🚀 go-pugleaf

This is a Flaw "QMKD" post, with contributions by Carl Fogelin (Quig),
Steve Masticola (MaryMary), Mike Metlay ('Kaena), and John Sinteur (D'Fi).
Our Heroes, currently heading into the sealed tunnel system far from 
the city, are about to run into a brief delay....

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Dracturons are nasty beasts by anyone's standards. They're over four meters
long, mostly muscles and teeth, and are capable of attacking their prey in
complete darkness. They have foul tempers, foul breath, foul (sticky) scats,
and are always hungry. Their only redeeming quality was that you could kill
them without remorse, if you were foolhardy enough to put yourself in a
situation where you needed to kill one.
 
Quig avoided them whenever possible; he wasn't a fighter by nature. But now he
couldn't choose his alternate routes with ease, and their scent was being
carried further into the tunnels....
 
****
 
'Kaena reappeared out of the shadows ahead of the group, and motioned them to
join him. Clustered around him, Quig, MaryMary and D'Fi huddled in close to
hear what he had to say, MaryMary keeping a close watch over her shoulder as
she listened.
 
"Something up ahead," 'Kaena. "Several of them. Cold blooded, no heat
signature, but not cybernetic or robotic. Could be indigenous fauna."
 
"Indidgy--what?" Quig frowned.
 
"Local beasties," D'Fi explained.
 
"Dracs," Quig shivered. "I saw nests down here...."
 
"Don't touch 'em," MaryMary warned. "If we get our scent on 'em, the mommy
Dracs will come looking for us."
 
"I ain't no greenhorn," Quig told a clump of land-hydras.
 
"What now?" 'Kaena looked at MaryMary.
 
"Quig, any alternate routes around these things?"
 
"If you're a starved weasard, yes. For us, probably not."
 
"Then we push forward," MaryMary said sternly, unshipping the 20mm and putting
in a clip. "We can't choose an alternate route, so we're going to have to go
through them."
 
"Poop," 'Kaena sighed. "OK, I'll scout ahead like before."
 
"No!" D'Fi's hissed whisper was firm. "Stay visible, dammit! I don't know what
hardware you're using to do a Cheshire Beagle routine, but you don't do us any
good if we can't see you!"
 
"Bite me hard," 'Kaena snorted. "They can't attack what they can't see, and I
can warn you folks without having to walk around down here in plain sight."
 
"You're an assassin, not a commando, 'Kaena," MaryMary said. "Don't try to
improvise if our lives depend on it. D'Fi knows the drill better than you do
on this point."
 
'Kaena harrumphed, but didn't press the issue any further. He moved off down
the tunnel, picking his way carefully along... and vanished again.
 
"That stupid Vargr," D'Fi cursed. "I'll kill him!"
 
"Listen!" Quig held up a hand for silence. "Did you hear that? Sounded like a
Yelp."
 
Suddenly another sound was heard in the darkness-- a scrabbling sound, rapidly
growing louder. D'Fi found himself behind a boulder - his quick-action
cross-bow resting on top of it. His left hand descended to his belt to get a
handful of spare bolts.

"Dracs!" Quig twisted the handle of his cane, releasing the sharp spike at the
end, and held it up like a spear to protect himself. Then he shifted the pike
up to his shoulder, sighting it like a rifle. D'Fi stared curiously at Quig,
briefly, but the sound of the approaching Dracs drew his attention back to the
more immediate problem. The UV lenses picked up six shadowy forms, bristling
with scales and teeth.
 
"Quig." D'Fi pointed to a boulder ten meters towards where 'Kaena was last
seen.  "I'll cover."
 
Quig dashed into position, scanned ahead, and motioned D'Fi towards a next
likely spot, without looking back to see if his signal was understood. D'Fi
sprinted, and once in position made a stop sign to Quig. It wouldn't do to
leave MaryMary too far behind, and the place where 'Kaena had disappeared was
covered now.

MaryMary saw a spot where she would complete a half-circle with the other two.
"Assign yourself a firing sector," D'Fi whispered, "and don't fire outside it,
we may be moving. If you need help, just holler."
 
