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X-PATH: Stick Your Citadel Where the Sun Don't Shine (Complete 5 Aug 2004)
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<blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1525016" data-attributes="member: 6294"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>3: Backlash: it's not just a Pay-Per-View</strong></span></p><p></p><p>"<span style="color: YellowGreen">Now that's what I call entertainment! Did you see the way those little bastards ran around screamin' and trying to put themselves out?</span>"</p><p></p><p>"Yes sir. It was ratings gold, sir."</p><p></p><p>"<span style="color: YellowGreen">Maybe if these boys don't get 'emselves killed, I'll give 'em another go in the league.</span>"</p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p></p><p>"There's another barricade in the next room." Beverly reported. She'd been sent ahead to scout while the men looted every last coin from the dead goblins. "And lots of doors."</p><p></p><p>"Maybe this will open one of them." Floyd brandished the iron key he'd found on the last of the bodies.</p><p></p><p>Entering the next chamber, they found a primitive archery - or rather, javelin - range, the barricade Beverly had mentioned, and three doors leading further into the complex.</p><p></p><p>"Let's start with this one." Smith indicated the only one of the doors to be on the same side of the barricade as the group. "What's over the wall?"</p><p></p><p>"A camp fire, not much else." Fabio peered over the four foot high barricade.</p><p></p><p>"Looks like they expected trouble from our direction." Floyd mused, "Maybe they don't like the other little critters we killed, either." He shrugged, "That's a matter for another time. Let's see about that door."</p><p></p><p>After two abject failures to force the iron-bound door, Smith remembered the key they'd found. Floyd tried it in the lock, and the door opened, revealing a squalid prison, containing three chained-up reptile creatures and a short, human-like creature with a large nose.</p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p></p><p>Erky jumped to his feet as the four humans entered the prison. They were strangely dressed, but surely they would help a gnome escape from goblins.</p><p></p><p>"Please let me out!" he called, in the common tongue.</p><p></p><p>One of the four, his attention on the kobolds, spoke angrily in a foreign language, gesturing at Erky with the strange implement in his hands. The bare-chested pretty-boy beside him translated.</p><p></p><p>"Joe says to shut up."</p><p></p><p>Erky began to protest, but the first human grew more irate.</p><p></p><p>"It would be wise to keep silent." The one who could speak a civilised tongue continued, "My minions are somewhat unpredictable."</p><p></p><p>The gnome subsided, watching as the other two male humans jammed a picture of some kind in the first kobold's face, and started shouting at it in their strange tongue.</p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p></p><p>"Tell. Me. What. This. Says." Smith repeated the demand for the fifth time, speaking even louder and clearer than he had on the four previous occasions. The last reptile quailed before him, it's spindly arms spattered with the blood of its two companions, but it answered only in its own nonsense tongue.</p><p></p><p>"This is your <em>last</em> chance. Tell. Me. What. This. Says."</p><p></p><p>More jabbering.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>BLAM.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Floyd reloaded his pistol, shaking his head,</p><p></p><p>"Waste of ammunition, really." He muttered, "Can you believe not a one of 'em spoke English?"</p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p></p><p>"He says he can read it for us." Fabio gestured at the tiny humanoid, cringing in the cage at the back of the prison, "But he'll need at least the night to do the translation."</p><p></p><p>Smith snorted,</p><p></p><p>"Can we trust him? He's got a nose like Pinocchio."</p><p></p><p>"Let's give him until morning." Floyd shrugged, "We could do with a rest after that fight, and ah want to know what it says."</p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p></p><p>They set up camp in the javelin range. Initially, they left the miniature human in the prison, but then they realised he had no light in there, which would make reading difficult.</p><p></p><p>"We'll have to bring him out." Smith decided. Floyd nodded agreement,</p><p></p><p>"But one of us should keep an eye on him at all times, make sure he don't run off."</p><p></p><p>At first, the time passed uneventfully, but after several hours, while Floyd sat strumming his golden guitar, there came the sound of one of the other doors swinging shut.</p><p></p><p>"Damn." Floyd began to wake the others, "One of those sneaky little fellers musta snuck in and seen us. We got trouble comin'. Stick the little guy back in the prison and get ready fer a fight."</p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p></p><p>By now, Patton had turned off the monitors on his desk, and transferred the images from the mission onto the giant screen in his wall.</p><p></p><p>"<span style="color: YellowGreen">Brave, but dumb as posts.</span>" He nodded approvingly, "<span style="color: YellowGreen">These boys would make good soldiers. 'course, it's gonna get 'em killed, here.