The Will to Fight: Ongoing: Red and Purple

[voidtreckermods]

Dawn Attack

It's been a busy few days of fighting demons, attacking keystones and fighting both on the demon and human planes. On the morning of day nine of the month of Kazoo a gate opens close to the base camp that the two teams have made.

It seems the demons have decided to focus on this unexpected threat, because it is a sizable force, with a number of the large demons. They march towards the camp with single-minded focus, the opportunity to stop these unwanted defenders taking precedence over their desire to destroy the city.

The advantage to the landscape being as ruined as it is, is that there isn't much to stop the lookouts from seeing this force headed towards them. A gate opening is not subtle. There should be enough time to make sure the defenders are ready.

Scouting Ahead

Once that skirmish is won those on the Red team will find their SCA's beeping, with an exclamation point far out to the east.

A group of demons is congregating at the location indicated. Investigate why, defeat the demons and close any gates nearby.

It will take a while to get there and there is plenty to do on the way for those that follow the exclamation point. Roaming packs of demons, gates to be closed. Exhausting work, especially for those going in and out of the demon gates.

Protecting the City

Once it is clear that these defenders are not going to be easy to wipe out, the attacks on the city itself get more frequent. The demons have changed tactics: rather than sending in large groups they open many small portals, sending small strike teams to harry and target individuals.

Some of the attacks are clearly meant as traps: they open the gates in or very close to the city, to lure the Voidtreckers in to where they will be affected by the spell. Ranged attacks may be useful here.

Comments

[spikelet]

"This shitty guy tells me...!" It's under her breath, imperceptible beneath the sounds of combat breaking out across the edge of camp. For all her bravado, a-Qing doesn't engage with the demons like he does. Instead, she keeps to Xue Yang's shadow, years of suspicious observation and months of agility training helping her to duck and dodge, to stay out of his way.

Her fox follows on, slowing any demons that try to flank them with gusts of brittle, lingering frost. She holds a knife, and squints at one of the demons caught in ice mid-run.

"Where are they weak?"

[xue_yang]

"Everywhere." Xue Yang has just taken to brute force to take most of them out, finding them to have the same kind of weaknesses that he would expect from a fierce corpse. Using the two blades he sends a combination of elements blasting through the closest demons. Learning how to throw the power from the sword towards its enemy had been quite the difficult process but it has proven quite useful in battle.

It gives them a wider girth to work with as the demons seem to realize that they are able to fight up close and at a distance. A small shift happens in front of them as the faster demons decide to try their luck.

"Aim low."

Take out the legs first and make them easier targets.

[spikelet]

She's about to object, 'everywhere'? He's so good at killing, he's got to know more than that, but then he speaks again. Aim low.

Aim low? She watches, the demons' claws tearing up the earth tamped down by days' worth of Voidtrecker patrols, and-- there! Her knife flies out, slicing across the forelimb of a demon as it's about to come down. The leg buckles, ichor spraying out, upper body crashing to the ground with the momentum of its run.

She shoots a triumphant look at him, seeking approval-- and then realises what she's doing, and looks away again, quickly enough that she hopes he hasn't noticed. She draws two more knives, and goes to work.

[xue_yang]

Xue Yang doesn't have time to look at her expression, only noticing that she actually managed to listen to him as a demon goes down.

"See what happens when you listen to me."

That's about as much approval as she can really expect to receive from him. He isn't there to babysit her through a battle. Fighting is all about learning through doing. At least she is more useful then the brat that would do nothing more then hide and spy on him.

[spikelet]

His gloating gets a hiss in return. She'll never trust him, but she can't deny that when his malice was used in daozhang's defence, to get back at those who tricked him, he was almost... reliable. She definitely enjoyed it, before... Before. No one could say he isn't a masterful killer in any alternate.

If only this daozhang hadn't... well, she can't do anything about that.

She throws another knife, and gestures Xixue forward, so the fox can get some battle experience. Its pale eyes flare, and the demon ahead of it turns, shrieking in confusion, and claws at its nearest ally, already recoiling from her attack. Its most recent trick.

She ducks around Xue Yang before it can recover.

[xue_yang]

He glances as she drops behind him, a small eye roll as he takes out another few demons just as they reach them.

"You going to let that thing do all the hard work?"

He doesn't know where she got it and he doesn't care. All he sees is that it is doing the work her own hands should be doing. Or...well he isn't sure what it used to make them confused but whatever magic it is at least it isn't getting in his way.

[spikelet]

"Why not? I'm no cultivator, but it's a magical beast. I'd be stupid not to use it."

She'd be stupid not to use anyone who could help with the mission, goes unsaid. She leaves his side to yank a dagger out of the demon's side before it can decay into uselessness, and looks for another to aim at. "If you have time to tell me off, isn't that time you could be killing these bastards?"

[xue_yang]

"I know how to do both at once. It's called multitasking."

He snorts in amusement as he sends another blast of power through the crowd, this time decided to see what fire would do against the demons. He treats this more like a training run then any sort of actual battle.