Welcome back to No One Gets Left Behind. On our last thread, we went downstairs and ran into some freaky grey goo shit but Nielson may have a line on calling for help. But now however, the Lizards are bombing the Forest. Why? Who knows.

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The next update will come around 6PM EST so go ahead and leave your votes in.

>>3479399
>> Once the explosions stop, take a team and investigate the splash zone, see what the damage is.

>>3479399
>> Once the explosions stop, take a team and investigate the splash zone, see what the damage is.

>>3479399
>> Once the explosions stop, take a team and investigate the splash zone, see what the damage is.

Nobody wants to deal with an actively artillery'd area.

>>3479399
>> Once the explosions stop, take a team and investigate the splash zone, see what the damage is.
Also see what the troop concentration is like, if any, for their cleanup detail.

>>3479399
>> Once the explosions stop, take a team and investigate the splash zone, see what the damage is.

>>3479399
>> Head out. Maybe you can locate the rocket battery based on their smoke trails.
doesn't really matter, the craters are going to be craters.

>>3480557
I think the more important thing to see is whether there's actually anything there of note that resulted in that barrage of are they just firing blind.

> Once the explosions stop, take a team and investigate the splash zone, see what the damage is.

“Once it stops, we’re going out to take a look. Do I got any volunteers?” Morrison raises his hand, Graves does as well, as does Tierney, Connell, Godwin, and Hood. Alright, you’ll go with that for now. Nothing too serious. You’ll just want to see what their response is once they stop. “The rest of you will stay back then, we’ll take care of this. Rutledge, you take command here and make sure nobody leaves. You take care of the Wife too.” The Wife snorts, making Nielson flinch as he stands next to her.

“Alright,” says Rutledge. He looks around at everyone. “Don’t nobody do anything stupid now, you hear?” Silence and quiet. Nobody feels like cracking jokes at the moment. An artillery barrage can go on for as long as the Lizards want.

And it goes on for a while. You all wait in the hallway, having a quick snack, listening to the sound of rockets and what sound like even more artillery joining in as well. They’re really leveling that part of the jungle. It feels like several hours. It could be dark by the time you get out. Perfect to go out and take cover in but…

Still, that’s a lot of ordnance they’re dropping.

You almost start falling asleep to the tune of it when you realize something. It’s stopped. You look at Rutledge, he kneels by the door. He nods. He doesn’t hear anything either. The two of you come up to the door then open it up. Thankfully, your zone of trees and foliage is still intact but out in the distance, in the darkness of night, you can see thick smoke clouds rising up into the air even in the black starry sky. Yeah, they just stopped. “Alright, everyone who volunteered, let’s go.” Morrison grabs his rifle, as does Graves, Connell, and Hood. Godwin packs his flamethrower as well, while Tierney grabs the Plasma Cannon.

Rutledge steps up to you. “You’re not seriously just going out there with just a team that small?”

> “We’re just investigating. If things go south, we’ll bug out.”
> “Maybe you’re right. Let’s get as many people with us as we can on this.”
> Other

>>3480920
>> “We’re just investigating. If things go south, we’ll bug out.”

>>3480920
>> “We’re just investigating. If things go south, we’ll bug out.”
This is a scouting mission not a raid. If we don't come back after a while feel free to send the rest out.

>>3480920
>> “We’re just investigating. If things go south, we’ll bug out.”

>>3480920
>> “We’re just investigating. If things go south, we’ll bug out.”
We'll have to start getting a lot more aggressive, they're just going to level the entire swamp soon.

>>3481033
wouldn't mind getting those artillery batteries and turning them on the hill

>>3481075
Also we have the mortars we captured from earlier as well. If we manage to neutralize this second battery I think it's time for some counterbattery fire of our own.

> “We’re just investigating. If things go south, we’ll bug out.”

“We’re just investigating,” you say. “If things go south, we’ll bug out. Now you and Burke watch the place while I’m gone, okay? If you hear shots, be ready to come and help out.” Rutledge nods, some skepticism on his face. You see Burke as well in the back, looking quite skeptical of the idea too. “Right, everyone who’s coming, form up on me, let’s go.” Graves falls in behind you, as does Morrison. Everyone else who’s coming follows behind you in a loose column, with Godwin bringing up the rear.

“Jesus,” says Wexley. He looks up at the smoke column, folding his arms. “That’s a lot of smoke for a random artillery barrage.”

It is.

…

…

You let Connell take point. He skulks through the bushes, his hand on his machete and another on a pistol as he cuts through the foliage. You notice that there was absolutely no sound from any wildlife. No birdsongs, no Lizards or insects, no predators or prey. Just dead silence. Normally that’d mean there was a big predator in town. But here? An artillery barrage just scared them all away to greener pastures.

