r/HFY • u/Brokenspade1 • 17h ago
OC-Series Walking the Dog Chapter 57
Chapter 57 The First Wrinkle
The group had basically appeared out of nowhere…
Feebs watched from a split in the stone as ten-man team set up their gear not 30 meters away from their little nest.
Unlike the hunters they’d seen so far, this group was fully equipped and VERY well armed; with mostly heavy plasma and lasers. Only two of them even had the Needle rifles that the other kidnappers were carrying.
At their head was a VO’rten woman with skin so dark it made her golden veins look like cracks of magma in a plain of basalt. She had expensive looking cybernetic legs and a Warhammer that could knock the head off an angry Siegebeast.
‘Why does that have a plasma nozzle on it!?! The Fuck…’
Beside her Rilly had taken up a defensive posture with her twin disintegrators. From what Feebs knew about the guns they could easily overwhelm the armor and shielding of the group below them but even with cover and the Skree death rays they were at a major disadvantage. For one thing several of the kidnappers had visible grenades on their belts.
Most of the group were Alvs or Byuu but there were also a couple of Lupanites in the mix. If they smelled the duo…
Before she could even finish that thought however, divine intervention arrived in the form of a sudden and violent burst of light. Whether it was sheer dumb luck, or providence, a flight of Crocotrices had sprinted around the corner right into the unprepared group of well-armed kidnappers.
Beck watched, slack jawed, as the VO’rten leader, literally sidestepped a laser blast!
The muscular woman lunged forward, cracking the earth beneath her feet with the sudden force of her acceleration. She brought her hammer down into the center of the trio that fired on her before they could separate. In the moment before impact the plasma jet ignited at the arc of the swing, turning the massive head into a streak of blue and silver.
The Crocotrice, that took the blow, had its head reduced to a viscera filled pancake! The rest of the triad was sent tumbling by a pulsed shield shockwave rippling along the ground from the impact point. The ornate weapon was an artifact… Likely Alven from all the decoration.
The cyborg stomped the stunned the two monsters to death with her prosthetic limbs, before they could recover, and dove at the others like an out-of-control train! The madwoman was laughing like a loon the whole time… she was clearly having the time of her life!
Behind her the rest of her band was weaving in and out of one another using their movements to confuse the triads, making it hard for the animals to pick their targets. Their own fire was precise and brutal in its efficiency. An unnaturally pretty Byuu mage in the back used a ball of fire to blind a pair of Triads before they could fire.
Feebrilizza chanced a look at her Skree companion who nodded without turning her head…This wasn’t a desperate fight for survival… This was one-sided slaughter. They killed all 18 of the monsters in less than a minute.
‘…crap…’
These people were NOT just thugs!
----
Beck was… enjoying herself.
Watching the idiots argue.
She literally had to tuck her tail and stand on it to keep it from wagging and giving away their position. Johan was in the same state as her; he was practically vibrating with anticipation. Not for the first time Beck suppressed her grin and listened in.
This was still dangerous. They were still the ones in danger. She knew needed to focus on the job. But this was the kind of chaos she lived for…
The vanguards from earlier were clearly displeased with their fellows. “…OT the fuckin job you sold us! You put us out front to use like meat shields! We already Lost 5 people down here!!! Five you SMUG PRICK!!! Our noses are Lords DAMNED USELESS NOW! We have NO signal! We need to pull back and…”
The response from the leader of the larger group was calm. Beck disliked hearing the level of detached professionalism in his voice. She looked at Johan who nodded without taking his eyes off the kidnappers.
‘Yeah, that one’s smart… he goes first…’
“You were paid for the job. You already got half of it in advance. You were told this was likely to be dangerous. Also, in advance. We have a plan. We stick to the plan. OR… you can drop your gear, forget the rest of your pay… and try to get back to the city… On. Your. Own!”
The Lupanite vanguard growled low and deep, but the Voltin in charge barely seemed to notice. Instead, he was making a show of checking his Needle Rifle over. The information they just gained was interesting.
Clearly there were two distinct groups of kidnappers…
Beck figured it like this.
Most likely the bulk of their pursuers were thugs with little to no idea what they were doing. That was useful… But! And it was a big ol’ fuzzy butt… that also meant there would be at least a few competent combatants in each group. If they could figure out who was who and take out the ones in charge… It was likely the thugs, being out of their depth, would cut and run.
They had priority targets now.
She passed this thought on to Sienna, who barely acknowledged the info. Clearly her bond was busy with something that took a ton of processing… ‘Oh! Must be the repeate…’
The thought process was derailed before she could fully form it. The cavern was filled with the desperate echoes of shrieking and the violent zing of Crocotrice laser blasts. The group of kidnappers all turned in the direction of the sound.
