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[IC] Ratkin: Los Angeles Underground
INeedNoSalt
with blood on my teethRegistered User regular
with blood on my teethRegistered User regular
Ratkin
Los Angeles Underground
Welcome to Ratkin. Unfortunately, you don't get a big, involved opening, or a deep and introspective prologue meant to pull your interest. You're Ratkin -- you don't have time for those things. The Rat God is calling, always calling. Stop waiting, listen close, and get ready to do your part when you're told.
--
It is June 20th, 2003. It's a shitty Friday evening and you're stuck spending it in the Los Angeles Underground, the Nest presided over by the brutish and ugly King Runs-the-Muck. Thousands and thousands of kinfolk make their home down here, rats mostly, and they do a half-decent job of keeping the hundred or so Ratkin comfortable.
Water down here is fetid and stinks of shit. It's a sewer system, though; what you see is what you get.
It's dark down here. Most Ratkin fall into the habit of taking the Rodens form down here; those who are too stubborn or unwilling learn to treasure their flashlights as much as they treasure their own skin.
King Runs-the-Muck is big but he isn't stupid. Ratkin in general aren't particularly orderly -- it's just not in their nature -- but for these past few months, security in this cesspool has been stricter than normal. Rats don't just wander, they find themselves on assignment. That's you, Friday afternoon, June the 20th. On assignment.
Three-Forty-Four and Kat Killer:
Caught sentry assignment; there's four long stretches of sewer that run out from the hub that the Nest calls home. They're on assignment on the northern stretch keeping watch from the elbow where the tunnel branches off. From there, it'll break down into more and more tunnels, and the Nest hasn't got the manpower to keep all of those manned. Instead, there're Runners out there, making sure nothing ends up in the Rat Nest that isn't supposed to be there.
--
Only shortly after five o'clock in the PM, on June 20th, 344 and KK heard a low, banging noises coming from beyond the elbow of the North Tunnel -- far beyond the elbow, but nothing that could be mistaken for the casual noise of the sewers. No, this was something new.
--
Only shortly after five o'clock in the PM, on June 20th, 344 and KK heard a low, banging noises coming from beyond the elbow of the North Tunnel -- far beyond the elbow, but nothing that could be mistaken for the casual noise of the sewers. No, this was something new.
Damien:
Damien was put on patrol duty with Runs-at-the-Mouth, which means that he's supposed to be running around in circles, more or less. Whether or not he's doing it doesn't matter too hugely: What matters is this.
Damien is several branches down from the North Tunnel, one of the four branches that spawn directly from the drainage hub that the Nest calls home. All told, he's maybe three hundred yards of sewer-crawling away from the Nest proper, beyond the outskirts, but that's not a bad thing: It means forewarning, and by the Wyld, he's in the right place.
--
At just after five o'clock in the evening, Damien and Runs-at-the-Mouth encountered a large human presence some 250 running-yards from the North Tunnel; they were armed and armored humans, seven or eight of them, in dark attire and with automatic weaponry. Their faces were hidden by masks, and respirators hung down from their faces.
"Go tell the others, Runs-at-the-Mouth squeeked out to Damien. "Tell them there's danger!"
Runs-at-the-Mouth was never as stable as most of the other Runners in the Nest; he'd hardly even issued the order and he was already growing, growing...
Damien is several branches down from the North Tunnel, one of the four branches that spawn directly from the drainage hub that the Nest calls home. All told, he's maybe three hundred yards of sewer-crawling away from the Nest proper, beyond the outskirts, but that's not a bad thing: It means forewarning, and by the Wyld, he's in the right place.
--
At just after five o'clock in the evening, Damien and Runs-at-the-Mouth encountered a large human presence some 250 running-yards from the North Tunnel; they were armed and armored humans, seven or eight of them, in dark attire and with automatic weaponry. Their faces were hidden by masks, and respirators hung down from their faces.
"Go tell the others, Runs-at-the-Mouth squeeked out to Damien. "Tell them there's danger!"
Runs-at-the-Mouth was never as stable as most of the other Runners in the Nest; he'd hardly even issued the order and he was already growing, growing...