As Connell continues on, he looks around, careful. “Hey, careful not to get your gut stuck on anything, Connie,” says Godwin.

“Ah, shut up,” Connell whispers back. You look up and see some naked trees lacking leaves. They grow more and more numerous as you continue walking. The ground too looks barren and scorched as well, driven underfoot by fleeing animals most likely.

And then the big reveal. You all stop at the tree line, looking out at all.

Wasteland, cratered, marshy, horrifically scarred wasteland. Trees, what little there were of them, were stripped of bark, leaves, and branches. They looked more like thin needles sticking into flesh than trees. The ground was left with nothing but holes, craters, and cracks from numerous shells and explosions, looking something like the surface of a moon rather than a swamp it used to be.

You all kneel at the tree line. This wasn’t just some precise barrage either. This looked like a huge clear cutting of several kilometers of swamp. Graves hands you a map.

This wasteland was some ways east of the Deino village, and still further south, about ten kilometers from the village. They were off the mark some ways and yet… You look around. It’s still so desolate. Graves nudges you, getting your attention. “What’s the plan, Daddy?”

> “Wait here under cover. Let’s wait and see if the Lizards want to reveal themselves.”
> “Let’s start marching through, see how bad the damage is.”
> “Better turn back.”
> Other

>>3481096
>> “Wait here under cover. Let’s wait and see if the Lizards want to reveal themselves.”

>>3481096
>> “Wait here under cover. Let’s wait and see if the Lizards want to reveal themselves.”
We are NOT marching into an open field, fuck no.

>>3481096
>> “Wait here under cover. Let’s wait and see if the Lizards want to reveal themselves.”

> “Wait here under cover. Let’s wait and see if the Lizards want to reveal themselves.”

You all wait down in the grass, watching the plains with any binoculars you have. Graves sits next to you, scanning with her one eye while you watch the black foggy horizon. The smoke was still lingering on the ruined plains now that the area had been saturated to shit with explosives and bombers. You can’t even imagine how lucky you are that this didn’t turn into an out and out forest fire. The ground is probably too wet for that though, air too humid as well. Fire wouldn’t spread fast enough.

Still, it’s a while that you wait in darkness.

Morrison says, “What do you think they’re doing?”

Hood says, “Probably reloading. Maybe they’re waiting for us to make another appearance before they try another artillery strike.”

“Trust me,” Godwin mutters. “The minute they see us, they’ll drop bombs. It’s going to be one heck of a fireworks show I bet.”

“Who’s the idiot carrying the flamethrower again?” asks Graves. As they go on however, you notice something. A light. More lights. Even more lights. You quickly shush everyone and point ahead. They all look forward.

In your binoculars, the lights slowly form into something more tangible. Flashlights, over a dozen of them, attached to Raptors. There were dozens of them. You start counting them off. Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve…

Then their Troodon show up behind them. The first few nights you saw Raptor Minors and Majors leading packs of twenty or thirty.

There must have been over a hundred behind at least fourty Raptor Minors and Majors.

And they were backed up by a Raptor Champion as well, looking to be the same one you saw all those weeks ago. Two Raptor Majors bodyguard it, their headlights shimmering around the watery craters and ruined grounds of their place while the Troodon packs snuff and sniff out inside the holes. You can see a few Troodon immediately savage a carcass of a poor animal that got caught in the barrage before a Minor scares them back into work.

They sweep the ruined area in a long skirmish line, the Troodon up front, the Raptors behind. They methodically search the craters and swampy marshes for corpses and anything relating to your presence it seems. Pretty smart for Lizards.

Graves nudges you. “No way we can do this, we gotta leave.”

> “We got an opportunity to take down that champion. He’s within a few hundred meters. I think I can take a shot at least.”
> “Let’s at least take a few shots.”
> “Alright, let’s go. And quick.”
> Other

>>3481338
>> “We got an opportunity to take down that champion. He’s within a few hundred meters. I think I can take a shot at least.”
Have everyone start pulling back, we'll maneuver off to the side and take a shot at that Champion before bugging out in a different direction, so as not to give them any leads on where we're based.

Whether we hit or miss, we leave as soon as the shot is taken.

>>3481371
Support

>>3481371
+1

>>3481371
sure

To be honest though the amount of Lizards being sent after us is really getting ridiculous. Though I guess there's nothing else for them to do anyway unless the Fleet comes back.

>>3481546
when the whole planet is against like a couple hundred lizards and some shit humans, they can afford it

>> “We got an opportunity to take down that champion. He’s within a few hundred meters. I think I can take a shot at least.”

