Taking Back the Caern!

[hazlogs]

7/1 or thereabouts.  Battle for the Caern, Realm Battle A.

Currently the moon is in the waning Half Moon phase (56% full).

Whispering Pines - Rhiannon's Apt.(#4119RJ)

Rhiannon appears to follow the tenet of 'order in chaos', as the apartment
is a complete and total mess, save for a few small corners of sanity. The
doorway opens to the living room, which is large and bright, with a balcony
and sliding glass doors on the left and a dining nook at the far left
corner. To the right of the living room is a short hall that allows access
to the bedrooms and bathrooms, and the kitchen is located across the living
room and to the right, with a bar allowing a view from the dining nook into
the kitchen. The apartment is still sparsely furished, with only the basics
covered: a low coffee table is covered with magazines and papers, mostly
catalogues from the looks of it, ranging from Coldwater Creek to an NRA
publication or two. Blankets and pillows litter the wide, plaid couch, and
the entertainment center has a mess of VHS tapes and DVDs in front of it
rather than stacked neatly in the available shelving. Although the TV and
VCR appear to be garden variety, the stereo system and DVD player are
anything but. Several different company logos are apparent between the large
speaker system and accompanying components, the main speakers being almost
4' tall and flanking the entertainment system. Reiterating a love of all
things audio is the pair of CD cabinets on the opposite wall, both holding a
huge selection of CDs. Unlike the movies on the floor, not a single CD is
out of place, and a closer look reveals they are all alphabetized--several
hundred, if the height and width of the cases are any indication. The
apartment walls are barren except for a few family and friend photos.

        From here you can +view the First Bedroom and the Second Bedroom.

Contents:
Francisco
Rhiannon

Obvious exits:
Out  

Rhiannon pages to the room: Welcome to my mess. Currently, Fran has
helpfully dissected my computer onto the floor, and the vests are sitting in
a box on the floor.

Salem raps on the door sharply.

Rhiannon glances at the knock on the door, and snags the Colt from her hack
before carefully picking her way across the apartment. She glances out the
viewer, and once she's recognized Salem on the other side she unlocks the
door and lets him in.

Salem is, unsurprisingly, tense. His body language is stiff and sharply
controlled. "Evening. Getting things ready?"

Francisco picks up one of the vests from the box, hefting it with a slight
grimace. "As ready as we'll ever be."

Rhiannon locks the door after Salem, and stashes her gun before heading over
to the closet. She digs around in it, cursing occasionally, before producing
three rolls of duct tape. "Ah ha. Here we go. Tape of the gods," she
announces to the room.

"I was an idiot for not thinking of this sooner," Salem grumbles.

Francisco grins tightly at Salem. "Berate later. Fight now. Or soon, anyway.
Very soon."

Rhiannon waves Salem's regrets aside. "You thought of it at all, which is
enough." She slaps one roll of duct tape into his hand, and another into
Fran's. "Do you need silver ammo? I don't have a lot, but I have a few clips
worth." she asks, gesturing back towards the bedrooms.

Francisco blinks at Rhi. "Yes. Why, yes, I do. What caliber?"

Salem shifts upwards into the war form and starts the process of strapping
on and Dedicating the vests to that form. He shakes his muzzle sharply at
the kin's offer of silver.

Rhiannon speaks over her shoulder as she heads for her bedroom. "Mostly 9mm
and .45. Some .38, .44, and a bunch of others. It's a mess." Her voice
trails off, and after a minute she returns with a shoebox. It's plain white,
except for two large black letters on the lid: Ag. She sets it down on the
coffee table, and the tell-tale sound of ammo rattling is mixed with the
ting of silver.

[The two Walkers join their pack at the meeting place.]

National Park, Mountain Bowl

Sepdet shakes her head. ~Salmon will have to endure. If people can hold off
the enemy for just a little while, she can Reform far away once her work is
done, and free a few others for fighting. Nightflash, here's some
hornet-talens for your fighters. Break them to unleash Gaia's hive on the
foe. I think they will be able to smell shrouded enemies.~

Eamon offers the pot of woad to Seirian.

Luna-Singer sniffs upwards a moment and shifts to birthform, taking the woad
pot and streaking her face with it liberally before handing it back with a
solem nod.

Eamon passes the pot to Layne.

Kaz shifts from foot to foot and gives Dane a slightly tense smile.

[Those fighting in the realm split off from the others.]

Nightfire shifts into the near-wolf form as the time for the battle draws
near. ~Ears-to-the-Ground, I will need you to draw out the shooters.~ He
looks to the Glass Walkers and other city Garou. ~You will remain near the
trees, flanking Ears-to-the-Ground. One hopes you brought your weapons. Once
the shooters emerge, you must kill them before they kill her.~ He indicates
the Bone Gnawer Galliard.

Eamon says "My pack and I will go with Patrick."

Kaz shifts to crinos and says, ~That'd be a plus, yes. So you want me to
call once and just hang out? No calling then booking it then calling again
from somewhere else?~

Nightfire's ears splay. ~One would prefer you not remain a target. I do not
know how effective your Gift will be, so I will leave its use for you to
decide. If it will be more effective for you to call repeatedly, then do
so.~ When Eamon volunteers, he looks to the others. ~What about the rest?~
he asks. ~My pack will run with whichever needs us more.~

Eamon says "Seirian, Rusty, Layne, Raeye and me."

Nightfire watches as the groups split up, then he heads off with Patrick.
~Once we hear your call, we will move onto the bawn. We should be easy to
locate. Catch up once the fomori are dispatched. Take the weapons if you
can.~

Nightfire looks the Garou over, eyes finally settling on John. ~You are the
only ahroun that remains. You are in command until we regroup.~

John grunts to Nightfire with, "My pack, has a specific purpose tonight.
When hell is called forth by Kaz, we are taking the fuckers down from afar.
After the hail of bullets has ended, whatever remains will need to be
attacked quick and with precision to get them while they are disoriented.
Kaz will be in the center of the frying pan from beginning to end, watch for
her signals. This is it. Tonight we take back what is ours."