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KK glared down the tunnel, gripping his circular saw launcher tight, really tight, in his hands, the occasional twitch of his fingers not likely to make his sentry-partner feel all that safe. His eyes were shifting back and forth rapidly, cutting through the dark like a hot knife through wet paper, or something.
I heard somethin'. Down that tunnel. I heard noises. Not normal noises, no. C'mon. C'mon, I heard noises, we're gonna investigate. C'mon, labrat, investigate.
The right side of KK's mouth twitched into a rictus of a grin.
We're gonna investigate the shit outta that noise. Fuck yes. C'mon, labrat. Lez' go.
And with nary another word, the Kat Killer left his post. Damned if anyone thought he'd actually stay in one place for that long anyway, right?
Investigate the shit outta it. Yeah, his thoughts kept going, over and over. Christ, I thought the boredom'd kill me anyway.
Darksight activation roll. (1d10=2, 1d10=7, 1d10=1, 1d10=9, 1d10=4)
One success, so I can see, whee!
Damien certainly didn't intend on sticking around for a fight with only a Runner who might as well be a Twitcher for help.
Before Runs was done shifting, Damien was running all out down the tunnel.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
She'd never bring it up, but she hated the sewers. It wasn't just the uncleanliness of the place either, it was the metaphor of the thing - rats living neck-deep in waste, most of it human. They were swimming, sometimes literally, in the retched byproduct of the monkey-plague above. It wasn't just disgusting, it was insulting, it was demeaning.
As KK takes off down the tunnel, 344 sighs and pushes away from the wall, pushing the glasses up onto her forehead, dropping to all fours and loping after the Twitcher. "Stop calling me labrat, you fucking primate," she mumbles to herself.
Voices travel mutedly down the tunnels; Damien himself can only vaguely make out the noise over their splashing footsteps, and those further away -- Three-Forty-Four and Kat Killer both -- hear nothing at all after even the echoes of the gunshots fade away, eaten by the sewers.
All three of these Ratkin -- Three-Forty-Four, Kat Killer, and Damien -- travel at a run through the mess of the Los Angeles Underground, coming nearer and nearer one another even unknowingly, guided gently by the Rat God and their own mindful blood. The first episode of gunshots are not the only ones overheard during the several minutes of fierce running; bursts seem to be sounding out all through the sewers, in varied directions. Fortunately, they're coming from out; reason suggests none of this noise is coming from the Nest proper.
Sticking tight to the sides of the tunnels, just out of the slop and sewage, Damien hugs a hard right on his way to warn the others (maybe just on his way to save himself from Runs-at-the-Mouth's fate), and finds himself looking up at a bald Crinos, a grinning Homid; Three-Forty-Four and KK find themselves looking down at a rat large enough to send any sane person screaming out of a room.
He grinned down at the massive rat. Definately not Kin. He crouched down towards it, not quite looming on purpose, but definately looming.
I heard SHOTS. SHOTS. We're investigatin', yes we are, investigatin' the fuck out. C'mon! C'mon, we're goin', an' you should come too. Come ON!"
KK's entire head twitched to the right, and the sound of his neck bones popping was audible.
Guns! Weaverwork. You don't wanna stand here, an' watch the weaverwork! Break 'em, smash 'em. The Weaver's shit all over these sewers, ain't it time to do some cleanin'? Let's go!
He waved 344 ahead.
Whatre we waiting for? Attack! Alarm! We got shit to DO here!
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
344 twirled her scalpel again, and darted off down the tunnel, moving ahead of KK.
"Kilo 1, Kilo 1..." and "Copy that, moving ..." and other noises - the voices of Humans taking after the Weaver - drawing ever closer.
The sounds -- of the humans, of the sewers, of the blood -- all seem to come together, to make it very clear that these people are not confused, not wandering, not lost. Beelining is the word people use for this sort of motion; they know exactly where they're going, and if the three Ratkin continue on their present course, momentarily there will be a head-on collision of sorts.
Also, I apologize for being agonizingly slow; I'll do a better job of keeping this moving in the future!
1d10 → [8] = (8)
1d10 → [4] = (4)
1d10 → [6] = (6)
1d10 → [5] = (5)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1520300/
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Scalpel in hand the Crinos barreled on toward the humans.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
KK gave a manic grin and squeezed his Circular Saw Launcher tighter.
