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

"You think I can't handle them? Hmph."

Sif-the-Annoyed had her arms crossed as she spoke, her voice calm and level. But despite that, she didn't seem happy in the slightest going by the narrowed eyes and frown she wore. The idea of her unhitching the horses was absurd, but being unable to kill goblins? Absurd. As Dimitri took aim with his crossbow, she leaped into one of the rucksacks and started rummaging about immediately. The bolt he let loose leaped out in a blur, its metal tip striking against the very edge of the crude iron round-shields the Hobgoblins held. Even then, it managed to strike, the broadhead slicing across the back of a hand, a string of Black Speech from the one in the middle of the Phalanx pummeling the young man's eardrums.

Holding their spears underhand but prodding them over the upper edge, the position was uncomfortable but low profile and efficient; even with the ease of aiming the crossbow, it wasn't going to be easy hitting a hand, assuming the spear itself wasn't struck!

At the same time, Rin pounced on the opportunity Kuroneko made and released another arrow from the long wooden bow in her hands. A gravelly bellow escaped from the maw of the rightmost Hobgoblin as the shaft embedded itself in its right shoulder, just under the collarbone. Despite being a broadhead, it still punched through the armor; landing in between the square plates of the brigandine, the sheer force caused their edges to deform as it pushed inwards, deforming the leather backing and tearing the rivets free. The victory was short lived however; giving a bloodied bellow, the Hobgoblin dropped its spear in rage and pulled out a shortsword. As the other two continued forward, mere moments away from coming right down on top of Rin and Dimitri, the other hacked and slashed at Kuroneko, who couldn't outflank her enemy and expose it.

Every time she tried, it retreated, keeping her between the archers and itself!

"You two should use your legs already," Sif dryly pointed out, popping her head out of the bag. Holding a large, pointy needle with a bit of cloth wrapping for a handle, she leaped over to the side of the carriage, the rancorous chitter-chatter of the Goblins below clear as day. "And bodkins. You both bought them for a reason," she added, only to hop off the edge and into the depths below. The squeaky squeals of surprise were soon followed up by the sound of a complete and utter brawl, feet shuffling fast and swords being swung in close quarters at the Mini-Neko. If Dimitri and Rin didn't move soon, they were going to end up trying to hold off a pair of Hobgoblins laying siege their carriage.

At the same time, Aya and Yuzuki found themselves outnumbered in their two separate struggles. Though Aya found herself able to move faster and more swiftly than her opponents, it was still a challenge to find an opening with these two Goblins. With them being so short, the range of her swing was reduced as she was forced to aim lower than normal. Still, moving fast, strafing about on her feet, the horse-chopper wielding Goblin swung. Tired from the chase, the attack seemed almost easy to counter as time seemed to slow ever so slightly. Cleaving down with her short sword, the edge of the blade sliced into flesh and bone with ease! And got stuck in its oversized skull.

As the first one fell, pulling her blade with its corpse, Aya could already see the second Goblin behind it step in and finish raising its cleaver-like halberd high!

"Pretty ladies, fraidy ladies!"

"Chop with blades, send to Hades!"

Practically singing, the two Yuzuki faced put her under pressure, and fast! Already, they were spreading out to either side. Forced to backpedal to avoid being outflanked, her own attempts to trick and have them commit to an attack was infuriatingly countered with the very same! The two were trying to bait her spear into lunging, laughing each time they feinted at her, only to get a feint back from the young woman. She quickly realized that they wanted her to do the same exact thing she wanted them to; if her spear had too much behind the thrust, the other would slip past the point and attack! With one clutching onto its sword and ready to pounce, the other held its chopper high, ready to swing. Her attention divided, Yuzuki poked her spear at it to try and get the heavy weapon to attack, only for the other to suddenly leap forward. She brought her spear's point to bear as fast as she could, only the Goblin to slip away! The first grinned with glee and chopped at her spear, the weapon's reflection visible in her eyes as the cleaver slowly descended.

Pulling back fast, she saved her weapon and countered with a thrust; a lucky fountain of blood sprayed into the air as her spear's edge sliced its neck, just barely hitting! Just as an impact jarred her shield arm; the other had gotten in close, and was hacking away at her shield like a woodsman!
 
The potentially lethal dance with her two partners was made worse by their terrible sing-song chant, the couldn't hold a tempo or harmonize at all, it was dreadful to listen to. Had she not been so intent on surviving she might have sung a song of her own in hopes of providing something pleasant to listen to at the very least. Thankfully a lucky exchange left the enemy polearm user in a pitiable state, now a living fountain becoming in a macabre, but oddly beautiful thing in it's last moments. The small ugly green thing had attained some semblance of beauty at last.

