Luck Of The Claw - Episode 6.

- Episode 6 -

Tossed aside into a pile several strange items were laid in a clearing. The entire forest had watched as they were discarded before Thatch and Cobble had surrendered into a deep slumber. Trees whispered to one another in a language so old almost none still living could of understood it. Grass and stone looked up to see that even the wind was dancing about as it playfully considered what to do. They couldn't allow even the remote chance that Thatch or Cobble might retrieve the items when they awoke. It was far too dangerous for them to fall into the hands of Baron Samael.

But there was one possible option - the children. The idea made the wind tickle the trees and ruffle the grass. Yes, the children who even now were walking this way. A subtle shift in the forest path they followed and they would pass right by this very spot. Just to be safe the trees moved a few branches as well and let a stray sun bean peek down upon the items.

Delighted and giggling the wind raced away to watch with anticipation as the pair were wandering up. The trees grew silent, in their wisdom it was best to let things happen as they would. Once Camden and Trinity had touched the Pool of Tears the forest had seen their worth. It had measured them in a way and if there had been even a drop of evil or doubt within them they would have never made it out of the pool. For the Pool truly was a sacred place, and only anything pure had ever ever witnessed it and been allowed to live.

Camden and Trinity had actually been fairly lucky picking the path they did, it had actually led back up out of the rocky walls. If they had picked any other path it might have taken hours to find their way, or they might not have found their way at all. Camden couldn't help but think they had been luckier than usual. Well, except for the roast chicken part, it would still take some time before he got over that one.

Trinity herself couldn't shake the feeling that something was different. She could almost here something, faint and distant like a giggle. The sound reminded her of wind chimes or a baby laughing, it was kind of musical. Cam was probably just playing another joke on her she figured and left it alone.

Camden's hand suddenly grabbed at Trinity's wrist and without making a sound he gestured for her to be quiet. Two figures lay sleeping in the clearing and right there before them sat several objects laying in the sun all by their self. While Trinity tried to figure out why these things were cast aside or who the two travelers might be she watched as her brother was already scooping them up without hesitation.

There wasn't any time to debate the matter, Camden motioned for her to come on and the two left as fast and quiet as they could. Well, Trinity had to admit at least they could put some ground between them and the two asleep. But she couldn't help but think that Camden had just managed to bring even more trouble their way.

Luck Of The Claw - Episode 5.

- Episode 5 -

A warm splash silenced both Camden and Trinity as they said their own little hello's to the Pool of Tears. The fall itself was scary enough but at least they could say they no longer had an agitated farmer stalking them. Either he figured it foolish to venture to close to the sacred pool or that the fall had taken care of the thieves he chased.

It really was kinda nice down here though, Camden had to admit. The water was warm and crystal clear, if a little salty, which was weird but he figured maybe that was part of why they named it what they did. With a moment to catch his breath he didn't care where he had ended up, since he didn't have a farmer hot on his heels.

That is, until he noticed in their fall the roasted chicken had been tragically destroyed. Being carried in a full run during a wild chase and then crashing into a pool of water may not have been something the once tasty meal was meant to survive. Camden figured he should of been happy the two of them had managed it.

"Look what you have done now," he snapped at Trinity as he tried to hold up the mangled remains of the chicken. "I go to all the trouble to get your favorite breakfast and you ruin a perfectly good meal." Camden was not about to thank his sister for saving both of their hides, but he had no problem blaming her for his grumbling belly.

"Me," Trinity objected instantly, "who stole that food without even thinking about how he might get away with it? You always do this Cam," Trinity began to explain. "Every time you act without thinking and then we have to run for our necks. You're just lucky I thought of this place when I did." She knew her little brother was never going to change, much less thank her let alone apologize.

"How did you know about this place," Camden asked her as it occurred to him he wasn't sure how she could of known. It wasn't exactly the kind of thing he expected her to know about. "I read about it in a book once," Trinity answered as she made her way to the pool's edge. "We should start to make our way back up and find our way out of here."

"Yeah, Yeah," Camden agreed as he started to follow her. He couldn't help but notice though that the light down here looked funny. Well, at least he could say both of them had managed to get a bath this morning. With a grin they both wadded their way up out of the pool and giggled at how they were both cleaner than usual.

Little did they know the two now carried the blessing of the Pool of Tears, and the whole of the forest now watched them as they left.

Steel Dragoons - Part 4.

- Part 4 -

The squad had never stood a chance, even with the advance warning from Alwyn there had simply not been enough time. While they quickly scrambled to check sensor scans and available intel a missile lock had already been established. They simply had not been prepared for the possibility.

It had merely been standard procedure to deploy Alwyn first to scout the layout first. Otherwise they would have all deployed and engaged everyone and everything they deemed a threat. All the reports had shown was some hostile forces, no hint of advanced weapons or anti-armor capability.

