire Chi orbs might stop them being frozen by physical touch from a Hunter, or a normal sidearm blast, but even a recently-plugged orb offers only limited protection against a direct hit from an aircraft cannon.
The Hunters on the ground no longer seem to be actively advancing, and hold back whilst the aerial assault takes place. Finglor moves to the nearest group of Sabretooths and uses their radio to start giving orders to the rest and organising a group to follow the river south-west.
OOC: I checked the map to see which rivers run through Minor Tribes territory. Since Petricoff was trying to escape into Rhino lands when his speedor was damaged, I think we can assume the Harness is in the river that starts in the Iron Mountains and goes south of the Minor Tribes HQ, so the Harness should now be entering the Great Plains.
OOC: Yeah, I was picturing that river. Though now I don't really know what to do here. Hopefully batonmaster500 comes back.
IC: Petricoff and his men merge with the Minor Tribes forces around the HQ, and do whatever they can to defend the buildings.
Ducking and dodging falling debris, Byrum is shaken from his stupor by a concerned Tribe Member who lifts him from the ground.
"Sir, shall we continue to-"
The Tribe Member is interrupted by a large piece of a fallen bi-plane crashing into the ground, causing him to stumble back. Just then, a second Minor Tribe member passing by on his speedorz mistakenly collides with him, throwing both into the air and landing within a tree.
Byrum regains a grip on his wooden mallet and surveys Petricoff's returning army.
OOC: Yeah, I was picturing that river. Though now I don't really know what to do here. Hopefully batonmaster500 comes back.
IC: Petricoff and his men merge with the Minor Tribes forces around the HQ, and do whatever they can to defend the buildings.
Ducking and dodging falling debris, Byrum is shaken from his stupor by a concerned Tribe Member who lifts him from the ground.
"Sir, shall we continue to-"
The Tribe Member is interrupted by a large piece of a fallen bi-plane crashing into the ground, causing him to stumble back. Just then, a second Minor Tribe member passing by on his speedorz mistakenly collides with him, throwing both into the air and landing within a tree.
Byrum regains a grip on his wooden mallet and surveys Petricoff's returning army.
Petricoff orders anyone and everyone armed with fire chi and a ranged weapon to fire up at the onslaught of ice blasts, disintegrating/melting many of them in the air. He also has the other tribesmen take fire chi out of the town's reserves to slot into the buildings and walls, creating a forcefield of fire energy to save as many buildings from freezing as possible.
OOC: I'll be inactive here for five days starting tomorrow.
Ducking and dodging falling debris, Byrum is shaken from his stupor by a concerned Tribe Member who lifts him from the ground.
"Sir, shall we continue to-"
The Tribe Member is interrupted by a large piece of a fallen bi-plane crashing into the ground, causing him to stumble back. Just then, a second Minor Tribe member passing by on his speedorz mistakenly collides with him, throwing both into the air and landing within a tree.
Byrum regains a grip on his wooden mallet and surveys Petricoff's returning army.
Petricoff orders anyone and everyone armed with fire chi and a ranged weapon to fire up at the onslaught of ice blasts, disintegrating/melting many of them in the air. He also has the other tribesmen take fire chi out of the town's reserves to slot into the buildings and walls, creating a forcefield of fire energy to save as many buildings from freezing as possible.
OOC: I'll be inactive here for five days starting tomorrow.
Petricoff takes provisional command over the Minor Tribes' forces, in light of Traxx's continued disappearance and the other leading foxes being scattered or incapacitated by the Hunters' bombardment.
Petricoff orders anyone and everyone armed with fire chi and a ranged weapon to fire up at the onslaught of ice blasts, disintegrating/melting many of them in the air. He also has the other tribesmen take fire chi out of the town's reserves to slot into the buildings and walls, creating a forcefield of fire energy to save as many buildings from freezing as possible.
OOC: I'll be inactive here for five days starting tomorrow.
Petricoff takes provisional command over the Minor Tribes' forces, in light of Traxx's continued disappearance and the other leading foxes being scattered or incapacitated by the Hunters' bombardment.