The death of one of her foes however did not signal safety as repeated impacts on her shield reminded Yuzuki of the true value of her defence, very glad that the frenzied blows were on the other side of a barrier rather than impacting her body. Even with some of the local armours she doubted the experience would have been pleasant. Turning her attention to listening to the pace of the blows Yuzuki worked to find something close to a tempo before violently shoving her shield arm outward to meet one of the unhinged strikes hoping to knock the small thing off balance and give her a chance to put space between herself and her aggressor where she would have the advantage of her spear's reach again.
 
Dimitri smirked once Sif got under the carriage. "Now that you've got them occupied, I can." He pulled his bolt quiver to his hip and then hopped out of the carriage, cranking the wench once more "That metal didn't sound too thick." Once he was on his feet he quickly made a move for the tree line it wouldn't help him a whole lot, but the last thing wanted was them ducking into the trees and bushes to mess up his line of sight. He quickly loaded a bodkin and smirked, taking aim for his previous target, he wanted to take advantage of of him thinking his metal was sturdy enough, so he intentionally aimed for his iron clad leg and fired, hoping he would think it was just another broadhead.
 
Cursing herself for not switching to bodkin arrows sooner, Rin heeded Sif's advice and drew an arrow from the left side of her quiver. She nocked two bodkins and aimed them at one of the rushing hobgoblins. She let them fly, hoping to take one of the creatures down quickly.
 
Aya found herself constantly on the move, unable to stop for even a moment lest she feel the bite of cold steel. A shot of elation coursed through her as her gambit paid off and her short sword bit into goblinoid flesh. That elation turned to momentary confusion and then frustration as she tried to dislodge the blade from the creature's head. She lurched downward as the weight of the corpse sank. The second goblin had been all too easy to ignore in her momentary victory, and now she was paying the price. It stepped into the gap its comrade left, preparing to finish the job.

The blue skinned Neko briefly thought about trying to yank the blade out. It would take too long. Instead, Aya let go of the sword, hoping to tackle the living goblin before it could begin its downward stroke. It was foolish and impulsive. But perhaps having a Nekovalkyrja barrel into it would bowl the goblin over, or at least get her within the halberd's arc.
 
With the sound of several animals fighting under the carriage a constant noise in the backround, the two Hobgoblins in front of Rin and Dimitri were closing in fast! The young man leaped off the carriage, drawing one with him and leaving Rin to face the other by herself. Nocking two bodkins at once, she let loose. Both leaped forward with startling speed, but the sound of cracking wood and metal being pierced wasn't the most encouraging. Instead of having one arrow embedded in its shield, it now had two.

"Amateur!" it bellowed at Rin.

Before she knew it, the Hobgoblin was almost right on top of her, thrusting away with its spear! Forced back, she nearly stumbled over the seats deftly dodging the first attack. If it weren't for the open topped carriage she stood on, it would have buried that length in her with absolute certainty. Falling back to the far end, she automatically knew she was in a horrible position. If Rin didn't come up with something soon, it would have her trapped, forced to duck under the edge of the carriage as it tried to impale her on a stick as the horses neighed in horror.

Dimitri however, managed to gain some distance between himself and his opponent by running towards the edge of the woods as he hurried to crank and load another bolt. Turning around, he could see the rapidly oncoming Hobgoblin, and more importantly, Rin desperately trying to fend off her own attacker behind it. Further to his left and down the road, he saw glimpses of Kuroneko being forced back towards the Carriage as well. If he missed this badly enough, the young man realized, things could end badly for either of them! Steeling himself, Dimitri brought his heavy crossbow to bear and took the shot; a bloodthirsty bellow could be heard as the creature fell to its knees, the rim of its shield smacking into the ground. However, it quickly drew itself up and guarded itself. Before he could decide what to do next, Dimitri caught a glimpse of rope and leather before he was pelted with bark as something smashed into the tree by his head with incredible force and speed.

"AUGHHH! I'MA MAKE YOU EAT LEAD!" it roared, loading its sling from behind cover.