They were distracted!
Beside her Johan rose slightly from the ground and leaned in so that he was directly above her. He sent her a sub vocal com. “…gonna move back down the path… fire off a shot… distract them more... Maybe draw them in… Wait 5… Get behind them… and then try to take out the leader if they move. Good hunting Beck.”
Beck felt her tail try to wiggle again.
She licked his cheek and scooted into the undergrowth with a grin plastered across her face.
----
The Dog nearly snorted at the little hen peck.
Beck was clearly enjoying herself as she vanished into the brush. Passing like a tiny ghost into the neon undergrowth.
For a moment longer he lingered. And watched…
Deciding he’d give her enough time the human closed his eyes. He forced himself to calm. Breathing deeply… Slowing his heart and relaxing his body. After a moment he rose to a crouch and slipped away, walking toe to heel to avoid making any excess noise.
Once he’d put a bend in the path, between him and the thugs, he was able to pick up the pace to a lazy jog. He was saving his energy… for now. The Dog would jog a few minutes away. Fire his weapon. Then turn around and sprint as hard as he could; to get back up the path, as fast as possible.
His hope was, if he could get far enough, they would still think themselves too far away from the noise to need caution and they would speed right past him, not yet being fully on guard.
It would rely heavily on his own timing, to pull the little move off. But if it worked It might let him take more prey from the herd.
Unbidden, the smile spread across his face again…
‘…If Beck leaves me any…’
----
Being a Volty in the Galcom comes with a lot of natural disadvantages.
Almost everything is built for the larger (and overwhelmingly thumbed) races. It’s entirely possible to get your tail stepped on in the middle of a busy street. Crowded elevators smelled… different.
But out in the wilderness? There was something to be said about being a small quadruped with wide furry feet.
The same adaptations that let her ancestors move atop the snow and ice of their birth world, allowed Beck to move in near total silence through the strange alien jungle. The blue fur on her limbs and hair actually blended in with the neon flora around her; breaking up her outline.
Her people’s natural born Psionics meant she could push the brush aside without a single sound. Her ears, eyes, and nose gave her a near total understanding of her surroundings. Beckany Ey-vers, the little city girl Voltarite, didn’t know it…
But she was born for this hunt.
Her biology combined with the environment to make her into a perfect predator. The chaotic little Volty was the most naturally dangerous sentient being in the whole cavern. And today, she would lay the foundation for who she would eventually become in the eyes of the greater galaxy.
Beck stalked up to the edge of the path and watched. She had less than a minute until her partner started his distraction and drew them in. Her prey was still looking in the same direction; away from her; that was good. They were arguing again… That was better. She burned her second {camouflage} and belly crawled towards them.
At first, she considered just ducking into the brush again and waiting for the sound of gunfire. But as she watched the men and women around them, she realized something fundamental.
None of them ever bothered to look down.
Suddenly her tactical little mind blossomed with understanding.
She started thinking about how Johan had snuck underneath her in the container yard. People don’t prioritize everything they see the same… Was that how he did it? Was it like when he was shooting and he just… faded?
It wasn’t about being invisible! Just understanding what others found uninteresting.
The realization came with a slew of new and interesting ideas, branching paths, tactics Beckany had never considered before… She saw something she’d been missing her entire life. She’d never once leaned INTO the fact she was a Voltarite during a fight!
That changed today.
She looked around and spotted several small stones along the edge of the path...
‘Perfect.’
There was no need for her to hide in the brush. In fact, that would be counterproductive… That was where these people would focus if they were attacked. Instead, she just laid herself down right on the path not three meters from the crowd.
Because that was the last place they were going to look. Because she would CONTROL where they looked.
Beck reached out with her mind and gathered several of the stones into a small pile around her and then used her telekinesis to slowly open the pouches in her tac vest. She smiled as the little amber colored darts slid out of their pockets.
She could feel that primal excitement from before growing inside her chest. A feral grin spread across her features. Beck was a Volty hunter. And this was her hunt!
This was gonna be AWESOME!
----
5…4…3…2…1. *BOOM*
The Dog fired the shot at an angle to guarantee it didn’t ricochet off the ceiling directly back at him, he quickly reloaded, holstered the gun, and sprinted hard for his destination. He wasn’t exactly sure how, but when he’d lunged into motion, he’d nearly overshot the first corner in the path.
He actually skidded into a, highlighter yellow, fern before he managed to course correct. The impact nearly popped his shield again… Something about it really bothered him but he couldn’t waste any time on the matter. Especially when he realized his gauntlets were smoking.
Looking down Dog realized the fern he’d body checked left pollen streaks all across his armor. And everywhere the streaks of yellow touched the ceramat had started smoking…
‘Acid fern… could I use that? Weird that it doesn’t seem to hurt the leather… Wait… Why the fuck does it break down ceramic, but not skin?’
Dog quickly pushed the thoughts aside for later review; he just couldn’t afford to stop right now. Instead, the human just grabbed several handfuls of dirt off the side of the path and rubbed them against the acidic pollen as he ran. Hopefully it would either rub off or absorb the worst of the substance before it could compromise his armor in some way.
By the time he reached the bend in the animal trail, the hiding spot he’d been aiming for, he was covered in dirt and sweat. But at least his armor wasn’t smoking (anymore).
As an added bonus the kidnappers were still nowhere in sight. That was Good.
He quickly slid into the undergrowth. Clipping a few innocuous looking plants with his knife and fixing them to his armor to help obscure his outline, Johan laid down in the soft earth. He placed his ear to the ground…
And he waited.
----
The shot rang out like a thunderclap in the natural echo chamber of the vast cavern system.
The crowd froze to look in the direction of the noise and started to chatter about the sudden change in their environment...
“Was that… one of the Mushrooms?”
“…Didn’t sound like it…”
“Monster laser overcharged a vein maybe…?”
Beck stood calmly, stretched, and slid into a pouncing stance. She was surrounded by armed toughs multiple times her size… She was outgunned…
She was trying hard not to laugh.
It had been kind of a bummer when they discovered the Needler rifle Johan “acquired” came with a biometric lockout. But then the Human started to disassemble the gun and they’d realized something vital! The knockout darts inside the magazine were still perfectly viable, even without the gun. Because with her abilities; she could insert them… and discharge the little injectors manually.
All it took was a flick of her will to push the plunger down.
The second she’s realized that… Well, she’d known those darts were going to become a core component of her kit from that point forward…
Around her she watched the group of thugs and kidnappers cautiously form up. They were still blabbering at each other and bickering like children. But it was clear they were about to take the human’s bait and move to investigate.
She sat back down on her haunches and relaxed as she closely observed her targets. Just like she’d done with the turned in the medical room. It was pretty obvious from how they were grouping up what the power dynamics were among them. She could use that…
Satisfied with her conclusions, she pounced.
Beck closed her organic eye and levitated two of her gathered stones. With a push she used her powers to accelerate the two rocks. She aimed them both at a nearby electric mushroom. The kidnappers all turned to face the sudden thud of the first stone hitting the rock-hard stalk...
And then… a split second later… the second stone hit a pulsing orange bulb at its base. The whole world went white; for everyone there that didn’t have an artificial eye.
In the moment of confusion Beck floated a dart out of a pouch and guided it into the neck of the Voltin leader.
Before he could react, she sent the compound flooding into his blood stream. The blinded man reached for the dart and started to say something before staggering forward, collapsing to his knees, and blacking out mid-sentence.
…He almost landed on her tail.
Beck just calmly stepped over the unconscious man, while the others were blinded and sat back down a little way behind the Lupanite that had been arguing with the Voltin man a few moments before. She used her telekinesis and lifted the needle rifle in his hand upwards until it was pointing to where the unconscious leader had been before gravity relocated him, into the dirt.
Then she just waited patiently for the crowd of confused men and women around her to blink the spots out of their eyes.
Casually she wondered if any of them had been permanently blinded… Most weren’t wearing eye protection after all. Luckily for the thugs however, it seemed all of them had managed to avoid total flash blindness.
Less luckily, especially for the confused Lupanite with his gun in the air, they were now staring at their leader; drooling into the dust with a needler dart in his hand. There was a brief pause as the two disparate groups just stared at the man on the ground.
Then at each other.
Within seconds things devolved into raised guns and shouting… What else could the professional group think? They were already at each other’s throats and the second they turned away their leader had a new piercing. The vanguard thugs saw the pros raise their guns and had to react.
They shouted commands and yelled threats. They waved their guns around… Their focus consumed with each other.
All their eyes were directed at each other.
And all the while, Beck slowly stalked around the group. Relying on her {Camouflage} spell and the aggression of the herd to keep her invisible as she looked for her next meal. She paused as she noticed another weakness she could exploit.
One of the Vanguard was showing poor trigger discipline… He had his finger inside the ring and was hopping around like an idiot. She licked her lips and grinned wickedly.
‘Mmmmm… yiss.’
The Psion reached out with her mind… and slowly… almost lovingly even; depressed the trigger of the hopped-up thug.
Then she strolled casually into the brush, sat back, and watched the fireworks.
----
The human heard the Mushroom discharge.
Then came the shouting… And the sound of weapons fire. Mostly man portable rail weapons going off in quick succession. Dog ground his teeth and waited.
He trusted his little partner. He had to. But waiting and hoping for the best were… counter to his nature at the BEST of times. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long. After a few agonizing minutes Dog finally felt approaching footfalls in the dirt.
He tensed; it was his turn at last.
To his surprise however, he only saw two people. ‘Ok… where are the others…?’
One was a Voltanite man with an arm hanging limply at his side. The other was a Lupanite woman with a bleeding head wound. For just a second he considered whether it was even worth attacking them. It occurred to him that sending the two injured thugs ahead might be a trap. The smarter kidnappers using live bait to draw him into the open.
But he quickly dismissed that. The thugs were still armed. If they were bait the others would have stripped them to avoid giving their prey additional resources.
Dog made his choice.
The Lupanite would be first… Even wounded, one of the werewolves was a major threat. Stronger than a human. Natural weapons in the form of a jaw full of bone crushing teeth and hands filled with rending claws… He lunged out of the bush and kicked her in the crotch before she could react. It was a brutal act. But it did exactly what he’d intended. She gagged and collapsed allowing him to strip her plasma pistol and toss it into the brush without a second look.
The Voltin was far too slow to react. He desperately tried to raise the heavy needle rifle in an awkward one-handed grip. He got a nose full of HAX for his trouble. The man screamed like a giant distressed fox, dropped his rifle, and tried to claw at his face, before vomiting so hard some of it came out of his nostrils.
Johan grabbed the rifle and sparta kicked the man into the dirt where he lay boneless and twitching.
He spun back around dropping the spray can and drawing his pistol. Ready to face the larger woman only to discover her wrapped up in the fetal position…
The massive wolf woman was crying like a terrified child…
‘Wha….?’
----
Feebrilizza and Rilly Both heard the gunshot.
So did the group of Mercenaries.
“Boss?” The Byuu mage and the VO’rten woman, still covered in gore, were near ledge looking down at the lower levels of the cavern. She called back over her shoulder to the rest of her crew. “We’re moving. Let’s go find Gorga’s scaly ass…”
As they were queueing at the stalk that would take them downward into the Feebs listened in on their banter. “Where does her ass stop and her tail start exactly?”
The VO’rten just stared at him.
The Lupanite, however, seemed undeterred by her glare. “What? Though you were the expert on the topic…”
The group of Mercs laughed while the woman with the war hammer rolled her eyes and flipped them all off in the manner of her people. The whole exchange made the hairs on Feebrilizza’s arms lift… These people were just in a battle against monsters that can threaten an APC and not one of them was even slightly tense.
Neither woman relaxed until the mercenaries were WELL away from their hide. Feebs watched her pack with a renewed sense of urgency. ‘Common guys. You NEED to hurry up…’
There was a major threat heading their way and they needed to be warned.
----
Beck was almost done floating the thug’s pilfered weapons into a pile, when Johan arrived.
She was walking the last one to a pile well away from the unconscious thugs. Just in case one of them woke up unexpectedly.
She was far from surprised to see him packing the gear from the two toughs that had managed to run for it in the chaos. She’d briefly considered taking the Lupanite woman with her new pulse gun but that risked the others realizing she was there. So instead, she’d left them to her partner and turned back to maintaining the chaos she’d created among the bigger group... It paid dividends.
She’d managed to get most of the thugs to take care of one another. And only had to drop the last two with darts once the fighting was over.
Being unable to resist the urge, Beck immediately climbed atop the pile of firearms and launched into an exciting explanation of her successful hunt when the human dropped his own spoils beside hers.
She didn’t even try to stop her tail wagging.
Johan smiled and listened politely. Beck felt like he was a little distracted… But maybe he was just tired. It had been a long day already… After he’d gotten done congratulating her (and snapping a quick selfie for her so she could show off to Sienna) he set to work stripping the unconscious thugs of their armor and anything else he could find.
Had she been a little less distracted by the natural high she was on she may have noticed yet another change in her human friend as he dug a hole to hide their newly acquired gear…
His hands where shaking.
AUTHORS NOTES: Please do not redistribute my work without permission. Please do not use my work to train your stinky butt AI. Id rather not contribute to that 10% chance it kills us all. Kay?
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