RP: 5th Fleet [Chapter Seven] We're Not In Yamatai Anymore...

Dimitri was caught off guard by the sudden shouts of what were possibly goblins, however even more surprising was their sudden retreat. He would've expected fearless raiders, but it almost seemed like they were kids. "They're..running?" He looked down at his horses that decided to tease the goblins and chuckled "See maybe nothing is like we expected, these guys are running in fear of horses." He didn't bother to slow the horses and just let them have their fun.

"Bad horse! Bad horse!"

"Can't breathe!"

"Legs huuuuuuuurts!"

"Still hear hooves! Iron hooves!"

"Don't squish, don't squish!"

The pathetic mass before them continued to flee, but thanks to their own stupidity, still didn't dive out of the way to the sides. Instead, they continued to run down the road in sheer, utter terror. And while screaming their overly large heads off to boot. Of course, all of this only served to make them more and more tired, their pace slowing down as the horses began to close in. The two didn't keep their previous pace and run them down however, and now were at a steady canter a few good meters behind. Every time the creatures looked back however, they would neigh, making them panic again and keep running. By this point, both Kuroneko and Aya were exhausted as well, but from nearly dying from laughter. Dimitri however, soon felt a small tug on his sleeve.

"Hey. Can we just go around them?" she politely asked him. Though the frown she had was very slight, the six inch tall Neko's ears seemed to almost droop enough to fall off. One thing was for certain; Sif wasn't angry, or even disappointed at this point.

Dimitri looked down at Sif when she tugged on his sleeve and then turned back to his horses and the goblins, maybe Sif sympathized with the little guys cause they were little too. However he couldn't very well ignore her request when she made a face like that. So he calmed his horses down and guided them around the living bobble heads. He was a bit concerned though about their rather eager behavior to raid those wandering past, so he figured a little deterrence was needed.

Leaning just a bit over to the goblins and leering at them as he passed. "If you attack others you will be cursed with a thousand horses that will chase you to the end of your lives. It is your last warning." He then whipped the reigns and has the horses pick up pace to quickly put the goblins out of sight before they decided to try an attack from behind.

As if to puncuate Dimitiri's warning, Rin nocked an arrow and let it fly. The arrow embedded itself in the road just before one of the goblins in case they decided to give chase.

Rin glanced at Dimitri.

"A curse of a thousand horses that chase you until the end of your lives? Remind me never to make you mad," she said with a smirk.

Aya, wearing her new gambeson and armour, had spent much of the ride alternating between suffering unrelenting, crushing boredom and white hot embarrassment whenever Kuroneko made yet another innuendo. When the topic of dragons came up, the blue Nekovalkyrja almost suggested that she wanted a dragon to show up just to get it over with. Or at the very least some action. She watched the woods around her, trying to keep an eye out whilst soaking in the natural beauty.

Almost as though a deity had heard her prayers, at that very moment a group of hideous yet pathetic looking creatures emerged from the side of the road. If they had hoped to ambush anyone, it was wishful thinking. Any impact they may have had was shredded as they fled in terror from the horses, of all things! Aya couldn't help but burst into gales of laughter. After the competence of her last foes, this was quite refreshing.

Aya wiped the tears away from her eyes. Her ribs ached. Okay, let's get serious. She rested a hand on her shortsword's hilt to underline Rin's unspoken threat. The Neko stared down the goblins, as if daring them to do something. And yet it didn't quite work. Her lips quivered as she tried to fight back more laughter.

As the wagon started to move past the pitiable creatures, the curses seemed to come down like thunder and finally scatter them. Sif simply crossed her ams and closed her eyes in a haughty expression as she waited for them to all vanish into the bushes. Kuroneko however, was more vocal.

"Hora-hora, look at them run!" the woman exclaimed in soft surprise. "They must be very fearful of horses for some reason," she observed. As the lusty Neko maid looked over the side at the fleeing creatures however, she couldn't help but immediately perk her ears up at something they caught wind of. "Oh, don't be so coy Rin. I'm sure both you and Aya would agree that men filled with such furious vigor are more pleasing!~" she teased. Sif however, merely took in a deep breath and sighed.