At the same time, Yuzuki was being pushed back, step after step after step! It was only a matter of time for her to trip and fall or feel the cold bite of steel, but she wouldn't go down without a fight! Timing it as best as she could, the Neko shoved her shield forward in a bash. Tremors shook the shield and went up her arm as it solidly smacked into the Goblin she was fighting, but the screams! The shield battered yet again, she could see blood and foam frothing at its mouth as it blindly went berserk. The diminutive creature had run headfirst into her counter attack, and though struck, simply didn't stop! Slashing at her shield with one hand and grasping at anything it could grab with another, Yuzuki could see its wide maw of sharp teeth and realized with horror that it would even bite her if it could!

Not far off, Aya realized she was completely and utterly helpless with her sword lodged in a skull. Realizing she had few other options, the Neko let go and simply dashed forwards with every ounce of speed she had as the second Goblin raised its horse chopper. Colliding with it like a train, the two tumbled over one another, the creature coming to a rest a few good steps away from the Neko. Slightly dazed, her hand clenched hard as she started to come to her feet. And realized she was holding onto the Goblin's pole-arm. Rolling over onto all fours, its bulbous head looked up at her, the expression of childlike confusion on its face instantly vanishing the moment it saw what was in her grasp.

"Mine. MINE! MINEMINEMINEMIIIIIINE!" it screeched, charging at her in a rage.
 
That the vile green thing hadn't even been knocked back despite her blow having connected was deeply troubling to Yuzuki. Focusing on carefully managing her shield to ensure the unfortunate creature remained firmly on the other side of the solid wooden barrier Yuzuki continued to carefully move so that the berserk entity would have to continue to follow her rather than get any ideas of sprinting around to her flanks. This however did not mean she had resigned herself to waiting for the small creature to tire. Shifting her grip on her spear, carefully working her hand closer toward the head of the shaft she altered the balance of the long weapon to make it more manageable before bringing it over the upper edge of her shield to stab down at the berserk entity.
 
Dimitri flinched and nearly jumped out his clothes at the splintering of the wood near his head. He was not expecting an ambush inside the treeline. "Damn it.." He put a tree between himself and the hobgoblin and then quickly ranked his crossbow, loading another armor piercing bolt and waited for it to stick anything out from cover so he could fire.
 
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"Time for a tactical retreat it seems," thought Rin as she narrowly dodged being impaled on the hobgoblin's spear. She turned and launched herself off the side of the carriage and onto the dirt road. Attempting to distance herself from her opponent she ran towards Dimitiri, hoping she could even the odds a little. Rin stopped for only a moment to fire two bodkins at the torso of the hobgoblin that was focused on Dimitiri. She then returned her gaze to the hobgoblin by the carriage so as not be caught unawares.
 
The next few moments were a tumult of sound and jarring blows as Aya and her opponent toppled to the earth. Aya found herself holding something as she came to her feet just a few moments sooner than the goblin. A quick glance confirmed just what it was: the horse chopper. The goblin, needless to say, was not happy. The Neko found herself with no time to practice with the weapon. She was definitely in a stronger position, but it could still go wrong. It didn't help she had no training with polearms! Levelling the weapon at the goblin, she made a single, determined thrust. If her luck held out, perhaps the unfortunate creature would run itself through.
 
Hiding behind a tree as wood started to splinter, Dimitri found himself in an odd situation. Suppressed! He was being suppressed, and on this primitive world of all places! Every few moments, the wounded Hobgoblin warrior could load another lead bullet into his sling or even a rock off the road to throw at the young man, far faster than he could with the crossbow in his hands. Not only that, but with the shield, he realized he couldn't get a shot off after the Hobgoblin cast one at him. The window of opportunity was too small, forcing him to bide his time.

Rin however, got moving, and fast. Leaping off the side of the carriage as far as she could from her own assailant, her strong, sender legs sent her into a dead sprint, giving her precious distance. However, she didn't turn and face it; quickly nocking a bodkin arrow, the crimson Neko's back muscles tensed as the string was pulled back, and the arrow let loose. A howl of pain could be heard as the tip struck true, punching through crude iron plate, leather and arming jack as the Hobgoblin shooting at Dimitri stumbled. Taking the opportunity, he quickly brought his arbalest to bear and tilted the trigger. With a snapping crack, the bolt vanished in a blink and reappeared lodged in his opponent's chest, its feathers just barely visible from what little protruded.

However, Rin's feline ears perked - turning, leaping to the side, she narrowly dodged the spear thrust! Though slower than her, the Hobgoblin pursuing was still able to sprint, and had caught up fast!