</span>"</p><p></p><p>"Sir?"</p><p></p><p>"<span style="color: YellowGreen">Tactics, Jacobsen.</span>" A long, bone-like finger pointed at the screen, "<span style="color: YellowGreen">They've got a wall to defend, and they've moved those caltrops in front of it That's good enough, as far as it goes. But they don't know if their backs are secure, and they don't know for sure what's coming. They should've attacked when their position was discovered.</span>" He paused, "<span style="color: YellowGreen">Of course, restin' in the enemy's guard room wasn't real bright, in the first place.</span>"</p><p></p><p>On screen, all hell broke loose.</p><p></p><p>Both doors on the far side of the barricade flew open, revealing over a dozen goblins, as well as several larger humanoids, and a strange, twig-like creature about as tall as a man's waist.</p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p></p><p>"Here they come!" Floyd yelled, hurling his one and only fragmentation grenade into the midst of the enemy. Four of the smaller creatures were blasted apart by the shrapnel, but the wooden creature raced forward over the caltrops, easily reaching the wall. Behind it, more of small humanoids entered, pushing aside the caltrops as they came.</p><p></p><p>The room became filled with the shouts of combat, and the flash of guns and grenades. The enemy surged forward to the wall. The caltrops slowed them a little, but the distance from the door to the barricade was simply too short to defend.</p><p></p><p>Two of the larger humanoids came up to support the wood creature, and the battle became a melee. For a moment, it seemed as if the four humans would hold, but then blood sprayed from fresh wounds, and Fabio and Floyd both fell. The twig creature scrambled into the hole in their line, tearing at Smith as it came.</p><p></p><p>"Grab Fabio and fall back!" the Mormon shouted at Beverly, scooping up Floyd as he spoke. The creature clawed at him again, but he shrugged off the injury, hauling the unconscious man through the doorway into the next room. "Get in here and close the door!"</p><p></p><p>Beverly tried, hauling Fabio's body despite the damage to her nails, but she simply wasn't quick enough, and the twig creature leapt through the doorway before she could close it.</p><p></p><p>Fortunately, it leapt straight into Smith's pick-axe.</p><p></p><p>"Close the door! Jam it with javelins! I'm going to try and patch these two up!" Smith barked orders as he began tearing his shirt for bandages.</p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p></p><p>The door held; or at least it held long enough for them to escape, dragging their unconscious companions all the way back to the room where they fought the water beast.</p><p></p><p>Slamming the stone door behind him, Smith slumped against it with a tired sigh.</p><p></p><p>"Let's see 'em get through <em>that</em>." He muttered, grimly.</p><p></p><p>Hours slipped by, but eventually Smith's medical care restored the other two men to consciousness. Over a celebratory meal of deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, they planned their next move.</p><p></p><p>"Grenades." Floyd stabbed the air with his finger, to drive home the point, "Lots and lots of grenades. As many as we can get them to send. We'll show those little bastards a thing or two, then."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Capellan, post: 1525016, member: 6294"] [SIZE=3][b]3: Backlash: it's not just a Pay-Per-View[/b][/SIZE] "[COLOR=YellowGreen]Now that's what I call entertainment! Did you see the way those little bastards ran around screamin' and trying to put themselves out?[/COLOR]" "Yes sir. It was ratings gold, sir." "[COLOR=YellowGreen]Maybe if these boys don't get 'emselves killed, I'll give 'em another go in the league.[/COLOR]" * * * "There's another barricade in the next room." Beverly reported. She'd been sent ahead to scout while the men looted every last coin from the dead goblins. "And lots of doors." "Maybe this will open one of them." Floyd brandished the iron key he'd found on the last of the bodies. Entering the next chamber, they found a primitive archery - or rather, javelin - range, the barricade Beverly had mentioned, and three doors leading further into the complex. "Let's start with this one." Smith indicated the only one of the doors to be on the same side of the barricade as the group. "What's over the wall?" "A camp fire, not much else." Fabio peered over the four foot high barricade. "Looks like they expected trouble from our direction." Floyd mused, "Maybe they don't like the other little critters we killed, either." He shrugged, "That's a matter for another time. Let's see about that door." After two abject failures to force the iron-bound door, Smith remembered the key they'd found. Floyd tried it in the lock, and the door opened, revealing a squalid prison, containing three chained-up reptile creatures and a short, human-like creature with a large nose. * * * Erky jumped to his feet as the four humans entered the prison. They were strangely dressed, but surely they would help a gnome escape from goblins. "Please let me out!" he called, in the common tongue. One of the four, his attention on the kobolds, spoke angrily in a foreign language, gesturing at Erky with the strange implement in his hands. The bare-chested pretty-boy beside him translated. "Joe says to shut up." Erky began to protest, but the first human grew more irate. "It would be wise to keep silent." The one who could speak a civilised tongue continued, "My minions are somewhat unpredictable." The gnome subsided, watching as the other two male humans jammed a picture of some kind in the first kobold's face, and started shouting at it in their strange tongue. * * * "Tell. Me. What. This. Says." Smith repeated the demand for the fifth time, speaking even louder and clearer than he had on the four previous occasions. The last reptile quailed before him, it's spindly arms spattered with the blood of its two companions, but it answered only in its own nonsense tongue. "This is your [i]last[/i] chance. Tell. Me. What. This. Says." More jabbering. [i][b]BLAM.