"I was looking forward to a figh - "

"MAINTAIN DISCIPLINE!" a coarse, black voice bellowed with rage.

The wagon came to an abrupt stop as both of the horses reared back and loudly neighed, horribly jarring everyone riding it. The sound, sharp and piercing, could only mean one thing; fear. Once their front legs hit the ground again, both horses desperately tried to turn away, but being bound to the wagon, ended up running into each other before trying to back up. In front of them stood a trio of creatures not entirely unlike the smaller ones from moments ago. As the squad looked over the newcomers, they did the same with small, beady red eyes. It was clear they were related in some way, having the same long, pointed ears and color of skin. Their large, wide heads held toothy, vicious maws spread in Cheshire Grins just as wide too, but the similarities seemed to end there. These?

These were in an entirely different league.

Though short by human standards at a mere five feet, the sheer amount of hardened, bulging muscles and fat on their bodies stomped the idea of 'mere' into the ground. Not only that, but despite their legs being short, their thick arms were long enough to reach down to their knees like a brutal ape. Stocky and powerful, they were bad enough, but to make matters worse, the trio was armed to the teeth. A curved, massive round shield covered in iron was strapped to the left arm of each, and in the right, a long spear tipped and counterbalanced with iron. The armor they wore was like the brigandine that Aya had, but with the plates outside and not overlapping. Even then, the greaves, gauntets and helmet were solid iron wherever possible. In other words, these creatures were absolutely menacing.

"Goblin shits, to the rear. And remember, we want the women!" the particularly burly one in the center ordered. Eying each of the squad from head to toe, its gaze lingered on Rin, Aya and Kuroneko long enough they'd feel like their clothing was being removed, while with Dimitri, it spat on the soil. "HOBGOBLINS, FORM PHALANX! ADVANCE!"

Once the wagon stabilized, Rin nocked an arrow and aimed at the middle of the three creatures. She sent it flying towards the bellowing goblinoid, guessing that she could potentially wound her target before he had a chance to utilize his shield.

Dimitri pulls the reins on his carriage trying to settle the horses down, if they panicked too much they might break the axles on the wagon. "I think it'd have been better if we attacked them first." He sighed kind of hoping things wouldn't devolve into a fight. He turned the horses around or tried to and tried to put a little distance between them and the regrouping army.

"Sif do you think you can handle the reins? It's kind of like driving." As he spoke he reached down grabbing his crossbow.

Aya wasn't laughing any more. The brutish creatures facing the squad were obviously a cut above their kin. A shudder of revulsion ran up her body as the strongest hobgoblin ogled her and the other Nekovalkyrja. When it bellowed out orders, Aya paused. Yayap mentioned these "hobgoblins" before - and they were a serious threat. But Aya wasn't about to let that discourage her. If they didn't stop them, they might harass another, less well protected caravan.

"Well, we might not have attacked first, but I'll definitely make sure they'll regret this!" The blue Neko unsheathed her shortsword. Once the carriage slowed down enough for her to safely do so, she tried to hop off to meet their would-be assailants. She kept her distance for now. She wanted to get a better idea of how these brutes fought.

Along a sunny road...

Carefree footsteps sounded on a sunlight kissed, packed dirt road, uneven and stuttering in rhythm as they chased a tune that they alone could hear. The day had been simply perfect for travelling, for dancing, and for continuing a mission that Yuzuki was a little lost on the specifics of what the exact goal was, but it made the CO happy so she was okay with it. At least the weather was nice.

She had been on the road a long while she supposed, a dangerous road, lots to be wary of. She had learned early on, that despite being limited to whatever weapons she could scrounge up, be they traded for what passed for currency or scavenged from the dead, were very useful this world. For all of its lack of technology, it had proven to be unfortunately quite dangerous.

Not that she had personally had to fight anything.

As if summoned by the thought, a sound caught Yuzuki's attention tearing her from the light hearted wanderings of her mind; the distant sound of neighing horses. Trying to wiggle her ears before whining as the fabric hampered their motion and her hearing, she eventually tossed her head working to ease the hood of her cloak back to gather on her shoulders, allowing her let her ears fan out properly as she started to scurry along the edge of the road.