Meanwhile, Yuzuki found herself in a very strange position. Though the shield bash did stun the creature, its momentum and sheer blind ferocity negated the bulk of it. However, that very same was what let her patiently guard herself with her shield as its surprisingly powerful attacks were all negated. Taking advantage of the breathing room she had, the Neko's nimble fingers adjusted the grip on her spear to an over-arm one and throttled the long, hard length back so she held it by the center of the shaft. And stabbed. Though she discarded her weapon's main advantage - its reach - this was the perfect time to do so! A sharp, wailing screech tore at her ears like claws as blood spurted out of the Goblin's wound. The young woman simply stabbed again at the blindly flailing, screaming creature, casting it to the ground, but it just wouldn't stop. Thrusting again and again with her weapon, the twitching, writhing thing was finally still.

Aya however, was no better off herself. Her Goblin assailant charged her in a fury over its stolen weapon, and in a panic, the blue skinned Neko thrust with the weapon in her hand. Iron pierced flesh, the creature recoiling in pain as blood poured out, but the deed wasn't done. As it hissed and snarled, clutching at itself and flailing its arms about and confused with the idea of even being wounded, she thrust, again and again and again and again. She was far worse off than Yuzuki. It wouldn't die.

'Swing Aya, swing,' a certain annoyed voice rung in her ears over the eardrum shattering noise.

And swing she did. Chop, chop, chop went the Chopper, and it was finally still. There was no rest to be had for either however; there were two more Hobgoblins left! Sharp eyes fell on the two as they stood there, numb and dirty in their victory, before their owner spoke to them both.

"Oh, don't mind me at all!" Kuroneko cheerily smiled at them from over her opponent's shoulder. Deft and nimble, she had given up on even attacking, and was now dancing about her opponent, dodging his strikes and infuriating it to no end. "Just go help Dimitri and Rin clean up, and then we can talk about how you all did!"
 
Dimitri began to understand why crossbows went out of style as he cranked the crossbow once more. He was under no immediate threat so instead of firing quickly he took a knee, keeping himself mostly behind the tree and aimed carefully, after all Rin was in the line of fire with the Hobgoblin engaging her. He took his time and aimed for the shield at the edge and fired, trying to force his guard open to give Rin a chance to attack.
 
There was a grudging respect mixed with disgust for the small green entities, as vile as they were Yuzuki had to admit they were startlingly hardy and driven. This observation encouraged her to ensure that both of her foes had been well and truly killed, and exploratory jab with the spear making sure that still forms would remain so. Turning her attention to the rest of the grouping Yuzuki smiled a little as it seemed that the only figures laying in the dust for the time being were the unfortunate aggressors. The cheerful assurance that one of the group at least didn't need help was welcome and at the same time brought Yuzuki's scrutiny as she didn't full believe that being left alone in combat was ever ideal.

Adjusting the grip on her spear once more to maximize her reach Yuzuki turned her attention on the pair of heavily armored individuals before she started to advance shield centred over her form while moving forward closing the gap between herself and the enemy. As she advanced Yuzuki also made an effort to head toward toward the blue girl and her pilfered polearm, she hoped to regroup and present a more unified threat to their foes than trying to pick at them individually. Hopefully it would give them at least a small benefit, though she wasn't sure how well they'd be able to poke at them.
 
Rin sprang back from the hobgoblin's attack, barely dodging the polearm as the creature charged at her. Her focus was now entirely on the hobgoblin before her, and she carefully tried to outmaneuver her assailant. If she could get inside the hobgoblin's guard, then she might be able to swing the fight in her favor. With her bow held in her left hand, she drew a dagger with her right hand and waited for an opening.
 
For several panicky moments Aya wondered why her opponent just. Wouldn't. Die. Her thrusts were getting wilder and wilder. A voice she'd recognise anywhere shattered the hold her predicament had over her. As soon as she began to swing it instead, Aya's 'requisitioned' weapon worked just as advertised. Soon the goblin was reduced to nothing more than cooling chunks of flesh. Aya's breathing was somewhat ragged from the exertion. She began sidling over to retrieve her shortsword. Any such plans were cut short as Kuroneko gave both her and Rin instructions mid-fight. The blue skinned Neko wondered how she could spare enough attention to do so.

But she had bigger problems to deal with. A good example was the mystery Neko and her opponent. Immediately understanding her intent, Aya darted forward, trying to present "their" goblin with two targets. Ideally, they'd be spaced far enough apart that the goblin would be forced to turn to face one or the other. And when it did, it would be wide open for an attack...
 
