[FMA] One skeleton too far

G'day,

Played a game of FMA with Lachy last weekend, though you might be
interested in our little bit of fun... Lachy decided it should have the
feel of one of those B-grade adventure movies, so here goes ;)

Have fun

Beth

>>>>>>>>

"Now you sure dere's gold in dis here pyramid fing?"

"No... they just call it the GREAT GOLDEN TEMPLE on account of it being
done up rather tastefully in weatherboard...you moron!"

"Shhh, up there. Zem, get ready to guide the boat in" cut in CC.
Catherine Colville, Captain Cate, Comely Cate, she was all of these -
depending on where you'd met her and who you were. Right now she was the
head of a raiding party heading for the treasures of yet another soon to
be plundered temple...hopefully.

For a brief moment all that could be heard was the tumble of the
approaching surf, the slap of the oars and the screech of some forest
bird.

"Why do you reckon these temples are always in such far away places? I
mean jungles always look so pickahre... picktur... damn nice on
postcards and da like, but its stinkin' here, I'm gonna end up nuffin'
but a puddle!"

"Don't know Joe, but its close, I can taste that gold already!"

"Is that what that is?! I figured cook had been spittin' in the porridge
again!"

Cate sighed, good help apparently was hard to come by these days.
Finally they edged ashore. Zem was first out into the thigh deep water;
Lokai quickly followed. Between them the centaurs beached the small
craft with ease. Cate was always astounded by just how useful these
eye-catching brothers proved to be. 

"Last one dere's a pickle" laughed Joe vaulting on to the sand and
racing to the vegetation-line skirting their beachhead. Joe on the other
hand could always be relied upon for his grasp of subtlety.

The other members of the party clambered from the boat and started up
the shore. It would be wrong to say eyes were watching, but the
intruders' presence had not gone unnoticed. Well hidden by their jungle
home, shadows moved to block the raider's way. One small group glided
from the jungle and edged into the dunes, while more heavily armed
reinforcements flowed down jungle trails as quickly as their bones would
let them.

Cate watched with satisfaction as each of her raider's dropped into
place. Shortie hunkered down watching along the beach, Zem and Lokai
covering the other flank, Joe in the middle "being one with the bushes"
and Thorin hanging a little behind to plug the holes when they appeared.
The breeze shifted just as there was a lull in the waves and for a
moment she heard it. Rather she didn't hear it. That absence of noise
that always accompanied *them* when they attacked. She didn't think
she'd ever get used to facing *them*. The gold was too much to pass over
though, just because vamps and skellie's gave you the jip. Cate's hair
prickled and the centaurs' head swung round to look to the northwest as
a screech cut through the jungle silence.

"Geesh! They'll be here in seconds if she don't stop yellin' at 'em like
that!" Joe quipped. It was meet with a short round of nervous snorts,
but everyone was afraid he was right. Suddenly a dull, but regular thud
began, as if something was pounding the ground someway into the jungle.

"Ahhh what's that?"

"Bone Golem"

"Heaven's Zem did ya have to go and tell Shortie somethin' like dat?
He's still so green, he can't tell when you're jokin..."

"He ain't jokin' Joe" Cate cut in. There were at least 3 very audible
swallows. Instantly every little noise took on a heart pounding
significance and Cate had to force herself to calm down and gently urge
everyone forward off the beach. 
The shoreline trees were more loosely spaced than the dense jungle that
could be seen further in. Cate was glad she'd decide to ease into this.
Landing straight into that jungle would've have been a mess, even if
they would have been placed closer to the temple. Creeping forward, Cate
was also grateful that the dappling was taking the sting out of the
tropical sun. 

Suddenly a horse and rider broke from the trees further ahead, coming
straight at them at break neck speed. The skeletal steed was charging
right at them, its cowled rider rising up to swing an enormous scythe.
Then there was a mind staggering bang, smoke in the air, and the horse
folding up as its bones were shattered.

"Good shot Shortie, keep it up" Cate said, reassuring the stunned
looking dwarf. Unfortunately, the rider was unhurt and was still
sweeping forward. And now a second skeletal horse and rider had burst
from the trees. The young dwarf proves he has a nerve of pure diamond
though, as he smoothly reloads his musket and fires again. The rider and
mount are unhurt, but their momentum is broken.