We're gonna blow the fuck out of their guns. Quick, quick, ahead, 'fore they get to the Nest. Find 'em for us! Find 'em, so we can have some fun!
KK's entire head spun to the right and there was a loud cracking noise as he popped the joints in his neck, his entire body shaking in anticipation of the upcoming conflict with armed humans.
He didn't give a damn what the Weaverspawn had to say. Time to show 'em what rats were made for. Hell yeah. He broke off down the tunnel after the other two, barely supressing a cackle. This should be fun.
They round one last corner, a flat turn, and then things sort of start to run together; it's immediately apparent that there are a number of armed and armored soldiers not more than fifteen meters down this tunnel. At the sight of the ratkin, one of them mutters something; "Hostiles inbound on Nano ..."
Their guns raise, more or less in unison.
Damien is quick. Things are going to get violent fast, and Damien's the first to give an honest reaction; he leaps into action just as one of the nearest soldiers shouts, muffled by his gasmask, "Fuckin' kill them!"
21 - Damien
15 - Four Soldiers
14 - 344
13 - Two Soldiers
09 - KK
Relevant information: You've all just rounded a corner; you're in a sewer tunnel, about ten feet wide with two feet of raised ground on either side (the central six feet or so are filled with gently running sewage.) The ceiling is about ten feet high, and the nearest soldier is about 45 feet away. The soldiers are in a relatively tight group, with only two or three feet between them.
That being decided, Damien charges forward, maneuvering around the front line to bury his teeth into the Comm Officer, who falls to the ground bleeding.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Kat Killer screamed at the top of his lungs and levelled the Circular Saw Launcher at his enemies. He gave a malicious grin... he'd seen what this thing could do to a stinking HUMAN. With another gutteral, wordless scream, he jerked the activator... and twitched.
The blasted thing nearly exploded into a flurry of whirling, screaming sawblades that damn near took off KK's arms and almost eviscarated him.
FUUUUUUUU--GRAAAAAAA!
The saw launcher fell to the stone of the sewer floor, and KK's scream grew... as did he. Fur sprouted from him, and the audible sound of popping, twisting, cracking bones could be heard mixed with the gunshots and the screaming and cursing of the wounded Comms tech. He threw himself at the combat, utterly berserk.
It seemed that Kevin the Kat Killer, had frenzied.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
...into the man's apparently rather effective body armor.
Three-Forty-Four looked down, rage abated for the moment as her brain finally caught up to the situation. Her upper lip twitched and a long, low growl filled her throat. In the back of her mind she added another bullet point to her long list of reasons to hate humans.
His comrade, nearest and with the commlink antenna jutting from his pack, was no longer with them. He noticed that, too, and it did not make him feel better.
Nearest them, two others backed away, opening fire on the Ratkin. He cursed and slipped back down to the ground, pulling his hand over his head cautiously -- they didn't seem too worried that he was in the line of fire.
--
The furthest two -- these men were already in back -- stood almost in-line with their allies now. They seemed very stoic, given the violence (at least, at one moment, they did.) The next moment they were shouting, their firearms were brought to bear, and horrible, horrible noise filled the tiny tunnels. The soldiers screamed at the top of their lungs through it.
Bullets ripped through the sewer, leaving nobody unharmed -- the soldier 344 had only just moments ago tried to stab was killed in the crossfire, his head exploding in a friendly red burst . . .
Spraying (Targets: Soldier 1; 344; Damien; KK) (16d10.hits(8)=3, 16d10.hits(8)=4)
Full Autos Take 2 (16d10.hits(8)=8, 16d10.hits(8)=5)
Results:
Soldier 1 takes: 2@1, 2@2 shots. He dies.
344 takes: 3@1, 1@2
Damien takes: 3@1, 1@2
KK takes: 2@1, 1@2
344
Damage vs 344 (4d10.hits(7)=2, 4d10.hits(7)=1, 4d10.hits(7)=3, 5d10.hits(7)=1)
Damien
Damage to Damien (4d10.hits(7)=4, 4d10.hits(7)=1, 4d10.hits(7)=2, 5d10.hits(7)=5)
KK
Damage vs KK (4d10.hits(7)=1, 4d10.hits(7)=1, 5d10.hits(7)=2)
Frenzy checks (4d10.hits(7)=1, 4d10.hits(7)=2)
344, Damien both regain 2 temporary Rage as a result of this; KK gains 3, because that motherfucker is frenzied.
