RWBYFanon v5
RPG World of Remnant => The Vale Region => Beacon Academy => Topic started by: Kaliot on October 29, 2016, 09:13:35 PM
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The last time Mao had smelled the sea was when he was attending Signal, and getting a whiff of it once more was bring back memories.
"Any minute now, it's gotta be."
The foliage was slowly transitioning from those of a deep-forest environment to those that thrived along the sea side, and the chirps of sea gulls could be heard in the distance. Mao took out and activated his scroll, tapping and swiping away until he found what he was looking for.
"Investigate a beached ship, huh? What do you think we'll find?"
He took a quick peek behind him to make sure nothing was tagging along behind the quartet.
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The seaside was neither familiar nor particularly unfamiliar to Mint; the only thing she knew for sure was that she didn't like it. Something about the smell of the air, combined with the possibility of falling in the water, made this mission rather unappealing to her. The typical breeze surrounding Mint was noticeably absent today as if in response to her mood, even though she tried to stay characteristically optimistic.
"Maybe someone fell asleep while driving the ship? I dunno, it's hard to think what would've happened to a boat out to sea in the weather we've been having lately." She glanced up at the sun straight above them, not a cloud in the bright blue sky.
...Of course, she almost shouldn't have even bothered answering Mao. Mint knew perfectly well she had zero understanding of boats or the people that drive them.
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Ahh, what a beautiful morning. The sun was shining through the treeline, the scent of sea was in the air, and Finn was on his way to a beached ship to investigate and maybe explode things. Who knew? All in all, a very good day was on the cards.
"Maybe they were attacked by the White Fang, overcome by Grimm and we're going to rescue them in a display of awesome?! Or they ran out of fuel, drifted here and we're gonna have the easiest mission ever".
This was promptly followed by Finn tripping over a tree root and falling flat on his face. "Ow! I'm okay. I think".
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The beach. Why did it have to be the beach? Those thoughts were going through Duncan's mind as he walked behind Finn a good distance, just in case he had to use his weapons. Maybe there would be something good to do later today if there was enough time to get away from the school.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone falling and saw that it was Finn. He saw that Finn had fallen. Duncan proceeded to walk around the root, look at Finn and put his hand out to help.
"What ever it is, lets just make sure that we keep an eye on our footing so we don't get caught off guard."
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"No time to be admiring the Remnant!" Map helped Finn back up, trying not to fully stop in the process.
"I feel like they wouldn't send us out here for something so simple, though you're right, the weather has been pretty bad lately." He crossed him arm, tilting his head to signify he was deep in thought. "What if it turns out to be the boat of a renegade Atlesian huntsman, now on the run and hiding in these very woods?" Mao chuckled. "No matter, we'll be able to take him on!" He bumped his fisted gauntlets a couple of times, making sure not to get too overeager and cause a ruckus. "Well, maybe."
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((Oh uh, I meant to imply that the weather's been good and probably wasn't a major factor, but we can go with that I guess. .-.))
"I hope the crew are okay! If we can track them down and ask what happened, we'll be back in time for lunch!" Questions popped into Mint's head faster than she could ask them, but she narrowed it down to a few before continuing to talk. "Do we know what kind of ship it was? What they were doing when we lost contact?" Her excitement to start investigating overcame her discomfort with the environment, and a cool, salty breeze came over the group.
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((Yeah...that's how I interpreted it the first time I read it. Forgot the context when I was skimming through the posts. My bad.))
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"I was just getting a lay of the land, is all. I've concluded that the land is there. Thanks chaps" Finn clapped his hands and pointed in the direction they were going, "Moving swiftly on".
Finn started humming as he listened to Mint's questionnaire. "Well, in answer to your second question, I imagine they were sailing. And, considering that they brought a team in for the job, it's probably a large ship. Oooh, maybe it's got cool, secret Atlas tech" Finn babbled cheerfully as he grabbed his satchel off of his back, and started rummaging through his bombs.
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Duncan kept moving and decided to check his stash of supplies for making his bombs. He heard the conversation that went on and decided to put his hat in the ring of expectations.
"If anything it's probably some guy from Atlas with too much time on his hands and too big a boat to handle."
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Mao chuckled to himself as Duncan's words were twisted into an innuendo in Mao's mind. He did appreciate Duncan's realistic attitude as a counter-balance to the team's eccentric side, or at least Mao's.
"Anyone wanna make-uh wager? If nothing ends up happening, at least we get somethin' out of it. And if things do get crazy, it'll be a nice way to cap everything off."
A smile spread across his face, and since he was sitting at the rear, he let it slide.
"Oh, and do ya seen anything yet, el Capitan? He asked.
((Assuming we are in acronym formation with Duncan in front))
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((But... But I don't remember which F I am!))
"Maybe they assumed the bay is just what our docks look like?" She chuckled. "We are pretty primitive compared to Atlas!"
Mint knew they must be getting close. The forest trees were all but gone now, and even around Duncan she could see the shimmering sea in the distance. She had to admit it was a pretty sight, as much as she didn't want to.
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"Even Atlas aren't that full of themselves. Plus, I'm fairly certain they have fancy pants ships that steer themselves. You know, the ones Beacon don't have, Finn cheerfully imputed as he pulled a shock grenade out of his satchel, looked at it, and tossed it back in. "What do you have in mind, Mao? Good wager sounds like fun".
Finn jogged ahead a little, down to the water's edge. He leaned forward and cupped some of it between his hands, and throw it into his face. The water was cool and refreshing, if a little too salty for Finn's taste.
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Hearing what Mao said as he got a look at the layout of the beach. It did seem like a nice day, but they would have to see about their mission first. He saw the objective a few more meters away, if he had to take a guess it would be about 100 meters away. He also noticed that there was a gaping hole in the side of the ship, like someone shot a tank cannon at the side of the damn thing.
"Well I found the objective. Problem is that it looks like someone or something took a chunk out of the hull. Let's see what we can survey and see if we can find any survivors."
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"Yeah. Whoever's theory is closest to the real thing gets uh...," Mao thought for a moment, thinking of a suitable prize for their light-hearted contest. "Maybe all the losers are uh...the winner's...servants for a day. Yeah, I got nothin' right now."