“We have an opportunity here, Graves.” Graves looks at you, severe scorn in her eyes. Okay, you’re showing off a little. But where else are you going to get an opportunity to snipe a Champion? You’re not letting this pass. “Get everyone to pull back. I’ll go to the side here and take a shot. If I hit or miss, doesn’t matter, I’ll get out soon as the shot gets taken, got it?”

“Fine,” says Graves. “Come on, everyone.” Everyone starts moving up to get back. You stand up a little, checking the small scope on your carbine. “You be safe, Daddy. It’d be really bad if you died and I was without a sex toy.”

“Funny,” you snap back quietly. She rolls her eye, then starts hustling everyone back. Tierney looks at you with concern before Graves has to physically drag her back as well.

You’ll be fine.

You hope.

You quickly move to the side behind a ruined tree near the tree line then lean against it. You sit down then comfortably rest the gun in your hands and take aim. In your scope you see the Raptor Champion, moving along like he’s the top dog in the pack. He is, but he doesn’t know that he’s about to get a lesson in how things work. This is your jungle. Not his. He stops up, craning his neck up and taking a sniff. He’s searching for you.

You exhale, taking aim.

> Roll three 3d10s
> Your DC to successfully hit is 25

Rolled 3, 9, 3 = 15 (3d10)

>>3481770

Rolled 4, 9, 3 = 16 (3d10)

>>3481770

Rolled 1, 10, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>3481770
Check em

>>3481787
Oh fuck, that was exceptionally bad. Looks like we ain't hitting shit, damn.

Rolls are done, but unfortunately it's late for me, so we'll pick it up in the morning when I wake back up. Thanks for reading and I'll see you in just a little while. Good night.

>>3481791
To be fair with a DC of 25 it wasn't likely in the first place.

>>3481818
Thanks for running senpai

Rolled 3, 9, 8 = 20 (3d10)

>>3481770

>>3481818
Time to run like hell again I guess.

The question now is whether or not bugging out will lead them to us. We should run in a different direction to mislead them before coming back.

You fire.

The shot shoots out through the dark and goes wide, missing everyone. The Raptors immediately look in your direction, as do all the Troodon. Tracers point both ways you suppose.

Ah shit, here we go again.

You jump up and start sprinting for your life away, in some random direction. The Raptors start calling out, the Champion in one long screeching howl. The Minors you can see quickly break forward, rushing their Troodon ahead of them to sniff you out as well. They howl and shriek, aiming to chase you down like a huge pack of wild dogs.

Something runs through your head as you run. You can’t outrun these bastards. You’re not that fast. And at a dead sprint they will basically chase you down. Marathon running? Toss up really. But dead sprints are literally dead. You keep pushing your legs to work. It’s almost as if you’re yelling at them mentally that if they stop, you’ll all die. And in the darkness of these woods, it’s hard to get a good footing.

Another thing they’ll have is scent. You can break visual line of contact easily. But they’re like Bloodhounds. Best thing you can do now to break the chase is…

> Climb the nearest tree and hope they overlook you in the rush to get you.
> Dive into the nearest marsh and hide underwater.
> Keep running and hope you run into your squadmates.
> Other

>>3483037
>> Dive into the nearest marsh and hide underwater.
as much of a bad history we've had with water, the scent won't go away by hiding in a tree

>>3483037
>> Dive into the nearest marsh and hide underwater.

>>3483037
>> Dive into the nearest marsh and hide underwater

>>3483037
>> Dive into the nearest marsh and hide underwater
Looks like time for another bath when we get back.

> Dive into the nearest marsh and hide underwater.

You hope to God they won’t hear this.

You run into a marsh then dive in. They might see the unsettled water, they might hear the crashing of it, they might sniff the trail all the way in. But they won’t see you in this murk and mire, that’s the point. You lay back and grab some wet leaves and sticks to cover up your nose so you can breathe. Thankfully you found something solid to rest your back on. You can feel some water pooling in your nose as you try not to breathe too hard.

The Troodon run past, and several of the Raptors too. But you see a Troodon catch your scent. It chirps loudly, getting the attention of several others, including a Raptor Major. You can barely see it through the water, and you can barely hear them too. You’ve done your best to cover yourself with leaves and mud to make yourself look like a part of the marsh bottom. The Raptor Major sniffs the trail, then glances inward at the marsh.

Don’t do anything stupid now. He’s just curious, he won’t do anything rash if you don’t. He can’t see your nose poking up from under a piece of floating bark. He can’t see your body hidden beneath the muck and grime of the water. Your eyes are burning now. You can barely see anything except their silhouettes. Something pokes at you again.

You feel something poke against your side again. You blink. That wasn’t a fish.