Song-of-Fury rumbles to Kaz, ~Frying pan be damned. They will have to come
through me to get to anyone I fight beside tonight.~

Kaz manages a slight grin at Jarred, and continues fidgeting.

Eamon looks around at his impromptu pack. "There's three things I want from
you tonight. First, Fianna always pay back double what they're given, good
or ill. Remember that. Second, we're probably not all gonna make it through
this one. That's the plain, honest truth. However, if you do go down, don't
go down alone. I want your teeth in a Dancer's throat as you die, got it?
Third, we take no prisoners and we don't get captured. You get captured,
they'll turn you against us. I don't wanna kill my friends. You get
captured, don't give 'em a chance to do that, understand? Better to die with
honor than become one o' them. Now go out there and kick some Wyrm-tainted
ass tonight!"

Gaia-Will-Judge grunts and inspects his claws. ~I'm all outta bubble gum.~
He looks at the Kaz crew and gives a wolfy grin.

David Cox raises a tentative hand. "I have a caveat to what I'm supposed to
be doing, and I want an agreement before I start."

Max, who's in hispo and almost as restless as her mentor, snaps at the air
near Dane, in agreement.

Rusty nods quietly to Eamon, looking deadly serious...something he rarely
shows.

Hatchet, otherwise known as the yellow-furred dog of a crinos, howls out a
big fat, ~Hell yeah!~, waving a sniper rifle in his hand. Where did Nevada
get a thing like that? Courtesy of his flatmate, Yi, and a galliard like
himself, Roger.

Perrin stands quietly some 8 or 10 feet behind Cox. He appears deep in
thought.

Eye-of-Ra's answering chuff to Eamon twists into a low rumble before she
shifts herself into Glabro. She makes no mention of her own tribe, but nods
her head in understanding.

Several minutes later, Max skinnies up a tree, a rifle in hand.

Alicia shifts a bit on her feet, doing a bit of concentration. After the
soft prayers is over, she slides out a barretta, checking the safety off,
and making sure the clip is full.

Layne bristles noticeably at Eamon's words, her vibrant, Fianna spirit
mixing with something darker, less jovial and far more grim. Bulking up into
Glabro, the pixie-grin on her lips twists into something much more sadistic,
pale eyes brimming with the flames of rage.

Megaera pulls a throwing dager out of her vest and lightly tosses it from
hand-to-hand. Remaining in Homid and starting to get a little impatient.

Kaz asks, generally, ~Yo, folks, we all set? Can I get this shindig on the
road?~

Salem's brutish, scarred Glabro features are settled into a four, tight
expression. His hair's tied back away from his face; anyone looking close
might notice some small bird charm attached to the elastic. After checking
the Barrett rifle one more time, he moves into a place of concealment and
settles down.

Francisco checks over his sniper rifle one more time, rage simmering within
his dark eyes. He finds a good spot with his packmates and gets settled, his
gun to his shoulder, and his handgun in easy reach in its holster.

Leala moves next to Francisco, checking her .45 and readying it. If you try
to look closely at her, you'll find that you can't quite focus on her. She's
a bit blurry.

"Does anyone here have silver?" David Cox asks, once again trying to get the
attention of the Garou.

Alicia heads after Frankie and Leala, sliding along next to them as she
lowers herself down, getting out of eyeshot. She hunkers down, readying
herself, whispering soft prayers.

Seirian's stormy eyes light up to match the feral grin that spreads across
her face. "I, who am about to die, will show you a Roman's grave -- piled
high with Caesar's enemies!" the Galliard murmurs under her breath, cracking
her knuckles and generally waiting for this row to get kicking.

Francisco replies, "I do," to David Cox, voice low and harsh.

Gaia-Will-Judge rumbles quietly, nods at Kaz, and reaches up to pull himself
into a tree.

Max, up in her tree, says that she does.

Anneka could be human in glabro, but only in the dark. She stays where she's
tucked herself amidst the trees, a heavy, ugly-looking manhole cover shield
strapped to an arm, a hand set near a pocket where the butt of a gun sticks
out, right in reach. She glances up towards Max, then settles in to watch
and wait.

John takes on Crinos for just long enough to get up in a tree and find the
best vantage point for snipering the enemies. Once there he is in glabro
again, ready and willing to bring down his enemies. About ten feet away,
Salem does the same, stealing up into the trees and setting up death from
above. The rest of Synthesis lays in wait on the ground to be the second
prong of the sniper team.

Nevada shakes his large, point-muzzled head. ~Just leaded gasoline here,~ he
rumbles.

David Cox continues, "I'm doing a ritual that will change the silver in the
area to aluminum. All the silver. Yours and theirs. If I pump too much power
into it, I might get someone's silverware, but that can't be helped. If it'
magic, it should be okay." He purses his lips before adding, "If you /don't/
want this, let me know now. If I try selectively changing, I won't get done
tonight."

Raeye rolls her shoulders and cracks her neck, muttering quiet words
addressed to Gaia, Owl, Bennu under her breath. She slips her talen into a
pocket, bends down and retrieves one out of three throwing knives strapped
to her leg, the blade a bit slimmer than Megaera's. Her eyes burn as she
listens to the mage.

Kaz turns to regard the mage. "Who, me? Mind? I completely and utterly fail
to mind whatsoever, captain. You, in fact, have all /kinds/ of gratitude."

John grunts down to Cox, more ordering the mage then suggesting. "Allow us
to make our opening volley of attacks first, then hit it."

Eamon blinks. "Shit man, I got no problem with that." He shifts up to the
warform and his form becomes blurry and somewhat harder to see. Less of a
target.

Francisco blinks at David, then grins, flashing his elongated teeth. "Well,
I guess I'll have to switch out my clip." Saying so, he does, with the .45.