Keeping in mind to remain aware of her surroundings, and importantly to stay light on her feet Yuzuki fussed with her belongings in a desperate attempt to keep her pack and water skin from jostling too much she advanced quickly as she caught the sound of a bellow. As she progressed down the road it was easy for the Neko to pick out the presence of many shapes further down the road encouraging her to refocus her eyes, blurring her vision slightly as they focused in on the distant objects bringing them into more immediate view.

Nearest to her position there appeared to be a group of unfortunately grotesque looking creatures, led by a trio of larger armoured figures that were in the process of closing in on a wagon. Turning her attention to the wagon Yuzuki noted with interest that the wagon's occupants looked a little more familiar than the usual fare on the planet, hopefully she wondered as to whether perhaps she had run into another group that had been set to the task of scouring the planet.

Slowing her pace and allowing her eyesight to return to normal, Yuzuki juggled her items carefully. Her first order of business was withdrawing and placing a tailed steel helm atop her head, before loosening the ties holding her shield and allowing her to worm her arm through the straps in the large round green painted shield. Once her arm was securely in place Yuzuki fussed with more ties as she retrieved the long winged spear from behind her back before positioning her grip so that the spiked butt of the spear rested just beneath her right elbow. Her equipment satisfactorily in place she settled into a half crouch and crept forward, shield for the moment at her side as she tried not to let her possessions clatter too much as she moved along the side of the road. Hopefully she could move to flank the visually unappealing group on her way to meet up with a hopefully friendly party.

It was Rin that cast the first stone. Or, in this case, arrow.

Though the bow draw felt heavy, she was still able to pull it back with alarming speed and let loose. The arrow darted forward just as they started to block with their massive round shields, but the enraged bellow from the hobgoblin leader told them it struck. However, the squad watched as it raised its spear point up into the air behind the cover of its shield and moved it from side to side. With the broken shaft falling to the ground between its feet as it advanced, it was clear what happened. It didn't penetrate deep enough. At the same time, the Hobgoblin's pace picked up from a walk to a trot as the overlapping edges of their shields clanked together. With less than 25 meters between the two groups, they were closing fast.

"It's you and me Aya!" Kuroneko called after her, leaping off as well before running forward for just a few bounds. Taking a spot to the right of the road, she eagerly gripped her short halberd with both hands. 'Aya, can you try going around the phalanx and focus on killing the goblins? The Hobs won't turn after you as long as Dimitri and Rin can shoot them,' she telepathically spoke to the team. As Dimitri managed to turn the carriage around however, Sif was nowhere to be seen at all as the young man looked at the seat he made for her. However, his eyes caught a glimpse of color on one of the horse's tails. She had been flung forward when the carriage was stopped, and had clung onto it for dear life. Only now, she was slapping into its rear as it tried to shake her off like an ultra-large fly.

"Dimitri, help me!" the Mini-Neko cried out. At the same time, both of Kuro's orange-ears stood up on end.

'I see only six goblins behind the hobs - there were two more!' As though her thoughts were a command, a pair of the short, gray-green creatures sprinted out from the side! Carrying a long log above their heads, they jeered as they simply dove in at the side of the carriage.

"Nyahnahnahnahnahhhhh!" Shoving the wooden length in between the wheel spokes, it quickly lodged in the suspension as it turned, locking the wheel and bringing it to a halt. With the Hobgoblins to inspire them, the Goblins where soon mischievously cackling a way they hid underneath the raised body of the carriage. Though they wouldn't have been able to leap on, by doing this, they were both out of sight from Dimitri and Aya's ranged weapons. To make matters worse, if either of them leaped off, the goblins would likely try to hamstring them with their little swords.

As Yuzuki managed to get onto a flank, still hidden in the bushes, it was clear; they didn't intend to let any of them get away.

The situation wasn't looking good, as she crept closer and learned more of what was happening Yuzuki could tell that her unexpected reinforcement wouldn't make things easy for the group she had stumbled upon. So far she had refrained from contacting the group as she didn't want to distract them, or possibly give away her approach should their aggressors catch one of the others looking toward their approaching help.