You can feel the vibrations of something breathing next to you.

Oh God. You’re in a marsh with something. The Raptor looks at the marsh, clearly skeptical. He realizes the trail leads in there but he can't figure out why. Yet.

> Don’t move.
> Make a break for it.
> Other

>>3483594
>Don’t move.

>>3483594
>> Don’t move.
Taking the risk that if it was something more hostile it would have attacked by now.

>>3483594
>> Don’t move.
Maybe in hindsight we shouldn't have made that shot...

>>3483622
I question why we're using tracers.

>>3483765
I don't think it's literally tracer fire; just that the plasma trail from our weapons are basically like tracers.

> Don’t move.

The Raptor Major continues to look down, staring at the marshwaters. The Troodon gather on either side of him, curiously looking at him and at the marsh too. You can feel some water go straight up your nose, but you force yourself not to react. You can’t even breathe too hard, otherwise it’ll disturb the water. They just have to leave at some point, right?”

The Major bends down and picks up some gritty muck in his claws, then he sweeps it into the water. The muck disperses out into the water, like sugar in a glass. It drifts further into the middle of the marsh, resting on you. You can feel some of it on your clothes even in this water.

Oh shit.

The Major starts wading into the water, snarling as he advances on you. He sees, he sees. Goddamn it, goddamn it. The Troodon as well watch too, shrieking and howling.

Then the water explodes open as a massive crocodilian snaps upwards and bites down on the Major. The Major shrieks before getting dragged under the water. You stay perfectly still in all of it. Even with all the water splashing around you, you stay still. You can even feel your body become bare to the air at some points. But nobody seems to care. They’re all too focused on the Major that just got swallowed by an incredibly foolhardy Sarchosuchus. Must be a very young too considering how small it is for one.

It snaps it jaws down on the Major’s body. With a crush of its bones, the Major goes limp in its teeth before the Sarcho sinks back underwater, bubbles rising up from where its snout sank. The Troodon immediately flee in random directions, squealing and shrieking in fear.

…

You sit up, taking a huge breath, coughing up water. Good God. You look around. That was the luckiest frakking thing. You look over and see the Sarchosuchus suddenly rise up again, its eyes regarding you very closely. You stare back at it.

It blinks, then sinks back down. Does it not know how tasty you humans are? Well, no matter.

You’ve shaken the pursuit, for now.

> Find some place to crash until the morning, some place hidden.
> Climb a tree and wait for the Raptors to go around you.
> Stay by this marsh. This local beast appears to have scared them off, and might continue to scare off intruders.
> Other

>>3483871
>> Find some place to crash until the morning, some place hidden.

>>3483871
>> Find some place to crash until the morning, some place hidden.

>>3483871
>> Find some place to crash until the morning, some place hidden.
Well, could've gone better, could've gone way worse. We're going to have to focus on the hill for a while, now, at least until that artillery battery opens up again at some point so we can zero in on it.

>>3483871
> Find some place to crash until the morning, some place hidden.

>>3483871
>Other
Actually scratch that. We should try and keep going for the Champion. I believe that they're so focused on finding us, if we wait them out or be creative, annother opportunity might arise.

> Find some place to crash until the morning, some place hidden.

You quickly pull yourself out of the marsh and look at yourself. Goddamn it, so much muck, so much… you’re dirty as hell. You shake your head, hurrying to find a place to hide out. Your boots slosh against the muddy ground. And for a second you almost slip. But you catch yourself. Your Carbine is accounted for. Everything is accounted for in your satchel. Everything should be fine from here.

You hurry to find a place to set up for the night. Hopefully Tierney doesn’t go on another crazy run to save you again. You’re perfectly fine to find some place to crash for the night before rallying with everyone.

After a few minutes of searching, you find a hollowed out log. You look inside and see nothing. It’s big enough to fit you, and the log is set against some rocks and trees. Should be fine. You squeeze yourself inside and look up. Right, it’s warm in here at least. But… you’re still in wet clothes. So you’re still damp. Which means you’re likely to catch something. Not to mention all the potential disease in these marshes as well.

Plus you got the Lizards.

You shut your eyes, folding your arms.

Damn bad luck. Damn it, damn it.

> It was bad luck. You didn’t fail, just bad luck.
> You shouldn’t have made that shot. It was stupid pride.
> It was neither. Those Lizards just knew how to get you.
> Other

Unfortunately, I have to end it for tonight, I have a prior arrangement, but we'll pick it up tomorrow morning and hopefully we get a bit more done. Hope to see you there and go ahead and leave your votes in as well.

>>3484335
>> Other
The shot was too difficult, should've looked for a better target of opportunity. Any chance to hit the lizards is good, just would be better to actually land the shot.

