Universal Fishmen Arc wrote:
Task Name: Consumed
Tier: 2.
Location: Briss Kingdom
Crew, Team, or Personal: Team.
Description: Not until majority of the first wave of fishmen are dead will the next wave begin their assault. Their own numbers were simply used to feel out the situation, the abilities of their prey, and to draw the Marines away from the outpost. Out from the waters of the coast, the next wave ensues, attacking the Marine Base of the Briss Kingdom head on. With many of the Marines on their way to Briss Kingdom's civilian district or already there to neutralize the threat, the base is left vulnerable. By the 2nd round of posting the Marine Outpost will be under Fishmen control. That said they will have the advantage of having the cover the base provides, artillery, vantage points, etc. Players are forced to approach the Marine Outpost from the wilderness/jungle. Joining the players will be the Briss Kingdom Militia, a.k.a. a rag tag team of vigilantes that are from the impoverish district, and remaining the Marines.
Allies 10x T0 Briss Kingdom Militia Soldiers | 5x T1 Marines.
Enemy Details: 20x T0 Fishmen | 10x T1 Hammerhead Sharkmen | 2x T2 Electric Eel Fishmen
Boss: No.

Even though Linnea vanished far away from Marine sights, she didn't feel like this battle was over... These fishmen looked far more united and organized than those who attacked the island those few weeks ago, and whoever she asked between then and now all said the same thing. They had been attacked plenty more places, all seemingly random, but they were still getting better at it, growing more organized, almost like an army of sea-born pirates fuelled by a seething hatred for humans. They were the very defenition of dangerous since they were motivated not by greed or adventure as most pirates were, but by a plain and simple bloodlust. No matter what she could not let them have their way, neither here, nor anywhere else... Human or not, even law abiding fishmen all had the obligation to stop this sourge to whom life was seemingly meaningless.

Between the flying fishmen and the ground troops, all of them seemed to move exceedingly fast, making them appropriate for a vanguard and not a main force. The implication of this conclusion was obvious in Linnea's eyes: More would be coming. She didn't know whether they'd come today or in a few days from now, but was sure they would come. In the off chance they'd still be appearing today, she followed the Marines across the rooftops, keeping her keen eyes fixed on them and activating her Kenbunshoku Haki (having rested enough to recover her full wind). The Military had the resources to locate any invading enemies from far further away than she could with her eyes or Haki, making following them the ideal choice... She still did so stealthily, to avoid being mistaken for an enemy or identified as a pirate.

As if confirming her suspicions, she was still surprised it happened this fast, dropping down behind a little stone ornament and hiding there. Coming from one of the main streets up south, she heard a large ruckus accompanied by an approaching dust cloud as well as frightened screams from the populace. They thought the fishmen terror was over, but they were wrong. Taking a deep breath and staying calm, Lin took her place at the eagle's perch on the southern side of the building, waiting for the new enemy army to appear. The Marines below should also be positioning themselves for battle, but fortunately they still had a few moments. Heading out to meet the enenmy seemed like a bad idea compared to simply putting up barricades and cover and make a stand at the plaza below...

The old man had been taking his time to rest and recover with Scylla laying down next to Seiju resting her head on his lap. Seiju had been stroking the Sennenryu's bald spot gently with a bandaged hand when the commotion sounded and another wave of panic began to break out. Scylla lifted her head immediately looking back in the direction of the marine base. This freed the swordsman up to grab his sword and use it as a support to help himself to his feet. Looking at one of the marines nearby who was speaking nervously into a Den-Den Mushi, Seiju narrowed his eyes in concern. Why hadn't he seen the threat before? For what reason would fishmen pirates attack a town like this on an island that had a marine base on it? To draw the marines out of their base of course. It was a simple train of thought that had managed to escape the elder. Already suspecting the answer he would get, Seiju approached the marine to listen in on the call.

"We aren't going to hold out much longer!"

"B-But what good will we do? It'll be best to wait for reinforcements...right?"

"Quit your blubbering and get back here on the double! We won't last much longe- *gunshots* Guugh..."

