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Story #2

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impulze:
First!

Seriously, though... awww yisss. Been waiting for this fix for a while. Staying tuned for what happens next! :)

PeeterMcG:
FIFTEEN

   If asked why he chose to go out today, McNulty could have named several.  Cabin fever was one; he is a warrior and this is the battle for which he and all Templar had devoted themselves.  He had no desire to sit on the sidelines while everyone else was on the pitch in the game.  Part of it had to do with having not been with those that sacrificed themselves at St. Peter's years ago.  Part of it was a desire to distance himself from the machinations of the council when he could.  And, part of it was a certain level of cabin fever;  the practice ring and training was well and good, but nothing could replace the feeling of being out and in battle -- taking an active part in the struggle.  However, his primary motivation was that he wanted to see this group in the field. 

   They were out on Craven Street.  There were reports of increased activity in that area near one of the subway entrances, so Sandra's team had been tasked with investigating.  As always, engagement with the demons would be at the leader's discretion.  Unless the threats could be fully eliminated and/or driven away, contact was contraindicated -- security of access points to the Templar holds was always one of the highest priorities.  McNulty had the chance to observe the Americans.  Stephen had indicated a hostile group ahead and quickly described its composition: sizable, but manageable.  While most of the Templar formed a rough skirmish line, the Americans provided support from a slightly elevated position -- they were atop the remains of a mostly destroyed building with Brandon and Eric.

   Stephen was luring a mob toward the group and based upon the approach, there would be about a 300 meter distance the demons would have to cover.  That would give the shooters about 10 seconds worth of fire time before the fastest of the demons would be upon the group.  McNulty could see one of the shooters looking straight down the anticipated direction of approach.  He noticed the other one constantly scanning -- every few seconds checking nearby buildings, rooflines, scrap and debris fields, side streets, the sky -- any conceivable direction from which another threat might appear.

   He knew Stephen was approaching, the transponder on his display showed his relative position.  As he felt the initial effects of the adrenaline hitting his system, he concentrated on a long, slow exhalation while he settled and centered himself.  No one said a word as it came into view.  In an instant, two FS Volt rifles were firing at the inbound horde.  McNulty observed the young man Josh heft his shield just a tick while he took 2 or 3 steps backward.  He can't be retreating, what is he doing?  While Jason fired his one handed bolter a few final times, Crowder and Claudia drew their swords.  Sandra fired a last shot from her bolter as Stephen slid to a stop within the group's position.  A moment later, it was a cacophony of sound.

   Just as the onrushing crowd reached the Templar position, Josh seemed to be launched forward, slamming into the lead gremlins.  McNulty heard the boots anchor to the ground.  Instead of a solid mass of demons, the entire moment of the onrushing group was thwarted as mass encountered Josh and his shield, standing fast at the front like the prow of a ship.  The instructor in him couldn't help but look critically at Claudia's work.  On Josh's right flank, her sword flashing with rapid, rapier-like slashes and thrusts.  She is not employing much force, but damn she hits right where she intends and, more often than not, to great effect.  Quite often, what would seem to be a casual slash would leave the demon rushing past her stumbling and staggering - quickly finished off by Stephen.  McNulty realized that Stephen had taken up position on the right end.

   On Josh's left flank was Jason, who had holstered his bolter in favor of his sword.  McNulty had positioned himself to Jason's left.  Sandra and Crowder had remained a step behind the group, but only a moment.  After the initial clash, Crowder had immediately swept out on the left side, recognizing that a majority of the oncoming rush was splitting to that side.  It had been a long time since McNulty had seen Crowder in live combat.  The recordings and practice was one thing, but the actuality was always a pleasure to watch.  Crowder whirled, slashed and twisted, continuously moving through the demon mass like a salmon swimming upstream.  Yet, as anyone who has tried to fight and push their way through a crowd would say, it should be one hell of a lot more difficult than Crowder made it appear.  Constantly moving, every demon that tried to impede his progress found that it had been sidestepped and struck.

   McNulty realized that different demons were getting illuminated as though limned in an orange-tinted light.  It only took his brain a moment or two to process.  He observed that the very same demons were on the receiving end of fire from the Americans.  Their precision was excellent.  Not limiting themselves to the far edge of the demons, they were actually targeting demons much closer to the group.  Several demons within striking distance of McNulty had been cut down by fire from those rifles.  He had never been with a group that had such close fire-support before and was slightly unnerved by it.  However, no one else in the group even gave pause.  In that moment, McNulty knew the Americans had proved themselves to this group and had secured their faith.  If they had earned Sandra and Crowder's trust in their accuracy and judgment, they would have his as well.  With that, he settled into the fight.

   Brody hoped the laser illumination on his rifle was visible to the Templar.  They had tested it back at the base and all members of the group indicated that their displays did indeed show the "painted" target, but as with anything technical, glitches happen.  It didn't overly concern him.  It didn't affect their shooting, but it would instantly make it clear what his or Reno's target was at any given time.

   After the amount of time they had been together, he and Reno had learned the rhythms of the assorted Templar.  While they could never fully predict their movements, they had confidence providing proximal fire support.  McNulty was another matter.  Brody had never been in the field with him and had no idea about his style or movements, so he gave a wider berth when shooting at targets near him.  However, he did have a chance to observe the old guy in action.  He did not fight the same way Crowder did.  His was not a style of continuous, large movements.  He was far more subtle.  Slight twists, rarely bending, he struck with seemingly less commitment and force than Crowder, but the results were undeniable.  The bodies piled up around him like cordwood.  If he had to compare the two he would describe Crowder as more athletic and stronger while McNulty was...elegant.  Precise.  The beep told him that the rifle's rapid fire capability was temporarily cooling down.  He took a moment to once again scan for additional threats. 

