by The Duelist » Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:15 pm
Rick gave Champagne a light smile, "You're insane. Nobody calls me Rick-o and lives."
With any luck, the others would see the humor in that statement, derived from the fact that he had completely ignored the fact that Champagne had decided to pull a straight balls-to-the-walls maneuver of this caliber with all his eggs in the basket of a group of knights he had never met.
Rick however, knew that this was the correct choice to make, as worried as anyone else might be.
And with any luck, it would be a true test of mettle for Sir Marcus. Rick was very nervous for the young commander...but he had a feeling that they would very easily send a large group of demons back to the pits that spawned them...
------------------
Some time later, the said knight would find himself nearing the position Rick had been as he had thought this, and would be thinking:
"This was not what I signed up for."
Marcus paced on the deck of the ship. They had come here to deal with a trade situation, to improve the standing of the little known Vrainen refugee camp...oh sure, Marcus had known that Sir Richard would manage to find some sort of trouble. The boss always did. But he hadn't expected to be placed into the position of command like THIS.
He adjusted his leather armor. Not the heavily enchanted plate mail he was used too. (god bless the dwarven smith at the camp.) After all, if you were stupid enough to wear metal armor, then it was your own damn fault if you got knocked overboard and sank into the briny deep. Running a hand through his short, black hair, he couldn't help but sigh. At least the music matched his feelings.
Yes, Behind his back, a constant brooding melody was playing. That would be the psychic. Max Payneinear HAD to be some sort of psychic, at least, that was the Consenus amongst the others. After all, the Silver Eyes? The strange ability to pick out liars and enemies? The way Sir Richard always seemed to ask him about people? No doubt about it. The man was something decidedly inhuman. Rick had explained Max's participation in the mission very simply. He was insurance, and described as a "Commander's Godsend". The glorified Psychic Jester...insurance...it was hard for Marcus to equate the two in his mind.
He stopped pacing, and turned to Max, "Could you quit that? I'm trying to think."
Max rolled his eyes, "You've been thinking for the past hour. Give your brain a rest, call the others up, and give them your damn speech."
Marcus felt the intense urge to walk over and smack him. Chances were though, that this would be a very bad idea, so he restrained himself.
"Fine." He looked up at the figure standing on the wooden support for the sails, a good distance higher than him.
"Andre, get down here, time to set up."
Vrainen Knights had always been considered oddballs by their peers in the Vrainen army, and Andre was the oddball knight of oddballs. The thing was, at one time Vrainen Knights had served their individual lords, and acted as all other ancient knights did...however, over time, their number diminished until they became the true, if unofficial, elite troops for the king. A knight required a vast array of skills, or magic...Thus, Andre was the weirdest of the knights. Unlike the others, who usually specialized in Fire, Ice, and Light based spells, or Guard and Holy spells, or the other usual suspects, Andre was pathetic in all of these areas. There was only one area of magic which was a capable performer, and in this area he truly excelled.
Summoning.
Andre climbed down. He was a short, stocky sort of man. Only five feet, four inches in height. His golden hair was wild and seemingly orderless. He and Marcus were young, and decidedly green.
Marcus quickly decided to try out this whole "Command" thing.
"What've you got that could help with a surface bombardment? These are demons, so..."
Andre finished for him, "Nothing that shoots fire. I know, Rick gave us that speech at least fifty times. Use Ice, Use Light, Use Holy, but don't use the f--king fireballs. I got it."
Marcus nodded, “So what’ve you got?â€
Andre said, “Okay. Ice Serpent. Don’t give me that look, its only got ONE head and I’ve worked with it before. It likes me. I give it a call and it’ll give us some good old fashioned heavy duty freeze blast support.â€
Marcus smiled, “Now you’re speaking my language.â€
He turned to see the others slowly file up. He wasn’t too worried about the others, for the most part they were rank-and-file Vrainen Knights, well trained and equipped, knowledgeable in the arcane as well as martial arts.
Then came the seventh knight. Sir “Frankyâ€, the Alchemist-Knight. Like Rick, he didn’t have any magical talent, but he made up for it with sheer efficiency and awesome skills with the blade and the beaker. There was nothing Franky couldn’t mix up, assuming he had the right ingredients. Franky was getting old though, nearing his fifty-fifth birthday. Flecks of gray were finally showing in his brown beard, and even he was noticing that he wasn’t quite as quick as he used to be…but that didn’t stop him from mixing his stuff.
Franky nodded to Marcus as he walked up, “Lets get this show started.â€
Marcus motioned for them all to gather round. Max listened from his position, leaning against the main-mast.
“Okay guys, final preparations. Our target, is over there. Glad no one disagrees.â€
One of the knights laughed, but the rest were deadly serious.
“Anyway, we’ve all heard the speech. No fireballs, go for holy, light, and ice. Andre’s got an Ice Serpent type creature, and thankfully it only has one head.â€
Andre sighed. He already knew he’d be getting this for the next few months.
Marcus continued, “Now. You remember your positions. One guy will always have his guard spell working. If we hit hard enough, and leave at the right time, we won’t have to worry about a well organized resistance…but I’m sure the guy we rented this boat from would want the thing back intact.â€
He paused for a moment.
“Now…right, Andre will be running his quick and lethal serpent around the shore, blasting away and generally being a pain in the ass. Myself and the other three of us will be on blasting duty. Lets give em hell…and Franky gets to be medic and swing position. I know you can do a buncha things with those bottles of yours, so help out where you see fit.â€
Franky nodded in compliance.
Marcus suddenly remembered…what about Max?
“Max…†he thought for a moment. What exactly could he order Max to do?
Max helped him out, “I’ll do that thing I do.â€
Marcus nodded, spotting the easy way out, “Right, you’ll do that thing you do. Okay everybody, strap your shields and ready your swords. Remember what Rick said, ‘No heroics. Just get in, destroy what you can when you can, and then get out.’ So if we end up sticking around…chances our, we’ll be in trouble…but I’m not too worried.†Suddenly, he realized…he didn’t quite know how to end his speech. “Okay…uh…Everybody…get in position.â€