He danced forward with supernatural speed to the time of the music of blood and fear, the blades of his knives almost glowing in the repeated flashes of gunfire. The last shots died just as he reached the soldiers, just as their clips ran dry. They did not have much time to consider their mistakes.... The music of pain and screaming hit its crescendo, and died, and the Kat Killer's knives ensured that two soldiers died with it.
His first knife slipped through one of their armors thickly, and sunk to the hilt in the soldier's rib, the armor and rib keeping the wound shallow but still dangerous, and for an instant it seemed like time stopped while KK let out a monstrous screech of what could only be called absolute, utter joy, and then like a rubber band snapping back into place, the Kat Killer was gone, already sliding behind the next soldier like an rabid beast, slavering with the need to kill, to maim, to shred, to rip. With a spray of arterial blood, KK slammed his knife into the soldier's neck, just behind his ear. Somehow, that soldier stayed standing as the knife just barely nicked his brain stem, but it was perfectly clear that this member of the pair would not live more than a few minutes without extreme medical attention.
Medical attention he would not get wading in the waste of the sewer. Medical attention he would not get while these Rats lived.
Kat Killer screamed with the tempo of the blood pounding in his ears.
Hehehehe.... Fucker....
Damien's head snapped up from his leisurely perusal of the corpses deformities, sending a spray of blood from his slightly ajar mouth, searching for another victim.
If anyone finds this ass-holes face, can you please return it to the front desk.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
At this same moment, the other of the screaming soldiers points his gun near enough at the mobile Kat Killer's head, pulls the trigger -- there's a loud CLACK and then nothing. Again -- CLACK, nothing. He drops the firearm and goes for his own knife. Haha! Melee! This is where the fun is!
Silver! Silver-clawed steel-spitting Weaverspawn demon! I'll fucking kill you!
He leapt for one of the soldiers, impossibly fast, his Rage fueling every movement as he nearly exploded into the man, the paired knives seeming almost liquid as he tore into the man who'd just dropped his gun just as he reached for his knife.
Damage versus first soldier man. (str+1 knife, 6 extra attack successes) (11d10=51) 2 successes. Less woo. Dammit.
Unfortunately the man's armor was still good, and kept the worst of the attack off of him, but KK was no longer there, speeding past him to the next man, to the one with the silver, screaming again.
I will...
Kat killer slid forward like a viper, his body seeming like a rubber band of coiled motion for just an instant, almost seeming to stretch unnaturally through some sort of optical illusion based on his extreme speed.
...fucking...
And then he snapped back into place, and two knives came in opposed arcs, and just as they began to slide into the man's temples, KK's scream reached crescendo again.
KILL YOU!
There was a second as the knives slid home when the man's eyes widened, and then kept widening, and then widened even further until they exploded from their sockets as Kevin the Kat Killer jerked on those paired blades and ripped them straight forward out of the fucker's eye sockets, taking eyes, optic nerves, and a good chunk of brain matter and leaving them in the muck at their feet. Kevin screamed in absolute triumph as the blood and brain covered him, and slowly began to turn to the other soldier.
GRAAAAAAAH!
Just then a choking scent began to fill the sewer, one that overpowered the normal sense of smell and even overcame the smells of blood and shit and death around them to make the man gag. A distraction to be sure. But one that would very likely kill him.
If the Kat Killer didn't do it first.
First damage roll on second soldier man. Str+1 knife, plus 4 attack successes. (9d10=50) Five successes! Yes!
Second attack roll on second soldier man. (11d10=67) Six successes! This guy's probably toasty.
Second damage roll on second soldier man. Str+1 knife, plus 5 extra attack successes. (10d10=52) Four damage successes. Net total of 9, minus two soak rolls. I do believe this guy's a goner, no? If his armor soak rolls are exceptionally good, then I'll come back and edit the kill to something suitably dramatic yet less instant-deathy.
Stamina roll for regeneration. (5d10=28) I think that's a failure because I believe it's difficulty 8. If it's not a failure, let me know.