Mixed with the deafening blasts from Shortie's musket are the sharp
barks of Joe's pistols. First with the left, pinning the horseless rider
to the ground, and then with the right, to finish him off. "What Joe
lacks in finesse, he certainly makes up for with efficiency." Cate
thought, admiringly.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cate caught a dark shape. Swinging her
head round her eyes swallowed the image of an immense bat-like form. Her
skin pricked as Cate slipped her throwing knife from her belt with her
free hand. As Cate began to take aim, there was the unmistakable twang
of a nearby bowstring. Zem's faster reflexes had beaten Cate to the
punch. The Vampire was just as fast however, and it easily danced up on
to a tree branch to avoid Zem's arrows.

Taking advantage of the briefest of lulls, Thorin races from the rear
into combat with the remaining mounted rider. Wearing his vast
experience like a helm, Thorin briefly ignores the rider and
concentrates on trying to take the legs out from under the horse. The
gamble is risky on the unsteady ground of the dunes however, and the
blow is only a glancing one. The axe skids up the horse's thigh, the
blade ricocheting of the pelvis.

The flitter of shadows at the corners of her vision, the shifting shapes
in the jungle and the incessant low thud of the approaching Golem begin
to way heavy on Cate. She takes a deep breath to centre herself, forcing
herself to focus and get on with the job. Not an instant too soon, as
she notices another bat-like form coalesce out of the shadows. She can
just make out the vampire, just visible through the trees, leaving a
dirt track that must lead to the temple. Abruptly, Cate's instincts take
over and she dodges behind a tree; the dull thud-thud of knives hitting
wood only inches from her head.

Lokai thoughtfully cover's Cate, by firing on the dismounted rider,
forcing it back to the ground.

Thorin sure footedly regains a fighting stance as the horse now
stumbles. Before it can gather itself and take its rider out of Thorin's
reach again, Thorin swings his axe. The rider is fast though, and easily
deflects the blow, jamming the scythe's grip down into Thorin's belly
and face. Shortie tries to draw the riders attention away from his
injured friend. Rising in its saddle the rider redirects his scythe
swing from Thorin to Shortie. Now on the defence, Shortie desperately
bats the blow away with the stock of his musket; the tail end of his
ginger whiskers fluttering quietly to the ground at his feet. Shaken, by
how close the blade had come Shortie stumbles backward out of the frey,
firing without lifting the musket to his shoulder. He had hoped to slow
the thing down, put it off again, but he had done more than that, much
more. The shower of powdered skeleton and the toppling, skull-less pile
of bones attested to that.

Cate let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. How the
young dwarf had missed Thorin she would never know! Her deity was with
them today! Whether it would be enough she wasn't sure, as a screaming,
half-putrefied corpse came running out of the trees. The sight was
riveting. Bits of flesh bouncing as it ran forward, ribs obvious through
a gapping hole in its side. "A female Zombie? Bloody hell that's
equality for you" Cate half whispered to herself. 

The horrific creature pulled up, sending a ninja star singing straight
at Thorin. Thankfully the dwarf was as quick as ever, diving for cover
behind some fallen timber. A shakey smile for Cate to show he was all
right.
Realising Thorin hadn't seen the Zombie take aim again, Cate leapt
forward to rpotect him, clearing the log beside Thorin's head and
swinging her sword at the foul thing. "As if jungles didn't stink of
decay enough without the likes of "her* around!" Cate thought as she
grappled with the creature, flesh peeling off sickeningly under her
fingers.

Reloaded and jockeying for a better shot Joe shifts to a tree stump a
few steps forward. "Now I got ya vamp" Joe muttered as he fired off his
pistols again. But as if by magic the bullets miss, the bat-like thing
sweeping them away like a matador with a cape.

In the midst of her tussle Cate notices another decomposing Valkyrie
enter the scene. "Joe! To your left!". 

Dropping his left pistol and sliding his third from his belt Joe twists
to follow Cate's warning. But without being fired the pistol slides from
his hand, his body falling back, lifeless eyes skyward. The blade of a
ninja star adding an extra sharp ridge to his nose.