The Hunter pilots growl in frustration as they see forcefields flaring into existence below, shielding parts of the town from their onslaught. Still, many blasts should still strike true, and even melted ones will still have some effect: the ice turns to water as it falls, and - whilst less effective at damagin the HQ - water will still weaken the Fire Chi powering the shields and defences. Even having started from a high altitude, though, the biplanes are now coming quite low, and will soon have to pull up to avoid crash-landing on top of the town. They divert their focus from the buildings to the artillery, aiming to blast apart the defensive cannons.
Petricoff takes provisional command over the Minor Tribes' forces, in light of Traxx's continued disappearance and the other leading foxes being scattered or incapacitated by the Hunters' bombardment.
The Hunter pilots growl in frustration as they see forcefields flaring into existence below, shielding parts of the town from their onslaught. Still, many blasts should still strike true, and even melted ones will still have some effect: the ice turns to water as it falls, and - whilst less effective at damagin the HQ - water will still weaken the Fire Chi powering the shields and defences. Even having started from a high altitude, though, the biplanes are now coming quite low, and will soon have to pull up to avoid crash-landing on top of the town. They divert their focus from the buildings to the artillery, aiming to blast apart the defensive cannons.
Petricoff and many of the Minor Tribes soldiers notice this change in direction, and move to fire their handheld blasters at the backs of the biplanes while they're targeting the cannons.
The Hunter pilots growl in frustration as they see forcefields flaring into existence below, shielding parts of the town from their onslaught. Still, many blasts should still strike true, and even melted ones will still have some effect: the ice turns to water as it falls, and - whilst less effective at damagin the HQ - water will still weaken the Fire Chi powering the shields and defences. Even having started from a high altitude, though, the biplanes are now coming quite low, and will soon have to pull up to avoid crash-landing on top of the town. They divert their focus from the buildings to the artillery, aiming to blast apart the defensive cannons.
Petricoff and many of the Minor Tribes soldiers notice this change in direction, and move to fire their handheld blasters at the backs of the biplanes while they're targeting the cannons.
Running up to Petricoff, Byrum salutes. "Been keeping the fort down. What are we to do now?"
Suddenly, a loud yell could be heard across the sky and landing smack in front of Petricoff and Byrum, head first, was Beale. Stilling holding onto the arm grips of his cannon. He giggles.
"Overheated."
Byrum scoffs. "It's a good thing ye wore yer helmet." Stepping back, he looks around him. "Why hast everything grown dark?" Redirecting his attention upward, his eyes bulge in fright. "By my rudder!"
A larger plane bearing the insignia of the Hunters casts a shadow over the three, deploying a particularly large frost projectile and escaping elsewhere. Before anyone could move for cover it suddenly bursts mid-air, showering them and nearby minutemen in harmless snowy flakes.
From above, a streak of orange red darts through the Hunter flooded skies accompanied by a proud screech, avian in nature. As the call reaches shrilling tones, the streak crashes through the plane responsible, collapsing its engine and forcing its spiral downward. The falling Hunter pilot is caught by the streak and thrown into a nearby tree.
Peaking from underneath his helmet, Beale drops the arm grips and clasps his hands. "Oh, you're back!"
Descending from the sky, bearing full Eagle Soldier Armor and twin bulwarks pulsing with reddish lightning, Eliaphet nods. "Sithee, forgive mine long absence." She hands them a satchel of fire chi. "Complements from the Eagle Tribe."
Byrum stomps his foot in the ground. "Aye, but what could this do against thousands? And-" reminded that Petricoff stood before them, he carefully selects his next words. "And- what of your original mission?"
Through the silts in the Eagle helmet, Eliaphet stares hard at Byrum. "There is hope, though there is danger. I sought one more chance for assistance from you, good friend, to aid in the search. Though I fear your present circumstance proves far more important at the moment."
Dodging incoming fire from a bi-plane, Byrum shakes it off. "Glad yer can still see, dear friend!" Another Hunter plane crashes behind him. "But tell me, what of your adventures?"