Rusty glances at David. "I don't know what you can and can't do - could you
manage to define the area? Everything out past Kaz, for instance?"

Seirian glances to either side of her for no obvious reason, mutters
something to herself, and goes down to hispo for now. She leaves the
discussion up to those with questions, merely waiting...less than patiently.

David Cox frowns. "Radius is easiest. Anything beyond that gets complicated.
I can do a /good/ radius, but y'all /will/ be included." To John, he adds,
"I'll start the ritual in a moment. It'll be finished when it's finished.
That's the best I can do."

Rusty hrms, and nods. "Whatever the silver-packing people want, then." He
shifts down to hispo, and moves into the undergrowth for cover.

Perrin looks around him, his head turning in random directions. His eyes
glow very faintly with blue light as he does.

Megaera nods, turning her attention toward the Corax. "Taking away their
silver will give us an advantage. For that, you have our thanks."

John just grunts to the mage again, and adds to his pack. "You heard him.
First bullet silver if you're packin', the rest whatever else you have
tonight. Aim to suppress. Don't concentrate too much on any one of them,
weaken if you can't kill."

David Cox takes out a flint knife and cuts a slash across his palm. "If
we're starting here, then I'll start the ritual now."

The metis glances up at Max in her tree. Max gives her the finger.
Apparently, this makes Kaz feel better, as she nods at David Cox, and stops
fidgeting. "Please. I Call them now," she manages, from a Crinos throat.

Eamon takes cover, crouching low in the underbrush to wait for the Dancers
to come.

Song-of-Fury looks up, leaping nimbly into a large tree, and hiding himself
behind a clump of branches within eyesight of Kaz.

Raeye also conceals herself behind a tree, knife poised in wait.

David Cox begins to dribble his blood in a circle around him as he chants
softly, making a point to flick out blood at the cardinal points.

Nevada takes his glabro form, twisting behind a tree a few ways away from
Max's and readies the rifle in his hand.

Kaz falls into hispo, and throws her head back. The howl that emerges is
grating, uncomfortable; disconcerting, even. She's off loping off, parallell
to where the Bawn ends, before it's even done ringing off the trees.

The sounds of bullets being loaded into chambers sounds almost at once from
many guns as Synthesis takes the final steps in preparing themselves.

The Chorister waits just beyond the perimeter of the Verbena's ritual
circle, down on one knee as he continues to ready himself for the struggle
to come.

Megaera locates an unoccupied tree and climbs it, settling down on a thick
branch. Lining up her knives on the branch infront of her, the Fury waits.

As the Bone Gnawer's howl rises into the night, it is shortly answered by
one, two, four, eight, and then innumerable howls in response from deeper
into the forest. The cacophany of discordant, blood curdling howls dies out
into an eerie and pregnant silence.

Layne crouches into hispo, pressing her weight onto her forepaws, stare
fixed defiantly upon the black forest ahead. Waiting...

Time passes. Then, without warning, a scream flies through the trees and an
arrow embeds itself into Kaz. The arrow's scream is silenced on impact, but
the scream is reborn through Kaz's own lungs as pain rips through her left
arm.

Anneka waits, crouched in the undergrowth on the balls of her feet, where
Kaz lit off from. Her shield's gray and grimy, chipped and worn. There's a
click from her own gun, muffled and quiet compared to Synthesis. Nevada
chambers the first round and tilts the gun muzzle towards direction of the
howls. He crouches behind a tree and a bush like a rat in its hole.
Song-of-Fury's hackles rise as he hears the howl and the answers that meet
it, his huge talons clenching and unclenching rhythmically. A low, soft
growl escapes his throat. Gaia-Will-Judge's claws, meanwhile, peel bark off
the branch he's crouched on as he works to hold in the snarl he feels in
response to the howls.

David Cox takes four roses from a pouch, ignoring the screams for a moment
as he lays a single rose to the north, south, east, and west. As each is
laid down, it shimmers for a moment.

Perrin flinches at the scream, and the howls, but sinks deeper into his
meditation, his prayer ascending in muted whispers to the night sky.

Synthesis lays in wait, peering deeply towards where the arrow came from for
the enemy to show. Alicia calms herself silently, and grips the gun in her
hand. Crouched out of sight, waiting, scaning the distance ahead. Frankie
draws his .45, loaded with silver after all, ready to fire upon the
wyrmthings, frame taut with rage. Salem waits, petiently, his weapon at the
ready and braced for attack. It is safe to say, the first enemies that show
will be showered with lead and various other metals.

Kaz yelps, but manages to keep running into cover; shifting up, she gets her
manhole cover-cum-shield.

Another arrow screams out, weaving impossibly through the forest, this time
finding a home in Raeye's leg, biting deep and causing her to howl in pain,
further betraying the Garou's location.

Ever-Grinning stays low in the undergrowth, his blurred form difficult to
see in the cover. He waits for the Walkers to begin their barrage. Rusty
keeps his position in the undergrowth, hackles rising as he watches,
waiting. Raeye grates her teeth after crying out, regaining her balance. She
doesn't bother pulling it out, opting to ignore it, and takes the talen out
and shifts up to Crinos, waiting for a sign of visible enemies. Luna-Singer
tucks herself down very low to the ground, haunches bunched to spring in any
direction when the time comes for it, talen hidden between her paws.
Megaera's jaw clenches as her knuckles turn white. The throwing dagger in
her right hand remains steady, as she waits for a target that she can see.
Dreams-Deadly's hackles stand at attention when the screams and howls ooze
into the night air, lips peeled back into a seemingly perpetual snarl. Eyes
wide and warning, nostrils flared, every muscle in her body tenses; it's all
she can do to keep in hiding, prevent herself from eagerly tearing forward
out of her skin.