>>3484335
>> You shouldn’t have made that shot. It was stupid pride.

>>3484335
>> You shouldn’t have made that shot. It was stupid pride.
I think as a leader we should have the humility to admit when we made a bad choice.

>>3484345
This. It was a chance to kill a high ranking enemy, and we were the best ones for it. We just need to train more.

>>3484374
I mean even if we had killed that Champion it wouldn't be worth it if we can't get out alive. Though I can agree on that we should have waited for another opportunity.

>>3484335
> You shouldn’t have made that shot. It was stupid pride.

>>3484345
This.

>>3484335
>> You shouldn’t have made that shot. It was stupid pride.

> You shouldn’t have made that shot. It was stupid pride.

Stupid pride cost you. It was a stupid mistake. You should’ve waited for a better opportunity, when he was alone and isolated maybe, or perhaps when you get him one on one. But right now, you were laying inside of a log, wet and dirty out of your mind, bugs now crawling all over you as you wait for the patrols to stop searching for you.

You sigh, shutting your eyes. Next time you’ll get that bastard though. You’ll be better prepared. You’ll have friends of your own. He’ll be howling for help when you get him. He’ll see. They’ll all see. Or rather, they won’t see you at all. Right now though, you had to struggle to stay healthy. No way you can just take your clothes off here.

Just sit in this frakking log and wait.

You can hear the patrols passing by every now and again. Feels like a few hours pass as you struggle to get some rest. It’s horrific waiting. But finally you don’t hear much of anything outside. No birdsong, no insect cries, nothing. Maybe they’ve passed you by. Or maybe they’re waiting for you to come out. Who knows?

Question is, what do you do now?

> Come out and get back to base quickly.
> Stay in the log. You’ll wait out the night and hope someone comes back for you.
> Other

>>3486173
>> Come out and get back to base quickly.

>>3486173
>> Stay in the log. You’ll wait out the night.

>>3486173
What are the current conditions outside right now? What is the weather like and what time of day is it?

>>3486200
It's still pitch black, probably just before early morning. Weather is calm with no rain and a light fog.

>>3486173
>>3486209
>> Come out and get back to base quickly.
We can use the cover of night and mist to quickly get back, I'd say.

>>3486209
I'll change to >>3486212 then.

>>3486173
>> Come out and get back to base quickly.

> Come out and get back to base quickly.

You come out of the log, panting heavily. You force yourself out and start hurrying back in the direction of the base. Screw trying to subvert or going the long way to fool them. You gotta get out of here right now. You start trudging through the swamp, keeping your boots on dry land. Even in this cold early morning mist, you could still see pretty far out. Nothing but the silhouettes of trees, bushes, and the occasional flash of a bird or something. Your carbine still remains at your side as you look around on your guard. Something might try to sneak up on you.

This is probably you at one of your most vulnerable moments. Starving, wet, cold… and alone.

You kind of wish you hadn’t told Graves to get the others to pull back. You’re starting to regret that very much. You’d at least have run into them by now somewhere at some point. But as you run, there’s nothing but silence.

It’s starting to eat at you.

A long Raptor howl makes you go stiff. You look back, panting heavily. It’s off in the distance, and it’s followed by several shrill cries as well. You keep moving forward. That was likely call for more recon or something. The one thing you can see is that at least your scent is thoroughly masked now. Then you hear a loud boom in the idstance. You stop again, looking back.

It’s followed by another. And another. And even more.

Those aren’t explosions, that’s artillery.

The ground near you suddenly explodes, knocking you off your feet and sending you to the ground. A tree explodes open, covering you with wood splinters and bark. The sky starts wailing and screaming as rounds start flying into the jungle, backed up by rockets and mortar strikes as well. They’re really going to bomb this part of the swamp –again-!? Just for one person!?

Are these Lizards insane!?

> Dive into a crater and wait out the barrage.
> Run for it, you just have to get outside their zone of barrage.
> Duck under some cover and hope nothing strikes you.
> Other

>>3486481
>> Run for it, you just have to get outside their zone of barrage.
SPRINT BOI, SPRINT. Man, we must have REALLY pissed off that Rex when we took out his eye.

>>3486481
>> Run for it, you just have to get outside their zone of barrage.

>>3486481
>> Run for it, you just have to get outside their zone of barrage.

>>3486481
Being up and running is a bad idea when artillery is coming down. You're much more likely to get hit by flying shrapnel. Better to get down and into cover so that the only that that can kill you is a direct hit, which is relatively unlikely. A person running will probably not be able to get out of the target area before the barrage ends, so running won't really help.

> Dive into a crater and wait out the barrage.