Finally breaking onto the beach, the sea water imparted sparkles in his eyes. He raised his arms up in the air, exclaiming "Finally!" before turning his head toward Duncan's observation. The ship did indeed have a huge hole in the side of its hull and it seemed to be a bit larger than a large fishing boat.
"Here we go, boys!" He started jogging towards the ship, starting out wobbly at first and slowly stabilizing as his feet got used to the uneven sand. "I'm sure we can think of something for the bet while we're doing this."
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((Ugh this is so weird because my real name is Duncan...))
Mint wasn't used to being referred to as a "boy," but she knew Mao probably meant nothing by it. She followed, trying to think of a proper pot for the wager. Already knowing she didn't win, she certainly hoped it wouldn't be too costly.
Oh yeah, she didn't win. And her theory didn't involve anyone getting hurt. This looked like a situation where someone might have gotten hurt. Knowing this, Mint quickened her pace and broke formation, taking the front. "Keep an eye out for people, team! They've got to be nearby somewhere, right?"
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Stumbling his way across the sand to the others, Finn decided to add a suggestion to the wager. "Well, when I win, you losers can pool together and buy me dinner. How does that sound?".
Finn pulled up short in front of the ship, trying to work out what could've tore through the hull like that. "Maybe a cannon? It'd have to be a big'un, no non-military vehicles would be able to get the firepower to tear through that. A large Grimm could also have done it, but they don't tend towards headbutting stuff. More biting and rending. Definitely not a rock though, we'd see further damage along the side as it scraped by". How exciting this was, a real life mystery to solve. And maybe they'd be stuff to blow up. Joy of joys.
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Duncan proceeded to the objective with the rest of the team and decided to inspect the damage alongside Finn. He drew his sword just in case someone or something decided to pop out at them.
"Im gonna say this as a joke, but maybe it was pirates"
Duncan got an uneasy feeling at the silence interrupted by the gentle crash of waves.
"Finn, back me up I'm going in. Mint, Mao, you two keep watch outside."
Duncan decided to move inside the damaged hull, hoping there would be an answer to what happened here.
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"Aye aye, el Capitan!" Mao brought together his feet and saluted, a smirk momentarily emerging onto his face. "Be careful in there, guys."
He relaxed himself and turned toward Mint. "Just you and me then. I'm gonna check out the other side of the boat. If you don't mind, anyway," he said as he pointed his thumb back at the boat.
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"Sure, go ahead. Lemme know if you see anything, alright?" Mint was a little disappointed she wasn't asked to go inside, especially since she had made an effort to move in ahead of her teammates. Still, she was sure there would be some valuable information out here, too.
The hole was in the port side, and Mint noted that if she lay flat her body would only cover a little over half of its diameter. Considering how low on the hull this hole was, it seemed like whatever hit the ship must've either come from underwater or at the very least been moving along the surface of the water. Or... maybe it was something from inside?
She climbed up the side of the boat, using bent bits of metal from the hole along with small windows as footholds. Once on top, Mint immediately noticed some overturned chairs and a fully stocked bar. She circled around and, through a surprisingly unbroken window, saw a rather posh interior. The beautifully decorated polished wood steering wheel in front of a large, authoritative captain's chair made her think that the owner of this ship was probably rather full of himself, concerned with image more than practicality. She could see stairs, and though her view was obstructed there was clearly a row of doors at the bottom.
One thing Mint did not find up here was a sail. The boat must've had a different means of moving, probably dust related. If I ever own a boat, it'll have a sail for sure. I'll ride my own wind across all the however many seas!
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"Righty-oh gaffer" Finn happily answered and jogged forward into the belly of the best, taking left side as he went in. It was a bit dark inside, leading Finn to almost trip over something lying on the floor. He found his balance and tapped whatever it was that he'd tripped over with his foot. It wasn't particularly solid, and didn't make much noise when it rolled, which left Finn a bit confused. He leaned down and picked it up. He stepped back towards the light entering from the hole, and suddenly threw it away towards Mint in abject horror, yelping in shock and disgust. "Oh gods above and below, that was an arm. There was an arm in my hand. That's horrible. I think the crew's dead and I just picked up an arm". Finn stumbled outside and vomited against the side of the ship.
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Duncan heard the sound of one of his teammates throw up and safely hurried out of the hull. He saw that it was Finn and rushed over to him.
"Finn, what happened?"
He reached out to him but a twinkle of jewelry caught the corner of his eye. He walked over and saw that it came from the cavity in the hull. He went to pick it up and picked up the eviscerated half torso of a woman. He quickly dropped it, fell on his butt and scurried back from the damaged hull.
"By the nine! What in the wide world of Remnant happened here?"
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Mao made his way over to the other side of the ship, scanning it for any unique markings.
"Red Horizon, huh? I wonder where it was headed," he muttered. His inspection of the site was interrupted as panic seemed to resound from the entrance. He rushed over, just in time for the arm to land at Mint's feet and to see Finn to release the contents of his stomach. He remained frozen.
"Holy shit...," he said. "It still looks...fresh."
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Mint was rather curious about this commotion downstairs, being that she wasn't actually anywhere near it and all, so she made her way back to the port side and looked down upon her teammates. They were all freaking out over something on the ground, some kind of stick... wait, were those fingers? Was that a hand?
Mint took a step back in shock. That couldn't be... real, right? Sure, he liked bombs, but he always seemed like an alright dude! How could Finn do something like this?!
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"Please don't say it looks fresh. That's just...... blegh" Finn painfully groaned out before going back to vomiting against the ship. This was so bad. A ship, full of presumably lovely people, now brutally butchered. And whatever it was might still be inside. Joy of joys. At least now he'd gotten rid of his breakfast.
Finn pushed off of the ship and stumbled over to Duncan. "I'm presuming that we're gonna have to go in, right? We can't just, call for backup? Sit it out? Maybe go purge this day from our eyes?" Finn babbled nervously as he looked at the disgusted and horrified faces of his new team while wringing his hands anxiously.
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Duncan steeled his nerves for his team and proceeded to stand up. He was just as nervous as the rest, but he had to pull the reigns from here on out. He walked over to Finn and put his hand on his shoulder.