There was a pause of silence on the other line. Seiju placed a reassuring firm hand on the young marine's shoulder and took the Den Den Mushi receiver from his his white knuckled grip. "This is Commander Seiju Touken. Do you read me?..." There was no response. Seiju sighed and then spoke into the receiver again, "If you can hear me, hang in there. Help is on the way." The old man then moved to place the receiver back on the mini-den den mushi to end the call, but a sound came through just before he could giving pause to the commander's movements. But it was not the sound of the marine they'd just been talking to. It was the sick and twisted laughter of a psychopath fishman.

"Gyogogogogo~ Sorry Mr. Marine. You won't be helping aaaanybody."

*Ga-cha*

The den den mushi went silent and Seiju gently placed the receiver back onto its resting place. "How many men do we have?" He calmly asked the marine ensign. "Wh-What?" Without warning, Seiju made a fist and gave the kid a good solid knock on the nogging to bring him to his senses. "A commander just asked you how many soldiers we had available, Ensign!" There was no anger in his tone, but the weight of authority was carried on Seiju's voice. "F-Five!" The marine shouted pausing only briefly until he remembered that he was talking to a superior officer. "Sir!" Counting himself and Scylla, that was six men and a Sennenryu to work with. Assaulting a base taken under enemy control with those kinds of numbers was no small feat, but Seiju bluffed his way into a smirk and pretended he knew what he was doing so as to instill confidence in the younger marines. "Perfect, that's just enough. But it wouldn't help to have more. Have someone good with people go around asking for volunteers to join a militia. Let the people know that we plan on striking back at those fishman bastards. The people of this island may not be fond of us, but those that lost loved ones in the first attack should be fresh with a revenge high. We'll make use of that to get them to help us." Seiju then sent the young marine off to gather support leaving him alone on the street.

Looking around, Seiju saw the various arrows that had been used to take out the first waves of fishmen. At first he assumed it was multiple archers but the help he'd gotten towards the end of the battle was just from one. He was sure of that much. So hoping the stranger was still around, Seiju called out aloud, "Are you still listening, guardian angel? I could use your bow again if you're willing."

The marines were looking pretty frenzied down there, she could tell that much... It's almost like this whole city was, first the citizens as would be expected, and then the marines themselves. Linnea glanced up, even the birds were flying away from the direction of that dust cloud up in the distance. She couldn't hear what the marines were saying to each other but they were obviously scared of something really big... She didn't know what was going on, but maybe this horde of fishmen she could see in front of her wasn't the only one. As they got closer, she could see about ten of them, but this seemed like a small number compared to the last wave. The more information she collected the stronger her theory felt and the more likely she wanted to lean in it.

Looking intently into the distance, Linnea pulled on her bow string, drawing 5 arrows: She couldn't rely on Haki from this far away, but as soon as those ten stepped within range of her bow, five of them would bite the dust on the spot. But then she heard something unexpected: For once she could hear the Marine Commander clearly, as intentionally spoke out towards the mysterious archer who'd helped him earlier. Little did he know that this wasn't even the first time they had worked together but then that was beside the point. As an answer to his question, Linnea let loose her arrows; she wasn't the kind of person to scream around, and so she answered in a way he could understand.

The five arrows would sail through the air, headed South, where Linnea would confirm them taking out five fishmen with a shot to the chest. The Marine should see her arrows given how he was looking for her - an affirmative answer to his request - and the direction they were fired towards should alert him towards the presence of enemies. Regardless, she would raise herself slightly so her hooded face and platinum hair became visible to the marines below:

"Five fishes coming from the South!", she'd announce to the men below.

Once they climbed the stairs leading to the plaza, the Marines should be able to see - and shoot - them clearly...



OOC:   Used Quintet Skill (Stamina 300/350)
5 fishmen defeated/dead; 5 more approaching

Spoiler:

Seiju stood patiently as he waited for a response to his call. The old man was thinking about what reason the archer would have to hide themselves from him and had yet to come to a conclusion. Something told him it was more than just a bad case of shyness or social anxiety but the idea that his benefactor could be a pirate had thus far eluded him. As the old man gave mental attention to the subject a volley of arrows loosed again as a familiar voice announced the arrival of more fishmen on the scene. Scouts sent forth to investigate the fighting strength of the marine forces deployed into town. They had crossed the jungle and were only supposed to have a look around before reporting back to their leaders at the base. But once the fishmen pirates saw how few marines remained, they became overly eager to claim some glory for themselves and charged into town foolishly expecting an easy fight. When five loosed arrows cut their numbers in half, the folly of their "bravery" would have become clear to the scoundrels, but it was too late to retreat.