>>3486550
Keep in mind the last barrage lasted long enough to fall asleep and wake up who knows how long later.

>>3486550
>>>3486550
>>3486553
I don't mind having a compromise and diving into the crater and wait for the barrage to shift away then run on. We don't want to be caught up in another search run once this second barrage stops either.

>>3486481
>Dive into a crater and wait out the barrage.

>>3486659
Is that you QM?

>>3486679
No? I'm >>3486520

>>3486691
My bad anon, I'm fine with a compromise as well if one is required.

>>3486750
It's alright, let's just get out of this situation in one piece.

> Dive into a crater and wait out the barrage.
> Run for it, you just have to get outside their zone of barrage.

You start sprinting in some random direction again. You don’t know north from south, east from west at this point. Right now, you just need to get the hell out! All around you, the swamp explodes from light shells, heavier ones, and rockets. Sharp booms and ruptures sound in your ears and make your head split from the sheer stress of each round impacting the ground.

Another shell blasts another tree apart, sending leaves, twigs, and wood splinters down on top of you. One stick crashes against your helmet, almost knocking you down. A tree falls down in your path. You jump over it, nearly losing your Carbine in the process. You clutch it tight, like a security blanket. You’re not losing this thing.

Then a shell explodes in front of you. You quickly dive into the impact crater and cover your head. The artillery explodes all around you. Not likely a shell will hit in the same place anyway. You take a breath, trying to calm yourself. Calm yourself.

Truth be told, you could actually die here. You could be blown to bits right now on some alien world. You’ll never get married, you’ll never have sex, you’ll never settle down with a good woman. You’ll never own your own property. You’ll never be successful or do anything with your life. You’re going to die here. You’re going to die alone, ignored, never remembered. You’ll just be another statistic to some General on a spaceship far away from here. Is that really how it’s going to end? It can’t. It frakking can’t! You punch the ground, starting to cry. No damn it, don’t cry! You’ll get out of this! You’re not Tierney! You’re better than that!

The artillery stops exploding around you. You poke your head up. The rumbles in the distance stop.

>>3486855
…

You start sprinting again, hurrying back towards the base once more. You’re not dying. You’re not going to die damn it!

Not while you’re still alive! You hurry through swamp and wood until suddenly something gets in your way. You knock it down with you. Son of a bitch, Lizard frakking shit! You draw your knife and grab it then knock it down. “Ah! Sto- STOP STOP! IT’S ME! IT’S ME!” she screams.

Wait.

She shivers in fear, looking at you with her one remaining good eye. “D-… Calm down, calm down, it’s me, it’s me.” She holds her hands up against you, the blade of your knife against her throat.

…

“You’re not like a hallucination, right?”

“Do I feel like a frakking hallucination!?” she says loudly. She twitches beneath as you hold her down. Oh God. You sit up a bit, withdrawing the blade. She pants heavily, holding her chest. “… we- we came back for you. We were looking to try and find you again. Are you okay?” You nod. “Okay. We-… We’re settled at the Deino village right now for the night. Morrison, Tierney, and I were looking for you. Are you sure you’re okay? You look like shit.” She sniffs at you. “Ugh. You smell like shit. Do I need to give you another bath!?”

> “Let’s just get out of here.”
> “Please, I’d love that.”
> “I’m fine. I’m sorry about that.”
> Other

>>3486862
>> “Please, I’d love that, but let's just get the hell back to the ship first.”
Also
>"I'm sorry. I made a poor decision back there."

>>3486880
+1

>>3486880
Sure, but not like we could've predicted a fucking continent breaking artillery barrage just for one man.

>>3486880
Supporting

>>3486894
Well now we know the term 'overkill' doesn't exist in the Lizard vocabulary.

>>3486921
That or they just really, really hate us. Time to go fuck up their batteries in response.

>>3486862
> “Let’s just get out of here.”

> EVERYTHING

“Please, I’d love that. Seriously, I really would.” You stand back from her, placing your knife back in the sheathe. Graves stands up too, dusting herself off. She looks quite pissed at you now. You’d be the same if she just jumped out of the woods and almost sliced your throat open. “I’m sorry, I made a poor decision back there.”

“It’s fine,” says Graves. “You couldn’t have predicted what would happen. One barrage into the woods to try and flush us out, sure. Another… presumably for you.” She points to you. “They must really want you dead.”

“Yeah.” You nod. “They must really do.” At least they seem scared of you. They hate you definitely. “C-… Can we go?”

She takes your hand and starts dragging you away. “Come on.” She looks back at you. “We’re probably not going to make it all the way back to the ship right now. There are still Raptor and Troodon patrols around and I don’t want to lead them back to the ship. But the Deinos are letting us stay at their village until they retreat.” Oh, that’s good of them. She sniffs at you again. “Oh God! You smell horrific! Where did you go!?”