"If you want to go clear your senses that's fine. We can take a break and reconvene in 5 minutes."
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Mao nodded and took a few steps back, his stomach twisting and turning. He turned around and lay heavy, nausea-induced coughs into his elbow. He felt the need to throw up, and it might've even been the better route to take as at least the sickness in his stomach; he didn't though, and they meant he would feel continuously ill for a few minutes.
He turned back toward his teammates. "Hey, if you're goin' to throw up, at least do it in the water." He smiled meekly.
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Mint took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Of course her team would have a reasonable explanation for this; how could she ever have doubted they would? It was probably just her eyes playing tricks on her anyway, right? Hard to judge at this distance. Everything's fine!
She climbed down to rejoin the team and find everything very much not fine. Good thing she ate a light breakfast.
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Finn shook his head and groaned in dismay. "No, no I'm good. Just needed a minute. We should probably check for survivors" Finn sighed softly after he finished speaking. He wasn't holding out hope that there would be any though, but someone had to make the suggestion. If there were, then it was gonna be their lucky hour. "Is there anyway we could, maybe, go in a different way? Anybody have a grappling hook or a ladder maybe? Just so we can avoid the dark, corpse filled room behind that hole".
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"Maybe we can get on the boat from the rear, if anyone wants to get their feet wet."
Duncan points to the Aft section of the boat. It may be a longshot but he wonders if the ship had a built in ladder in the aft section.
"All else fails, I'll go in through the hole, see about finding the rope on the port side, and drop it over so everyone else can come up."
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Mao watched as Mint rejoined the troupe. He started walking toward her. "We could definitely search for an opening on the deck. And lucky for us," he put an arm around her shoulder, "Mint here was just up there." Mao gave Mint a couple of light pats on the shoulder before reeling his arm back in and talking a few steps away, his hand resting on his chin.
"Tell us, Mint: Did ya...find anythin' up there? Anythin' that could save us the trouble of havin' ta take off our shoes?" It sounded like he was almost interrogating here, but there was a certain flimsiness to his voice that made him sound a bit off.
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Mint thought real hard about Mao's question, as if letting anything else enter her mind would cause her to think about what they had just discovered. "Hmmm... Well, there was definitely an entrance up there... even if the door won't budge I could break a window... and take the stairs down. If the rest of you can't climb, I can look for something to help out."
Then the thought of actually doing that crossed her mind, and she shuddered as her imaginary self was eaten by a grue in the depths of the ship, all alone. "Does anybody have a light?"
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"Don't boats come with life rafts that have to be winched down to the water? You could drop one of those down if there is one, let us hitch a ride back up, and I can blast through that door with a breaching charge!" Finn suggested with a weak smile. He sure hoped that was the case anyway, or else he'd look like a bit of an idiot.
Still, better that than going through the hole again. Whatever killed those people was gonna pay, big time. With lots of explosions. And fire. And shrapnel. What a satisfying image, Finn couldn't help but think.
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Duncan sighed as he decided to pick up a piece of driftwood that looks like it had been there for a while. He then proceeded to walk to the corpse that he picked up earlier, tear off the sleeve of what was left of the garment that they were wearing, and made a torch. He activated his semblance and as he did, the complexion of his skin on his free hand became that of a jellied substance. He started rubbing his free hand on the end with the cloth, and once he felt that enough was used he deactivated his semblance. "I'll go in and see about that door that Mint talked about. Mao. can you back me up?"
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Mao watched with intrigue as Duncan managed to make a makeshift torch. "Uh. Sure thing." In truth, he had been hoping that he wouldn't have to fully witness what they just did, but what needed to be done had to be done.
He made his way towards the hole and stood out beside it, waiting for Duncan to lead the way with his torch. "Well, I guys we'll see you guys at the top, then!" He shot them a quick, informal salute.
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Mint turned to Finn. "Looks like we're splitting up. Why don't you come up top with me? I bet I really could use that 'breaching charge' of yours." She gave him a playful smile before turning to climb the ship. Upon reaching the top, she threw Wing back down to the bottom at a sharp, perhaps 60 degree downward angle. "The string attached to that thing is a lot stronger than it looks. Why not use it to climb up?"
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"Sure, why not. It's not like I've never climbed up anything in my life" Finn murmured under his breath as he watched Mint scurry up the wall like a, well, squirrel up a tree. Meanwhile, all Finn's numbat side have him was the ability to sniff out termites. What a cute bunch of critters they were.
Smiling to himself, Finn picked Wing up and, after giving it a quick tug to make sure it was safe, began to slowly climb up, grunting with exertion. "Boy, that's quite the climb. You'd think they'd make these easier to get onto" Finn grinned as he handed Mint back her weapon. "Now" he said as he strolled over to the door and started to set up one of the bombs from his satchel, "let's start this party, shall we". Stepping away from the door, Finn slammed the detonator, the door erupting off of it's hinges and shooting across the room to slam into another door, that too caving in. From there, the sound of two doors tumbling down a flight of stairs was all that could be heard.
"Success!"
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Duncan heard the explosion and saw a small flash as he was treading carefully through the cavity in the ship. While traveling through he discovers that this is the sleeping compartment for the owner with extra space for 3 people.
"Mint? Finn? Can you hear me? It doesn't look like there is any survivors that I can see. We need to search the entire compartment just to be sure."
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Mao was startled by the explosion, but quickly brushed it off as he had his own job to do. Surely it had to have been Mint and Finn's work, right? Not whatever took down this ship.
The room smelled somewhat unpleasant so he brought up his jacket to cover his nose and mouth. He inspected the room, but it was a bit difficult with just a torchlight. Regardless, he could tell that the room was a complete mess, and not just from getting wrecked: one mattress laid on the ground, its face torn to shreds. Mao could say for certain that it couldn't be the work of a simple accident or mishap. Wanting to better see the room, he felt up the wall near the doorway and managed to find the light-switch, but upon flipping it, nothing happened.
"Well, there's no power. Not much of surprise there. I wonder if she's got any fuel left." Mao crossed his arms.