Eliaphet catches a second Hunter Pilot and flings him into a snow drift. "I encountered an Informant, who graciously left me with this Fire Chi and spoke of our compatriots travels. Apparently, he was taken to be trained in the Arctic North, but encountered some trouble there and departed. The Informant claimed defection, but you know our good friend could never." Wiping snow off her hands, Eliaphet reaches for a handshake with Petricoff. "Forgive me, these two Beavers and I are good friends. And you are?"
Post by TheFortuitousMysteryRider on Mar 27, 2023 21:30:06 GMT
"Yes you heard me correctly, we are trapped by approaching Hunter forces. Requesting immediate aid."
"SOMEONE GET US OUT OF HERE!"
The Rhino Monarchy Advisor slaps her associate away. "Let go of the talkie, fool!"
One of their guards ducks as he slides behind a tree trunk, quickly saluting the two. "Marm, it looks bad out there and-"
The Advisor slaps the unfortunate guard in the face, frightened and angered for startling her. "You be quiet! I have eyes to see!"
Rubbing his cheek, the Guard lowers his voice, hurt and a tad embarrassed. "Well, marm, what do you want to do?"
The Associate Monarchy Advisor covers his head and wails. "Oh, first the Eagles now this! I'd rather put up with the smell of ash than getting frozen alive! *proceeds to do the "aaaaaah" meme*."
Pummeling him, the Monarchy Advisors spits out insult after insult, demanding his silence. "Our presence there helped us!"
The Associate Advisor whimpers. "Yes, but the Eagles managed to elect new leadership on their own. What do we tell the Crown?"
"That our impromptu aid forged a much needed alliance. We look good now! Don't you get it?"
Sticking out his lip, the Associate Advisor pouts. "Oh can't wait to tell them back at home!"
The small group crouches as another bi-plane flies close to their position. Another Guard speaks up. "This foliage can't keep us hidden for long marm."
"Thank you, Sir Obvious, your intelligence helps us greatly." The Monarchy Advisor relays in a mocking tone.
Post by TheFortuitousMysteryRider on Mar 27, 2023 22:20:50 GMT
Following the frost, a lone figure draped in white approaches the invading Hunter hordes. Byrum interrupts Eliaphet's greetings and points his wooden mallet in its direction. "Who is that 'un over there?"
Eliaphet turns and looks outward, shaking her head. "By Cavora?"
Continuing their trek, the figure growls, a small cloud of breath releasing from its nostrils. Ice could not harm it, but follow it as if it understood. Stopping in front of the defensive cannons, the figure clutches its chest. Dropping both arms downward, twin swords fueled by the glow of fire chi fall to his side. Gripping their handles tightly, the figure shrugs off its cloak, and raises its head, bellowing out a warrior cry.
From their hiding spot behind the tree trunk, the trapped Rhinos poke their heads over to see who had made that call. Muttering, the Monarchy Advisor's lips begin to quiver.
Beale cups a hand over his mouth in awe.
Roaring loudly, Rorik struck the swords together and charged, leaping onto a bi-plane that flew too close to the ground, he tore through its engines before leaping to another. The ice had grown to encircle one of his eyes, but the flame of the fire-chi swords slashed through Hunter forces. The veins on his neck pulsate, sheer anger encapsulating both mind and body.
Tearing away at a fourth plane, Rorik felt a projectile tear through his shoulder causing him to stumble. Falling off the bi-plane, he repositions himself and reaches out for the wing of another darting past him. Managing a hold for a while, it stops his descent, but unable to cling on his fingers slip. Swinging his body, he slashes the plane's wing before falling once more.
Rorik feels the wind beneath him and closes his eyes.
Eliaphet darts forward, taking a few running steps before leaping into the air and extending her wings. Still powered by Fire-Chi, she catches the limp form and circles back to Petricoff's position. Gently, she lays Rorik at Byrum's feet and lightly taps his cheek. "Sithee, wake up."
