Animorphs: Ressurection

[Estelore]

The Kel-hound sprang toward Arhareli, and at the last moment she pivoted on her front hooves, placing herself behind the monster. The hound ducked in the same moment Reli made a two-strike pass at his head; the first strike landed and left a long gash across his neck and muzzle, but the second missed.

From his crouching position, he lept up from beneath Reli, clinging to her underside and dragging long, deep claw marks through both her sides. She started bleeding heavily, and a foreleg buckled, but not before she dragged her tail across the creature's neck again, this time nearly beheading it.  She pried its claws out of her flank with her tail and struggled to hurry back toward the group, moving much more slowly.
Not an easy kill; I don't think I can handle a second one alone...



((Turn 1: Kel-hound attack 3, Reli defense 8. Kel attack fails.
Turn 2: Reli attack 9, Kel defense 6. Attack successful, Kel -3 HP.
Turn 3: Kel attack 8, Reli defense 3. Attack successful, Reli -5 HP.
Turn 4: Reli attack 5, Kel defense 1. Attack successful, Kel -4 HP. 
-3-4 = -7. Kel-hound successfully killed in two full exchanges.
Reli suffers -5 HP damage; has 3 HP left until able to morph and heal.))

[Terenia]

Move, Reyna tells herself, wolf legs propelling herself away from the battle. She focuses her eyes on the gorilla that was Shaun, using him as a guide to the ship. Her own vision felt strange - not foggy, exactly, but indistinct. She felt almost as if the battle so close behind her were being viewed from a holoscreen. The only indication that any of this was real was the sharp smell of fresh blood in her nose.

Can't let them get us, Reyna told herself, although the words almost seemed as though they belonged to someone else. We have to survive. She fired her muscles, urging the canine body to its top speed, even if it meant leaving the slower Shaun behind.

[gorillaman16]

Shaun saw that Reyna was getting ahead of him and he got worried about it.<Don't even think about leaving me behind.> he said as he reached for her tail.

[warren_bearclaw]

((Gman... that's powergaming. It's perfectly fine for you to attempt to reach for her and try to pull her back, but your post left no room for Terenia to decide how Reyna would react. Please modify your post. Thanks!))
Post Merged: April 07, 2011, 11:43:31 PMIt was only a short distance to the ship now. The group of leopard, gorilla, Andalite, two wolves, and four (?) humans had grown somewhat spread out, but were still closing the gap.

Marty reached the ship first. He waited outside at the base of the ramp while the others caught up. They were going to make it. And to top it off, Reli had defeated the Kel-Hound single-handedly. That was a good sign, though she surely looked like it had taken some of the fight out of her. Thankfully, morphing would fix the injuries. It couldn't fix the weariness, however.

The remaining Kel-Hound fought on, batting away flying spears and paws. It dodged, landing on a warrior Pemalite, crushing him, then rebounding for his counter-strike.

[Estelore]

Reli trotted as quickly as she could to match pace with Reyna and Shaun, who were lagging the most of the group.

She drew back her tail, a precursor to the flick that would shake Kel-hound blood off the blade...
Let's rethink that.

She pressed a hand against the blood that coated her tail-blade. It was still hot, the cells still barely alive.
She gathered her focus and quickly acquired the DNA from the hound's blood, then she completed her intended action, a soft whip-cracking sound and a dark splash on sand.
Might be useful later, but I won't try it until I know the morph can be contained. I barely controlled the Kelbrid, and I don't imagine their hounds are much more co-operative.

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

When Reli had gone off to fight, Mesa slowed her pace a little, getting closer to Reyna and Shaun.  After Reli dispatched the beast, she noticed that there was only one left.  Reli came back, and she pulled ahead slightly.  It would be so easy just to run over there and fight....but she had to focus on the mission.  Get safely to the ship.  Protect the others.  Guilt was wearing down on her for abandoning the Pemalites, but Mesa...she had to stay focused.  

She bounded up the ramp, past Marty, and quickly scanned the battle.  She narrowed her eyes against the dust.  But there was no sign of Chris.  Everyone else was there, but...

[Terenia]

Reyna let out a loud, purely wolf yip as the gorilla reached for her tail. For a moment the canine instincts overtook hers and she rose her lips in a snarl as she twisted out of the way. This had the effect of turning her entirely around, so that she could clearly see the Kel-hounds behind them.

<Oh...>

The sight of the beasts shook her consciousness back to the forefront. She spun again, this time towards the ship.

<It's not my fault you're slower than I am,> she snaps at Shaun, pushing forward. She does reign in her speed somewhat, though. Reli had warned her to watch him, and she wouldn't want Shaun getting hurt due to her.

Luckily they were drawing nearer the ship by the moment. The open hatch was only a few lucky paces away.