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"Geez! I'd like a chance to take cover next time, Finny!" She brushed some small chunks of debris off her clothes before taking a step into the room. Peering down the stairs, she saw the mangled mess that used to be the doors. "Still, nice job with the charges... you really did a number on those doors."
At the bottom of the stairs, it was clear the natural lighting would not be enough to fully explore this area of the ship. As it stood, she could see very little: A row of doors on her left, some more doors on the right, and a string of inactive light bulbs on the ceiling. The first door on her right had illegible lettering on a metal plate. With the implied significance of this particular room, Mint decided it must've been fate that she'd find this room first. As it turned out, this was indeed a blessing of sorts.
Mint pushed the door open, allowing a little bit of light to seep in. Good thing the two faunus went up this way, eh? she thought with some smugness. Her eyes adjusted to the new lighting, and she could start to make out the general shape of this room. As she felt her way inside, Mint eventually encountered a large metal device which revealed itself to be a sort of backup generator. Overjoyed, she yelled to her partner: "Hey Finny! I think we can get the emergency lights on! You wanna do the honors?"
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"Okay, fair point. From now on, if you see me approach anything, assume it'll explode", Finn joked as he followed Mint down the stairs. Thank the gods for Faunus night vision, cause this place was dark.
Letting Mint have the right side, Finn attempted to get into the first room on the left, to no avail. Apparently, in the midst of a disaster, someone had decided this door should be locked. Frustrating, but vaguely understandable. Finn sure hoped the rest of the doors down here weren't the same, or they'd have one hell of a hard time searching the ship.
"Don't mind if I do Mint" Finn beamed as he stepped away from his door, and over to Mint's delightful little find. Oh, that was certainly a generator alright, and still in pretty good nick too. Maybe things were looking up after all. Reaching in towards the largest button on the console, Finn glanced over at Mint, "Hey, quick question, peppermint or spearmint?", and he slammed his hand down, letting power course through the ship once more as lights came on and alarms began to blare.
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Duncan put his torch out as the lights came on, but he wished that they had stayed off. Blood was spattered all over the walls.
"By the nine. I don't think there are any survivors Mao."
Duncan started investigating and walked closer to the wall where the blood spatter was more prevalent. He noticed that there were slash marks in the wall. He looked up and saw that there were marks in the ceiling as well.
"We gotta get the others, Mao." Duncan looked at Mao with a calm but shaken demeanor.
As Duncan proceeded to one of the doors, he saw that it was locked from the inside. He unlocked it and opened it, hoping that the others were there on the other side.
"Mint! Finn! We have a problem!" He shouted out from the door way.
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Mao was struck with elation as the lights turned as he was just talking about them, but this elation was quickly replaced with surprise with the quick realization that alarms were also going off. He turned toward Duncan, intent on firing off some witty comment, but instead his face froze. The room was covered with blood as if the alarm lights themselves had painted them red. He looked flush and he could feel his heart beating a little faster.
"You gotta be kiddin' me," he muttered. He looked around the room again, making sure there weren't any sizable breaches to worry about. Luckily, blood and slashes aside, the room was clear.
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"That's some emergency power!" Mint yelled, barely loud enough to hear over the alarms. "Full lighting and obnoxious alarms? Who could ask for more?" All joking aside, the alarms were making it very difficult to concentrate. Before she could scrutinize any more of the ship, Mint would like to be able to hear herself think. But where was the control for the alarm?
"Finn! Think we could override the alarm noise somehow? Maybe there's a security room, or... some switch in the captain's chamber?" Right about now Mint really started wishing she had some kind of experience with ships, because with all the alarms blaring she felt like a fish out of water.
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Finn shook his head as he ran his hands along the generator's console. "Well, we mightn't have to go that far. I have a bit of knowledge when it comes to electrical engineering, let me take a crack at it here". Pulling his satchel off of his back and onto the floor in front of him, Finn carefully unzipped the front pocket and removed a small toolkit that he kept in case of emergencies. He stepped around to the side of the generator and used a screwdriver to take off a panel. "This might take me a bit though, maybe you should get the others".
Having grabbed a small torch from his satchel, Finn stuck his head into the opening in the generator and got to work searching for something that looked like it would connect to an exterior system with the intent of cutting it.
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Duncan started to get annoyed and worried. He was getting annoyed by the alarms and his teammates not answering, and getting worried that the alarms might bring whatever or whoever did this back to the ship. He made his choice by looking back at Mao and walking to him.
"Mao, we're gonna have to go to the others and bring them over to see this. Finn's probably gonna lose whatever is left of his lunch, but they have to see this."
Duncan started walking back to the door but something caught his eye in what looked like the closet. He saw the faint glow of a red button as he walked to the closet and looked in it. He was curious as to why there was a small glowing red button in the closet and pushed it as his curiosity got the better of him. As he pushed the button, the alarm cut off and a series of clicking sounds could be heard on the wall in front of him. It seems that he had stumbled across what looks like the owner's panic room. Before he could take a step in to investigate, Duncan saw the shine of a gun barrel and ducked as what sounded like a revolver went off from the darkness in the room.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! We come in peace! We come in peace!" Duncan said as he had his hands up.
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Mao nodded, paying no attention to the remark he would normally react to. He intended to follow Duncan out the door, but it seemed that something had caught Duncan's attention.
"What is i-," Mao started to say but was interrupted by a sweet, sweet silence. He patted his ears a few times. "Relief!", he said, but it had clearly been to soon as a shot rang out and something smashed into his left shoulder. His aura flared up and pain emanated through his body from the source of the hit, and the shock of the moment sent him tumbling backward. Fearing that it might've been the criminal they had been talking about earlier, he sprung back up and was prepared to launch a blade only to find that Duncan had already given himself up.
Mao lowered his arm, not because he was surrendering but because he was confused. There was no other response by whoever shot him. "Duncan...where'd they go?" He knelt and made his way toward the room. The room was still dark so he figured that the room was isolated from the rest of the ship; the idea made sense considering how Duncan found it. He wondered if it had it's own energy source so as he decided to grope the wall again, and with a thumping heart, he found a switch. He flicked it on and light filled the room revealing stacks of canned food, bottled water, a one-person bed, a small desk, and well as a stand for the gun which appeared to include a mechanism to fire it remotely.