“I hid in a marsh,” you explain. “And almost got eaten by a Sarcosuchus.”

“Ah. Usual bit then,” she says. She looks back at you again, with more concern in her eyes. “Seriously, Daddy. It’s okay, you’re safe now.” You nod. “You look really shaken up.”

“Y-… Yeah, that artillery shook me up a little,” you say to that. Rattled your brain somewhat. You hold your head. Getting a severe headache.

…

…

The headache lasts all through the walk. You finally make it back to Morrison and Tierney, Hood, Connell, and Godwin sitting around the communal fire at the Deino village. Several Deinos look at you too, of various stripes and colors on their faces. None of them you recognize. One of them comes over and offers you a sack of water. You take it gratefully and quickly splash the water all over your face before drinking some of it. You nod to the Deino gratefully, to which it nods its head back, bowing to you.

Hood whistles, looking at you. “Jesus. You look like shit, boss.”

Godwin places his hands on his hips, smirking at you. “Put some weeds and leaves on him he’d be a convincing Sasquatch.”

>>3487289
“Godwin, shut the frak up,” Graves says, silencing him. Godwin quietens down, his smirk not gone but his mouth certainly is. He sits back down at the fire, glaring away at it. You sit down at it too. Graves quickly puts a blanket around your shoulders. Graves takes a rag out and dabs it into a bucket of water before starting to wash your face. “We’ll get you washed up real quick. Then I can do a deep cleaning for you when we get to the ship.”

“How come we don’t get a deep cleaning?” asks Hood.

“Because I said so,” Graves says. Morrison and Tierney are quiet, looking at you with concern in their eyes. “Just give him some space and let me work.”

“You didn’t even ask me if I was injured,” you say quietly.

“I know you aren’t,” she says. She sighs, letting cool water drip down your cheeks and down your neck as she washes your forehead. “Just hold still and let me work.” Tierney especially glares intensely at Graves you notice. You can see that she’s holding her machete in a death grip that threatens to break the hilt in her hands.

“You okay?” you ask her.

Tierney blinks, her glare dropping and her hands relaxing. “Yeah.”

Right.

Graves says, “Come on, Daddy, cheer up. You’re physically okay and you’re being washed by the prettiest girl on this planet.” She leans back, looking at you. “You’re so dour about it.”

> “You say it as if I care.”
> “Prettiest girl on the planet? That’s a hot take.”
> Remain silent. You just need some time to think.
> Other

>>3487294
>“Prettiest girl on the planet? That’s a hot take.”

>>3487294
>> “Prettiest girl on the planet? That’s a hot take.”

>>3487294
>> “Prettiest girl on the planet? That’s a hot take.”

>>3487294
>> “Prettiest girl on the planet? That’s a hot take.”
She's VERY humble, too.

>>3487294
> Other
"And the most humble."

If she wants to give us sass then we should respond in kind.
Personally I'd like to fluster Graves again.

>>3487491
>>3487518
Sure.

>>3487294
>> “Prettiest girl on the planet? That’s a hot take.”

>>3487294
>>3487518
Also I'm thinking that putting Graves on the backfoot will maybe help Tierney not kill her.

Anger issues, jealousy, and a machete are a bad mix.

>>3487548
Tierney definitely has been giving yandere vibes for quite a while already yeah.

> “Prettiest girl on the planet? That’s a hot take.”

“Prettiest girl on the planet? Now that’s a hot take.”

She rolls her eye, smirking at you as she washes your cheek. “Aw, boohoo.”

“And humble too it seems,” you in response. She pinches your nose, making you flinch in response as she wipes down like she’s swiping a card. “Do you never get tired of talking yourself up like this?”

Graves shrugs. “You don’t know how to sell a product, Daddy? I’m a good beautiful girl you know.”

“I know enough not to lie.”

She looks at you, then gently pushes you. “Frak off!” You can see her laughing a little, a light blush on her face as he glances away. You shake your head, snickering a bit. “Ugh, look at you, you’re perfectly fine! You don’t need me washing you!” She slaps her rag in your face. You start laughing uproariously. You don’t know what caused it. It wasn’t even particularly funny. You just start laughing and you can’t contain yourself now. Morrison starts giggling too. Tierney starts laughing under her hand. Hood and Connell turn away, covering their faces. Even Godwin covers his face too. “Stop laughing!” Her blush starts getting deeper as she again slaps her rag against you. “I- I-… Augh!” She stands up and storms off. “I’m going to sleep!”

