Ch 4. Landfall

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates had gone from the door. Richardson and Sam must have been on their own, if they're both sensing raptor hostiles. He wasn't too far from Janxi, really. He could sense the Kill-cat's presence fairly easily, now.

Init: [dice=20]
Socrates takes aim with his rifle at the neck of the raptor nearest Sam: Strike: [dice=20][rand=937338228782077615308631301785214894829722781765505478478569080425]

[Janxi]

Janxi saw all the figures and smiled. At last, she was the hunter. She no longer stood defending a sub. She was on foot, and in her element. Extinct animals saw fit to stalk her team. She heard tori's mind. Cats were now the apex predators of the world, and evolved cats stood that much higher over anyone, including man.

Like a lion or a jaguar, she leaped onto the nearest target, and buried her vibro-claw in his neck.

"Die," she cursed.

Init [dice=20]+5
Strike [dice=20]+4
Parry [dice=20]+7
Damage [dice=6][dice=6][dice=6]+18[rand=884714444531129530774791290689126362087403195872727772551311084]

[Dome]

Seeing the raptor, Richardson raises the NG 303 and opens fire.

[dice=20]Initiative,

[dice=20]Strike with NG 303(not sure damage, don't have the book)[rand=067043858953241162864237922573774651337795741922585048112371066245]

[Mierin]

Given that Sam didn't see the raptor, she's a bit alarmed to see members of her team pointing their guns in her general direction. Instinct takes over and she immediately tries to duck out of the way, hoping there was just something that she missed that they saw.

[dice=20+4], dodge
[dice=20], perception[rand=287238490035856440191672297691262158680112053928423014029262679767]

[dakota]

Janxi was on the dinosaur before it knew what hit it. It sqqawked a dying warning to the rest of the pack.

Tori's burst flattened another of the velociraptors, proving they were much weaker than the ones in Lone Star.

There wasn't much left of the one Shep and Autumn fired on time they were done.

As Richardson and Socrates pummeled the same lizard, Sam could see just how close the raptor had been to her. There were more squawks as the dinosaurs showed their intelligence and the survivors retreated.

The old man let out a hoot," WooHoo, that showed them varmints. Grab a couple and get in here. Thats good eatin!"

[Tori]

Tori strutted to her kill, then extended her vibro-claws, sawing off both of the raptor's toe claws as trophies. "Janx, you know you got the best kill going hand to hand, but damn if I didn't get the longer claws on mine!"

After she tucked the claws into her pack, she grabbed the carcass in a fireman's carry and brought it back to the old man's house. "Supper's on Team Shagcat, Pops! We'll eat all we can, then have breakfast of leftovers! I hope you know some good recipes!" She pranced into the house, the tip of her tail wiggling smugly.

[Janxi]

"T-Bag, you ol' alley cat in ! You know I got the best kill going in with the claws, and when we measure claws, I'm gonna win there, too!" It was like two hunters arguing racks of their trophy bucks. With her vibro-claws still extended, she chopped off the raptor's claws, and would compare when they got in. Then, her vibro-claws slid back into her FWS. She grabbed the carcass by the feet, letting blood drain. Rain would wash it away in no-time. As she grabbed her "game," she looked over to Shep and Autumn. The predators probably keyed on Shep's injury. She said nothing.

Her helmeted gaze then fell upon Sam, unhappy the dinos got so close to the team leader. The storm was bad, but specops of any branch shouldn't be close enough to smell dino-breath.

She turned her back and carried the prize dino back to the old man's home. In her massive frame, it did look like a recently decapitated chicken. As she passed Socrates, she gave him a nod. "You done pretty good. Way to show some situational awareness. You can have first pick of my kill." It was about the nicest thing a lioness could tell anyone. He was part of the pride in her opinion, for coming up big. And the encounter, by her score, was animals-1, humans-0, or less depending on how bad Shep was. Dinos weren't even in the game yet.

Once inside, she took care to spill no blood in the home. "Here you go, Pops, this bigger dino is courtesy of the CS Marines! Tell me you ain't gonna ruin it with a fire, are ya?" She tossed the carcass where the man indicated and pulled out her trophy claws.

"Alright, Stripes, let's see who bagged the bigger bird!"

[Mierin]

A little shaken by how close a call that was, Sam stands up and nods at the others in thanks for their actions in tagging the raptor. 'Dammit, Sam, get your head out your ass!' she scolds herself mentally. To the others, she says "Let's all get inside the cabin quickly before anything else shows up."

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates waited while the others made their way to the cabin, pulling up the rear. "Worried about someone selling vacuums, Sam?" Socrates asked, picking up Shep's primary role while the Sargeant was ill.