Hungry for victory, the fishmen reached the top of the steps to find that Seiju was waiting for them. He had taken the mystery woman's words as truth and moved northward and into the plaza. The courage the fishmen had gathered was cut to pieces by the arrow shot and now it was Seiju's job to scatter those shards to the winds. Or rather, it was Scylla's job at Seiju's request. The sight of the Sennenryu alone was enough to strike fear into the fishmen as they reached the top of the steps. But they would not be allowed to simply run away in a panicked retreat. If that were to be allowed then they could pass along intel to the rest of the fishmen and that simply would not do. "Scylla, please send our guests packing." The old man said with a polite smile aimed towards the fearful fishmen. Scylla let out a piercing cry as she stepped in front of Seiju and performed a Wing Beat to produce a powerful gust of wind.

The flapping of Scylla's wings would send the remaining five fishman scouts flying backwards several meters before gravity took hold over their trajectory and dictated a painful fall. They tumbled to the ground with a series of unnatural crunches and thuds as the fall broke their bones. It was at this point that the marines arrived on scene behind Seiju with ten poorly armed civilians who had answered the call to protect their home from the seaborn invaders. "This is everyone, sir!" The Ensign from before reported with a salute. It seemed like the kid had managed to find his spine during the last couple of minutes. Seiju smiled and nodded as he turned to face the group. "Good. We'll depart immediately once I tell you all the plan." Truth be told, Seiju hadn't given the plan much thought but it was a simple enough one that it didn't require a lot of thinking.

"We need to assume that the fishmen have taken full control of the marine base by now. That means the defenses of the base are at their disposal. Canons and other artillery make a ground approach nearly impossible so our archer friend and myself are going to drop in from above first." Seiju glanced over in Linnea's direction and now that he was able to see her face, he recognized her from the other fishman attack before on a different island. They were both fated to be comrades in arms against fishy foes it seemed. "In the meantime, everyone else stay hidden in the jungle and wait for us to neutralize the canons. We'll get the gate open too. Once that's done, you all will charge in and help us retake the base. That is all, let's get to it." Seiju finished his speech and turned on his heel before leaping onto Scylla's back. Scylla made her way closer to the pirate woman and the old man gestured for her to jump on with his hand and once she did, Scylla would take to the air.

Once they were flying, Seiju took a moment to ask the woman's name after introducing himself. "I don't think we ever really had a moment to speak until now. I'm Seiju Touken. Might I ask your name?"


10/20 Fishmen Defeated

Scylla's Stamina: 385/400

skills:

The Marine took her words to heart and prepared for the attackers' arrival in the most assertive way he could: By calling upon his frighteningly large reptilian bird to take them out. He stood in the enemies' path just as they climbed up the stairs and by the time they did, they were faced with an obstacle they couldn't overcome. With their numbers trimmed in half, they had no choice but to retreat. However, they wouldn't have a chance. With a single command from the man, the beast beat its massive wings against the ground... That guy was impressive... To get such an animal to side with him to the point where he could command like that was an admirable feat, one very few Kuja could even come close to claiming. From her high point, she saw them all tumbling back down the stairs they had just climbed with a series of thumps that almost made her feel their pain:

"Oww... That's gotta hurt...", she commented with a pitying look, something she seldom spared for her foes. Well, at least they were alive, unlike many who had the misfortune of being stuck with Linnea dealing with them herself.

She watched as one of the Marines who had left earlier suddenly came back with a group of militia, and with a set of orders she could only partially hear, and with that he leapt into his animal partner's back. The creature flew up next to the ranger's eagle perch, and motioned for her to join him. She always felt at ease with animals thanks to her tribal upbringing, using a snake bow like many other Kuja warriors, so she easily balanced herself on the draconic bird's back, speaking to his rider as he introduced himself as Touken Seiju.

"Naga D. Linnea.", she answered with a cool yet gentle smile, for once not caring too much if she might be recognized. Her bounty wasn't particurly high anyways, so there was a good chance he might not know who she was, sadly looking at the destruction caused by these fishmen, "I wish we'd have reunited under better circumstances..."