Mao didn't say a word, instead gesturing for Duncan to approach and to avoid the gun's line of fire.
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Mint had wandered off to find the others, but only moments later the alarms shut off. Surprised at how quickly he had finished, Mint peeked back into the room with the generator to congratulate her teammate. "Nice job, partner!" Mint beamed with satisfaction at Finn's surprising technical prowess. Although, she supposed, he must have some skill if all his bombs were handmade.
Shortly afterwards, Mint heard the sound of a gunshot and promptly rushed down the hall. She reached the corridor her teammates were in and didn't stop running until she saw Mao and Duncan safe. At this she relaxed significantly, taking a second to breath before addressing them. "Hey boys, can we save the target practice for later? I didn't bring ear protection- human or squirrel!"
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The alarms turned off, which was quite the worrying development in Finn's mind, as he hadn't actually done anything to the generator. He'd barely had time to stick his nose in it. Which meant that something else had turned them off, which in turn meant something else was on the ship, and considering the blood, body parts and obvious destruction, was probably not friendly.
Hastily shoving his tools back into his satchel as he jogged down the corridors after Mint, trusting her to be able to guide them to whatever it was that fired that gunshot. Not noticing Mint had slowed down, Finn tripped over her feet and collapsed in a pile outside the door, even as a bullet impacted the wall above him. "Woah, don't shoot, don't shoot! We're friendlies! Also, guys, that uh, that wasn't me that got the alarms", Finn yelped as he rolled out off the doorway down the corridor.
"This ship sucks".
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Noticing what Mao said Duncan stood up slowly and looked around. He saw that the rest of the team came in and looked back at Mao. Duncan started to get the feeling that they need to wrap the mission up before something happens to the team
"Mao did you find anything of use?"
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Mao's eyes made a quick sweep of the room.
"Besides the gun, not that I can tell."
He crossed his arms, looking out into the main room as Mint entered the room with Finn rolling in shortly after [Not sure if a second shot was fired or if it was the original shot. Assuming the latter.].
"Sorry, Mint, but it ain't us sending bullets willy-nilly." He held his hands up briefly, showing that they were 'clean'. "You good over there, Finn? I think Duncan might've gotten the alarm." Mao paced over to Finn to help him to his feet, turning to Duncan as he did so. "...Right?"
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"Uh... huh. Well, that's... definitely a gun." Mint insightfully noted, looking over the room. "I don't know much about these things, but doesn't it seem odd for a panic room to try and shoot anyone who opens it?" Indeed, that wasn't the only thing off. The owner of this safe haven was nowhere to be seen, and according to Finn there must be someone they didn't know about on the prowl.
Just as she started to ponder this, the emergency lights in the corridor went out, leaving only the power in the small room active. It was this that made Mint realize how deep into the ship they now were, and how out of her element she was. The air around the group went stagnant as Mint looked to the room's light for comfort. She nervously laughed and said, "Hey, Finny, any chance that's supposed to happen?"
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"Umm, not really? Why do I feel like we're in a horror movie right now? There's no Grimm that operate like a jump scare killer, right guys?" Finn nervously chuckled as he pulled his satchel off of his bag to rummage through. Whatever was messing with the lights was bound to be dangerous, and that meant Finn got to bust out the fun toys.
Throwing his torch over to Mao, Finn unloaded Badda Boom's armament and restocked with it with a napalm, two repulsion and a flashbang grenade, before slinging it and his satchel onto his back and drawing his sidearm. "All in favour of leaving and blowing the ship sky high, say anything at all".
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Duncan stood up and walked into the panic room.
"I think we need to get the Professor here."
Duncan pulled out a lamp from his bag and turned it on. He walked out of the panic room and put the lamp on a hook. The lamp illuminated the room bright enough to get some decent pictures for evidence. Duncan pulled his scroll out and took pictures of the scene making sure that he got his team out of the shots. He sighed and looked at everyone.
"Lets get out of here before this gets out of hand."
-
Mao entered combat stance as soon as the lights shut off again, though within a few moments he realized that there was no immediate danger and he tried to relax himself. He caught the torch but only barely. "Hey now, there could still be survivors in this place," he glanced around the room, "No matter how, uh, bleak it looks. I think it'd be a good idea to check in with the Academy, but it's probably in our, well not our, the best interest that we stay put until backup arrives."
Mao could feel parts of himself quivering; he was afraid too. But leaving now would go against what he stood for as a to-be Huntsman.
"What do you think, Mint?"
-
Mint had already spaced out in an attempt to find her happy place, and Mao addressing her by name snapped her abruptly back to reality. "Huh? Me?" She asked, quivering. The answer was obvious: Of course they should call for help. Mint pulled out her scroll, nearly fumbled it, caught it, and established a communication link with Beacon through the line they were told to call if things went sour.
Ten seconds passed... Nothing. Mint's heart nearly stopped. She stared blankly at it before properly addressing Mao. "I think, uh... I think we should get out of this big metal deathtrap before we try to contact Beacon."
-
"Uhh, bad thought. If there is someone on this ship with evil intent, they probably know the ship better than us. We could get ambushed at any point while moving".
Finn was utterly terrified by the entire situation. A ship full of dead bodies with someone turning out the lights only spelt trouble for a group of youths. And Finn was in a group of youths.
Still, if there was one bright side to the entire situation, it was the fact that no Grimm had been spotted. Well, not yet anyway. They were probably outside, or close enough. This entire situation reeked of negativity.
Suddenly, the lights came back on for just a second before they went out. Five seconds later, they returned for another second before going out again. "Oh my gods, we're being toyed with!"
-
Duncan saw that the lights were on the fritz. He noticed his teammates and sighed.
"Lets go through the hull breach guys. It's the fastest way out."
Duncan picked up the lantern and motioned his teammates to follow him as he walked towards the hull breach.
-
"Alright then."
Mao nodded, but before going to leave the room, he approached the trap gun, and after close examination, we managed to displace it from its holding. The process was tough because of the lights but he managed well enough. "You never know". He checked to see how many rounds were left in the gun before assigning it to his right hand, the torch being reassigned to his left.