"They haven't seen us yet," MaryMary whispered. "Let 'em get a little closer.
Then I'll smear 'em." She swung up the machine gun, drew a bead on the closest
one.
 
"What about 'Kaena?" Quig demanded.
 
"Later." The dracs were within ninety meters now. Every shot had to hit Drac
flesh; any that ricocheted would set off the sound sensors.
 
At seventy meters out, D'Fi put his first bolt through the forehead of the
frontmost Drac. The full twenty centimeters of the bolt disappeard, and the
Drac hit the ground with a satisfying thump.
 
Fifty meters. MaryMary didn't think she had the accuracy D'Fi displayed, and
his weapon had far less chance of making noise if he missed. She decided to
wait.  The Dracs' heads perked up, looking straight at the party, but still
they did not charge. Forty meters. Thirty. She pulled the trigger.
 
The machine gun was as silent and flashless as Shortfingers had claimed, but
it was far from recoilless. Her burst felled the lead Drac and knocked her
backwards into a cul-de-sac. The other Dracs charged the group. Recovering her
balance, she aimed, pulled the trigger again. A single *snap*. Jammed!
Frantically, she tried to clear it.
 
Quig quickly stood up, aimed his pike at one of the huge beasts, and shot
its needle into the things chest... to no avail. "Drat" muttered Quig, as he
quickly aimed for an eye, and popped one in. That had a more satisfying
result, although the Drac's scream was deafening.  Quickly crouching down,
Quig grabbed a new gas canister, popped it into the cane, and swung around
for his next shot.

The Drac was right on him, ichor oozing from it's left eye.  In self defense,
Quig pushed the pike into the creature's mouth.  Struggling with the creature
for control of the pike, Quig accidently shot off the needle gun, through the
back of the creature's throat, severing its spinal cord.  The pithed Drac
collapsed in a heap.

Of course while Quig was struggling with this Drac, two more were storming
past him.  Without thinking about his well-being, Quig reversed the pike
and swung with its hooked end at one of the creatures.  The head of the pike
lodged itself in the back of the Drac, which turned abruptly, in pain. This
quick pivoting lifted Quig off his feet and flung him 5 feet away. He was
dazed by the rough landing and tried his damnedest to clear his head.

Quickly pulling out his utility knife, Quig watched the enraged beast start to
charge his way.  Recognizing the futility of his weapon, Quig felt sick to
his stomach.  "Oh Shit" was the only comment his panicked brain could come
up with.

The second Drac never lost steam from its charge and headed straight for
MaryMary.  Dropping the useless machine gun and pulling her short sword, she
slashing across its face. The blow drew blood, but it more enraged the Drac
than wounded it. "Quig! D'Fi! Heeelp!!!" She continued to thrust and hack,
trying more to buy time than to kill the beast.

D'Fi had already swung around to attack the Drac that was slobbing over Quig.
"Aiiii!" moaned D'Fi, caught in indecision. "Sorry, can't" he hissed, deciding
that Quig's predicament was more urgent. He took careful aim, just as the
beast's maw was enclosing around Quig, and fired another shot.  The Drac
collapsed on Quig.

MaryMary kept parrying, but knew she had to do something quick.  She was
tiring, and the Drac seemed to be guessing her feints better and better. A
muffled voice said "Doww the noos!  Pisth the buggre!"
 
'Huh?' thought MaryMary, then 'Oh!'. The Drac snapped. She parried and
crouched, waiting for the recovery. It thrust its head; a thousand-toothed
grin began to open. Lunge!
 
The blow was good. The sword plunged its full length, down the Drac's nose.
The monster slumped to the ground, twitching; its toothed head bounced against
MaryMary's arm, sliding off her soft-camo and opening a gash on the back of
her hand.
 
"That's the last of them," D'Fi sighed. "Tough start to what's going to be a
long journey."
 
MaryMary stood, panting, for a moment, and checked herself over. Eight more
teeth were embedded in the camo around her thigh, in a neat bite pattern. She
pulled them free, noticing that the camo felt sticky inside, although she felt
no pain. Yet. She swabbed her leg with wound-dressing and picked up the jammed
machine gun.
 