Regardless, she was still curious to see whether he'd recognize her name or not, so she activated her strongest Haki both in preparation for the enemy battle, as well as to feel her new partner's emotions. The two of them flew off towards the marine Base. Linnea pulled out 4 arrows, spotting teh cannons at the front of the base to be the main threat. If she took out those four, the marines and militia could regain the base. For all her dislike of the World Government, the rank and file Marines weren't usually bad people and they were certainly far better to the people of this island than these fishes. A circumstancial alliance this may be, but at least for Lin, it was one she intended to honor until the end:

"A little closer... And I can get those four cannons...", she spoke with a steady, unshakable calm, as expected of a marksman of this caliber, grabbing the four arrows between her fingers and pulling on the string.

Linnea tilted her bow horizontally and focused. She needed her other type of Haki now... Suddenly the tip of her four arrows became coated in a black coating, and once it did she let them all loose. There were fishmen manning the four cannons, but the arrows just pierced through the cannons, blowing them up alongside their operators. The Haki imbued arrows had such a penetrating power that they easily went through the thick metal of the artillery like it was butter, reaching the gunpowder and detonating them...



OOC: Kenbu Haki B-rank; sensing Seiju's emotions
Buso Haki B-rank; placed on 4 mediums (4 arrows)
10/40 Haki Stamina remaining

9 arrows used (total)

14 T0 Fishmen defeated

Used Quarted Skill (Stamina 270/350)

Spoiler:

Upon hearing Linnea's comment on the circumstances they kept meeting under Seiju made a huff of a laugh and smiled as he kept his eyes forward towards their goal. "Don't be silly. There is no better place to meet a capable ally than on a battlefield. I consider this a fortunate boon." From the tone of his voice alone it would be clear that the man wasn't suspicious at all after hearing Linnea's name, but she would have an even more reliable method. The observation haki would reflect the calm stillness of Seiju's spirit, the only turmoil among the stillness being a small flame of excitement as he mentally prepared himself for combat. Since the man had only just become a marine again recently he was still twenty years behind on all the relevant bounties in the world and even less knowledgeable about the smaller bounties specific to South Blue. Ever since his commission as an officer had been reinstated, Zed had kept the old swordsman busy with one thing or another so he hadn't really been given the time to acquaint himself with any wanted posters. "If you want to share a less dangerous meeting after we survive this however, I wouldn't be opposed to sharing a few drinks. Hahaha!" The silver haired marine let out a heartfelt chuckle showing his fearlessness.

As they approached the base the fishmen manning the defenses were prepared for their arrival. Scylla was pretty large after all, it was hard to miss the sennenryu flying towards them. A fishman with a scope was all it took for them to confirm that there were people riding the strange flying beast. Determining that Scylla and those riding her were probably a threat, the fishman aimed their cannons upwards and began to open fire with impunity. Thankfully there were only so many aimed in Scylla's direction and it was no easy task to hit a flying target with cannons the operators had never fired before. The first volley burst forth as the cannons roared flame and smoke and spark spitting balls of death into the sky. But each of the cannon balls missed their marks flying past Scylla to explode harmlessly in mid air. Linnea then commented on how she felt she could take out the cannons if they got closer. Seiju nodded and patted Scylla gently to let her know to attempt to close the gap. The Sennenryu screeched and swooped down passing by while the cannons were being reloaded.

The sight of the Kuja woman loosing her spirit enhanced arrows was amazing to Seiju but not because of the haki she used. He was still untrained in the art of haki so he was unaware of that augmentation. Even so, the skill it took to aim and fire a bunch of arrows at once was rather impressive. He'd been suspicious of the idea that the one girl had been responsible for those volley's he'd seen earlier but now it was confirmed. The surprise only deepened further upon seeing the results of those arrow shots. "Woah...that's some prodigal talent you've got there, Miss..." Seiju said with wide eyes as he looked down at the obliterated cannon placements. It was shocking to think that mere arrows could be made to perform such feats and Seiju wanted to ask the young woman whether or not there was some kind of trick to pulling it off. But at the moment there were more pressing issues at hand. Just because the cannons were down didn't mean the skies were safe. Fishmen on the ramparts were using standard issue marine rifles were taking aim and firing at the airborne team.

"Cover me while I clear the northern wall. Scylla! Be nice to the lady, alright?"