Bullets from the north suddenly begin to whing and zip through the trees,
some getting close either by aim or by luck--maybe a combination of the two.
Miraculously, no one gets hit. Yet. Very distant and faint shadowy forms can
be seen moving from tree trunk to tree trunk in the darkness, using them as
cover. It's like something out of a Vietnam war flick, but with less jungle
and more forest.

Don't fire til you see the whites of their eyes, is apparently the logic.
Anneka draws her lips back from sharp teeth, her hair a yellow mane around
her wolfish face. She turns her makeshift shield towards the dark howls,
glances towards Kaz, then towards the moving shadows. She holds her own gun
down, where the moonlight won't catch on it, waits for the enemy to get
closer. Nevada hisses between clenched teeth, his trigger finger eager.
~Come on, suckers,~ he growls quietly while partly peering through the
scope. Gaia-Will-Judge watches through the branches, listening intently for
the sounds of anything moving in the enemy's direction. Song-of-Fury
switches branches, moving to the opposite side of the trunk from the
direction the arrows are originating. His growl grows slightly. Max, in her
tree, chews bubblegum.

David Cox frowns just a touch at the bullets, but continues chanting. This
time, he pulls out two small lumps of metal, placing one to his right and
one to his left.

Synthesis, with the big guns, bides its time. In the trees, and on the
ground, the snipers hold their fire-- waiting with grim patience for a
decent target. John growls softly, "Make it count..." as if they needed
reminding. While Leala peeks from behind foliage, Alicia continues to wait
patiently; she sifts a bit from knee to knee. She slides the second gun out
and takes aim at a dancing shadow, one eye squinting. The trees and bushes
give decent coverage. All they have is time...

Ever-Grinning grits his teeth and stays low. ~Wait for it,~ he growls under
his breath, to his packmates. ~Wait for it...~ Rusty tries not to flinch as
the other side opens fire first, staying low to the ground and out of side
until they get closer. Megaera eyes narrow as she focuses on one of the
shadow-forms. When she judges that one of the shadows are close enough too
her perch, she takes aim and throws a dagger at its center. Hard.
Dreams-Deadly's ears are pitched forward tightly, eyes tracking the progress
of the sickly shadows through the trees. Calculating, she tries to determine
which attacker will prove the best target for her own assault, while
remaining in the cover of undergrowth. Eye-of-Ra crouches down and takes up
the wait, preparing herself for an attack from any direction. She continues
to wince at the arrow and eases to her other foot.

Another arrows screams through the forest and finds a home in Francisco,
causing him to yelp loudly in pain as it bites deep into his left shoulder.
A bullet barely clips Raeye's calf muscle. The BSDs apparently aren't
rushing in. Certainly they're coming, but they're taking their sweet time
about it. It's difficult to judge their numbers in the dark and with their
quick and darting movements coupled with their use of cover. Megaera's
dagger whirls into the forest towards a figure. It may have hit or may not.
If it did, the target made no noise.

Reaching into his pouch again, David Cox pulls out two more blood red roses.
He holds one over each of the lumps of silver, and the petals fall off,
turning into a golden shimmer as they fall and cascade over the metals.

Max, responding to something unspoken, starts firing into the trees. She
seems to be a fairly good shot, for someone stuck in a tree branch. She's
well secured. Nevada risks his safe spot, using the scope on the rifle the
way Yi had impromptu taught him. He leads his chosen target, aiming for the
biggest surface area to hit. With bullets ringing and arrows flying, the
galliard waits seconds more to make sure of his target and then squeezes the
trigger. Dane and Jarred wait, while Kaz drops into lupus again, belts out
another Call, a grating, teeth grinding thing, and falls back into her
birthform, shield at the ready.

Ever-Grinning doesn't seem to notice the bullets zipping through the air
around him. He waits like a trap-door spider, ready to move when the right
moment comes. Megaera scowls and picks up another dagger, mentally cursing
herself for being impatient. Luna-Singer hugs the ground as if it were a
lover or long-lost friend, flattening her profile as much as possible to
keep from being a target and watching the shadowed shapes draw closer with
swiftly growing impatience reluctantly restrained. Eye-of-Ra's ears flatten
but otherwise remains unfazed as she's grazed by the bullet, and takes up
the knife again, straining to track the approaching shadows. She maneuvers
further into the surrounding foliage to make her harder to see, though her
general location is obvious. Rusty stifles his impatience and stays as out
of sight as he can in the undergrowth, his hackles still raised.
Dreams-Deadly waits in cover. The Fianna doesn't have a method of ranged
attack, and will hold off on using the Talen until she can really make it
count. For now, she shifts the weight of her bulky hispo body back and
forth, focus trained steadily on the slow approach of the Dancers.

Anneka cants her head, then sets her shield down on the ground and herself
behind it. Her gun's draw from a baggy pocket, she squints an eye shut as
she leans around the thick metal circle to catch one of those shadows along
the pistol's site. Luck, sure, why not. Soon as Max starts firing, she does
as well-- three quick shots into the dark.

With all the gunfire already spraying off, Alicia continues to hold her
position under the cover of the thick branches and bushes, taking aim, still
watching the black leaping things racing towards them. She'll only fire when
her Alpha gives the word to unleash hell. And then... the order comes in
actions. Turning his head as the shots begin to ring out, John grunts
towards Salem, "Hold off on the fifty-cal." Looking down at his targets
again, the Walker Elder narrows his eyes, takes careful aim, and fires a
shot. He quickly lines up the next one in this simple, methodical practice.
Salem remains statuelike. He doesn't acknowledge John's order, but he must
have heard it, since he doesn't fire. Francisco, gritting his teeth and
bleeding from the shoulder, picks up his sniper rifle and sights through the
scope on the elusive Dancers; waiting for a good shot, and - when one
presents itself - taking it. Despite the fact that she can't get a totally
clear shot, Leala fires her .45 at the closest shadow she can see, hoping to
take it down with a black talon.