[Estelore]

Reli reached the ship a stride ahead from Shaun and Reyna, pausing outside until the last of the group boarded.

Once everybody was up the ramp, she followed them on, all too aware of her injuries.


((I'm not god-modding everybody... you can all make your own process to get aboard or not. Just call this a 'hand wave solution': Reli gets on last. We can assume that everybody is on except Chris, by the time the next after-boarding post is made. If anybody decides they want to stay off the ship, for whatever reason, I can adjust my post easily enough. I figure we'd all just as soon be on our way, though. *shrug*))

[gorillaman16]

Shaun was the last person to board the ship besides Relli who made sure everybody was able to make it to the ship.

[radgeek]

((Erm... I might be doing some GMing here, but... This is an important plot point, okay? I've been waiting to post this for a month...))

Finally. Everyone was on the ship. Marty was walking up the ramp still, with Shaun just ahead, entering the hull, and Reli just beginning to come up the ramp from behind. And then the unthinkable happened. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a Kel-Hound came flying through the air, tackling Marty off the ramp. <What is....?!?>Instinctively, Marty bolted. Now that everyone else was safe, he just wanted to live. He yelped, and shouted in thought-speak. In reply, his pursuer growled it's odd wavering cry. They tore behind a building, disappearing from sight around the corner a mere two seconds after the appearance of the beast.


And as if that were the signal, A cry went up from the far side of the village. A large group of five or so Kel-Hounds came bounding in from behind the shacks, filling the 'street' in between, sending the Pemalites scurrying in all directions. They didn't attack, not yet. They were waiting. One of them, the largest of the group,  began to creep towards the few remaining warriors. The others, taking notice, turned and followed a few paces behind.

 <GAAAAH!>  Marty yelled. The mental scream made the Kel-Hound pack flinch, but they quickly resumed their deadly march. The warriors – a group of five, including Ehruf and Ayrow – clenched their clubs and spears, growling, bracing themselves.

There was a roar. But it wasn't from the tense soon-to-be battle scene. It came from the shack that the group of kidnapped morphers had just escaped from. It sounded like a large Earth species of cat. Which, of course, it was. From the front door-opening poured an odd assortment of creatures. Specifically, a tiger, a leopard, a gorilla, a crocodile, two wolves, and several humans. The circus-army charged right for the pack of Kel-Hounds, who turned to face the new threat. The ferocity of their attackers seemed to stun them for the briefest second. Astonishingly, the tide was turned rather quickly. With two animal assailants for every one Kel-Hound, the pack soon realized they wouldn't succeed in nabbing an easy meal. They turned tail and ran, far faster than even the big cats could run. The group chased after them nonetheless, following the pack around a large outcropping of rock not far away. Soon, they couldn't even be heard.

Relieved yet confused Pemalites came out of the house, looking of into the distance where their rescuers had vanished. They began cheering. And all of this was over in about two minutes.

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

Mesa jumped as a Kel-hound flew out of nowhere, slamming Marty off the ramp.  <Marty!>  She yelped, but he was soon running.  She jumped down the ramp after him unthinkingly, but froze as noise battered her sensitive ears.  She still wasn't used to the enhanced hearing.  It was...a roar?

Suddenly, Earth animals started chasing the Kel-hounds.  Earth animals?!  How many light-years were they away from Earth?  Where did they come from?  The Kel-hounds turned and ran, the noise fading away with them.  Mesa still stood there, stunned.  Flicking her tail, she glanced up at the others, still on the ramp.  <I just....saw Earth animals...didn't I?>  She said in slight disbelief.  <....What just happened?  Are there other morphers here?  That acquired Earth animals?>  She wasn't really directing her questions to anyone in particular, but if felt right for her thoughts to be heard.  The whole privacy thing was still weird to her.  The mind silence hovered in the back of her head like a black cloud, putting a slight quiet over everything.

[Estelore]

So much had happened in so little time, all of it too far out of reach to influence...

<Marty?! Where are you? Are you hurt?>

Reli finished ascending the boarding ramp and began tiger morph, going slow to conserve as much energy as possible.  The whole time, she called out in near-private thought-speech, <<Marty? Chris? If you're out there, answer!>>
Two members of the team were out of reach, alone.
But not confirmed dead or hurt. There is that much. Earth animals on the Pemalite planet... the Kelbrid have spent a long time violating the treaty, it appears.

[gorillaman16]

So much had just happened in such little time. <Marty where are you? Why were there Earth animals on this planet?> I think this classifies as me not having to watch Reyna anymore. Shaun then ran down the ramp to help find Marty.

[Estelore]

For Sky's sake...

<Shaun, please come back here right now! The last thing we need is three of us missing.>

[gorillaman16]

<I wasn't going anywhere i'm waiting for the group so we can find Marty I am not leaving him behind without knowing if he is dead or alive.>