Seiju then leapt off the Sennenryu's back as it swooped over the base ramparts. His silver hair danced a wild waltz as air rushed past Seiju's body during the fall. A few fishmen quickly turned their muzzles in his direction to fire but they hadn't the time to aim properly. Most of the shots missed and the one that would have met its mark was intercepted by a drawing slash of Seiju's sword. The bullet split into a rain of sparks and shrapnel that passed around the old man without doing him any arm. Seiju then landed absorbing the force with a crouching roll that fluidly morphed into a sprint at full speed once the rotation brought his feet back to the ground. In a flash, Seiju closed the ground between himself and two fishman gunners. His sword whipped out lashing in two cuts that severed the pirate's tigger fingers rendering them useless. Seiju then turned his blade and struck both of them in the head with the blunt of his sword t knock the two out. More gunners further down the wall fired at him once their allies were out of the way and Seiju dove behind the ruins of a cannon emplacement to avoid being filled with holes. He'd wait for support fire from above before making his next move, but Seiju hoped it would be soon. He could see that several meters in front of him, two hammerhead shark fishmen were climbing up a staircase to reinforce the gunners on the walls.

16/20 T0 Fishmen Defeated

The man didn't appear to react to her name beyond what an average person would, either he didn't know about her bounty or he simply didn't care, but at this point either way was fine for Linnea. If he didn't want to arrest her, then she needn't look over her shoulder as she usually had to. He did laugh off her suggestion that they should have met under better circumstances, and his answer sounded exactly like what she might expect of a grizzled veteran. With him on her side the trio clearly had the advantage in both precision and experience, and it was up to them to make full use of this:

"I'll hold you up to that offer, then.", the archer let out a cool chuckle, glad the man had a measure of nonchalance even under battle. For all their seriousness, keeping a level head was just as important and he obviously knew that too.

She held on to the stange animal whose kind she didn't know, but thanks to the rider she at least knew her name, Scylla. It was a bumpy ride as the three of them had to avoid the slow yet potentially deadly projectile their way. These fishes' marksmanship was amateurist at best; but saying that would be an insult to amateurs. They were terrible, to the point where theren't any need to state it out loud; but then all of them were thankful for this idiocy or the landing would have been a lot harder... She blushed at his words of praise, tugging on her hood slightly before readying another arrow, while the swordsman went down to take out the fishmen up close and personal. She watched him take down two of them before being pinned down by the shooters at the walls...

"Scylla, can you take me a little lower? I'm gonna try to clean up that wall.", she spoke gently to the large bird she now had the responsability of steering, softly petting her head

Linnea had a plan... There were still a good number of fishmen lined up on one of the walls, desperately shooting at Seiju's position. But was smart enough to stay behind cover, and Lin wasn't one to keep him waiting. However, the fishmen weren't dumb enough to waste all of their ammo, and were trying to recover the sections of the wall formerly guarded by the cannons. But Linnea wouldn't let that happen... Before the foes could move to the entrance side of the wall, the strafing Scylla gave the riding archer the perfect angle to line up a shot. But how would she pierce through five fishes at once? Well, that's an easy one folks:

"Drill Shot!", she flicked her arrow downwards as she shot it on a perfectly lined up angle, so it would pierce through everything on that side of the wall.

One, two, three, four, five... Her shot impaled all five fishmen and still flew off into the distance, leaving a trail of blood in its path. Scylla was good enough to avoid all shots thrown at her instinctively, with some help from Lin and her Kenbunshoku Haki, which she did simply by leaning her body away from the shots...


OOC: Kenbu Haki B-rank active
10/40 Haki Stamina remaining

10 arrows used (total)

19 T0 Fishmen defeated
2 T1 Fishmen down

Used Drill Shot Skill (Stamina 220/350)

Spoiler:

Seiju squinted and leaned to the side away from a small scatter of debris caused by one of the rifle shoots striking the very edge of his cover. It was an involuntary reaction of his body however as the old man's focus was burning a stare through the shark fishmen headed his way. Being pinned down from both sides like this was less than ideal but there was something in Seiju's favor that allowed the mant to keep his cool. Air superiority was on his side and this would become evident when a blood trailing arrow flew past and the annoying shots peppering his position came to a halt. That was a signal for the old man to push himself to his feet sword drawn and charge the sharkmen. They hadn't been expecting the pinned down swordsman to suddenly be freed up but it didn't give their movements much hesitation. Instead, the two hammer heads advanced up the stairs faster and attacked the human with two strikes. A vertical slash from a sword and a trust from a halbred type weapon. Seiju swayed to the side dodging one of the attacks and parried the other with a slap of his own sword.