Alwyn charged ahead, switching his visual overlay to filter various data out. He quickly took note of each target as he detected them and marked their location. Already he was forming a battle plan on how to engage his foes and while it wasn't all that complicated he was sure it would be effective.

Carefully he placed a set of three mines and primed them before moving on. "Where two would do, it is best to use three," he reminded himself. A couple of grenades would be sure to get things moving so he lobbed a couple towards where the missiles had been launched. They detonated in a wave of intense heat while Alwyn was once again moving to another position. Just as expected he passed near one of his fleeing prey and paused long enough to let fly a mass slug. It flashed from his rifle like a bolt as it accelerated into a white hot projectile that neatly removed a good portion of his targets chest.

Three distinct explosions erupted to Alwyn's right side. Precisely as he had figured his mines had dealt with the rest of the forces as they moved to try and cut him off. Or at least where they had assumed he would have been. Someone should have educated these guys better - didn't they know what happens when you assume?

"Secure channel, orbital relay," Alwyn instructed his armor's built in communications array. "This is Spec. Swyft, requesting immediate extraction. Situation has been dealt with. Over." After a moments delay he heard his confirmation, although it didn't ease his fury any. "Copy that, pick up is inbound, hold tight Spec. Swyft."

Alwyn wasn't sure who would be de-briefing who when he made it back. Somebody was going to have to give him some answers about how so much had been overlooked. And he was going to sniff out the truth of the matter one way or another. After all, hunting things down was his specialty.

Luck Of The Claw - Episode 4.

- Episode 4 -

"Hey, Thatch, you sure we're going the right way?" Cobble asked his taller companion. Of the two, Cobble was short and round while Thatch was tall and skinny. Neither were known for being overly smart though.

"Yeah, yeah, Cobble we'll be back to the tower in no time," Thatch explained. "I keep telling you, I know the way back, Baron Samael told me himself exactly which way to go." "But didn't he also tell us not to forget something though?" Cobble had to ask. He couldn't shake the notion they had forgotten something important.

"Nope, we took care of that guy and snatched up everything he had found. All we were supposed to do was bring it back to the Baron and he'll be so happy. I bet we even get rewards!" Thatch seemed so sure that Cobble couldn't argue, it did sound nice to think about not getting punished for once.

"If we're getting close, does that mean we can stop and rest a bit?" Cobble offered up another question. "Cause I am getting tired, maybe we could stop and take a nap or you could take a turn packing the big bag." Thatch clearly had no intention of actually doing any more heavy lifting than he had to, so the idea of taking a break was definitely the better of the two.

"Alright, we'll pause for a brief break, but then we'll hurry back, agreed?" Thatch offered. Without a second thought Cobble blurted out; "agreed." And before you could even blink the two flopped down beside the path with a grunt. "This stuff sure is heavy," Cobble said considering his bag as he removed it from his shoulder. "I know the Baron wanted everything but didn't he say it was key or something that was just important?"

"Yeah, he did say that, didn't he?" Thatch said as he recalled the same thing. "And he is sure to be really proud of us for bringing him all this other loot too. But I bet he would be even more glad if we already weeded out some of the junk for him!" Cobble was always impressed by how Thatch always had the best ideas.

"Like this silly little book," Cobble mentioned while holding a small plain book. It didn't look like much except for a slight etching of a white horn marked on the cover. The funny little thing didn't even seem to have any words in it. Not that it would of mattered, neither Thatch or Cobble could of probably even read the thing anyway.

After a few minuted the two had sorted through their pile of items and tossed aside anything they were sure wouldn't please the Baron. Quite proud of their labor they decided to take a quick nap before heading back. Surely they would make better time without the weight of the extra junk and either way Baron Samael would reward them for being so smart.

As he drifted off to sleep, Cobble still kept thinking there was something they had forgotten. He never had been great at remembering things, but he was sure they were supposed to do something on their way back. His stomach growled at him as he tried to remember what it could of been. It should would of been nice if they had another one of those crows like the other day. Sure was a great idea Thatch had had to cook it for a snack. Maybe the Baron would give them a really tasty treat as a reward! Yeah, that sounded really good to Cobble as he drifted off to sleep.

Steel Dragoons - Part 3.

Carefully Alwyn navigated through the rubble, crisscrossing through streets and between buildings. While he approached the target area he couldn't help but wonder what was really going on here. These were political malcontents- people angry and radically opposing what they assumed was the New Republic via violent demonstration.

Something just didn't feel right about this, Alwyn was used to going in advance and doing the recon. It was literally his job, but this time he couldn't shake the feeling they had walked into something all wrong. Alwyn was always taught to trust the intel until your recon proved otherwise but he had found his own instinct served him better.

"On your toes boys and girls, I am getting a real bad feeling on this one," Alwyn told his waiting squad mates. He knew, realistically, that he was the one more vulnerable right now - they were all safely still tucked away inside the transport. Nothing short of military grade anti-armor missiles or perhaps, maybe, some cannon could penetrate it's armor. And Alwyn couldn't think of any that could that was man portable. No way intel could of missed that.