To Janxi, he nodded. "You'll pick up that sense." He said. "In the meantime, I'll just take a fair share. I'm not looking for trophies. Just keep an extra raw plate." He thought back to when he had finally learned that lesson... He was lucky Brodkil and Dinosaurs inspire the same fear among the littlest creatures.

[Dome]

Richardson walks towards the one he brought down. He keeps looking out knowing there are more out there. He is happy that besides all the other stuff that they went through, they worked as a team and covered each other. Even the doctor helped bring down a dino.

He nods in Sam's direction. He says, "You ok Captain? Sorry I fired without warning, they were real close."

[dakota]

Shep got to his feet and looked across to Autumn," C'mon Doctor, let's get inside with the others so you can tell me what's wrong." He didn't wait and started for the cabin, pausing only long enough to cut both oversized claws from the raptor's hind feet.

It turned out that the raptors were all about the same size judging by the size of the claws one everyone was inside. The cabin seemed a little cramped with all the company, but the old man, who identified himself only as Abe, didn't seem to mind. and it was much better than the submarine.

"Don't see many co-lishion this far in the swamp," the old man said as he spit roasted a large hunk of one of the raptors and basted it with some viscious looking liquor even Shep passed on a drink of. " Most stick inland close to that base they think none of us swamp dwellers know about." He sliced another generous raw portion and dropped it onto a platter like stacked up pancakes.

He slid the platter towards Soc and the cats as he kept carving, " So what brings y'all this deep into Dino Swamp? Storm was blowin too hard outside to hear good."

Sgt. Trassk sat away from the others as best he could. Clearly he was not in a good mood.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates lifted off the helmet, his muzzle sniffing around for a second. "The buffet." He says, calmly, evenly, with finality. It wasn't his place to explain a mission. Or that there was a mission he didn't need to explain about.

[Tori]

Tori doused her share in her beloved chipotle sauce, before passing the nearly empty bottle to Jan. "Well Spots, looks like you 'bout tied with me on trophy, but you did lick me fair and square on that kill. I'm glad yer on our team. That's ninja!"

She turned to Abe and swished her tail in a friendly way. She decided she liked the spunky old guy, and respected the hell out of him for living alone in a very hostile swamp. "I wadn't crookin' ya when I said we was here for a rescue, and wanted to know whad-ya'd seen in the way of Sploogies and other slavers, or if ya'd seen a buncha human slaves out here. We're here on a SAR. Anyhow, whadabout you? How you get this far out and who them warriors in the picture?" She wouldn't call anyone a soldier unless she knew they were in some nation's army. Calling a Marine or a SEAL or even a Seabee a soldier could be insulting.

"And thanks, pardner. Chow's right good."

She carved into her meat with her MK 3 knife and looked up at Autumn as she walked in. "Santiago?" It was common practice to address operators by their last name in the field, if they had a last name. "Ya done good just now, too. Ya used yer weapon to good effect, and used it when ya were s'pposed to. Given yer element of the team was surrounded, I'd call that a real fire-fight. Ya done broke yer cherry. Hoo-ya."

She felt bad for Autumn. There was no way Shep could be extracted in the storm, and no place safe to take him til he could be extracted. She would have to stay with Shep for the balance of the mission and keep his ass alive, and hers to boot.

She regarded Six almost fearfully. The woman seemed distracted. Maybe it was thoughts of her brother, or maybe it was worry about Shep who she regarded like a brother. An operator, especially a team leader and an officer should never let the enemy, and most certainly dumb animals, get the drop on her. And if she did find an enemy so close, she had no business letting it live. The situation was scary.

"You okay, there Six?" It was about the most polite way Tori could tell Six to unfox herself and stay frosty.

Tori didn't even look at XO, eye contact or in peripheral vision. That was feline body language, not SEAL attitude. XO made the choice, and probably cooked up a scam with a medical officer, to go on this hop. He was not in shape for combat, and as he smelled like blood, may bring every dinosaur in the swamp to the team. A wounded animal was an easy meal. She was angry, even furious, but knew she could do nothing.

[Mierin]

Sam nods at the questions about her well being and simply says in a joking manner to Richardson, "I'm just glad you can shoot straight." In the end, nothing was hurt except her pride. Turning to Autumn, she says, "I want a full report after you've examined Shep." Sam wasn't happy, but wasn't surprised, at the idea that Shep was hiding something. He'd done that pretty much from the day she'd met him.

To Abe, she says "We're looking for some lost friends of ours. Know of any slave camps around these parts?"

[sasqaricious]

Autumn heads in shortly after Shep and waits until he has some free time before she checks him out again, this time hoping to really find out what is wrong with him.