Having closed the distance between them, Seiju performed an Incision to disable one of the fishmen's hands before cutting into the other's leg. A desperate counter swipe flew for Seiju's neck but a swift duck avoided that fate allowing the old man to stab another leg and knee the other fishman in the face. Rushing past the two defeated sharkmen, Seiju headed down the stairs to find three more waiting for him down below. The old man wasn't very interested in having a prolonged fight against these brutes right now however. His goal was to open the base gates to allow the marines and militiamen inside to help recapture it. With that in mind, Seiju jumped before he reached the barricade of fishy muscles and kipped off the wall with a kick launching himself over their heads. As Seiju landed he performed a rolling landing to carry himself forward at top speeds in an instant. Racing towards the gate control room, Seiju tackled the door with his large framed body smashing it off its hinges to find a lowly fishman inside looking frightful. A swift cut brought the young fish to his knees and rendered him unable to fight. Seiju quickly moved to the controls and set the gate to open but the sharkmen from before had caught up now and were almost to the door he'd busted down.

From the shark's perspective Seiju was cornered in the small room, but to the old man it was an ideal situation. Instead of a three on one brawl he could turn this into a fast succession of three one on one duels. The first sharkman came through the door using martial arts to try and take Seiju down with a kick. The old man ducked to the side and used his sword to draw a line of damage along the fishman's torso. The next sharkman entered with a sword and attacked with a crushing blow but Seiju was able to block it head on. Riding the fishman's own weapon as a ramp, Seiju's sword made sparks dance as it lashed out cutting the fishman's eyes. The second fishman stumbled backwards out of the room slashing wildly while he clutched his eyes. The third one was having trouble braving the idea of crossing in front of the sightless screamer and Seiju capitalized on that by rushing in to stab the fool while he watched his allies movements rather than those of his enemy.

Emerging from the gate control room, Seiju found that another fishman who looked a bit more formidable than the rest was standing there watching him with crossed arms. The electric eel fishman looked unamused with the way Seiju had been taking out his men and began spouting some threats in the old man's direction. They fell on deaf ears however as the elderly swordsman grinned at the idea of a worthy opponent and began rushing in towards the fishman. The electric eel fishman responded by putting on a pair of spiked gauntlets and taking a boxers stance to prepare for the swordsman's attacks. Just as the two were about to clash, the marines and militia arrived from the outside having charged in from their hidden positions in th jungle. Unfortunately, they were unable to get a clear shot on the eel fishman as a close quarters battle ensued between him and Seiju.

"Go clean up the rest of them!"

Seiju ordered as he unleashed a combination of three slashes that the fishman nimbly dodged only to answer back with a pair of jabs and a strong right hook. Seiju drew his sidearm and brought it up with perfect positioning to meet the hook. The spikes of the gauntlet became caught in the split of the crevice blade and Seiju used it as leverage to try and twist the fishman's fist but a sudden burst of electricity surged through their weapons zapping Seiju's hand causing him to lose his own grip. Dropping his weapon with a numbed hand, Seiju retreated for a step and watched the fishman carefully. The eel was grinning quite pleased with himself and pursued Seiju hungrily shooting a flurry of one punch after the other. Seiju was slowly being pushed back inch by inch as he swayed and parried the blows at the last possible second. It was true that Seiju was barely hold on, this was no intentional last minute movement cliche. But the swordsman was waiting for somethings. The electric eel fishman drew back a fist for a big swing and electricity danced along the gauntlet telling Seiju that he was planning on ending the fight.

A sudden burst of Extreme Acceleration combined with Sharp Reflexes allowed Seiju to swiftly duck the last blow while stepping in close to the eel's body. In that moment, the swordsman reversed the grip on his sword allowing him to perform a powerful Butt Thrust upwards into the fishman's chin. Seiju clipped the eel at just the right angle to send its brain rocking. The fishman fell over backwards from the concussion, his electricity dying down along with his consciousness.