"Helwp" came a muffled cry. Turning to a fallen Drac, D'Fi realized that Quig
was under it. D'Fi and MaryMary quickly went over to rescue Quig.  D'Fi
extracted Quig's pike from the back of the Drac and used it to pry the beast's
jaws open.  MaryMary grabbed his feet and pulled him out quickly.

****

"Thanks" said Quig as he pulled his Medi-kit out of his backpack. He strapped
the auto-analyzer to his wrist, turned it on and laid back while the machine
did its thing.

MaryMary finally clearing the jammed machine gun. It seemed much easier to do,
now. This time, when she pulled back the slide, the obstructing cartridge fell
out easily. "That bolt-action always messes up when you most need it," she
said, disgusted.
 
"Next time you try to clear it in an emergency, keep it upside down and
shake," D'Fi said, "you lost a lot of time just looking at the weapon. Nine
times out of ten, it's a spent cartridge that didn't eject properly."
 
"But what the hell happened to--" Her[A breath cut off in a gasp that was too
frightened to be a yell. The sixth Drac.  They had taken care of only five.
It reared up over her from behind an outcropping of rock. She stepped backward
and fell, the 20mm clattering on the rock beside her. The Drac lunged--
 
Suddenly a blur of motion whipped out of the darkness, no more than a faint
ripple in the UV like heat waves in desert air. It struck the Drac, which
screamed in anger and lunged again at MaryMary, one eye gone. The blur
returned from the other side, and the Drac's other eye vanished in a spray of
blood.  There was the sound of something hard hitting flesh, once, twice,
three times, and blood suddenly fountained from huge gashes that appeared
from nowhere in the Drac's hide. The Drac wailed and fell still.
 
The blur resolved itself into a huge warrior garbed in an outlandish suit of
armor with clawed gloves dripping blood, and then into a smallish Vargr in
black who leaped nimbly down to the tunnel floor. "MaryMary? You all right?"
 
"A bit excited," MaryMary gasped, blinking at 'Kaena as he helped her up. "But
OK. Thanks."
 
"Forget it," 'Kaena said, handing her back her machine gun.

"And that should tell us to wait for he fat lady singing when we think it's
over. But where the HELL did you go?" D'Fi said. "I told you to stay VISIBLE!"
 
"I WAS visible," 'Kaena snarled. "I'm not DEAF, you know!"
 
"Hey D'Fi..." MaryMary interrupted, trying to forestall a conflict.
 
"What?" he snapped. Her look cooled him quickly. After a second, calmed, he
said, "Sorry. Adrenalin. Gets to me. What's wrong?"
 
"About those Dracs. Did you notice that they seemed a little, uh, strange?"
 
"As opposed to a Vogon tax assessor, no." He thought a second. "But now that
you mention it... yeah. They were acting wierd before they charged."
 
"Yeah, Too organized. Like they were being _led_ or something. Like something
was holding them back. They saw us, but they didn't attack right away."
 
"Totally unlike them." D'Fi prodded one with his toe. "See that?" A glint of
metal in its ear.
 
Quig opened his eyes and looked closer. "Ultrasound receiver and shocker.
Animal trainers use 'em. And..." he shuddered "...slavers."
 
D'Fi turned on 'Kaena. "I should take that out and put it on _you_. Where the
hell'd you go?"
 
'Kaena was silent for a moment. One fist flexed, and for the briefest instant
it was all metal plate and bloody claws. Then it was gone again, and 'Kaena
just shrugged sheepishly. "Straight down, about ten meters," he sighed. "I was
so busy watching for Dracs, I fell in a hole."
 
D'Fi slapped a hand to his forehead. MaryMary chuckled despite herself. Quig,
though, looked puzzled. "A hole! 'Kaena, there's no hole here on the charts!"
 
"That's why I wasn't looking where I was going; I figured you'd have warned
me. Well, it's THERE all right.  Come see...." 'Kaena led the band to where
he'd fallen.
 
He limped over and looked down. "Wahl, I guess the charts were wrong" said
Quig as he fingered a small box on his utility belt. In the eerie UV light,
no one saw his slight smile.

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-- 
mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * metlay@netcom.com
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"I have news for you. 'Thppht' spelled backwards is STILL 'thppht'."