   The human eye is a wonderfully complicated and amazing device.  With a heavy concentration of cones located in the central portion of the retina, one's central vision is far superior at discerning detail.  But, it is the peripheral vision that is often under-appreciated.  Toward the edges of the retina, there is a greater concentration of the light gathering cones, that is the reason it is easier to see things in near darkness when one looks to the side rather than directly at an object or location.  Another quirk of peripheral vision is its ability to discern motion and movement.  Through the wonders of human anatomy and the vagaries of human eyesight, Brody noticed motion in the sky off to his left.  Even with his exceptional sight, he couldn't determine what it was.  He lifted the rifle and took a peek through the 4x scope.  Blood angels.  Three of them, but they were definitely headed this way.

   "Sandra, we've got 3 Blood Angels inbound from the Southeast."
   "Copy that.  Free fire.  Brandon, Eric be ready."

   To Reno, Brody commented, "Clever bastards, coming at us with the sun at their back."  Reno grunted in agreement as he halted his fire.  He too turned toward the incoming threat and raised his rifle.

   Sandra wasn't overly concerned about the blood angels at the moment.  They were immensely strong and dangerous, but the primary danger was their ability to attack at tremendous speeds.  Larger numbers in open terrain, their diving attacks could come from an infinite number of angles.  The shells and husks of the semi-destroyed buildings limited them to a single axis of approach -- parallel to the street.  Over Josh's shoulder, she fired her bolter into the face of a gremlin trooper, sending up a green mist of demonic blood and brains.  She then moved to the left side to assist McNulty.  He was in no danger, but the number of demons and the loss of fire support meant there was a risk of being flanked and surrounded from that side.  Crowder had the same thought and was working his way back to the same area.

   Eric and Brandon prepared for the impending impact.  Brody and Reno had been laying down consistent fire at the oncoming airborne threat and it had pissed off the blood angels.  As they got nearer, Brandon realized they were the smaller blood seraphs, not blood angels  He relayed that information to the rest of the team.  Brody heard the loud clank as the Templars' boots locked them into position.  As the seraphs swept in, he and Reno dropped flat to the ground.  He heard the sound of air on leathery wings.  The angry screech of the flying demons  Then the crash and grunts at impact.  Half a second later, he and Reno were back on their feet, firing point blank into the bodies while Eric and Brandon thrust their swords into the huge winged demons.  For the moment, Brody didn't know where the third one had gone.

   The third one had banked and swept down on a dive at the figure that was separated from the rest of the group -- Crowder.  Sandra had tracked its movement through her HUD.  Realizing its intentions, she ordered, "Josh, airborne on Crowder."  A gremlin lunged for McNulty.  He caught the edge of its sword with the tip of his own, redirected it slightly as he sidestepped and then thrust his sword into its chest as it rushed past.  It staggered another two steps, already dead on its feet, but its brain not yet aware.  McNulty had only a moment to see the seraph as it closed on Crowder.  Crowder was unable to take active countermeasures, surrounded as he was.

   Knowing he wouldn't be able to reach Crowder before the impact, McNulty still started moving in that direction.  He felt and heard the rush of air before the loud collision.  For a moment, he was confused by what he saw.  The seraph hadn't swept Crowder off his feet.  Neither had it crashed into him leaving the two bodies struggling in combat.  Instead, Crowder was still on his feet, exactly as he had been a moment before, both swords a blur of motion.  Beside him, right where the blood seraph should have been, stood Josh.  Anchored in place, sword slashing and the occasional demon sent flying from a shield bash.  There was an empty stretch of tarmac visible between his former position and where he stood now, as though a bulldozer or wrecking ball had swept straight through and knocked everything aside.  McNulty spotted the blood seraph, some 30 meters away, partly stunned, but staggering to get upright.  Sandra was already on her way -- bolter in one hand, sword in the other.  She threw her sword at the seraph while charging it, firing her bolter at any gremlin near her.  Still charging, she held out her empty hand.  The thrown sword dislodged itself from the heaving chest of the seraph and flew straight back into her outstretched hand.

   It turned out that Brody and Reno need not have bothered with any further shots.  The two seraphs that had crashed into Brandon and Eric were dead by the time the Americans had gotten back to their feet.  Realizing this, they looked for the third seraph.  They heard Sandra's call to Josh, realized they would have a poor angle on the seraph and thus held their fire for just a moment.  Seeing where the seraph had come to rest after its meeting with Josh, the Americans laid down supporting fire against gremlins that attempted to impede Sandra or Crowder as they charged on the seraph's location.  The seraph was dead less than 10 seconds after Josh barreled into it.

   No further threats from the air, when Josh had made his move, Eric and Brandon had looked at the Americans for a moment.  Brandon asked, "Brody?"  Without taking his eyes from his rifle's sights, the reply came, "Go."  With than, Brandon dropped to the ground below and took up Josh's former position between Jason and Claudia.

   While not the sharpest pencils in the box, gremlins never the less, possessed some intelligence.  The math was pretty simple: more than 3 dozen of their own dead and not one of their enemy had fallen.  Self-preservation began to over-ride their blood lust and those remaining either fled or died quickly.  That fast, the fight went from full out battle to silence.  The Americans spent another 2 minutes scanning from their position, while the team below made certain there wasn't anything playing possum.  After Brody and Reno had scampered down, Eric jumped down the 20 feet to street level.

   McNulty looked around at the group.  In turn, his visor lingered for a moment on Sandra, Josh, Brody and Reno.  He then gave a hand motion to Sandra as if to say "lead on."
   

   

impulze:
So now the team's special abilities have become privy to McNulty... I wonder what the potential repercussions are, and I'm excited to see where you'll take it from here. Staying tuned for what happens next!

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