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

[not_the_ship]

The dragon lifted his head as his sides swelled out, like a drum ready to play. The roaring force of the divine wind tore out of his jaws, but this time directed at the air above another arrowhead-shaped flight of drakes before they could climb too far over his head, rather than directly at them. The force disrupted and distorted the air visibly, punching a ragged hole in the shrapnel cloud before it was rapidly filled in by another burst. Temeraire snorted, and took note, in some corner of his mind; bad idea. Aim down.

But the roar also disrupted the rank, breaking it up from a smoothly disciplined maneuver to shrieking, backwinging drakes wheeling this way and that. The one flying highest in the formation toppled from the sky completely, blood streaming from its nostrils. Still others lost their riders, but one of the most notice was the drake that crashed down on Temeraire's back, missing Nero but causing the big dragon to nearly buckle in surprise.

Even as big as he was, if most of the boarding soldiers hadn't already been deployed, they would have been crushed. The drake had landed on its belly, aft of Temeraire's shoulders and signal flags and where Nero was sitting. The creature still possessed a rider, but was too busy scrabbling at Temeraire's armor trying to regain traction to breathe any fire.

[fortheworldtosee]

Nero would be lying if she said she wasn't slightly awed at the dragon's power. Oh, she had seen a great deal of strange things over the years, and she had encountered all manner of powerful monsters and beasts. But this? This was something she wasn't hesitant to admit was impressive.

She couldn't muse on Temeraire's strength for too long, though, as the drake that had been shot down landed nearby. Large enough to disrupt the dragon's flight even for a second, and strong enough to still put up a fight?

Perfect.

With the lance her cousin had given her still strapped to her back, Nero unsheathed her blade - a common gladius, as she was still without Aestus Estus - and charged. She approached from behind the beast, using its hindquarters as a step up so she could launch a strike at it's rider.

[not_the_ship]

The drake was still a bit stunned, lashing its tail only after it felt pressure on its hindquarters. The warrior on its back was less stunned, though his ears must surely have still been ringing--he swept a glaive at the boarder, though still mindful of the flailing wings of his own mount.

Temeraire had come to a hovering stop in the newly vacant altitude, where he had to look down to see the other drakes wheeling like so many birds. Instead, though, he was snarling and snapping and otherwise occupied with his new and entirely unwelcome passenger.

"Off!"

But he couldn't just roll to dislodge it, at least not this instant--Nero hadn't locked on yet, and he would inevitably throw her as much as the drake. And that was also bad.

On the other hand, the armor on his back was mostly chainmail, to allow the dragon to make full use of his flexibility; as reinforced as it was, the harness was still flammable. No amount of wire and chain sewn in could fix that and remain pliable.