Raider Assault - Air Division

[get_off_my_lawn]

Who: Taryn, Arturia, Nero, Lleld, Katina, Kusuha, Temeraire, bird beastmen npcs, British npc riders and a possible appearance from Viridi
What: Pre-battle and during battle fights against firedrakes, their mounts, and their camp. The plan is here.
When: June 15th our time - early morning (pre-battle) and actual battle
Where: Raider Camp in the West
Warnings: All the things that come with action movies; blood, violence, cursing, etc



[The battle itself will be run in two parts after the initial assault, when the two groups separate. The raiders will use hit and run skirmish tactics once they can properly react, moving in wings of three. We'll successfully capture 25 drakes, and the combined air/ground forces take out approximately 100 men and 100 drakes. Remember there's a nasty shrapnel ceiling launched from the ground forces to keep the drakes from flying too high.]

Comments

Initial Assault

[get_off_my_lawn]

With the Vanguard crashing into the main body of the camp on the ground and the shrapnel ceiling keeping the drakes from flying too high, the sky was set for their approach.

"Make sure to be well ahead of Termeraire," Taryn said to Lleld as she flew the wolf and the British queen quickly toward them. Carefully, Taryn moved up until she was crouching on the top of the dragon's head. She felt a little bad doing that, but if she wasn't as far forward as she could get, her howl might disrupt Lleld too.

"Arturia, I suggest you shield your ears as best you can..."

And then, drawing in a deep, deep breath, Taryn stirred up her rage, the primal anger her kind had that Gaia instilled in them. She then howled, so loud and powerful that it may as well have been the land itself screaming for battle. A shockwave rushed forth, hitting a great deal of the drakes in the air before them.

With confused cries from both lizard and rider, the sky rained firedrakes, dropping about half of what was before them down to the ground unable to fly. Into the jaws of the beastmen waiting for them.

The howl then cut off, leaving Taryn holding onto Lleld's horn ridges while she panted to catch her breath. Scream of Gaia always took a lot of her energy. She needed a moment to recover before asking Gaia to lend them a hand.

[lady_mayhem]

Easily said, easily done, and the smaller red dragon darted further ahead of the larger of the two. From the lower altitude, she could feel the heat rising from the fires of war beneath them, creating thermals which filled her wings and made soaring that much easier to do; even more easily than they had practiced in the short amount of time before the assault.

It was a relief, really. The extra weight was somewhat awkward and unwieldy - at least to Lleld, who was used to far more agility than she could call upon here. It also helped so she could concentrate on keeping her neck level as the big werewolf climbed along it, the sinuous muscles and veins bulging with effort. They'd practiced this, too. It hadn't been so difficult; the worst part was...

... Well, the fact she couldn't cover her ears so well when the scream was unleashed, and it did leave her slightly dazed.

But Lleld was prepared. She was ready, she had practiced, and it faded quickly. She couldn't say she enjoyed watching all those men and beasts fall, couldn't enjoy killing, but they had to protect their homeland, and she would do so dutifully.

She flew through the throngs of drakes; those falling, those angrily snarling and turning toward pursuit, keeping her profile slim and her wings ready to retract, all on her way toward the big red dragon in the middle.

[ex_cashcow493]

Arturia couldn't do much to be prepared other than to cover her ears with hands clad in metal. The vibrations resonated between the flesh of her ears and the gauntlets she wore, but the young Pendragon woman didn't waiver in the slightest. Doing so would be a weakness to those around them and Arturia could never be seen as such.

Once she had been sure that the cry was over, she lowered her arms only to grip at the scales underneath her form. It had been a gentle hold, the girl unconsciously aware of what was best for a beast like her, but a firm one nonetheless.

"Do you think the field needs to be cleared a bit more?" Her voice would be loud enough to be heard over the cries around them.

[get_off_my_lawn]

The werewolf backed off of Lleld's head, down her neck, to where her weight was better distributed and she felt more stable.

"Yes... but I have something up my sleeve." She pulls a tarot cards out, The Chariot, and hands it to Arturia. "Use this in a few moments. Nature needs to make a statement before we are ready to descend upon our enemies in full."

Raising one large paw up into the air, Taryn closed her eyes and sought out her connection to Viridi, to her spiritual mother. Then her eyes opened, blazing with righteous rage.

"GAIA! THESE RAIDERS SCORCH YOUR SKIN, BURN YOUR CHILDREN, DESTROY YOUR ESSENCE WITH THEIR PRESENCE. I, TARYN SHADOW-WALKER, BESEECH YOU TO GIVE THEM A TASTE OF THE RAGE THEY ARE DO.

WE ARE YOUR BLADES, YOUR CLAWS, YOUR FANGS, YOUR WARRIORS! GRANT US YOUR BLESSING AND TAKE THE ADVANTAGE OF THE WINDS FROM THESE RAIDERS!"

[ooc: Incoming deity~]

[forceofnature]

Righteous indignation is, perhaps, the cardinal emotion of the being on whom Taryn now called. It is a potent force. Blinding in its exhilaration, deadly in its sheer overwhelming strength. The ire in Taryn's voice and stance so perfectly mirrors the long festering anger of her goddess; there can be no doubt that Nature will respond in kind.

Even as Taryn speaks, her words are lifted up by the winds and carried through the air, reaching the ears of each and every combatant in this pivotal battle. Viridi is not an unreasonable goddess. No. Certainly not. Scum of the earth - know the sins for which your lives are forfeit. And in your final moments, realize the consequences for the crimes you commit against your fellow man, against the earth, against all of life itself.

...There follows only silence after the speech. For a few moments, all that can be heard are the echoes of the condemnation of the Ar-Righ, hollowly resounding for those to whom it is directed.

Grant us your blessing... blessing... blessing....

The miracle that follows happens in the space of a lightning strike. A thousand spears of electricity lance without warning from the skies; for the briefest of moments, a massive silhouette of ...something - someone - flashes behind the now-darkened clouds. And though the lightning strikes the earth harmlessly, from the site of impact springs forth a spiraling wind that surges upwards to smash into the raiders in flight. In some tongues, the tornado is called the Dragon Wind. The hunger with which it seeks its prey is reminiscent of such a mighty beast; the gaping maw of the funnel devours its prey relentlessly.

It is over almost as quickly as it began. Though the Beastmen and allies may have felt the pull of the entrapping wind, the storm disperses before any can be harmed. ...Not so much for the raiders.

"Very nice speech." The voice of the nature goddess whispers only in Taryn's ears. "I'll leave the rest to you."