Alquinaissance (IC)

[deviatesfish]

Chryse

Well, fuck. Mercenaries. And probably not terrible rent-a-cops either: I would bet that the Enizberns at least hire competent soldiers: in the worst case, ex-Soviet paratroopers or something of the like. While I had done some work on military-style rifles and handguns before, that was two things. One, it was fairly old. And two, it wasn't done with the body of a little girl. Before, I could have made a passable militia fighter somewhere. Now, I would be surprised if I could get a shot off with one of the rifles without it shooting out of my hands. And even if I was as good as I was, I wasn't anywhere near military training, and I suspected that the rest of our group wasn't either.

So, four girls against 24 grown men. What advantages did we have? We could heal, but that was only good for minor injuries (or at least as far as we knew). We had the bunker and the golems, though...

Sidequest: Try to find more grenades and some twine
Sidequest: Look around the bunker entrance for anywhere we could stick two golems.

If we could set up some grenades on tripwires, we could make a decent show out of taking out a few of the point scouts. And if we could ambush them with the golems, we could without a doubt do more. I would have liked to do far more, but I hadn't expected an attack this soon: the others would have to get to their own efforts, and hope that we were thinking more or less the same thing.

Thankfully, the mercenaries were still on the edge of the fog-barrier of the physical aspect of this Bounded Field. That could mean that they were not competent enough magi to have defeated this half-formed barrier, or that they did not have any magi with them.

You ran around for twine, but you could not find any. Grenades were there enough, you had at least a hundred of them in a box. They came in all types, from all time periods. Some of them were plastic explosives, some of them were advanced time bombs that could be set up for at most a five minute delayed explosion, some of them were pressure sensitive like mines, and some of them were the large stick type from before the World Wars, and some were just regular hand grenades... about twenty of each.

By this time, the mercenaries moved from the north area of the Bounded Field to the north-western area.

There were two entrances to the bunker, one that leads to the bottom layer from the east and one that least to the top layer from the south. The entrances were tiny and gated. If you closed the gates, the mercenaries would have a hard time getting in directly, but the Golems would be unable to get in unless they smashed their way in. There were little areas to place them, unless you were to try to hide them behind trees. However, these Golems are not intelligent enough to hold more than two orders at a time. Unless told otherwise, they will charge at the mercenaries without a care.

[alfheimwanderer]

Skadi

So, it had come to this: after two weeks of peace, two weeks in which we had been stretched to our limits, two weeks in which we had been confined in this dreary hideaway scratched into the earth, left behind by some rogue magus with delusions of grandeur. I suppose he would have been my Creator and Maker in this world, but so what? I'd never cared for any such being even in the world we came from, and that one claimed to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

So much...frustration; so much...confinement; so much...desire.

Desire to be free.

Desire to rip something, someone apart in a cold -or perhaps not so cold - fury.

Desire to kill.

Powerless, one said? Consigned to the fates, one said? A mere child, one said?

"Ha..haha...hahahahahahahah!"

A monster in human shape, perhaps - a personification of the darkness inherent in humanity, of the fears and terrors from beyond the fringes of mankind's consciousness. As a product of magecraft, one could call this...vessel an illusion given form by time and labour and fragments of souls, a manifestation of a dream.

...for was a nightmare not a dream?

Very well.

I laughed then, a dark, cruel laugh that spilled from my lips as I regarded those enemies of mine through the scope, those fragile humans whose flesh was not as durable as my own, yet who sought to destroy us to protect the interest of some wizened old man with entirely too much power, all for meagre scraps of knowledge that he neither needed nor could use, merged into our bodies as they were.

Two dozen mercenaries against five children?

How...pitiful.

Something stirred in me then, as my hand went to the handle of my weapon - my knife with obsidian rune-like designs, which could darken to absorb the light around it - a darksaber, as it were. My other hand rested on the wolf pelt cape I wore, which could probably allow me to blend in with my surroundings for long enough to slip in and eviscerate some poor magus, spilling his warm lifeblood upon the icy ground. I licked my lips...excited by the thought of such destruction...and why not?