20/20 Fishmen Defeated
6/10 Sharkmen Defeated
1/2 Electric Eel Defeated

Seiju's Stamina: 320/350

skills:

The old commander was then freed to move around, and after he stepped inside the base itself, things made a whole lot of progress. The veteran clearly had more than a few tricks up his sleeve and judging by the endless sounds of fighting coming from inside the place, he was still giving those fishes some taste of hell. As long as the battle kept on roaring, she would know her single ally was still alive and kicking and no doubt his feathery friend who now carried Linnea was fully aware of that too. Soon, the gates to the base opened. So far, no other fishes had shown themeselves, no doubt completely focused on defeating the single human who wandered inside, leaving Lin and Scylla outside flying around on scout duty. The huntress didn't really mind either way, she knew she'd get to do something else soon enough once she became needed once again. As the Marines stormed inside the base, everything pointed to that moment being soon to come...

All things considered, there weren't that many marines at all... Most of these men were civilian militia recruited on the fly in a fit of despertation. They knew how to search for cover, but that was about it. As soon as they stormed the base's grounds, four more fishmen revealed themselves, appearing from the highest guard tower from where they could shoot upon the invaders unpunished. Two humans were either seriously wounded or killed before Linnea and Scylla finally managed to get the right angle for the ranger to take a shot, but that as the utmost limit of innocent lives she was willing to see reaped in the name of a purely hateful, useless war. There was a powerful electric eel fishman visible there, as well as three other minions. Their high angle suppressing fire was hard to deal with, but if they were going to exploit their high ground, Linnea had exactly the right answer to deal with their shennanigans:

"Strafe around that tower slowly Scylla, until i get all those four fishes.", Linnea once more conveyed her intentions to her flying ally, confident of her ability to understand human speech as she'd displayed so far.

Thus Scylla strafed around the tower, occasionally shifting up and down to avoid gunfire, but then there wouldn't be much of a need for that. A single arrow flew straight at the eel fishman's head from an impossibly high angle - almost straight above the tower, piercing the top of its skull - Lin made sure to take out the visibly strongest target with her first strike so the others wouldn't be able to do much. And as her targeted enemy fell, there wouldn't be much any of the others could actually do: Three more arrows were shot towards that guard tower, felling the foes one at the time, even if one of them managed to graze the archer with a bullet to her waist. But she just gritted her teeth and kept on firing, and eventually the guard tower was clear, allowing the marines and militia to press forward safely and engage the fishmen remnants...



20/20 Fishmen Defeated
9/10 Sharkmen Defeated
2/2 Electric Eel Defeated

Stamina 220/350


14 arrows used (total)

As the electric eel fishman fell Seiju sheathed his sword and looked around with a grimace, the high of his battle quickly wearing off at the sight of the death around him. The fishmen themselves hadn't been killed for the most part, at least the ones he fought hadn't. But the same could not be said for the marines that manned the base before the fishman pirates arrived on scene. There were bodies of poor marines scattered all over the place, some already possessing a small horde of flies buzzing around. Seiju sighed and closed his eyes giving a silent prayer for the fallen before he looked up and began moving on to follow after the marines and militia men. Thankfully, the skilled archer and Scylla had been keeping the group safe with cover fire so by the time Seiju caught up to them there was a notable lack of injured and none dead. Well, at least for the human body count that is. While Seiju wasn't fond of the way Linnea's shots often claimed life as well as precise accuracy, he didn't exactly begrudge her for it. The fishmen here were racist extremists and even in prison the threat they posed to society wasn't necessarily neutralized. There was always a chance someone would break them out someday.

The sounds of banging echoed around the base as the marines were slamming he butts of their rifles against a door where the last fishman had holed himself up. Seiju calmly walked through their ranks and placed a hand on the shoulder of the marine Ensign who was banging away. "Allow me..." He said before gently guiding the marine out of his way. With a single motion, Seiju drew his sword and cut through the wooden door severing it from its hinges. It wasn't an easy strike and required effort but the old man managed to do the job. He then stepped out of the way and held out an arm stopping the marines from charging in. He allowed the militia fighters to do so instead commenting, "They need an outlet for their stress. Lets leave this one to them." He then turned his heel and began walking away from the room ignoring the sounds of fishman agony as one hammerhead sharkman was swarmed by almost a dozen angry citizens.

The base had been re-taken, but the sense of danger wasn't over yet. "Prepare yourselves and man the seaward defenses men. It's too soon to let our guards down." Seiju then whistled calling Scylla back down to his side wanting the Sennenryu and the archer on her back close by in case another attack came.