His armor's sensors started picking up a heat flare just up ahead, it wasn't something he had to wait for his internal systems to analyze or cross reference. He had seen it before many times but never like this. Alwyn watched in horror as an entire salvo of Hammerhead missiles took flight in a dead aimed path towards the transport.

No time to intercept them, all he could do was hope they had heeded his warning. Alwyn hefted his rifle and turned to face the missiles launch site. They had been able to get off one salvo, but they would not ever manage a second. This was no longer a recon mission, by his reckoning it had become a seek and destroy. And that was another thing a bloodhound was good for.

Steel Dragoons - Part 2.

- Part 2 -

Intelligence had reported only a violent lightly armed force but as Alwyn scouted around he quickly realized that their reports were less than accurate. For on thing, he had already felt the thunder like echos of mortar fire slamming into buildings and streets. And he knew it wasn't from ADU forces. How could they have missed mortars?

"Locating possible mortar positions," he reported through his comm. He knew if he could at least locate them then he might have a chance to neutralize them before the squad deployed. If he didn't then that meant his squad could be sitting ducks, and that was something it was his duty not to allow.

Mortars didn't have the range of heavy cannon, so they couldn't be too far away to be hitting near enough to him. And to be effective they would definitely have to be concealed in some manner that still enabled them to fire. Alwyn scanned his surroundings, then checked his displayed map of the area. There had to be something that fit, and if it was him - there. Right, there; four central buildings formed a square perimeter. Each one had an upper level with just enough exposed area to mount mortars while allowing them all to enforce overlapping crossfire.

Alwyn zoomed in to be sure and marked each mortar on his display. "Requesting tactical artillery strike on the following targets." He knew he could have tried to remove the individual threats manually, but that was a calculated risk that his odds didn't favor. Even at a distance he ran the risk of alerting the other three positions and possibly drawing too much fire. Then his squad would be without eyes and ears in advance of them and well, it's dangerous walking into to anything blind.

One thing that still troubled Alwyn though, if these radicals were capable of deploying mortars both without being detected as well as in such an effective formation then what were they dealing with? Now wasn't the time to stop and contemplate matters, right now he had to investigate what other surprises were in store inside that defensive perimeter. Already on the move, Alwyn noted all four marked positions destroyed simultaneously. It was a wonder what even light mass drivers could do to a target considering the distance.

"What other surprises do you have in store for me I wonder?" Alwyn asked himself.

Steel Dragoons - Part 1.

When the door opened you never had time for questions or doubt - you just had to charge out and engage whatever awaited you. That is the job of a member of the Armored Defense Unit's tactical assault division. It's what every member of the squad had signed on knowing, and so when you heard through your internal comm the familiar command of: "Go, Go, Go!" You did.
                                                                  ---
Chaos exploded outside the armored transport, hostile forces had laid siege to an urban center and were destroying everything. It didn't matter if the people they encountered were civilian or not, whatever their beef was it was costing innocent lives. And that meant it was about to end, violently if need be.

There would be no negotiations, no peaceful approach. Not once the slaughter and bloodshed had begun. Civil unrest, even anarchy, could be dealt with to a point but this, no, this demanded a firm hand. The firm hand of a TAD squad in full gear and zero restrictions on their rules of engagement. Many of the squad were thrilled about it, but it always made Alwyn nervous. He genuinely felt that without some form of restraint that it made them little better than heavily armed wild dogs. It was like giving barbaric thugs advanced weapons and pointing them in a direction.

Alwyn served his unit well, while he only held the rank of Specialist his official job title was listed as "Armored Cavalry Scout." For him it was a fancy way of saying he was the squad's bloodhound. It meant he was the eyes and ears that would seek out threats and relay key info back to his squad leader. But while he was only a Specialist he was often on his own or on those rare occasions asked to lead small scout patrols of 2 to 3 men. Ironically, though, he had to admit he preferred it when he didn't have to take command of a patrol. It never felt right having to order anyone else around, much less being responsible for them.

"Time to go to work," Alwyn told himself as he thrusted himself out the door and into madness. Always the first to face what awaited them all; he was used to it. In a way he preferred it. At least out here and on the move he didn't have time to think or worry over details. Out here there was only his job, his duty and he best be getting to it.

"Beginning recon," he informed his commander as his eyes scanned the surroundings and relayed his HUD data back to the transport. Already he was analyzing the placement and strength of the enemy as he navigated his way around. Soon the rest of the squad would be deployed and they would rely on his relayed data to direct how and where to strike.

With any luck he could manage to spot the vital targets needed to end this conflict without any further escalation. Because if he didn't, well he already knew the kind of ordinance they were packing and it meant the whole area could be leveled just to end this. Orders were orders, but if there was even a chance to take out these extremists without resorting to that he was determined to try.