[Mkguild] A Return to the Islands Part 3

[cokane8116 at aol.com]

The Fighting intensifies!
******************

   When the group entered the bridge they foundBob. He was standing in the doorway on the opposite side. He leaned out andsent a bolt of electricity crackling down the deck. Just as quickly he duckedback inside.    A three-foot-long harpoon slammed into thedoorframe smashing it and sending splinters flying in all directions.    “Trickshot go back on deck,” Bob ordered.“Go up front and go around the bridge. Killer Storm and Whaler are trying toget in here.”    “Where’s Maelstrom? Nor’easter asked.    “I’veno idea but she can’t be too far,” Bob responded.    “Who are you?” Moonshine slurred as heavoided the sharp spines slashing at him. “Captain Pincushion?”    “I’m the Stonefish!” The man snarled. "Touchme and die."    Still staggering along the deck he jumped upand twisted his body in a way a person shouldn’t be able to. He landed nimblyon the railing. The spines that should have hit him missed. They embedded intothe deck instead. Ripping up the wood planking.    SeaViper lunged at him, appearing suddenly from a hatchway. Her katana sliced thruhis vest and jacket and cutting into his side.    “Hey!” Moonshine shouted. “That’s a newshirt!” He swung his jug and caught Sea Viper dead square in the chest.    The woman tumbled back into the hatchway shehad just come from and out of sight.    Without bothering with his injury or evennoticing it Moonshine staggered backwards along the rail and closer to thebridge.  ********************     The captain was still at the helm. He seemedto be an island of calm in the chaos going on around them. “I’ve lost contactwith the engine room.”    “Means there is someone down there,” Bobcommented. “And that means at least one more Seawolf around.”    “In addition to the new one Moonshine isfighting,” Nor’easter added.    “Where did she get all these new people?”Trickshot commented between shots.    A harpoon slammed into the doorway andexploded in a roar sending debris flying thru the air like deadly missiles.Everyone went flying across the bridge and landed in a heap.    Moonshine came into view still fighting andtrading blows with both opponents. Twisting, staggering, jumping and dodgingall while punching kicking and swinging his jug about.    Trickshot started cursing. “Their boat isheaded our way. And it has reinforcements.”    “How many?” Bob asked as he slowly stood up.He pulled a several large splinters from his arm and side.    “I see someone standing on deck. I cant tellwho,” Trick Shot reported. “He’s all covered in metal. Either a robot or powerarmor.” There was a pause. “Are those HORNS on his head? There has to be atleast one more person. I mean someone has to be driving.”    A moment later a blast of bitter cold,arctic air swept thru the twisted remains of what had been the door. Fist sizedhailstone hammered everything in the bridge, including the occupants.    Bob turned to Trickshot. “Stop that boat. Wehave enough problems. Orca. You greet him when he gets on deck.”    The two women ran to the railing and leanedover.    The villain’s boat pulled alongside and Bobsmiled when he saw the turret on the bow was ruined. Just smoking, twistedmetal.    The figure standing on the boat was over 8feet tall and covered with silver metal all over. And it truly looked like aminotaur. The bull creature from Greek mythology. Complete down to the hooves,tail and bovine head with long and wickedly sharp horns.    The minotaur easily jumped the 10-foot gapbetween boat and ship. It hit the side of the ship with a loud clang. It’smetal covered hands easily puncturing the steel plates making up the hull.Steel covered hooves punctured the hull lower down giving the villain a stablehold. He started to climb the side of the ship puncturing holes in the side asit went up.    Trickshot emptied an entire thirty roundclip into the villain without any effect. The bullets bouncing off like pingpong balls hitting a brick wall.    The villain stopped. And slowly turned toher. With one hand he ripped off a piece of the hull plating and almostcasually threw it at her.    She let a long string of curses and dodgedthe 500-pound steel missile.     Flying backward (out of throwing range) shepulled out the empty magazine and loaded one with black tipped armor piercing bullets.Firing carefully she put several rounds into the minotaur. Some shots bouncedoff but others penetrated.    If they bothered the creature he didn’t showit. Instead it ripped off another part of the hull and threw it. This time shewasn’t fast enough and the projectile caught her on the side and sent hertumbling to the deck and into the side of the deckhouse.    Trickshot lay there a moment trying to clearher head. She slowly stood and tried to work past the searing pain in her ribs.“I cant stop him.” She shouted desperately. “He’s too well armored. It’s goingto take a while to chip thru all that armor.”    She looked around and found her rifle layingnearby. “We have about a minute before he gets up here.”    “I’ll deal with him!” Orca said. “You helpon the bridge.” She looked over the rail again and saw a second person climbingup. He was using the handholds and footholds the minotaur was making.    “The minotaur has brought a friend,” Orcacommented.    The metallic villain climbed over the railsand onto the deck. “Steel Horn will smash you!” The minotaur said in an oddlymechanical voice.    Orca didn’t wait but hit Steel Horn hardtwice in the face. Her powerful fists hammering on the metal muzzle.    The minotaur simply ignored her attacks andswung at the heroine with powerful metallic fists.    Right behind the minotaur a man cameclamoring over the rail. He was wearing a close-fitting suit of slick plasticthat seemed to be both protect from the cold water and against attack. Therewas a light blue film over all of it. The blade in each hand glistened with thesame bluish liquid that dripped slowly off and onto the deck.    Orca had fought this one before. His namewas Man o War. Named after the poisonous jelly fish. The blue gel he wascovered with wasn’t a deadly poison, but it stung badly.    “This dude is tough! And now Man o War ishere too,” Orca shouted. “I can’t stop both of them alone.”    “We need help,” Bob shouted.    “We’re getting creamed,” Nor’easter said.His clothes were ripped, torn, burnt and frozen all at the same time and he wasbleeding from a dozen wounds. “We need to retreat.”

   “We can’t abandon the ship and the people.”    “If we stay, we’re dead,” Nor’easter said.He staggered to the doorway and send a blast of howling wind down the deck.    Bob turned to the captain. “Are all yourpeople off?”    “No,” the captain responded. “Still askeleton crew in the engine room.”     Trickshot and Bob were still dealing withKiller Storm and The Whaler. Moonshine was trying to fight Stone Fish and SeaViper. Now they had two more to fight.    “Go,” the captain ordered. “There is a timeto stay and a time to retreat. Now it’s time to retreat.”    “I WON’T abandon you and your people,” Bobcountered.    A large flash and a bang rocked the bridgeknocking everyone but Moonshine to the ground.    “You’re not abandoning us,” the ship’sofficer responded as he stood up. “And don’t worry about us. Those crooks needus to sail the ship.”    Bob leaned against the wall for a moment tolet the ringing in his head stop. He was quiet for a moment amidst the chaosand noise in battle. “We’ll be back!”    “Moonshine,” Bob shouted loud enough for allto hear. “Your jug is empty.”    The drunken master stood there a moment. He easilyavoided the blows of Stonefish as he took a swig from his jug. “I’m out!”Moonshine said and tipped his jug upside down. Nothing came out. “I’M OUT OFHOOCH!” He screamed. “Time to get a refill!” He flung the jug hard down ontothe deck.    BOOM!!    The jug exploded with a searing flash andbone shaking blast that sent the villains tumbling backward. Huge clouds ofblack smoke billowed up instantly blocking all vision for a moment.    When the smoke finally cleared the Sea Watchwas gone. None of the heroes remained.  *********
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.integral.org/archives/mkguild/attachments/20210130/fe1d658e/attachment-0001.html>