Petricoff and many of the Minor Tribes soldiers notice this change in direction, and move to fire their handheld blasters at the backs of the biplanes while they're targeting the cannons.
Running up to Petricoff, Byrum salutes. "Been keeping the fort down. What are we to do now?"
Suddenly, a loud yell could be heard across the sky and landing smack in front of Petricoff and Byrum, head first, was Beale. Stilling holding onto the arm grips of his cannon. He giggles.
"Overheated."
Byrum scoffs. "It's a good thing ye wore yer helmet." Stepping back, he looks around him. "Why hast everything grown dark?" Redirecting his attention upward, his eyes bulge in fright. "By my rudder!"
A larger plane bearing the insignia of the Hunters casts a shadow over the three, deploying a particularly large frost projectile and escaping elsewhere. Before anyone could move for cover it suddenly bursts mid-air, showering them and nearby minutemen in harmless snowy flakes.
From above, a streak of orange red darts through the Hunter flooded skies accompanied by a proud screech, avian in nature. As the call reaches shrilling tones, the streak crashes through the plane responsible, collapsing its engine and forcing its spiral downward. The falling Hunter pilot is caught by the streak and thrown into a nearby tree.
Peaking from underneath his helmet, Beale drops the arm grips and clasps his hands. "Oh, you're back!"
Descending from the sky, bearing full Eagle Soldier Armor and twin bulwarks pulsing with reddish lightning, Eliaphet nods. "Sithee, forgive mine long absence." She hands them a satchel of fire chi. "Complements from the Eagle Tribe."
Byrum stomps his foot in the ground. "Aye, but what could this do against thousands? And-" reminded that Petricoff stood before them, he carefully selects his next words. "And- what of your original mission?"
Through the silts in the Eagle helmet, Eliaphet stares hard at Byrum. "There is hope, though there is danger. I sought one more chance for assistance from you, good friend, to aid in the search. Though I fear your present circumstance proves far more important at the moment."
Dodging incoming fire from a bi-plane, Byrum shakes it off. "Glad yer can still see, dear friend!" Another Hunter plane crashes behind him. "But tell me, what of your adventures?"
Eliaphet catches a second Hunter Pilot and flings him into a snow drift. "I encountered an Informant, who graciously left me with this Fire Chi and spoke of our compatriots travels. Apparently, he was taken to be trained in the Arctic North, but encountered some trouble there and departed. The Informant claimed defection, but you know our good friend could never." Wiping snow off her hands, Eliaphet reaches for a handshake with Petricoff. "Forgive me, these two Beavers and I are good friends. And you are?"
Petricoff quickly shakes her hand with his right hand, while reloading his chi blaster pistol with just his left (an old trick he'd been taught by his pirate parents).
Petricoff: "Peacock Prince and Minor Tribes third-in-command--well, acting leader--Petricoff. Thanks for the fire chi and reinforcements."
He then watches as the rhino charges into the battle and the eagle catches him.
Petricoff: "So this is how powerful the Rhinos can be when they finally join the action... Maybe he and that eagle can keep the Sabers' planes occupied."
The peacock dives beneath a fortification, occasionally turning to fire his pistol up at the enemy.
Petricoff: "The Lions are probably still recovering from the Second Chima Civil War, the Bats are almost definitely focused on the sea again, and nearly everyone else has gone to Crystal Crater. Let's see..."
He ends up calling the Ravens, Leopards and Tigers.
The Hunter pilots growl in frustration as they see forcefields flaring into existence below, shielding parts of the town from their onslaught. Still, many blasts should still strike true, and even melted ones will still have some effect: the ice turns to water as it falls, and - whilst less effective at damagin the HQ - water will still weaken the Fire Chi powering the shields and defences. Even having started from a high altitude, though, the biplanes are now coming quite low, and will soon have to pull up to avoid crash-landing on top of the town. They divert their focus from the buildings to the artillery, aiming to blast apart the defensive cannons.
Petricoff and many of the Minor Tribes soldiers notice this change in direction, and move to fire their handheld blasters at the backs of the biplanes while they're targeting the cannons.