She briefly considered using the heavy darts that she had looted early on during her time on the planet, however that would have left her vulnerable to being rushed as she would have to do something with her spear and she wasn't confident in her isolated position enough to risk juggling her weapons.

This left her with for the moment only one option. She'd hit the flank and try to wound or kill as many of the small hideous green ones as possible. Should they attempt to return the favour she would retreat back down the road to maintain distance and possibly string them out in a line to better deal with them.

Steeling her resolve Yuzuki set into motion, first sending a telepathic message to the two with ranged weapons, An ally is joining the fray, coming in on the enemy's flank. Don't shoot me please. The message sent Yuzuki darted through the bushes closing toward the rear of the hostile group. She hadn't gone far before slowing with her shield up and at the ready, quickly having made it enough distance to begin her assault with an accurate thrust with the steel tip of her winged spear aiming at the nearest of the green things in hopes of rapidly thinning their numbers.

Things did not go as Dimitri had hoped at all, the wheels were jammed and now Sif was either spanking or getting spanked by a horse, and there were goblins hiding under the carriage. He was isolated now and he had quite a bit of work to do. First he reached out and grabbed Sif, careful not to squeeze her and pulled her back into the carriage. "We need to make you a seatbelt or something." After pulling her back he made sure the horses wouldn't try to run and break the wheels.

After handling all that he finished cranking his crossbow and pointed it back at the goblin army. He loaded a bolt and took aim at one of the hobgoblins, and fired, wanting to catch one before they were aware of his weapon at least. "We got goblins under the carriage Sif so watch out."

I sure can! replied Aya telepathically, affirming Kuroneko's message with a little nod. First, she feinted to the left, but suddenly hared off to the right, using her natural agility in an attempt to bamboozle any of the goblinoids that tried to anticipate her actions. She went to circle past the phalanx, keeping a healthy distance between herself and the deadly polearms wielded by the hobgoblins. It wouldn't do to be skewered. The sound and sight of movement seized Aya's attention, and she managed a fleeting glimpse of the interloper in the battle. As brief as it was, the glance was enough to tell her that the stranger was 1) not another goblin and 2) focused on the squad's assailants.

Even if it turned out this stranger was no friend, Aya intended to take advantage of her abrupt appearance. Her shortsword glinted coldly in the light as she made to strike down one of the goblins at the rear of the formation.

Rin did her best to keep the hobgoblins' attention divided between the ranged attackers and the melee combatants. She fired several arrows in rapid succession, attempting to strike at exposed areas; a head, a shoulder, a foot, or a forearm. If the hobgoblins had to keep their shields up to ward away the arrows, then they would be vulnerable to melee attacks from behind.

"Dimitri and I can keep the big ones distracted long enough for you to get behind them," said Rin telepathically.

As combat broke out, everyone raced to their positions.

Dimitri's hand reached out and grabbed Sif as easily as he would a doll - a warm, soft, breathing one - and brought her to the relative safety of the seat. The horses however, were going nowhere. With the piece of wood lodged into place, the most they could do was kick back and neigh at the two goblins under the carriage's body. Both of them were cackling with glee as they tried to prod and poke at the two horses with their swords, but Dimitri could see they were unable to get within easy reach to cut or stab the animals. Listening to the Goblins, it was like they were playing a deadly game of Lorath Roulette, each trying their luck at avoiding the much feared iron-shod hooves and laughing.

At the same time, Rin immediately dashed off to the left of the squad; dodging and weaving, the milky blue Neko was easily able to slip by the Hobgoblin line. However, out of the corner of her eye, she saw glints of red shining back at her from behind the cover of a shield, along with a wide mouthed sneer. Darting past, this was when Dimitri loosed his bolt; a horrible crash could be heard as the projectile pierced through the shield of the Hobgoblin Aya darted past, splintering the wood. Even then, the bolt was firmly lodged in, held at its center by wood and iron. This was plenty enough for the Neko to slip by, and start attacking the Goblins in the back however. Though tired and panting heavily, all six of them rushed at her. Despite this, she quickly and swiftly slashed out at the nearest one as it ran forwards in a mad fervor. Blood gushed from its neck as it tumbled and fell, but the others kept coming!