Charisma + Primal Urge for Eau De Rat. (5d10=26) Success. Should the survivor(s) do anything but gibber in fear, -1 dice to all actions.
She lunged at the man KK's knives had failed to harm, her scalepl leading the way, a streak of silver trailed by the full bulk of her crinos form. It twisted around in her palm, its point switching sides, allowing her to bring the ball of her palm down on the man's forehead, the point of her Pain Dagger peaking out below her fingers.
It didn't look violent, it certainly wasn't a grand, savage display like Kat Killer's continued slaughter. The man simply stumbled back, a tiny vertical slit in his skull.
Three-Forty-Four slammed her hand down again, not bothering to make a second wound. Just to make absolutely sure, she wiggled the handle. She seemed to recall seeing an infomercial for a device that did something very similar to an egg.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
The only remaining soldier, now with a burst eye and still shouting at the top of his lungs, strikes out at KK once again, swinging his knife both brutally and deftly. He is drooling. His knife connects, and there's blood. There's so much blood.
There is so much blood.
Breathing, that was the problem.
her hand shoots out and up, scalpel held, barely visible between her leading fingers. There is a faint gurgle as the man drops to his knees, a thin line of red tracing up from his clavicle, over his chin, across his nose, and up into his hairline.
Three-Forty-Four reaches down and tears a piece of cloth off of the man's sleeve. She calmly and carefully begins cleaning the monkey-filth from her sacred blade.
Among them, however, in the running slime-water of the sewer, KK had taken his place, the silver having caused him consider damage and left his poisonous blood running thick into the water.
Maggots groped and grasped their way from the open belly of one of the dead invaders toward the water, likewise intent on making their way into the oceans.
Eventually the loud echoes of gunfire and violent roaring fade, and it becomes clear that theirs is not the only battle to have raged, with the noise of shouting and gunshots seeming to come from either direction in this tunnel.
Damien comes to his senses quickly after the violence has ceased, taking quick note of the ends of their battle and their situation. Tunnel Runners were not quick to frenzy, and even then, the Rage did not control them so strongly as some others . . .
Even now, on the ground and wounded terribly, the Kat Killer thrashed.
He vomited blood, and then screamed, as best he could so badly wounded.
Fucking WEAVER. WEAVER. Fuck shit fuck GODDAMIT WEAVER SPAWN. Nest. Fucking NEST! Soldiers. NEST! Kill! FUCKING KILL!
It was only then that he discovered that there were no gunshots, no more silver knives, no new pain. he screamed again.
FUCKING SILVER!
He heavily, slowly, began to drag himself through the muck and the filth, paying no heed to the restof the world as he dragged himself towards the nest. He was greviously injured, but that would not stop him. If any more goddamned Weaver-fucking humans showed up...
He came across the fallen Circular Saw Launcher, and with a manic grin and another scream of pain, he began to drag it along with him, pushing it forward, then pulling himself to it, crawling, every movement obviously one made in absolute agony, and yet...
It was by will alone that he dragged himself forward, unable to even rise, so badly was he hurt. And yet he would not be stopped...
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
"Get up, monkey," she says, but despite the disdain in her voice, she reaches out a hand to help KK up. Homid or not, she couldn't stand to see a rat crawl bleeding through the waste of humanity.
The Kat Killer was very, very badly hurt.
He could not stand, however. He fell back to sitting, and his entire head twitched, an audible snappop coming from his neck as he leaned forward and vomited bile and blood.
Luckily, the would wouldn't be fatal. Shifter's healing may not save them from silver wounds, but it does tend to save them from bleeding to death afterwards. He choked and gagged a moment, then snarled as he looked back up, the small hairs on the back of his neck raised, though 344 couldn't see that.
Nest. Have to get to the Nest. Defend the Nest. Fucking Weaver and their fucking silver nearly got me... nearly...
His lips spread in a soundless scream as he took 344's hand again and dragged himself to standing, his other arm, with the Launcher cradled in the crook of his elbow, holding his guts in. It was by the sheerest force of absolute will that he stood this long.
Back to the Nest...
Done rummaging, Damien swung around and jogged up to KK and 344, slowing as he realized just how damaged KK was.
"Hey.... Um.... We may want to bolt on this one...."
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain