Liberty and Death, Chapter 82
Chapter 82
“Well, okay,” Fern said, clapping her hands together. “I think our combat power just leveled up a bit, if Catly is as tough as she looks–”
The cat in question gave a proud yowl.
“But we did get sidetracked. Reine, you were catching us up on munitions?”
“I was! Like I said, we are A-1 on small arms. Fuck ton of frag grenades too, but not much for high explosives… might be able to {Tinker} somethin’ together if we’re willing to sacrifice a few of those and some bullets though, been thinkin’ on a sort of cluster bomb, so absolutely shred any hoity-toity types,” Reine said. Cora beamed at her.
“Hell yeah, do that,” she said. “Honestly, ladies, I’m not that worried about the attack itself. They aren’t going to be expecting any attack, and they sure as fuck aren’t going to be expecting one from a bunch of pissed off superhumans. We need a plan to get you out. I’m not going to pretend this won’t be dangerous as all fuck, but I’m unwilling to let suicide be plan A.”
“I had thoughts on that,” Kyra piped in. For once, she was almost relaxed, curled up next to Cora and Hawk on the couch. Still, her fingers drummed restlessly against her thigh. “That dungeon, in the sewers. It doesn’t start too far from the manor we’re gonna be hitting, at least if my guess is correct. Might not be the worst way in and out, at least we know no-one’s gonna be hanging out in it besides the actual Chains. Could even lend some credence to the false flag of it all.”
“Yeah, but, shit, you want to deal with monsters and potentially Chains on the way in and out?” Cora asked.
Kyra shrugged.
“I mean, you’re a badass Cora, but still, you took on a whole horde of that level’s monsters essentially by yourself. If we stick together, I don’t think they’ll be any real threat to us,” she explained.
Hawk dropped her hand off the back of the couch, wrapping it around Cora’s shoulders and pulling her tight.
“And don’t you worry,” the Were-brute rumbled, “gonna have a Monster badder than anything you found down there with ‘em. I’ll keep the girls safe, Miss Mistress.”
Cora didn’t fight it, and sighed as she huddled a little closer into Hawk’s strong embrace.
“Okay,” she said, nodding at Kyra, “if you’re confident in your abilities, I think that’s a hell of a plan, honestly. So, Kyra, the manor itself?”
Kyra nodded, then looked to Lysander, who strode over. Following the girl’s instructions, the Sorceress conjured a scale representation of a gorgeous manor house, complete with a courtyard fountain and a goddamn hedgemaze.
“Where did they find the space?” Cora marvelled.
Light’s Fall, at least, was absolutely cramped. Luxholme’s own courtyard was the biggest open space Cora had seen, with the exception of the Depot in the Bazaar, every square foot of which was in constant use.
“City opens up off of this little peninsula,or at least parts of it do,” Kyra said. “Can’t say how much really, heading out into the Compass like this was the furthest I ever remember going.”
“I fuckin’ guess it does,” Cora agreed, and squinted at the model. “Any intel on the inside that you remember from Tania?”
Kyra winced at the mention of the girl. Cora understood. She wanted to be charging to the rescue as well, but they just weren’t there yet. The job they were planning tomorrow would be suicide itself, if they weren’t planning it as a hit and run.
“I do, but only a little bit really,” she said, pointing at the door. “Right inside there is an entry way with a grand staircase on either side. Between those is the entrance to a ballroom that I think we have to assume is our main target. Tania said there are a bunch of backrooms and server ways off of it, but I don’t know how much we need to concern ourselves with those. Correct me if I’m wrong, but we wanna bust in, kill as many noble fucks as we can, then split right?”
“Right,” Cora nodded. “I’d love to say no survivors, but if people manage to flee into the bowels of the building, it isn’t worth hunting them down.”
“We will, however, have another major on the night, hmm?” Lysander interjected, and Cora rolled her eyes. The smart bitch was gonna be smarter than all of them again.
“Yeah?” she asked.
“You, Cora,” Lysander said, with the frustrated air of a teacher instructing a foolish student. “You, inside the event, with whatever communication magic you used to coordinate that assault earlier.”
“Oh. Oh right, duh!” Cora said, slapping herself on the forehead. “Fuck! I can get you all a much more detailed picture of how things look before you go in.”
“More than that, I suspect,” Lysander smirked. “You will be able to time our assault for maximum damage, and if you’re clever enough, perhaps you could make some of those exits slightly less accessible?”