[/b][/i] Floyd reloaded his pistol, shaking his head, "Waste of ammunition, really." He muttered, "Can you believe not a one of 'em spoke English?" * * * "He says he can read it for us." Fabio gestured at the tiny humanoid, cringing in the cage at the back of the prison, "But he'll need at least the night to do the translation." Smith snorted, "Can we trust him? He's got a nose like Pinocchio." "Let's give him until morning." Floyd shrugged, "We could do with a rest after that fight, and ah want to know what it says." * * * They set up camp in the javelin range. Initially, they left the miniature human in the prison, but then they realised he had no light in there, which would make reading difficult. "We'll have to bring him out." Smith decided. Floyd nodded agreement, "But one of us should keep an eye on him at all times, make sure he don't run off." At first, the time passed uneventfully, but after several hours, while Floyd sat strumming his golden guitar, there came the sound of one of the other doors swinging shut. "Damn." Floyd began to wake the others, "One of those sneaky little fellers musta snuck in and seen us. We got trouble comin'. Stick the little guy back in the prison and get ready fer a fight." * * * By now, Patton had turned off the monitors on his desk, and transferred the images from the mission onto the giant screen in his wall. "[COLOR=YellowGreen]Brave, but dumb as posts.[/COLOR]" He nodded approvingly, "[COLOR=YellowGreen]These boys would make good soldiers. 'course, it's gonna get 'em killed, here.[/COLOR]" "Sir?" "[COLOR=YellowGreen]Tactics, Jacobsen.[/COLOR]" A long, bone-like finger pointed at the screen, "[COLOR=YellowGreen]They've got a wall to defend, and they've moved those caltrops in front of it That's good enough, as far as it goes. But they don't know if their backs are secure, and they don't know for sure what's coming. They should've attacked when their position was discovered.[/COLOR]" He paused, "[COLOR=YellowGreen]Of course, restin' in the enemy's guard room wasn't real bright, in the first place.[/COLOR]" On screen, all hell broke loose. Both doors on the far side of the barricade flew open, revealing over a dozen goblins, as well as several larger humanoids, and a strange, twig-like creature about as tall as a man's waist. * * * "Here they come!" Floyd yelled, hurling his one and only fragmentation grenade into the midst of the enemy. Four of the smaller creatures were blasted apart by the shrapnel, but the wooden creature raced forward over the caltrops, easily reaching the wall. Behind it, more of small humanoids entered, pushing aside the caltrops as they came. The room became filled with the shouts of combat, and the flash of guns and grenades. The enemy surged forward to the wall. The caltrops slowed them a little, but the distance from the door to the barricade was simply too short to defend. Two of the larger humanoids came up to support the wood creature, and the battle became a melee. For a moment, it seemed as if the four humans would hold, but then blood sprayed from fresh wounds, and Fabio and Floyd both fell. The twig creature scrambled into the hole in their line, tearing at Smith as it came. "Grab Fabio and fall back!" the Mormon shouted at Beverly, scooping up Floyd as he spoke. The creature clawed at him again, but he shrugged off the injury, hauling the unconscious man through the doorway into the next room. "Get in here and close the door!" Beverly tried, hauling Fabio's body despite the damage to her nails, but she simply wasn't quick enough, and the twig creature leapt through the doorway before she could close it. Fortunately, it leapt straight into Smith's pick-axe. "Close the door! Jam it with javelins! I'm going to try and patch these two up!" Smith barked orders as he began tearing his shirt for bandages. * * * The door held; or at least it held long enough for them to escape, dragging their unconscious companions all the way back to the room where they fought the water beast. Slamming the stone door behind him, Smith slumped against it with a tired sigh. "Let's see 'em get through [i]that[/i]." He muttered, grimly. Hours slipped by, but eventually Smith's medical care restored the other two men to consciousness. Over a celebratory meal of deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, they planned their next move. "Grenades." Floyd stabbed the air with his finger, to drive home the point, "Lots and lots of grenades. As many as we can get them to send. We'll show those little bastards a thing or two, then." [/QUOTE]
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