Sensing yet more horrors approaching down the dirt road, Zem moves to
the road's edge and fires down its length. But his efforts are greeted
only by the disheartening clang of arrows bouncing off armour.

Exposed as he is on the edge of the road, Zem immediately draws fire.
The nail-like throwing knives of a vampire grazing Zem's side as he
draws back a little into cover. A blur flies over his head, Lokai
cleanly landing in the middle of the road and then bounding into the
jungle on the other side. Taking up position in support of his brother,
Lokai also fires down the road. This shot finds its mark in the shoulder
of another female zombie.

The centaur's efforts do nothing to slow the tide though, the rambling
mass of skeletons, zombies, golems and vampires flowing forward
unstoppable.

Whether frightened or merely contemplating the scene, the tree bound
vampire makes no move and surveys the mayhem silently. 

Cate's breath is coming short and hard now. Her lungs are beginning to
burn with exertion, the zombie proving surprisingly strong. Stumbling in
the sand Cate is pushed back and the zombie swings, raising a crimson
line of blood across Cate's abdomen. "Amazon or no Amazon, this is the
last bloody time I wear a bikini into battle!" Cate swears as she uses
the bite of the wound to add extra zeal to her sword thrusts.

Feeling more and more overwhelmed with each second, Shortie manages
another shot from his musket, but his shaking hands make it all but
useless. 

Back on the road the horde has reached the centaurs. The mass splits and
swirls, one arm surrounding the centaurs and the other peeling off
tentacle-like toward the dwarves and Cate. A large skeleton in the
remnants of a mail shirt aims a powerful spear thrust at Zem's chest.
Unphased Zem smoothly deflects the blow. Bringing this sword around in a
smooth arc Zem decapitates a small skeleton at his side and blocks the
blow of another to his front. Despite his cool demeanour Zem knows this
battle is beyond his control. He is out overwhelmingly out numbered and
tiring fast in this sapping heat. The thrusts of the sword-wielding
skeletons around Zem seem to grow more and more frequent and then
finally the moment comes. The large skeleton uses his height and reach
to skewer Zem over the heads of the skeletal swordsmen. Retaining
dignity to the end, Zem calmly looks in his attacker in the eye as he
feels his strength flow form him.

All too aware of his brother's fate Lokai holds his attackers at bay
with a relentless hail of arrows. Draw, pull, fire and again before the
string falls slack, and again, and again. Reaching back Lokai slides the
last arrow from his quiver he fires smoothly over the heads of his
closest enemies. Even before the arrow can find its mark Lokai sails
over the heads of his attackers and dashes for the shore. The arrow
flies true, despite Lokai's hurried departure and it sails cleanly into
the eye of the approaching bone golem. The low thud of the golem's
pounding steps is replaced by a deep, rumbling wail as it halts,
thrashing, trying to dislodge Lokai's parting gift. 

Realising the intruders may be about to slip from their grasp, seems to
spur the treebound vampire in to action. Taking careful aim it throws a
knife straight for Thorin. Thorin ducks back behind the log he's using
for cover. Now certain he wants to be anywhere but here, Thorin rolls
down the dune toward his boat.

With a last mighty shove, Cate pushes her zombie away and heads for the
boat, calling for Shortie to follow. Cate's escape is not clean though,
and the zombie cuts deeply into her calf as she tries to get away.
Whether by luck or divine presence, Cate's momentum is enough, carrying
her down the dune and depositing her sand covered by Thorin's feet.

"Shortie!" Cate calls dragging herself unceremoniously over the gunwale
into the boat.

"We've got to go Cate" Thorin states matter-of-factly, pushing the boat
off with Lokai's help.

"Shortie!" Cate's voice takes on the hard edge of anger. "Now is not the
time to disobey me boy!" she quietly screamed rolling to a sitting
position to clear the way for Thorin and Lokai. 

What felt like an eternity later, Shortie appeared over the top of the
dune, pelting down the beach, splashing into the water without
hesitation, diving into the boat half drenched and breathless. "Couldn't
let them unholies get Joe's teeth!" Shortie declared holding Joe's
shark-tooth neckless up, a grin splitting his face. "Not after the hours
he made me listen to every painstaking detail of how he got them!"