Nevada squeezes off a single shot from the sniper rifle he has negligible
training with. There's no telling where the shot went, but at least it
didn't hit any friendlies. Max begins firing from her perch further up in a
tree. The Walkers begin firing and a howl of pain emerges from the BSDs'
position. As the BSDs draw closer, nearing 50 yards distance from the Garou
now. As the two forces begin to engage one another and shots ring out
through the forest, a startling crash of underbrush can just barely be heard
from the gathering's flank--all of 30 yards away. The more perceptive notice
a blurred, bald, jackal-like wolf speeding towards the garou at an
unnaturally fast clip--headed towards the nearest cluster of Garou--the pack
of Trouble. As Nevada chambers the next round in the sniper rifle, half his
head explodes open and he falls over onto the ground. Brains lightly spray
over nearby Anneka.

Without even a word to end his life, Nevada's headless body keels over and
drops dead. The sniper rifle falls from dead hands, hitting the ground with
a light clunk lost in the hail of battle sounds. His form performs one last
shift to the lifeless corpse of a teen clothed in tattered rags for clothes.
At least he went out with a bang.

The death of a Hidden Walk Garou seems almost not to register on the two
tree-bound Walkers. Salem's expression doesn't change from it's rigid
frigidity. The ex-Ronin trains the .50 caliber rifle on the speeding
jackal-thing, leading it. He inhales a breath, holds it, fires. Then moves
to the next target. Cold, utterly. Whilst John continues firing with
precision and efficiency at the advancing shadows (seeming almost relaxed),
Francisco on the ground, begins sniping in earnest, at whatever may emerge
from the trees. Crack crack crack. Leala turns her attention to the large,
balf wolf as well, getting a few shots off. She's obviously laboring to
remain calm, but keeps her focus on the task at hand, attempting to blow a
huge hole in baldy. And while the Walkers keep their cool... Glancing over
her shoulder, Alicia's eyes widen, watching her best friend's head get
ripped off by the beast. She feels the rush, her heart exploding as a
lifetime of memories gets washed away. Ripping out with a wild scream, she
turns herself about and squeezes upon the triggers, unleashing an angry nest
of black talens at the beast.

Ever-Grinning remains patient, waiting for the Walkers to be done firing. He
sees Nevada die and the Dancer emerge, but stays still, clawing at the
ground. Now that the Dancers are closer, Eye-of-Ra tries to single one out
-- or a group, if she finds a few BSDs clustered together -- she keeps her
eye on her chosen target, knife ready for them to be within range.
Luna-Singer briefly startles at the crash off to the side, shifting to
Crinos while keeping low and clutching the talen in one hand to keep it at
the ready. Her gaze flicks all around now, watching for shapes all around
her, not just coming from straight ahead. Megaera fails to notice the
jackal-like wolf as it speeds toward Trouble. Her attention focused on one
of the shadows, as she remains hidden in the trees. Dreams-Deadly spins as
quickly toward the nearby commotion as she can without betraying her
position, skin jumping beneath her stiffened hackles. She does catch sight
of the creature rapidly closing in on Trouble, and readies herself for an
attack. Rusty notices the jackal, but it's still a little too far away, and
the others are worse. He waits a few more moments - giving the gun-users
some more shots to pick things off.

The Shadow Lord drops from the tree and rushes at top speed toward the bald
wolf, his own velocity fueled by his seething rage. Once within range, his
hands come together with a deafening crack and a roll of thunder sends
shockwaves outward from his location toward the loping monster.
Bridge-Mender's eyes turn yellow, then amber. She's in crinos by the time
she's dropped her shield, her own gun left where she stood as she runs to
stand beside the Shadow Lord. Whatever makes it through the thunder will
have more than one Garou against it. Gaia-Will-Judge, too, leaps out of his
tree when he hears Jarred's strike. He charges to join the SL and readies
himself in case the bald wolf has friends. Kaz goes rigid, and then hurtles
out after Dane; she looks just slightly less in control of herself than she
was a moment before. Max turns her attention to... whatever it is... that's
coming, trying (probably in vain) to hit it.

David Cox continues chanting, sprinkling rose petals towards the direction
of the incoming shots. At the peal of thunder, he turns again, then just
closes his eyes for a moment.

The kamikazi wolf, complete with what's obviously a Strider gift, makes
considerable headway by doing nothing but running and dodging, taking a hit
here and there from Leala and Alicia's gunfire, until Salem's military-grade
sniper rifle of death goes off with a *BLAM!* that is then put to shame by
Jarred's thunderous clap. The bald jackal-wolf, gaping hole in the middle of
its spine from the .50 cal, is very, very, very dead. No longer blurred, its
form easier to see, a device falls from its mouth--wired in to a dog vest
strapped with explosives. Light and thunder once more rip through the area
as the explosion blasts Jarred backwards 20 feet in one direction and his
right arm from the elbow down an extra 10 feet on top of that. Anneka,
lighter, gets an extra 5 feet of range and loses an eye to shrapnel. Nearby
trees rock crazily, ruining Salem's second shot. Max's tree, closest to the
blast zone, begins to fall over towards Trouble's vicinity with ominous
cracking noises that'd be more appreciated if everyone in the area wasn't
already deafened. Those shooting into the woods at the BSDs score here and
there as indicated by growls and snarls of pain. Incoming fire from the BSDs
continues as the group draws nearer and nearer. Suddenly two patches of
blackness emerge and charge out of the forest. Salem, up in the tree, sees
three more crinos rushing in behind them, using the blackness as cover.

John pages: No shot fired, just ruined the chance. Take that shot again,
with more WP. Three incoming!