As the first biplanes begin to pull up they become far easier targets for the Minor Tribespeople, many losing propellors or taking damage to their wings that make it extremely difficult for the pilots to keep them under control.
Suddenly, however, Petricoff and his warriors realise that only about half of the biplanes are pulling up - those which which at the front of the diving formation. The second half - which seem to be those which had taken the most damage from the cannons in their previous bombing run - continue their dive, pilots jettisoning with their parachutes whilst the biplanes smash down into the ground, exploding as they hit the HQ's structures. The Hunters are sacrificing their damaged planes to inflict further damage on the HQ. They seem to have directed the planes to crash predominantly into the area of wall around the gate and the part of the HQ just inside, using their exploding biplanes to blast a hole in the perimeter and cripple any cannons in the vicinity.
The reasoning behind this becomes clear as the Sabretooth soldiers on land, who had seemed to be holding back and letting the air force fight every since the battle over the Fire Harness had subsided, rush towards the newly created hole in HQ wall on speedorz and on foot.
Post by TheFortuitousMysteryRider on Mar 31, 2023 16:06:24 GMT
The rumbling echoes of the crashing planes stir the exhausted Rorik, yet his eyes do not open. Straightening himself up, Beale waddles over to where he lay and takes a woodchip spiced with seasoning out of his pocket. Waving it underneath Rorik's nose, the rhino sneezes three times before awakening with an inquisitive look on his face.
Beale giggles before taking a bite out of the woodchip and handing the rest to Rorik. Byrum slaps it away, shaking his head at Beale while Eliaphet speaks.
"Our dear friend has returned. Indeed, I am delighted to meet you Petricoff, but what art thine orders regarding such a predicament?"
The rumbling echoes of the crashing planes stir the exhausted Rorik, yet his eyes do not open. Straightening himself up, Beale waddles over to where he lay and takes a woodchip spiced with seasoning out of his pocket. Waving it underneath Rorik's nose, the rhino sneezes three times before awakening with an inquisitive look on his face.
Beale giggles before taking a bite out of the woodchip and handing the rest to Rorik. Byrum slaps it away, shaking his head at Beale while Eliaphet speaks.
"Our dear friend has returned. Indeed, I am delighted to meet you Petricoff, but what art thine orders regarding such a predicament?"
Petricoff: "It looks like the Ravens and Leopards answered my call for aid."
Members of the latter tribe appear from the north; Leodus rides his speedor down from the Iron Mountains into the Minor Tribes' territory. Behind him ride 10 Imperial Knights; 5 Leopards, 4 Vultures, and 1 scorpion. The Knights are in a formation that allows them to surround and protect 5 Leopard Druids, who're also riding speedorz.
The rumbling echoes of the crashing planes stir the exhausted Rorik, yet his eyes do not open. Straightening himself up, Beale waddles over to where he lay and takes a woodchip spiced with seasoning out of his pocket. Waving it underneath Rorik's nose, the rhino sneezes three times before awakening with an inquisitive look on his face.
Beale giggles before taking a bite out of the woodchip and handing the rest to Rorik. Byrum slaps it away, shaking his head at Beale while Eliaphet speaks.
"Our dear friend has returned. Indeed, I am delighted to meet you Petricoff, but what art thine orders regarding such a predicament?"
Petricoff: "It looks like the Ravens and Leopards answered my call for aid."
Members of the latter tribe appear from the north; Leodus rides his speedor down from the Iron Mountains into the Minor Tribes' territory. Behind him ride 10 Imperial Knights; 5 Leopards, 4 Vultures, and 1 scorpion. The Knights are in a formation that allows them to surround and protect 5 Leopard Druids, who're also riding speedorz.
Beale's countenance lights up at the sight, while Byrum breathes a sigh of relief followed by a hearty chuckle. A small smile forms on Eliaphet's face. Rorik gets up from the ground, roaring out a battle cry, proud and ready to fight.
Hopefully 
Hopefully 