They wished to kill me in exchange for a simple payment, and took pleasure from the payment they received and the satisfaction of a job well done, so how was taking pleasure in their deaths any different? Of course, I would probably be unable to personally kill so many with simply a blade, so that was what modern armament was for - the scythe of cold steel and hot lead tearing apart my adversaries with implacable, impartial regard.

Though perhaps it would be better to watch their resolve turn to terror as simply decaying bodies turn out to be packed with explosives...and shrapnel...

Ah, their cries would be music to my ears...

Sidequest: Enter upper level, rig southern entrance with plastic explosives - to detonate with prana burst if mercenaries attempt to break in.
Sidequest: Command one golem to grab a corpse and join me in the room
Sidequest: Load Gatling guns with ammunition, sweep the mercenaries with machine-gun fire when they come into effective range

[Blackdeath6031]

Loki

....Well this is going to be a bother...

Making sure I breathe slowly, I notice that my comrades seem to be rather agitated.

Seems like one is headed to get explosives, while another has headed for the gatlings.

Had I been quicker, I probably could have tried to attract their attention using the corpses we had on hand, but then again with this dense fog it might not be the case.

However, if Skadi has left for the gatlings I can't be sure that she (or he - should it truly be Alf) can handle the situation.
Closing my eyes, I pause, trying to decide what to do.

Should they manage to enter, something that can help in close-quarter combat would prove useful.

Sidequest: Search for a small cold weapon that can be used easily. If found, keep it on me but do not equip it.

However, some firearm might be helpful in this case as well.

Sidequest: Take a SMG to use

However, Skadi has decided to go for the reckless choice of raining bullets on our enemies and letting them know that we weren't as unaware as they had probably thought we were.
Chryse, on the other hand, has taken the choice of trying to trap the mercenaries.

....Perhaps my idea might still be feasible? But one can't really say much without examining the conditions.

Sidequest: Determine how easy it is to carry a dead mercenary to where the gatlings are by myself

Sidequest: Check if the mercenaries are alerted of our actions (without leaving the bunker or alerting them)

Sidequest: Evaluate, without testing it out, how likely it is that dropping a corpse would attract attention, and how many people would approach the corpse

Sidequest: Take some grenades

But assuming it doesn't work, what else could I do, I wonder...?

Sidequest:​ Attempt to assess the situation - discreetly - from the ledge where the gatlings are

[Brynhilde]

Verdandi

I did not expect the outside world to show their hostilities so soon. Certainly not while the Boundary Field still lasted.

I watched in silence as my companions, some bloodthirsty and some anxious, some reaching for bombs and some reaching for gatling guns, all scatter about planning to send those mercenaries to their doom.

All I did was to ascend to the topmost level of the bunker, found a narrow window, and aimed with the sniper rifle that I had acquired.

Good marksmanship is a matter of experience and intuition. I knew it well, having once possessed it myself in my previous life. It wasn't only about knowing when to press the trigger, but feeling it, instinctively understanding that this is the moment to hit, the moment to land the kill when faced with a moving target.

Certainly, it did not possess the cunning of the bombs Loki is planning to plant, or as destructive as the gatling guns Skadi is planning to unleash, but it can be used to pick off particularly difficult targets. It is thorough, mechanical, precise.

It is my weapon of choice.

Though this frail body may not be able to stand the backkick of the rifle, I gritted my teeth and used the cracked window sill to hold up the gun barrel. I did not share the joy of the kill, or the ecstatic release as violence is rained upon our enemies. I knew it is my duty at the moment to deny these mercenaries of our territory, and I shall relish in the small pleasure of a job well done.

To achieve what we want to achieve, we have to survive beyond today. It is a necessity. No more.

I've told Luna where I was going, and asked her to come and tell me if our plans change.

But I somehow doubt I'll need it. This higher level gave quite a good overview of the land, after all.

Side quest: Be on guard at the topmost level of the bunker with sniper rifle, ready to open fire if enemies come within range.