"Get her with tha horse-choppahs!" one of them yelled. Faced with five more, with four out of those armed with crude and short halberds, it didn't look good for Aya. If they didn't outreach her, they'd overwhelm with sheer numbers instead!

Fortunately, a winged spear burst out of the bushes and shadow and skewered one of the halberd wielding goblins from the back and side. Realizing that there was yet another enemy facing them, the group quickly split, with two heading for each Neko! Yuzuki found herself facing down a sword user and a halberd user, but Aya was up against the last two remaining polearms wielders! The weapons were heavy at the head and cumbersome, with a powerful swing and had a longer reach than Aya had, but if she timed it right, she could get past it if it weren't for the second. Yuzuki however, found the horse chopper trying to pin down and break or otherwise slap her spear aside; the moment that happened, she knew the short-sword would rush her!

"I'll have you polish my boots for that!" a Hobgoblin bellowed at Rin. She shot at their legs and struck the iron-clad shin of one, but that only angered it; not only that, but their unarmored feet were hard to hit given the rapid advance they were making despite Kuroneko's attempts to slow them down. Sooner or later, she'd hit her mark, but there was no telling when that'd happen. Plus, her arrows only managed to punch through their shields' iron skin and lodge a third to halfway down their length. The best targets eluded her! Another arrow sent sparks flying as it bounced off a helmet, the visor too close to hiding behind the shield's rim to easily hit. Kuroneko however, was likely just what she needed.

The older Neko had a hard time of it, dodging the spears, but she started coming around the right flank more, trying to avoid the weapons altogether. With a warcry that as borderline lusty, she brought her own halberd down and struck the upper rim of the iron-clad shield; though the hobgoblin ducked, the sheer force briefly knocked it down and out of position.

Dimitri quickly cranked his crossbow and readied another bolt, taking aim at the crowd. "Sif I don't know if you have any special neko moves that can help you get rid of the guys below us, but if not, it might be best to unhitch the horses, let them run off and we can grab them after the fight if they don't run to far. But if they get their ankles cut we'll have to walk the whole rest of the way." Though he could not approach at the moment he was going to make his shot count. He aimed at the weapon arm for one of the Hob's and fired at their sword arm. He wanted to hit, but he was just hoping to keep the guys distracted.

At first, things had seemed to be going well. The goblins reacted just as Aya had hoped, and she dispatched one of them easily. However, she was outnumbered, and the survivors had the reach advantage. The situation had only somewhat improved as the mysterious interloper managed to draw off two of them. Aya was no expert on warfare in this period, but even she knew that this was bad.

She moved back to get more breathing room as her mind raced. She had only a few options, and all of them were bad. As she saw it, her best chance was to force the goblins to swing and then get inside their range. That way, the long hafts of their unwieldy polearms would work against them. But the second goblin complicated matters. This is crazy, but I hope it'll pay off... Aya tried to position herself so that if the goblins attacked they would end up getting in one another's way. She then tried to bait them into making a lunge or swing for her. If everything worked out, then she could use the brief seconds of fumbling to gut one of the goblins before they could protect themselves. But that was a big if.

Immediately Yuzuki was grateful that she was larger than her present foes, even with their pole weapons the small green things were at a disadvantage when it came to reach. Unfortunately however her advantage hadn't made her life easy, only somewhat safer. Keeping her stance low so as to cover as much of her body as possible with her shield Yuzuki worked to keep the shaft of her spear from catching any of the chopping blows directed toward it as she retreated backward down the road in a careful probing exchange with her foe.

As she continued her slow retreat pulling the pair away from their companions Yuzuki did her best to keep her composure while working carefully to try and catch the shaft of the makeshift halberd on the wings of her spear. Hopefully she'd be able to catch the enemy's shaft and knock it wide to throw them off balance for a moment, after all she only needed a moment to send her spear point home, and once the polearm user was dead his sword carrying companion could be safely dispatched, and then it would only be a matter of outflanking the remaining small green things to force the armored ones to address multiple threats.

Taking advantage of Kuroneko's distraction, Rin aimed an arrow at the ducking hobgoblin, hoping to score a hit while the creature had its shield knocked ajar.