“Damn, every time I think about it, this just turns more and more into a war crime, huh?” she asked, receiving a room of blank stares. “Oooor maybe you guys don’t have those here. Jesus this place is so fucked.”
She grinned then, evil as she could muster.
“Whatever, let’s do something bad enough the concept enters your cultural lexicon. Last chance for anyone to speak up, is anyone uncomfortable with this? I’ve seen enough of Tyrinno to believe there’s no such thing as an innocent noble, but you’ll be cutting down a lot of non-combatants tomorrow night, if things go according to plan,” she said. She realized there was a part of her that still hoped someone would speak up. Part of her that still thought this was wrong, that believed change came best through the principles of non-violence.
A room full of hard eyes, excited eyes, and Cora forced herself to get on their level.
She crushed that whiny pacifist within her.
If change came to Tyrinno, it would be by the blade and the blaze, and she would wield both without mercy.
“Okay,” she said, letting that same hardness, that same excitement she no longer denied that she also felt, seep into her expression. “Let’s talk maximum damage then.”
Lysander conjured miniature representations of their expected combat team. The features were difficult to make out at that scale, but Hawk, at roughly twice the size of everyone else, was not.
“I’m heading in first, right?” the big girl asked, poking her figurine. It hazed around her finger, not half as solid as it looked.
“Damn straight, unless one of the actual tacticians has an issue with that?” Cora answered.
“Not a whit,” Iain said with a shake of his head, “massive lass is a damn near perfect assault weapon. Turn on those boosts ter soak up any enemy fire, ‘n I’m bettin’ she can charge straight through both sets ‘o doors there without breakin’ ‘er stride. Make a real nice hole fer everybody else, ‘n the guards’ll be too busy putin’ useless rounds inter ‘er big arse ter shoot at anybody else.”
“Anybody got an AR handy?” Hawk asked, and Emily held up her off-brand AK. Hawk reached out and grabbed it, easy with a wingspan of half the fucking room, and started to breathe reaaaaaal fast.
Cora felt her heat up, pulse racing, veins in her arm throbbing against the back of her neck. After a moment, it was almost painful to touch her, it was so hot. Like at the Chains outpost, it was like rage turned her blood to lava, flowing hot under her skin.
With a one last sharp exhale that was half a roar, Hawk put the barrel of the gun against her thigh and pulled the trigger.
The sharp crack of gunfire in the small room made them all jump, Cora most of all as the casing bounced off of her cheek.
“Hawk!? What the fuck!” she yelled, jumping up and pulling the barrel of the gun off of her situationship’s leg. Only to find the bullet, crumpled against red but unbroken skin.
“Huh, doesn’t even hurt,” Hawk chuckled. “Hell of a skill upgrade, these class things rule.”
“Wh–” Cora didn’t finish the question, pulling up Hawk’s sheet in a huff.
[Tina ‘Hawk’ Tagliari][Level 3 Were-Brute(IV)]
[Level 3 Barbarian (U)]
[Str:75+25(Predator Combat Pack)]
[Dex:26+10(Predator Combat Pack)+5(Bertha)]
[End:40+5(DuraDerm Implants)]
[Vit:34+10(Predator Combat Pack)]
[Agi:20+5(Predator Combat Pack)]
[Int:4]
[Will:15]
[Cha:10]
[Racial Actives:{Shift},{Brutal Strike}, {Brutal Counter}]
[Racial Passives: {Unstoppable}]
[Class Actives: {RAGE!(Feel No Pain)}]
[Skills: {Killer}, {Brawling Proficiency II}, {Heavy Weapons Proficiency}, {Improvised Weapons Mastery}, {Disturbed}, {Possessor}]
[Relationship Stats]
[Anger: 0/20]
[Devotion: 50/60]
[Affection: Possessive/Protective]
[Cybernetics: Receiver Array<Cora Casanova>, DuraDerm Implants, Predator Combat Pack]
[Equipment: N/A]
Skill Points: 0
“(Feel no pain), huh?” Cora hissed. “Coulda used some warning. Holy shit though… your class and race are leveling up?”
“Hell yeah they are, the gains are unreal,” Hawk grinned, demonstrating it by implacably pulling Cora close once more. “New active too, don’t know what it does though.”
{Shift}: Once a day, sssume your full Were-form, receiving major bonuses to physical stats for a time. Duration scales with [Will].
“I’m more excited than I’d like to admit to see what that looks like.”