Winding the crank in his hands Dimitri loaded the next bolt and brought his weapon to bear. Having struck one down, he knew that despite the rate of fire, it was quite lethal. However, looking down its crude, nonexistent sights, a feeling of dread slowly settled its hands on his shoulders, soon wrapping its arms around him. Rin was in his line of fire. Holding her bow in just one hand, the red skinned Neko drew her dagger, searching for an opening to close in, but it just wasn't there! Constantly chasing, jabbing at her with its spear, the armored Hobgoblin watched its footing and made sure to do its best to keep her in between itself and Dimitri, seeing one of its fellows fall to his prior shot.

At the same time, the tip of Yuzuki's shaft thrust into flesh a few more times for certainty, making sure her opponent was well dead. Taking to her feet, the newcomer Neko quickly went into a sprint as Aya finally sliced the watermelon in front of her. Exhausted and tired from the terrifying ordeal, the milky blue girl joined up with Yuzuki. However, the moment they both ran past Kuroneko and her Hobgoblin a few spear-lengths away, a dark, rich gutteral shout escaped its lips,

"Εχθρός επίθεση!"

"Υποχώρηση!" the one facing off against Rin shouted back. In unison, the two immediately started backpedaling away from the Yamataians, strafing towards one another as they crept to the forest to the right side of the road. With their numbers cut down, they were performing an orderly retreat, shields up and spears at the ready.

"So, what will you all do now?" Sif asked them all, the Mini-Neko idly sitting on top of the carriage and wiping blood off her long sewing needle.
 
Dimitri licked his tongue when he realized the goblin was keeping Rin in the firing line and lowered his bow about to step in for a better shot, but then came the retreat that he was not expected. He felt that he could have taken a shot but that would only waste his ammo. "We don't have unlimited stamina and ammo, so no point pushing our luck. Take what we can from the fallen and move on on, our objective wasn't the goblins....at least that's what I think we should do." After speaking he turned his attention to the new person who had shown up, he knew he wasn't crazy and they weren't there before, so he waited for an introduction.
 
Trying to regroup with an ally Yuzuki was displeased by the guttural eruption, to think such a thing was considered language. Where was the beauty? The refinement? It sounded like they were trying to unclog a latrine unsuccessfully. Worse than their disgusting language however was the sudden retreat. Even without the chiding from the miniature Nekovalkyrja brunette Yuzuki knew that their tactics had to change and quickly surveying the scene around her Yuzuki put together a few simple instructions and started to send them out.

Her first message went out to the Blue Skinned one, /Don't hold back anymore, we're faster than these things, especially since they're in armor. Hop about to cover the use of your flight, but speed up, also make corrections in mid air to move unexpectedly. We can not let these two get away, they might bring back more when we're less ready. Out maneuver and kill./

The second was directed toward the Neko of Red, /You're blocking your Crossbowmen's line of sight. Take advantage of your natural mobility to finish them off, you have more than quick feet to rely on. You have a lot of vertical movement that you can take advantage of. Leap./

Not one to give advice and then sit back Yuzuki set into motion swiftly bounding forward using short bursts of her innate gravity control to propel herself much more quickly than footwork alone could have managed. The bursts of speed were mixed with a sustained effect as she did her best to mitigate the weight of her gear to make her even lighter on her feet as she quickly closed the distance and circling around the retreating armored foes. Once she had done her best to cut off the retreat Yuzuki did her best to put her vertical mobility to use, lunging into the air, well beyond what she could have accomplished had she been a creature of the natural world. As she plunged downward bringing the winged spear to bear aiming for the neck of her target from above while keeping her shield ready to defend should they manage to counter she hoped that the foes would fall quickly and the threat of reinforcements would be negated.
 
Seeing the Goblins start to retreat, Rin sheathed her dagger and nocked an arrow on her bow. She started advancing towards the retreating hobgoblin, waiting for it to let its guard down so she could puncture it with an arrow.
 
Huh, so these brutes do know when they're beaten! Aya would have agreed with Dimitri's assessment had Yuzuki not sent her message. After all, that's what Aya would have done if she was a gross green skinned barbarian. Regroup and come back with friends. She responded to Yuzuki's telepathy with the words, /Of course./

Aya bounded forward, making subtle use of her Nekovalkyrja capabilities to make her jumps faintly erratic. She attempted to go around the other way to Yuzuki. As she did so, however, she kept an eye on Rin. Being in the wrong place and getting a slightly off-course arrow in the head was not on the cards. Unlike Yuzuki, however, she remained firmly grounded once she caught up with the hobgoblins, hoping to swing her pilfered weapon into the side or flank of one of them whilst they were distracted by the other Neko's more dramatic manoeuvre.
 
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