"You guys go ahead. I'll cover our butts".
-
So... Duncan was leading the way... and Mao was taking the rear... so that would put Mint right in the middle? Mint was okay with that. Perfectly okay. She rushed forward with rather unnecessary urgency as if to secure her spot in the heart of the group. "Alrighty! C'mon, Finn, let's go!"
...And Finn and Fresch in the middle? Just like their marching order! What a weird coincidence. Okay, maybe not so weird, but any train of thought which could get Mint's mind off the current situation was worth pursuing.
-
Ahh, stuck right in the centre with Mint. Literally couldn't be safer a place for Finn to be. Well, on the ship at least. There were plenty of other, safer places in Remnant. Like bed, or a sweet ship, or anywhere else. But, at present, no where safer.
"So, have we come to any conclusions about what happened? We've got dead bodies, something playing with the lights and a safe room with a security feature that makes it very unsafe. I've come up with nothing!"
-
Duncan started thinking of possibilities of what exactly happened here. Hearing some of his teammates giving their opinions, he tried putting two and two together. As he kept walking towards the hull breach, his train of thought came to a assumption.
"I may have two ideas. The first one is it could be a vicious band of raiders. The second one sounds immensely questionable, but has anyone ruled out the White Fang?"
-
The ship's lights continued to flicker making it hard for Mao's eyes focus on what was ahead of him.
"White Fang? But what would they want with this ship? And why stay after having killed everyone on-board?" Mao tried to think, attempting to push out the distracting light as he did so. "All the clues point to a Grimm attack, I think."
-
It was certainly true that Grimm must be involved... but it was also apparent that a conscious mind was toying with them. And how did Grimm get on the boat in the first place, if it was at sea when the attack started?
"Hey guys, this is gonna sound crazy, but... is it possible that Grimm and people were working together on this?" That did indeed sound crazy, but Mint couldn't think of a better explanation.
-
Finn started nervously scratching his gun toting arm as he considered the possibilities. "Perhaps it was an accident? White Fang turn up, or someone on the ship snaps. That creates a wave of panic, brings Grimm on the ship, all hell breaks loose? First off aquatic Grimm, then, as they got closer to wreaking, land based Grimm hopped aboard maybe".
If Grimm weren't involved in any way, then it meant they were dealing with a particularly vicious individual or group, that wasn't afraid to make a mess. And, quite frankly, that terrified Finn more than anything.
-
Duncan got to the hull breach and examined it before they proceeded to exit.
"Hold on for a moment.
Duncan shined his light on the hull breach before he pulled out his scroll. He noticed that there were no teeth or claw markings. He took a couple of pictures of the breach before heading outside through it.
Duncan scanned the area after he got out and saw that the coast was clear. "Guys it's safe as far as I can tell."
-
Mao took a deep breath as he stepped into the open air.
"Free at last!"
His hands were a little full so he would leave it to one of his teammates to contact the Academy. He quickly turned back toward the hole they had just come out of as if expecting something to be there: nothing.
"Maybe...the ship was just heavily damaged after it got attacked by something. Like, all the systems are automated and we just messed with it too much." He still couldn't quite grasp that someone or something had been toying with them inside the ship. If it were Grimm then they surely would've attacked, and that really only left one other possible options.
Out of nowhere, sirens suddenly filled the air, the surprise almost forcing his butt to the ground. It took a moment for him to realize that it was familiar and coming from the ship. "Man this alarm is really annoying. Has it always...been...like this...?" His voice trailed off.
-
Mint couldn't get it out of her head... The hull breach and the flickering lights definitely seemed... aware, as if done by a human or faunus. But the brutal slashings and complete disregard for life seemed to imply Grimm. If a person did all this, they were certainly not about to be taken down by a bunch of green combat academy students.
When finally she saw natural light, Mint could hardly contain her glee. As soon as her leader said the coast (literally) was clear, she leapt out of the boat with a refreshing gale at her back. Immediately, she pulled out her scroll and started contacting Beacon. Unfortunately, she once again fumbled the device, this time dropping it straight down into the sand, as that obnoxious alarm abruptly started again.
As she got down on her knees to retrieve the scroll, Mint realized Mao was trying to talk to them. She didn't really register what he said, but the way he trailed off like that certainly didn't sound good. "Mao...? What's wrong?"
-
"We're out!" Finn cheered as he stumbled his way across the sand towards the treeline, forgoing any sort of safety protocol in an effort to get as far away as physically possible from the murder ship. Leaning against a tree, and leaving his satchel at his feet, Finn pulled out his scroll and began to make an emergency message to Beacon.
To whoever gets this, Team SFFM reporting in. Ship located at given coordinates. Most, if not all, of the crew are deceased. Potential Grimm and/or human involvement, unknown as of yet. Send reinforcements and transport for deceased.
Just as Finn hit send on the message, the alarm started blaring again, though thanks to his distance he wasn't caught off guard as much as his teammates were. "What the heck is that going off for!?"
-
Hearing the alarm go off again, Duncan turned around and looked at the rest of the team. He wanted to make sure that everyone was accounted for and that no one followed them out.
-
"If the alarm has been like this the whole time, then I think we gotta go." Mao scanned the treeline but saw no movement. Yet, anyway. "Everything from who knows how far away know that we're here and they're probably on their way right now!" Worst case scenario besides being massacred: they get holed up in the ship. Considering the weird happening that happened in it, it'd be best to avoid that prospect.
-
"Huh!? Um, works for me!" Mint was ready to get outta here.
-
"I'm all for leav-" Finn yelled over to the team, before a howl in the distance cut him off. The single, sharp howl lasted a few seconds before fading out. Then, a few seconds later, received several responses. A pack of Beowolves, probably only a few minutes away, and straight down the path they'd come from.
"Oh come on! Anything else!?" Finn yelped as he started to job back over to the others.
-
Duncan drew his rifle as he heard the howls. He wanted to be ready before they made their move. Hearing the direction that the howls came in from, Duncan started thinking about what to do now.
"Guys, do you want to stay and fight them off, or book it further down the shore? I won't blame you if you do book it."