Squinting along the sights of the assault rifle, John barks out, "If you got
it, use it. Closing," to his packmate on the ground, and squeezes the
trigger to let out controlled bursts at the approaching Dancers, rather than
the previous single shots. Salem grits his teeth and then, as his tree
steadies, he takes aim at the charging Crinos. Again, the ritual: aim,
inhale a breath, hold it, fire. And again, focussing his mind and will to
make every shot count as much as possible. On the ground, as the explosion
rocks their immediate surroundings, Leala braces herself, tipping slightly
into the foliage she's hunkering in. She turns her attention back to the
forthcoming dancers and empties her clip of black talons into the closest
one, drops the .45, draws a second one, and immediately takes aim. As the
explosion rocks their immediate surroundings, Ducking a bit from the
explosion, Alicia pops her head back up and once more and starts firing,
chest high at the two spirals that have stepped forward to duke it out. She
is concentrated now, focusing her mind as she prepares to tear holes through
the enemy.

Song-of-Fury reels from his airborne journey, laying on the ground where he
was deposited by the blast. he doesn't appear to be moving. Bridge-Mender
writhes where she's fallen on the ground, healing quick but in a way that
will leave awful scars behind. She stands, though, shakes her head and looks
to her packmates. One eye's bright with rage, the other's gone, a webwork of
scars. She snarls, groups with who is left to face the oncoming Spirals.
Gaia-Will-Judge staggers from the shock of the blast, then looks around,
trying to make up with his eyes for his lack of hearing. Max leaps out of
the tree before it falls over, shifting as she goes; she heads for her
packmates once she's on the ground. Kaz, meanwhile, further away, just gets
slammed to the ground. Then she's up, and growling; she drops into glabro,
finds a large ball of glass; she glares at it, and then, saying, "I'm being
very caaaareful..." she /tosses/ it, hard, at the Shroud. Then she falls
into crinos again, trying to defend her packmates, shield at the ready.

Ever-Grinning flinches as the bomb goes off, ducking low to avoid shrapnel.
He snarls out from concealment, ~Raeye, talen.~ Eye-of-Ra immediately takes
up her talen and snaps the wood in half, releasing the hornets to the
approaching shrouded BSDs. Megaera swears and clings to her perch as the
force of the explosion nearly pitches her to the ground. Luna-Singer
flattens her ears in vain as the explosion rings in her ears, turning a
whine of pain at the sound to a growl of frustration, holding her ground
against the oncoming shadows as they near. Dreams-Deadly draws herself in,
like a tightly coiled spring. With the sudden cacauphony of howls and
explosion and movement, she finds it difficult to focus on a target--but she
does. Her attention snaps determinedly toward the approaching Dancers; if
one comes close enough, she launches herself from the brush, full-force in
what she hopes will be a surprise attack. Rusty snarls as the explosion
leaves him deafened momentarily. He starts to circle through the
undergrowth, trying to get around and to the side of the some of the
incoming Dancers to attack from behind.

Francisco keeps firing into the oncoming Dancers rushing his pack, lips
drawn back in a continual furious snarl.

David Cox looks around, thinking quickly. Finally, he decides that iscretion
is the better part of valor, and he starts climbing a nearby tree, settling
in before getting as high as he perhaps should.

Salem's single shot causes a trailing Dancer's crinos head to explode even
more messily than Nevada's did earlier. An answering *crack!* from the woods
thuds heavily into Salem's chest, which promptly makes sucking and gurgling
sounds. The hail of gunfire disgorged at the approaching dancers and
shrounded dancers is met with a returning hail of gunfire. Everyone in the
vicinity not behind har cover takes a bullet or two from small arms fire in
the orgy of lead being sprayed over the area. Raeye's talen lifts the
blackness from one of two foremost BSDs, revealing a bat-eared crinos with
scales rather than fur and more scars than one could think possible to
endure. The other blackness shrouded BSDs closes in on Trouble with two
other crinos coming in from each side. All of Trouble manages to avoid being
squashed flat by the tree in the process, but are promptly engulfed by the
absolute blackness. A group of 4 more BSDs carrying sporting rifles rushes
out of the forest towards Eamon and his group. Megaera plants a throwing
dagger in one BSD's throat, but it keeps coming. Hand-to-hand looks
inevitable at this point.

Both Anneka and Dane look to want to guard Jarred, but, just as darkness
falls, Kaz snarls, ~Awwwww, /shit/. Move, people, kick ass,~ and, an instant
after Max launches herself at the Shrouded Dancer, follows her packmate,
barreling in low, trying to knock him down while the crinosed Max goes high,
relying on senses other than sight, ripping and tearing at him. Anneka is
close behind, slashing in once Max falls back slightly. Gaia-Will-Judge,
too, though not quite as coordinated as the rest of Trouble, follows,
snarling.

The Chorister cries out in pain as the bullets tear into him. He lashes out
at the nearest Dancer with a blast of Prime energy that flashes from his
outstretched fingers.

Ever-Grinning grunts as he catches a round in the shoulder, but it does no
real damage. He waits until the nearest Dancer is almost on top of him, then
leaps upward, aiming an uppercut with his metal hand at its jaw. Megaera is
out of throwing daggers, but that doesn't stop her from throwing one of her
dueling knives at the scaled crinos' left eyeball. Shifting into crinos, the
Fury abandones the remainder of her weaponry as she leaps out of her tree
and at the nearest Dancer. Dreams-Deadly's jaws snap open in a quick yelp as
a bullet sinks into her hindflank. The plaintive sound turns quickly into an
aggressive rumble as she sheds the swifter hispo form for crinos, favored in
close combat. As the Dancers spill forward, the Fianna doesn't hesitate to
lunge for the open throat or belly of an enemy if one draws too near.
Rusty's mouth curls into a silent snarl as he gets tagged by a bullet. He
dashes in from the side, trying for a quick rush-in/rush-out hamstring of
one of the Dancers approaching Eamon and the others. Eye-of-Ra reaches down
for another throwing knife; she aims it at one of the four oncoming Dancers,
and unleashes it at one's neck head. Luna-Singer clutches the talen in her
left hand and springs up and to the right of the oncoming four Spirals,
attempting to draw at least one more towards her red-furred shape before she
attacks.

