Re: Grand Battle S3G1! (Round Two: The Great Battlefield)
06-12-2011, 11:26 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.
The snipers' nest had been a real boon. The view was excellent and the intelligence the pair had been able to gather was even better. Coupled with the ability to be effectively invisible to the rest of the battlers, it was essentially the perfect starting place.
Essentially, in this case, fell pretty far short of actually.
The position that gave the nest its superlative qualities also turned out to be incredibly inconvenient; descending the mountain was proving to be intolerably complicated and slow. As TinTen had said during one frustrating outburst, "Scofflaw likely to rule entire battlefield before descent successful!"
Chasms and ravines opened at every turn, paths were few and far between, and navigable stretches had a tendency to u-turn and leave anyone walking them higher up the rocky peaks than when they started. The amiable Huebert was actually rather enjoying the excursion, recalling a time when he'd lived happily on such terrain, but the truth inherent in TinTen's dire portents and muttered invectives niggled at the back of his mind.
Eventually, man and squid found themselves facing a sheer wall of craggy rock; it stood resolutely between them and the side of the mountains they wanted to be on, and went on for a considerable distance in both directions. Going back the way they came would, aside from getting them nowhere new, be extremely difficult given the grade of the slope they descended.
The pair stared at the obstacle for a few moments, not sure of how to proceed. Huebert opened his mouth and started to say "Well, should we–" but was quickly cut off by a snapped "Enough of this!"
TinTen drew his laser pistol in one hand analogue and began emptying its battery into the rock, each shot ablating a bit of the surface. His other manipulator appendage drew a large concussive grenade from his bandolier. It was pretty clear what he intended to do, but Huebert bit his tongue in spite of the self-evident foolishness of this course of action; whatever TinTen had to do to feel better. He spent several seconds scanning the rock face, trying to ignore his friend's venting frustration. Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, though, and he put a hand on the barrel of TinTen's gun.
"Hey. Why don't we just use the door?"
---
"Single slughole here. Recent. Indicative of accident or small-scale struggle rather than real firefight."
Huebert continued sauntering down the brightly-lit brushed-steel tunnel. "Not much more you can tell just staring at the wall. 'S probably just some clumsy soldier letting his gun go off."
At about that point, they heard another gunshot from deeper inside the complex. Huebert muttered "On the other hand...", and they sped up.
---
The oppressively-liberating individuality of the room they arrived in was rather lost on TinTen and Huebert as they did their best to identify the source of the retort without making themselves obvious targets. No-one seemed to be around, but there was another slughole in the floor, and TinTen happened to see a nearby door finish swinging shut. He gestured towards it, and the pair crept across the intelligence analysis room; TinTen withdrew a small flexible-cable camera from his toolkit and threaded it under the door. After a few seconds of calibration and observation, he started and pulled the camera back.
"Two soldiers, uniforms brown," he hissed. "Tor with them, apparently peaceful."
Huebert's brow scrunched up. "Uh, I guess we should probably try contacting him. It'd be better to have, you know, a united front against Scofflaw, right?"
The Meipi nodded wobblingly. "Good thought."
Huebert pulled the door open barked up the stairs. "Hey, Tor!"
TinTen sighed quietly as he mounted the plasma pack. "Not quite my plan."
The snipers' nest had been a real boon. The view was excellent and the intelligence the pair had been able to gather was even better. Coupled with the ability to be effectively invisible to the rest of the battlers, it was essentially the perfect starting place.
Essentially, in this case, fell pretty far short of actually.
The position that gave the nest its superlative qualities also turned out to be incredibly inconvenient; descending the mountain was proving to be intolerably complicated and slow. As TinTen had said during one frustrating outburst, "Scofflaw likely to rule entire battlefield before descent successful!"
Chasms and ravines opened at every turn, paths were few and far between, and navigable stretches had a tendency to u-turn and leave anyone walking them higher up the rocky peaks than when they started. The amiable Huebert was actually rather enjoying the excursion, recalling a time when he'd lived happily on such terrain, but the truth inherent in TinTen's dire portents and muttered invectives niggled at the back of his mind.
Eventually, man and squid found themselves facing a sheer wall of craggy rock; it stood resolutely between them and the side of the mountains they wanted to be on, and went on for a considerable distance in both directions. Going back the way they came would, aside from getting them nowhere new, be extremely difficult given the grade of the slope they descended.
The pair stared at the obstacle for a few moments, not sure of how to proceed. Huebert opened his mouth and started to say "Well, should we–" but was quickly cut off by a snapped "Enough of this!"
TinTen drew his laser pistol in one hand analogue and began emptying its battery into the rock, each shot ablating a bit of the surface. His other manipulator appendage drew a large concussive grenade from his bandolier. It was pretty clear what he intended to do, but Huebert bit his tongue in spite of the self-evident foolishness of this course of action; whatever TinTen had to do to feel better. He spent several seconds scanning the rock face, trying to ignore his friend's venting frustration. Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, though, and he put a hand on the barrel of TinTen's gun.
"Hey. Why don't we just use the door?"
---
"Single slughole here. Recent. Indicative of accident or small-scale struggle rather than real firefight."
Huebert continued sauntering down the brightly-lit brushed-steel tunnel. "Not much more you can tell just staring at the wall. 'S probably just some clumsy soldier letting his gun go off."
At about that point, they heard another gunshot from deeper inside the complex. Huebert muttered "On the other hand...", and they sped up.
---
The oppressively-liberating individuality of the room they arrived in was rather lost on TinTen and Huebert as they did their best to identify the source of the retort without making themselves obvious targets. No-one seemed to be around, but there was another slughole in the floor, and TinTen happened to see a nearby door finish swinging shut. He gestured towards it, and the pair crept across the intelligence analysis room; TinTen withdrew a small flexible-cable camera from his toolkit and threaded it under the door. After a few seconds of calibration and observation, he started and pulled the camera back.
"Two soldiers, uniforms brown," he hissed. "Tor with them, apparently peaceful."
Huebert's brow scrunched up. "Uh, I guess we should probably try contacting him. It'd be better to have, you know, a united front against Scofflaw, right?"
The Meipi nodded wobblingly. "Good thought."
Huebert pulled the door open barked up the stairs. "Hey, Tor!"
TinTen sighed quietly as he mounted the plasma pack. "Not quite my plan."