1378 replies and 69 files omitted.
>>192035Kira or another character should do it so we don't lose turns. We want to throw and move on the same turn.
>>192036Silver said Kira is too far away. Maybe one of the air ponies can.
"Wh-who is slinging the other smokebomb?"
hands Cavalier the other loaded sling
Cavaliere throws the second smokebomb in the designated position.
[1d20+3 = (15+3) = 18]
"Good. That will distract them for about a minute. So now we RUN!" Posey says, galloping away
Posey continues to run indefinitely, unless called back to defend the charges in melee.
We've thrown all of the bombs. Are we able to escape?
>>192031>>192026>>192027>>192023>>192047>>192046Over the hill and in the distance, lights move upwards in strings in the twilight as the destroyer evidently fires its ant-aircraft guns at unknown targets. Much more closely, the fire team moves to enter the lighthouse. They can be heard speaking to each other in low, foreign voices.
Then a grenade is lobbed. Then another. Then another. And then one more.
>>192057>>192057One Spetsnaz soldier yells,
"Восточная сторона холма!"
But none on the ridgeline make it to the ground before the grenade goes off. The smoke grenade follows quickly, but the slow pace of the smoke combined with the placement of the grenade in the group rather than upwind means that it isn't especially effective.
Down the slope on the other side, "Граната!" is yelled, followed by a bang, followed by a number of bullets. They couldn't possibly be aiming anywhere near the party.
A couple spetsnaz soldiers on the ridge line fire shots towards the party, but not with the greatest effect, dazed but at least vaguely aware of the location of the party.
[1d20 = 5][1d20 = 15] >>192058>>192059One air pony appears to be hit. But more than that, it is the already wounded Day Chaser
[2d8 = 4] >>192060Does he survive?
"Are you going to make it?" Posey inquires with a look of worry on her face, still galloping
>>192061>>192062With a high-pitched yelp and an "ow," he is clearly still alive.
"Hang in there!" Cavaliere encourages as he runs alongside the group.
>>192063>>192062>>192064Silver helps support the bat as they're galloping away if he needs to. With his rifle levitating in his magical grasp, Silver looks back and fires it on the run at the Spetsnaz soldiers shooting at them, though he's not really expecting it to hit and it's more to try to keep them pinned down.
[1d20+7 = (19+7) = 26][2d8 = 10] I guess if we're not taking full round run action, I may as well lop off a shot. ..
[1d20+5 = (3+5) = 8]
[1d8+3 = (2+3) = 5]
We spend the next full round running, right?
Do we make it to safety?
Posey falls back partly and places herself in the rear of the group, to provide herd-style soft cover to the wounded airpony, and also to intimidate him if he feels like slowing down.
>>192065>>192066>>192067>>192064Silver's shot is well aimed and hits, or seems to. With the advancing seconds, the smoke coming from the grenade increases, and though more shots are heard, none seem to come close to the group. The group is given more time to move away, but the soldiers seem to know where they are.
Ahead, Mala and the other ponies see the party running towards them.
>>192068Silver calls out both to the retreating group and Mala's group, "Zig zag! Squad, we need covering fire until we make it to safety!"
Silver adjusts the course of the group to bob and weave back and forth, ensuring that they are just that much harder to hit, even if it lengthens their path by just a bit.
>>192069Posey follows after the herd, still maintaining a defensive rear position.
How much further do we need to run? Do we make it?
Cavaliere maintains evasive movement and looks to make sure everypony is staying together.
>>192069>zig zag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpNU3WumPFQ&pp=ygUXemlnIHphZyBnZW5lcmF0aW9uIGtpbGw%3D>>192069>>192071>>192072>>192073More shots come out from on the hill and below it. But the soldiers seem uninterested in advancing towards the party, and their aim is not well - they don't seem to want to leave cover, nor the smoke. The party makes it to hill, where Mala is ready to move.
>>192074Great.
Posey explains what happened to Maka and the rest, and indicates the next destination.
>>192074Silver, meanwhile, asks Mala, "How were things over here?" as he checks on Day Chaser's fresh wound.
And Kira, who is now rejoined with the party again, sticks her tongue out at the Spetsnaz soldiers they just escaped.
Gun fire continues on the ridge line. Then on the downward slope by where the party was only seconds ago, an explosion kicks up dirt and leaves a plume of grey smoke.
>>192076And where, my little pony, is the next destination?
>>192077Mala replies,
"They are rowdy. The gun fire spooked them. Move them. They can't stay hidden. No way."
>>192078Silver nods, and continues to help Day Chaser stand and move. "We need to keep moving, to whaling station. That is where last airpony is, since these идиоты decided to do a double split up."
Kira waves hello to the airponies they rescued.
>>192078>And where, my little pony, is the next destination?The place where the last airpony was.
>>192079This
"We should leave quickly. Once we have all of the airponies, we can work on our extraction plan."
>>192080Silver: "Our extraction plan has not changed. Once we get this last airpony, we go to village over near where Kostroma is stuck. One last group of Black Heel's soldiers is held up there, assuming Traveler or GRU has not gotten to them first. We join up with them, then board Kostroma."
>>192079The white airpony jumps back, startled.
"Ah!"
The green unicorn tilts his head,
"Oh, a lamia. That's what the griffin was talking about."
>>192079>>192080>>192081Mala picks up his Auto 8 and yells,
"Get moving! Now!"
The small herd makes its way along the coast towards the whaling station.
Across the water, the dark grey horizon shows no sun, but only a dark grey that makes no distinction between the water and the sky. It foretells of a coming fog bank.
>>192082Posey trots ahead of the herd, employing her superior nightvision to spot any potential threats.
"Lovely weather we have here." Posey says, taking in the gloomy atmosphere
How far do we travel to get yo the whaling station?
>>192082Kira blinks, then smiles widely and warmly. She starts bouncing as she slithers along with the group traveling to the whaling station. "You know about us? Who are you?"
Silver, meanwhile, maneuvers through the group to get closer to the communist pony Star Fire. "Как вы держитесь?"
Cavaliere explains to Black Heel, "Once all together we'll be strong enough to push through to the last objective. Under cover of darkness, if the GRU have set up a perimeter we should be able to take them."
Posey continues to gallop, resheaving her sword.
>>192084Star Fire looks up towards Silver with his bespectacled, green eyes. He swallows, then answers,
"Всё это... Это довольно много. Но надежда заключается в том, что мы сможем выбраться отсюда. Я с нетерпением жду этого."
The green unicorn's eyes open wider, he takes a step back, and
"Uh... My name is Next Tour. Uh, I've read some books when I was younger."
He pulls his lips back, showing teeth in a smile.
>>192086>>192084>>192087Posey presumably gallops ahead of the group, which cannot gallop as there are many, many ponies who cannot move under their own power and must be pulled by the other ponies.
There is no clear danger ahead, or at least, none that gives off noise. Fog trickles along the water but has not made it to land. Behind the group, there are the sounds of explosions. A great one, then another great one. The top of the big lighthouse slides off and falls onto the slope, coming apart with many concrete bricks and spreading across the hillside. Something, probably a piece of broken glass, falls from the sky near the party, hundreds of yards from the lighthouse.
>>192089Silver lets out a hearty chuckle, and drapes a foreleg around the shoulders of Star Fire to bring him in closer as they trot along. "И ты, и я. Мне бы очень не помешал душ после всего этого, смыть с себя вонь от всей этой каши. На «Костроме» есть душ?" He then gives the smaller stallion a big, friendly smile.
Kira claps her hooves together excitedly. "Yay, there are books about us here! What did they say about us?"
>>192089>no clear danger aheadAlright. Good start.
Posey dutifully trots ahead of the herd, scanning the darkness for predators on the way to the whaling station.
>>192090Next Tour's ears go back, then come back up
"Well, uh... That they are a set of mysterious pony like monster hybrid creatures that live in Southeastern Zebrica and menace or lord over the Zebra and the Kirin there. And sometimes the camels..."
Star Fire moves his head a little away, and briefly smiles showing teeth. He moves his eyes down towards the ground and his right ear (away from Silver) moves down and to the side before coming back up.
"Я, эм, предпочел бы держаться подальше от этого корабля, если уж говорить по правде. Душ был бы неплох, но мне хочется поспать."
>>192092Between the rocky shore and the base of the hill, Posey sees the trash heap of bones and the northern most wooden structure of the derelict sealing station.
In the leeward of the structure, Posey thinks she sees a figure standing in the long shadow. A quadraped a little smaller than a pony, facing her. Or she thinks she sees that, anyways. Hard to tell.
>>192094>Posey sees the trash heap of bones"~Nice!"
>Posey thinks she sees a figure standing in the long shadow. A quadraped a little smaller than a pony, facing her. Or she thinks she sees that, anyways. Hard to tell.Only one way to find out: get closer
Posey stops galloping and stalks forward furtively, using the fog as cover to hide her presence, like a ghost, carefully gliding over the sands on gentle hooves.
Move Silently:
[1d20+7 = (4+7) = 11] >>192095...Why do I compulsively roll on check I could just take 10 on?
>>192094Kira tilts her head, and seems to consider this information from Next Tour. "Well, that's kinda true, I suppose. A long time ago, the zebra chiefs from the surrounding tribes would hire lamias to their warbands in exchange for money, land, property, and titles, but that all gradually came to an end as the Zeblu basically wiped out all of the zebra tribes in the region outside of the Roamans and the Zongo. Us savannah lamias don't have much interaction with kirins outside of the occasional traveler or merchant wanting to trade for our goods, and camels are just a
bit too distant for us to have interactions with either. I know that fire lamias live down in Zaikiria, and the desert lamias nomadic routes cross into camel lands at times."
Silver gives Star Fire a gentle squeeze/hug and a pat on the shoulder. "Что ж, мы не можем позволить Путешественнику сбежать с острова, иначе это безумие распространится на материк. А «Кострома» — достаточно большой корабль, чтобы доставить нас всех в безопасное место под покровом ночи и тумана." Half-lidding his eyes at Star Fire, Silver's tone of voice changes
ever so subtly to be just a bit quieter and more intimate. "Кроме того, после того как мы добьемся успеха, нам предстоит совершить еще несколько интересных «действий», прежде чем мы ляжем спать." With this new tone of voice, it's hard to tell if Silver is speaking straight or if he's trying to imply something.
>>192094Spot: Can Kira see the figure more clearly with her keen snek eyes than a normal pony with their pony eyes could?
[1d20+8 = (5+8) = 13] >>192096>>192095Posey moves along the waterline. She mostly succeeds in trotting along the grassy mud which is comparatively quiet, but her mass of various items carried jingles slightly.
strangely she hasn't heard her coins cling very much.
The shadow is no longer visible. This may be because an illusion is no longer visible as she comes closer, but she's pretty sure she saw it move away.
>>192097Kira
thinks she sees a smaller creature. Quadraped. Prey animal. Possibly a small friend.
>>192097The unicorn looks down at Kira's trunk, observing her body. It takes a moment for him to actually respond to Kira.
"Oh. Yeah. That makes sense."
>>192097Star Fire's mane is kind of thin for how long it is.
"Да. Ха. Разве это не так? Пытаясь управлять кораблем так - если Чернобог не смог этого сделать, нам будет сложно. Не думаю, что мы действительно сможем это сделать, если честно."
Then his lips go down, and he looks concerned. He moves his eyes up towards Silver's
"Но если бы мы могли.... Что насчет разрушителя? Военные вмешаются, чтобы остановить нас."
>>192098Survival: It'll be hard for Kira to pick out the scent of this unfamiliar creature and possible new friend from the scents of all of the friend-shaped creatures around her, but Kira flicks her tongue into the air and does her best.
[1d20+11 = (4+11) = 15]Silver's hoof reaches for Star Fire's mane of seemingly its own volition, to see how it feels as he continues his conversation. "Созданию Поузи можно приказать протаранить их корабль, посадив его на мель на острове, не причинив вреда экипажу и не помешав им преследовать нас. Тем временем мы дожидаемся прилива и, используя влияние Луны, уплываем на свободу."
>>192099flick flickDiesel Fuel
flick flickRendered fat...
just beginning to rot
flick flickHmmm... Is that sewage? Yes. Yes it is.
flick flickWait. Kira knows that smell! It's... Friendship!
Wait. No. That's just all of the ponies around her.
>Star Fire's maneKind of wirery, a little thin, and covered with tin foil over the head.
"Что. Эм... Конечно?"
His ear twitches one, two, three times
"Но я не думаю, что мы сможем управлять кораблем... А эта штука на нем."
>>192100Silver chuckles, and goes in to scritch Star Fire's ear a matching number of times. "Затем мы избавляемся от «этой штуки на нем»."
Move Silently: Hmm, maybe the fog is interfering with her senses. Kira decides to use one of her special snek abilities, and sneak closer super sneakily to the figure/where it went to get a better idea of what it is.
[1d20+14 = (14+14) = 28] >>192101Trying to scritch the ears is awkward with the tin foil, but achievable.
Star Fires stops moving, closes his eyes, and smiles at the scritches. Then he replies
"Да... Удачи с этим. Я останусь сзади."
Kira moves along silently on the inward side of the line of buildings.
>>192102D'awwwww. Even as tired and disheveled as he is at the moment, Star Fire still looks adorable making that face, which makes Silver wonder what other kinds of adorable faces he could get him to make as the ear scritches move down into cheek and chin scritches. "Ну, не оставайся слишком далеко. Я бы хотел, чтобы ты был рядом, когда мы отпразднуем победу."
Kira sings a stealthy tune inside her own head, something along the lines of "
duh, duh, duh duh; duh duh, duh duh; do do doooo, do do doooo, do do doooo, do do". Where she heard this tune if anywhere she doesn't know, but what she does know is that she's entered sneaky snek mode as she follows the path the figure took or even possibly left behind.