Salem sucks in a gasping breath and clutches at his wound. Then discipline
takes over and he channels his Rage into a quick shift to Crinos form,
leaving the rifle (hopefully safe) up in the tree. Motions blur with
supernatural speed as he slides down the tree and tears off the kevlar
duct-taped to his massive form. Painful? Probably. The chest wound hurts
more. Seeing Salem abandon the rifle, John growls with frustration and moves
to clamber quickly down from his own perch. And should he recover fast
enough and have the shot... fill any nearby Dancers with high-powered leaden
death. Otherwise, it's Salem's tree, and the rifle, for John. On the ground,
Francisco drops his gun and swells up into Crinos, tearing off his kevlar;
now relying on the weapons Gaia gave him the philo launches himself at the
throat of the nearest Dancer. Rushing forward in a blur of speed and a shift
to Crinos, Guards-The-Flame goes low as Frankie goes high, hoping her claws
can sink into the Spiral's thigh and rip out a hamstring.

Leala shifts into Crinos, pulling off her kevlar vest and falling in next to
Salem. Elsewhere... As the four rearmost Dancers move in with their rifles,
a Crinos shadow comes out of the trees to step behind one of the beasts on
the end, swift and silent, razor-sharp claws going for the throat. The
greyish-furred figure, perhaps recognizable as Chas, attempt to grapple her
chosen victim from behind, then turn to place his body between her own and
the rifles.

David Cox, relatively safe in his perch, winces at the bullet perforations
but just concentrates on breathing for a second. Finally, he grabs another
rose tightly, breaking skin on its thorns, and waves it at a Black Spiral
Dancer, its petals falling off in another golden shimmer as it moves.

Light issues forth from a thrown talen, brightening the area for combat, but
it's quickly overshadowed. Octarine and azure fire leaps from Perrin's hands
towards one of the spirals, setting it ablaze with a strange flame that
begins to fade the dancer almost right out of existence. Its screams of
agony echo through the woods, but it's not dead yet. The predominently
Fianna group rages toe-to-toe with the BSDs. Eamon right hooks one BSD and
shatters his jaw as he gets clawed once in return. It staggers backwards
from the blow. Megaera leaps, clawing, onto the lead spiral, which blurs
into a literal whirlwind of rage. The battle lasts a mere two seconds before
the gutted Fury falls to the ground, spine snapped and most of her insides
all over the outside. Dreams-Deadly and Rusty tag team a third BSD and swap
blows, looking to have the edge over the BSD in the first round of
blows--though Rusty catches a nasty claw rake over his face. Raeye's dagger
sinks deep into the same BSD's arm, rendering it useless. Trouble engages
the three BSDs. Max, slightly further forward from her tree jumping earlier,
is engulfed by the shrouded BSD's charge. Kaz follows in hot on her heels.
Screams, snarls, and wet squishy sounds begin to eminate from within. Dane
and Anneka arrive, each catching a bullet on their way over before
disappearing into the blackness. Relying on scents, there is an overwhelming
scent of blood and cordite.

Salem and Leala move past the shrouded BSD that Trouble is engaging and
trade blows with one BSD--Salem getting hit in the process but the two Garou
definitely getting the best of the one BSD. John hefts and readies the God
Gun the Walkers brought to the party, squeezes off a round, and nearly tears
an arm off of the third BSD near Trouble. Francisco and Guards descend on
the wounded BSD, rage flies, both Garou get swiped by claws, but the BSD
goes down under their flurry of combined blows. Chaser comes from out of
nowhere and nearly KO's the fourth BSD harassing Eamon and crew--right as
smoke and sizzling sounds come from its mouth as it is burned alive from the
inside. It drops to the ground as its skin begins to boil and pop.

Ever-Grinning presses the advantage, punching and clawing at the staggered
Dancer. He howls in rage and pain, a blue-striped demon with burning green
eyes. Eye-of-Ra's hackles spike at the sight of Meg's body exploding, and
she channels this anger into a lunge at the Spiral she'd just knifed. If he
makes a lunge at her, she will dance back a few steps; if not, her left hand
of claws are going to strike at the BSD's abdomen. Hopefully get inside it
and wiggle it around. Rusty snarls in pain, blood dripping from the
claw-rake across his face and muzzle. He circles more warily, looking for an
opening when it's distracted to leap in and rip at its back. Luna-Singer
hangs onto the talen by clamping her jaws around it firmly, but not hard
enough to break it. Both hands free, she goes after one of the
rifle-wielding Spirals with a slightly muffled snarl. Were Dreams-Deadly not
engaged in her own brutal contest of teeth and claws with one Dancer, she
might have noticed the Fury's fall. But she does not. The Fianna continues
in on the same attacker with another series of slashes and strikes,
intending to overtake it completely. Megaera never got to see if her thown
dagger managed to reach its target, as she launched herself at the lead
Dancer. Only to have her guts spilled and scattered, like a pile of
undercooked sausages. Toppling, the crinos reverts to her birth form. Raven
black hair frameing the pale face of very dead woman, the only part of her
body that is still reconizable.

Perrin lashes out again at the same Dancer he hit before, and this time he
puts some holy STANK on it. The effort of the magic sends him down to a
prone position from where he knelt. He props himself up with his free arm as
he channels quintessence in its raw form.

There's a long pause from inside the Shroud, and then there are the sounds
of incoherent Rage. Kaz is completely gone; Anneka is just barely holding
on, a whirling pile of teeth and claws. Dane, the lone Gaian, continues to
slash and hack when he can; eventually, the Shroud falls, leaving a bloodied
Dancer, lying on the ground, a bloodied Max, lying beneath him, and a
frenzied Kaz, lashing out at anything that moves, which, in this case,
happens to be Dane. She gets several good licks in before sense overrides
rage and she turns her attentions to the Dancers, lurching towards whoever
is nearest.