Duncan was scared, but he wanted to do right by his teammates. He dropped to one knee and aimed down the sights towards the direction that the Grimm were coming from.
-
((Apologies))
"Uh." Mao was really tempted to run, but considering how loud the ship was, he wasn't sure he how much opposition they would face on the way out. And if they got held up for too long, then it'd be lights out. "I think it's a little too late to run."
He prepared his gauntlets, ready to stand his ground. Despite his best attempts, he couldn't keep his feet from quivering,
-
Mint, too, stood her ground. She drew both weapons and stood by Mao. "I'd trust our odds against some mindless Beowolves, eh guys? No problem!" She wasn't wrong. In fact, seeing the Grimm had put her more in her comfort zone than any other point in this twisted mission. Trust our odds... yeah, a lot more than against whatever's around that ship!
-
Finn stumbled his way across the sand towards his teammates, the Grimm sounding like they were practically on top of him, even though he knew they were still a distance away yet.
Grabbing Boom off of his back and spinning on his feet to reverse the last few feet, Finn fell in on the right of Duncan and aimed down his sights. "Might I take the first shot?"
Not bothering to wait for an answer, Finn fired the loaded napalm grenade at the Beowolves now emerging from the treeline. One was incinerated immediately, while the rest were forced to separate as their cover suddenly erupted into flames.
-
"Alright it looks like we're doing this!"
Duncan switched Sol's firing rate from semi to full auto and sprayed into a couple of the Beowolves that got scattered by Finn's grenade. The Beowolves ignited into flames with every single round that hit them until the two he was firing at fell over into smoking carcasses from Duncan emptying a full magazine into them.
He quickly swapped out mags and kept his gaze at the treeline, knowing that more will be coming out of the woodwork soon.
-
The pyros' attacks always managed to keep Mao in awe, but due to his background, maybe it was more anxiety than anything else. Still, they were enough to overwhelm his doubt and that was all that mattered.
"I'll cover the left[boat side]!"
Mao charged towards a few other isolated Grimm that Finn had initially dispersed. He shot one blade at a Beowolf, the blade cleanly piercing into its flesh, and it dropped to the ground.
He reeled the blade back in and as he approached, he pivoted around one of his feet to dodge a downward swipe followed by the ol' one-two to kill the Grimm.
The fight had already begun, but he could already feel the strain that the sand was putting on his legs. The team would have to find solid ground soon, but who knew how many waves of Grimm were approaching them because of the damned boat.
-
"Nice, Finn! But, uh, maybe be a little more careful with the trees?" Mint remarked, watching a sizable portion of the treeline burst into flames.
Not wanting to get in anyone's way, Mint located a group of Grimm that nobody else was targeting and claimed it for herself. "I've got these ones! Don't shoot me, please!" She shouted, dashing just left of center. She tossed Gale as she ran, which sliced and incapacitated a beowolf at the front of the crowd. She then caught her weapon just in time to deliver a running melee blow with Wing. She then proceeded to hack at the crowd with both weapons, staying on the move as much as possible and laughing the whole time.
-
"Yeah, riiiight, careful. Got it". Honestly, being careful? With a grenade launcher? The sheer ridiculousness of the idea was astounding. Plus, that'd just be boring.
Giving Boom a forceful pump to clear the chamber, Finn locked eyes onto the beowolves that had dodged right to avoid total incineration, and were now attempting some sort of flank, though they weren't being subtle about it. Spinning on his heel, Finn fired his second and third grenades that them, a pair of repulsion grenades, the first of which tore through the air and impacted the centre, splitting the half-dozen or so Grimm apart and sending three straight up into the sky.
The third, sent in a graceful arc, detonated atop one of the airborne Grimm, and slammed it and it's friends right back into the sand. One dissipated sadly upon impact, while the other two were half buried in the beach from the sheer force of the grenade.
-
Duncan saw Mint choose her targets and moved his aim towards the other Grimm that had the unfortunate circumstance to be caught by Finn and his grenade launcher. He proceeded to gun the remaining two down.
"With you Finn, its like shooting fish in a barrel."
-
Mao had temporarily cleared the few Grimm from his zone so he could afford to moment to watch his teammates in action; considering their combat styles, it was best not to get in the way of their way.
His moment of personal peace was short-lived as more vibrations emanated from the forest, their mysterious nature realized as an Ursa charged out from the treeline. Wide-eyed, Mao went into a defensive stance, ready to counter whatever attack the Ursa would throw at him. The moment before Mao intended to strike, the beast primed its legs and leaped over him as if trying to outsmart Mao, but Mao was running on instinct. He lurched back following the Ursa, one of his blades managing to catch and slice down the entirety of its torso. Mao struggled to keep his balance through the whole swing and he was forced to regain it in the final moments of the leap.
The Ursa landed motionless, its body beginning to dissipate. Mao turned back toward the treeline, just barely catching the glimpse of something before a tremendous force smashed against his left side sending him flying towards the combat zones of his teammates. He lay motionless and his vision was blurry. Only a single, overwhelming thought on his mind: Pain. Well, not just pain. Pain and the face of his assailant, an Ursa Major.
Aura: 92% ► 57% (-35% [severe damage])
-
"Mao!" Mint pivoted in time to see her teammate get launched towards her and roll a bit on the ground. In her surprise, she nearly missed a parry and ended up staggering into an emergency hop away from the beowolves. "Guys! Whatever we do, we've got to get away from that boat! This place is seriously dangerous!" She held up her chakram, which her teammates surely knew by now contained a smoke pellet. "If Finn can split 'em apart again, I can cover our retreat!"
-
Finn gave a sharp nod to Mint as he stepped in front of the others. Levelling his grenade launcher at the largest clump of Grimm he could find, Finn loosed a flashbang at them, "Allow me to brighten your day!", and revelled in the shock and awe he caused.
Throwing his weapon onto his back, Finn pulled a pair of frag grenades off of his bandolier and chucked them at the next two groups of Grimm, driving them apart and shredding a couple. Preparing his next pair of frags, Finn took a second to look over his shoulder at Mint and Duncan. "Get Mao away while they're still stunned, quick", before lobbing the next two grenades, one at another clump of beowolves, and the second straight into the face of the Ursa Major, knocking it for six, and buying them a few moments reprieve from it's assault.
