The Secondary Saga

[Roger Smith]

Group 4: IRIS, Grave, Richtoffen, Jan, Crow

Glad as anything to be out of the stinking bilge-pit, Crow put a little more giddy-up in his get-along as he made his way down the tunnel revealed by the dear ol' doc's discovery. Not for the first time since they'd gotten stuck in this blasted hellhole did the landlocked pirate find himself grumbling under his breath some rather impolite things. He was trying his best to remain professional, but it was hard to get over his natural distrust and downright dislike of those who called themselves a 'doctor'.

The usefulness and general willingness to be civil in return Richtoffen had displayed had mollified Crow's venomous disposition to those of the scientific and medical persuasion to a degree, but he still maintained a respectable distance from the doc as they scampered off from the temple and all its traps, down this tunnel to wherever.

The hiss of darts, probably a last-ditch trap of the temple, alerted the captain sufficiently to allow him to avoid earning another injury, a trio of swift ducking steps sending darts sailing past and over him , clattering uselessly against the walls and floor. The doc had similar luck with avoiding that trap, but Grave wasn't so lucky. Neither was mister Templar, who took a sizable chunk of rock to the back of his head and went down hard. He seemed like he would live, for now at least, but he was definitely not doing well after that.

Blast it all, but whoever built this place sure didn't want people getting out alive, did they? For that matter, it was as if they just plain didn't wan--

CLING
CLANG

"BLEEDIN' SWAB...!"

A duo of sharp smacks of metal against flesh resounded in the tunnel, along with a snarling curse from Crow, and what he assumed was a similar curse from the Doc. The offending trap this time? A brick of...gold?

Traps and deadly temples be damned, he'd be a poor excuse for a pirate to let something like that go!

Snatching the brick of precious metal up, Crow resumed his exodus, bringing his free hand up to shield his eyes from the light at the end of the tunnel. It probably wasn't that bright, but after so long with only relatively dim torchlight it was practically blinding.

Acknowledging IRIS's mention of heading on ahead to do recon with a simple, "Aye, probably not a bad idea," he slowed his pace slightly, the persistent ache of everything taking offense to his desire to be in a hurry. The intense ache of his head after the gold brick incident certainly didn't help matters. Passing one hand over his face to try and soothe what was no doubt going to be a nasty bruise at the very lease, he paused when his fingers reached his hairline....and found something distinctly missing. "Ah, bleedin' hell...." he grumbled at this realization.

He'd lost his damned hat.

Of course he didn't have much time to be disgruntld over that, as soon enough IRIS was back. And headed straight at him. All sense of tiredness vanished from Crow's expression, his eyes narrowing in a suspicious glare at the mechanical device as it hurtled at him. "Darkspawn? What're yeh on about...?" As it got closer, and didn't show any intention of stopping, Crow flexed at the knees and made to dive aside, giving a call of, "Whoa there, where be the cannonfire?!"

Further comment was cut off as the robot latched onto his head, sending his dive to one side into a rough sprawl onto one knee, earning a snarling cry of protest. "Avast, ye bilge-addled hunk o' tin, what in the name o' Jack Tare are yeh doin'?!"

The answer he received wasn't what he had been expecting, nor how he had expected to hear it, and he froze, looking exceedingly confused about the whole thing. But he got the general gist of the whole thing, and regained his feet in short order. He tossed the gold brick in his free left hand, a smile working its way onto his face. "Well, then...this should be interestin'."

"Right, off we get; best to get out in the open already. We got trouble on the way, lads." He tapped at IRIS with one finger of his free hand. "Accordin' to m lovely little piece o' headgear, we got Darkspawn in the area." Offering Jan an arm up to get him back on his feet, he started off down the tunnel again. "Handsomely, now, me buckoes; no time fer waitin' to be caught with only one way to go. We know exactly what's waitin' for us if that happens."

The entire situation came up short when Grave spoke up, finally asking about letting his lady friend stretch her limbs. "We're in a bit of a hurry, boy..." Crow growled, but he relented, striding several paces forward and trying not to look too impatient -- or concerned, for that matter. "Tell me, me mechanical little pretty...any idea how many o' these Darkspawn things we be dealin' with?"

Well, if I wasn't so damaged after all our fun in that temple I'd be able to give a more precise count. But I can say there are at least a few dozen.

"So too many to try and take in a straight fight, with the condition we're in..."

A very astute observation, captain.

Looking like he was ready to move on again, Grave scooped Alice back up and their ragtag group hurried off again, interrupted by something lurching out of the shadows to make a grab for Grave. The doc put a swift stop to it with a shot from his fancy magic gun, or whatever it was -- and managed to look completely out of it, in the process -- but they didn't waste any time pondering over what it was.

"Just a wild stab here, but that'd be one o' them Darkspawn, aye?"

Aye-aye. I... I mean yes. It would be.

"Perfect..." Crow growled, looking distinctly less than pleased at the confirmation.

The number IRIS had estimated came up at something approximating reasonable accuracy as they finally made their way out into the open, forced to fend off more of the nasty little blighters along the way.

And good lord above...it was not a pretty sight.

"Shit's just hit the fan..." Jan muttered, checking his rifle to make sure it was ready to go.

"You don't say..." Grave added in, looking distinctly as if he wanted to be just about anywhere else.

IRIS's lasers were darting this way and that, ready to zap anything that made any sudden moves.

And the doc...well... Crow spared a glance at him, and the look on his face sent an unpleasant chill down the pirate's spine. "Have ye gone daft, yeh bleedin' quack?"

"No, my robust, brash, simple-minded friend. I am simply excited."

While he hadn't been in Richtoffen's company very long, even Crow could tell the change coming over him. And he didn't like it one bit. "Well, lads...this looks like a fine situation we've handed ourselves in now, eh?" Slowly, the same excited, manic grin from their original scuffle with the orcs before plunging into the temple began to peel itself across his face, his free hand reaching for his saber.

A round of screams went up from the Darkspawn surrounding them from virtually all sides, and Crow answered with a bellowing laugh. "Right-o, mates! Much as it'd be lovely to go down in a great big bloodbath, what say we try and get ourselves outta here in one piece?!"

A general chorus of agreement was sent up from the group. "IRIS, me mechanical little beauty! Yer damage prevent ya from tellin' whereabouts there be the fewest o' these scallywags so's we can cut our way through?"

One moment.

There was a distinct whirring, and the glow in the mechanical addition to Crow's face blinked and flickered rapidly.

Five o' clock, captain. That would be the easiest way to try and cut through!

"Beautful!" Whipping around almost one hudnred eighty degrees, Crow tucked the gold brick he was still clutching into presumably the same pouch he'd pulled his booze from before, and came back out with a pistol clutched in his hand. The loud crack of the primitive firearm, and the ensuing cloud of smoke and acrid smell of gunpowder filled the area, as a bullet lodged itself in the eye of one of the creatures menacing them.

"That's the way we go, lads! Straight on through until we find haven or can't go any further! Give 'em no quarter, and don't fall behind!"