Salem bares his fangs in a rictus, silent snarl, claws blurring with buzzsaw
speed as he and Paints-Light tear into the wounded Dancer, his own dark fur
slick with blood. Paints-Light, sticking close to Salem, snarls and lashes
out at the Dancer, swiping furiously. Skyscraper finishes with his current
victim, pulling claws out of the Dancer's mangled body and springing after
the next. Following right after Skyscraper quickly, Guards-The-Flame is at
his side, rushing in a blur of speed as her claws hone in on the next
spiral, fighting side by side with her brother. She aims two quick attacks,
hoping to sink her rage into the creature's torso and tear it out. Chaser
steps back behind the four Dancers' flagging line, shielding herself as much
as possible with the twitching body of the cooked one. She looks wildly for
a target, seeking to flank or attack from the rear again; her choice is the
Dancer who just eviscerated Megaera, and she launches herself at the deadly
fighter in a blur of rage. At the same time, the Walker Elder calmly narrows
his eyes (ignoring random incoming sniper fire), and takes careful aim,
looking to properly finish the meanest-looking guy left. He fires.

David Cox, still in his tree, looks to the Shroud for a moment before it
goes down, then redirects his attention, looking down towards John's gun,
taking out one of the lumps of metal frombefore and squeezing it tightly as
he concentrates on the gun.

Kaz's pack follows her, tormenting and attacking in turn; Anneka slashes at
stomachs, blinding and emptying guts onto the ground. It isn't terribly
pretty to look at. Dane is slightly more restrained, but only slightly.

Eamon trades two blows for one in return and his BSD falls to the ground
lifeless. Regardless of Raeye's intent, the BSD that recently felled Megaera
goes first and rends the Strider senseless in a blur of rage, though
Eye-of-Ra does manage to land a blow under the onslaught. Luna-Singer
literally saves the Strider's life as she crashes into it from the side.
Rusty and Dreams Deadly are able to finish off the badly mauled dancer,
though Dreams catches a blow in the process as the BSD rage heals for a
final strike before dying. The group of four BSDs has been reduced to just
one whirling ball of well-experienced, mildly wounded BSD.

Flames blaze across the battlefield again in a stunning display as Perrin
lashes out with arcane forces and blasts the same BSD a second time, erasing
it from reality and leaving nothing but a scorched patch where it once
stood. Perrin himself begins to flame as reality punishes the mage for the
vulgar magic, then two bullets from the woods slam into the highly visible
mage's chest, knocking him off the ground and onto his back as the fires
flicker and cascade over his body.

Salem and Leala rend their BSD apart in short order, managing to duck the
incoming blows in the process in the lopsided battle. Guards and Skyscraper,
lacking a convenient nearby target, close in on the woods where the sniping
is coming from still. They are each hit by incoming bullets. Chaser rushes
to assist Luna-Singer and Eye-of-Ra from a truly nasty dancer, but John's
.50 cal bullet finds its mark first and knocks the crinos over, dead, the
scent of burning flesh from silver in the air. The dead BSD almost gets back
up again as it rage heals, but Chaser, now on the scene, delivers the second
killing blow to the hideously wounded battle monstrosity, claws raking out
its throat.

Kaz and Anneka, rage blinding sense, go headlong for the nearest Dancer,
scrabbling at tendons, hamstrings, guts, and anything else in their way.
Dane, meanwhile, drops back to guard Jarred, scrambling behind the fallen
Trouble Tree to fire the gun he picks up on the way.

"Visible enemies all down," John barks from his perch, still scanning the
woods for appropriate targets. Snipers. He frowns, and looks down a second,
before barking out orders. "Synthesis, by me! Alicia, healing duty.
Francisco and Salem with me. Leala, see if you can blur and make the way
safe, trap-wise. Keep your heads down." Salem, at John's shout, falls back
to the Ahroun, sinking down onto his haunches to let the bullet-wound heal.
The wounds from the Dancer's claws continue to bleed. Skyscraper falls back
to where his alpha waits with the God Gun, and crouches next to him, panting
and resting a moment to let his wounds heal. On it boss.~ Guards-The-Flame
murmurs as she shifts down to her Glabro form, giving a respectful nod to
her brother in arms, Frankie. She glances over to the blood on her, not
feeling a thing due to her a gift and asseses the damage. Its healing. Thats
a good sign. Retreating and falling back, she makes her way to Jarred's
side, picking up his arm and attempting to reattach it with the blessings of
her healing gift.

Chaser glances toward the voice in the trees, baring her teeth for a moment.
Her eyes narrow, a baleful slant--and then she blurs down into the Lupus and
slinks into the shadows to avoid the attention of the remaining snipers.

Ever-Grinning roars in triumph as he downs the Dancer, but then doubles over
as the pain of wounds overcomes him. He coughs up a large amount of blood
and falls to his knees, breathing heavily and raggedly. He tries to crawl
toward cover to avoid snipers in the trees. ~Well, on the whole I'd say
that~ *cough* ~went pretty~ *hack* ~well.~ Luna-Singer pauses briefly to
take stock of the situation and note who all is down. A brief whine in the
back of her throat turns into a growl as she shifts to Hispo and turns her
attention to the sniping in the trees as well. Raeye is nearly knocked
unconscious by the dancer's furious final attack. She lies on the ground,
motionless, bleeding profusely, but still breathing. Rusty moves to put a
tree between himself and the snipers for a moment, trying to figure out
where the hidden Dancers are located.

The BSDs, having answered the call, begin falling back as their numbers
decrease, gunfire discouraging the garou from following too closely, and
giving the Garou scant seconds to recover before press onwards to meet with
the other battle group, leaving the dead and horribly wounded behind with
healers.

David Cox comes down from the tree as the battle finishes, looking around at
the carnage. "I'll take care of cleaning this," he says. "I won't get
closer."