-
Duncan put his rifle away and rushed towards Mao. He slung Mao's arm over his shoulder and carried him away towards the team. He looked at everyone and heard what Mint said. He fixed his gaze at Finn.
"Finn. In my bag I have a few pipe bombs and a couple napalm jar bombs. You can either hold Mao while I provide the opportunity for us to gain some ground, or take them and listen to my instructions."
He then looked at Mint, determination due to having no other option right now showed in his eyes.
"If you do use that, we only have so much time before it clears so most of us need to be gone before it clears."
-
"If someone's got him, then let's get going!" She took a quick look to make sure that Duncan had ahold of Mao before putting the plan in action. She got low to the ground and activated the pellet before throwing Gale. She guided it using her wind, spreading both sand and smoke all over the place. "Cover your nose and mouth! And ears, maybe!" she advised, pulling up her hood as the chakram came around in their direction. As they moved, a cloud engulfed the whole beach around them.
-
(Just in case it wasn't clear with Floob posting, skipping a round)
-
Finn nodded and darted over towards Duncan, pulling Mao onto his shoulder as soon as he got close enough. "While I enjoy blowing stuff up, they're your toys. I'll get Mao away". Finn started the long trek around the side of the ship, away from the Grimm and his team, hoping to find some cover on the other side. Or, at least, nothing that wanted to eat their faces.
-
Duncan nodded and smirk as Finn made his comment and took Mao. He took out a total of 3 pipe bombs and 4 napalm jar bombs, all of them with remote detonators. Duncan threw them all and ran. He managed to catch up with his teammates and triggered them all. He looked back and saw that the smoke covered up the area so he didn't know how effective the combination of the bombs were and stayed with his teammates.
-
Mao groaned as his dazed state started to fade away, his arm radiating with intense pain. "Where is it?" His voice was pitifully weak, lacking any vigor. His glassy eyes first focused onto Finn then to Duncan. "Where's Mint?"
-
Mint caught her chakram just as it stopped spewing smoke, at the same time cancelling her wind and starting to move. She burst from the cloud only to hear Mao's voice asking where she was. "Right here! How ya doing, buddy?" She gave a hollow smile as she peered over her shoulder, unconvinced that they were out of the woods at this moment. "Think you can walk?"
-
Finn adjusted his hold on Mao to make things a little more comfortable for the pair. "Typical. We do all the work, and all he can do is ask about the girl" he jokingly said as he kept moving down the beach, away from the Grimm. Whatever was left of them anyway. Duncan had done a pretty solid job with those bombs of his.
"Anyone see a good spot to hold up? Get our bearings and so on?"
-
Duncan took a minute to look at his work and saw the flaming shrapnel and nails that was where his explosives went off. He managed to see a couple of voids where a couple Grimm were caught in the blast radius.
"How about we head further down the shoreline. You know away from the 'Crater of Nope'."
-
Mao sighed with relief, glad that the rest of his team was still in good shape. So far, anyway. "Doing okay. And quiet you." He looked down the shoreline and noticed that it bent. If they could get around quickly enough, then they might be in the clear with the smoke cover they currently had.
He wasn't particularly worried about his teammates. As for himself, his legs were still in perfectly working order, but making a break for it down the beach would be one hell of an ordeal. Still, better that than getting gobbled up by Grimm.
"We'll need to book it while we still have the cover of the smoke."
-
"You got that right! I'll try to keep them confused as best I can. Worst comes to worst, I'm sure I can outmaneuver them well enough to act as a diversion, so how about you three go on ahead of me?" Mint gave a big smile and a thumbs-up to the boys. That wasn't quite like the movies, but... not bad!
-
Finn nodded at Mao and let him stand back on his own two feet, keeping close just in case his legs gave way and he needed to be caught like a damsel in distress. What a day this turned out to be. Murder mystery in the ship followed by beach warfare. And now they were running for their lives. Finn couldn't help but find the situation to be a bit crappy if truth be told.
Still, he had a job to do, and whining wouldn't get him anywhere. They had quite the distance to cover if they wanted to escape, and Mint was offering to play decoy for them. Well, that just wasn't very fair on her, now was it.
"Mint, perhaps you shouldn't play bait. I don't mean to doubt your obvious skill, but the sand is too risky to make that sorta idea work. Too easy to lose your footing and the like", Finn nervously smiled back at her. If manoeuvrability wasn't the solution, maybe straight defence would work.
"I have a few mines I can use to maybe slow down their pursuit. The sand'll keep them hidden. Anyone have an issue with me using them?"
-
Duncan saw Mao pull himself together and heard both Mint's and Finn's plans.
He knew the Grimm were gonna come back to their location. The one thing that is important right now is to make sure that the teachers get all the evidence of what happened on that ship.
"Our main objective is to get all the evidence of the ship back to the school. That way they can get someone else to do some digging into what the hell actually happened on that ship. We are still just students. We aren't full Huntsmen just yet. Finn, plant those mines so we can buy more time to get further up the coast. Mao, take it easy for a bit. You got knocked around pretty badly, and I don't want you to make whatever damage you took worse. Mint, stay with Mao and keep an eye on him. I'm gonna be on standby in case we need more time to make it. "
He looked at his teammates and sighed as he looked at the forest area and looked back at his team.
"One more thing Mint. As we all start moving, I'm gonna need you to pop another smoke bomb behind us."
-
Mao simply nodded. He was sure he could make it, or at least that's what he told himself. The handicaps would really help, though. He did a few squats to make sure his legs were still in proper working order; they mostly felt fine if not a little weak but it should've been fine. Under normal circumstances. He stretched a bit more before giving a "Ready whenever you guys are".
((Just so I don't have to start his action with my next post, he'll start running on the signal.))
-
"Wha- Hey, wait!" Mint yelled to Duncan. "I don't have any more smoke pellets! That's why I was gonna distract them myself!" She popped open the slot on Gale and waved it around to prove it. "I'll cover Mao as best I can, and even without the smoke I've still got the sand... But we gotta stop blowing through resources so fast, man!"