“Wait, Graves, come on!” you call after her.

“Frak off, Giggles McLimpDick!” she says. Connell suddenly bursts into laughter, holding his gut. You can’t contain yourself at it either. You don’t know how this happened.

Oh God, you’re going absolutely nuts.

But at least it’s calm for now. Feels nice to laugh though. You don’t know the last time you ever laughed this hard at anything or anybody.

You sigh, holding your gut. It hurts from laughing. Oh, Graves. You gotta repay her back for that. This is the most relaxed you’ve been in a while.

Unfortunately, we must end it here for the weekend as I gotta go to bed soon. We'll be back for the next weekend in this same thread so stay tuned for that, and I hope you enjoyed. If you have questions, comments, or critique, please it be known. I thrive on it. Good night.

>>3487610
He's finally snapped. This is it.

>>3487614
Thanks for running senpai, it was fun.

>>3487614
Thanks for running.

>>3487614
See you next weekend Survive. Watching our MC fluster Graves is always hilarious (and cute) to see.

Good session. That run through the jungle was real vivid, and it showed that we're still human and probably have a lot of underlying problems. Glad we're getting back to the swing of things

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44 KB JPG

>>3487610
thanks for running

it's also nice to see we've already reached white death levels of paranoia and fear among the dinos

>>3490562
I'm still not sure if it's fear or hatred that we still exist.

>>3490630
Maybe they see us like a pest to be exterminated.

>>3490671
We're like a particularly persistent group of cockroaches that they can't get rid of. Cockroaches that occasionally take out an eye or kill members of your command group.

You didn’t dream much over the night.

The Deinos had let you stay in their village in one of their guest huts, the same type that they had you stay in when you first met with them. All of you jam packed together at once wasn’t great for sleep but at least nobody snored. It was a short sleep anyway, more as a way to regain energy. But now that you were awake at first light, you beginning to hear Deinos croaking and chirping as they communicated what was happening to each other. The village you noticed appeared to be much more… empty than when you were last here. It seems given the the way the Lizards were dropping artillery on random patches of forest, the Deinos were moving around their young and their livestock out of the village and towards some place safer. Where was safer? You’re not sure. You’re not even sure they know either.

Either way, this village wouldn’t be too safe for long.

Right now though, you rub at your eyes as you sit at the communal firepit. Godwin roasts up some fish in a leaf wrap that was given to him by a Deino. You noticed that Tierney was standing away from the group, whittling at some wood with her knife while you all sat around the fire waiting for your meals to cook.

Then one Deino busts into the village, frantic. He screeches at you, taking your attention. The Deino gestures with his claws and swishes his tail side to side as he talks to you. “Alright,” you say. The Deino nods, bowing to you as he steps back. So that’s how it’s going to be, huh? Interesting.

“Wait, you understood him?” asks Graves.

“Not really,” you say. “But it might have to do with the fact that the Lizards retreated after they didn’t find anything.”

Godwin looks at you, his arms folded. “Well, we now know there’s a hugeass artillery battery down south. What do we do about that? We can’t just leave that to be a problem, can we?”

> “We’ll have to until we figure out a plan. Let’s eat and get back to base.”
> “I suppose we can spend the day looking for it. Provided we’re careful.”
> Other

Welcome back to No One Gets Left Behind. As per usual, go ahead and leave your votes overnight and I shall return around 6PM EST to get us started on the weekend.

>>3497306
>> “I suppose we can spend the day looking for it. Provided we’re careful.”
Let's not try to be a hero this time around.

>>3497306
>> “We’ll have to until we figure out a plan. Let’s eat and get back to base.”

>>3497306
>> “I suppose we can spend the day looking for it. Provided we’re careful.”
We'll need everybody on board for this one, an artillery battery of this size is going to be a nasty fight if we decide to hit it. It'll undoubtedly have a good sized defense force.

>>3497488
Yeah let's scout it out first then return with everyone to neutralise it.

>>3497306
>> “I suppose we can spend the day looking for it. Provided we’re careful.”
we have to end this soon otherwise they are going to roll over us

>>3497306
>> “I suppose we can spend the day looking for it. Provided we’re careful.”

> “I suppose we can spend the day looking for it. Provided we’re careful.”

“I suppose we can spend the day looking for it, provided we’re careful. We’re going to need everyone on board for it if we want to neutralize it though. That’s a lot of guns and a lot of rockets. We’re going to need everyone if we want to hit it.”

“Fair enough,” Godwin says, satisfied. “How are we supposed to get there though?” Questions, questions, questions. Everyone looks at you, expectant.

“The plan is that we scout it out first then we see what we can do to take out the artillery,” you explain. “It’s probably quite a lot of guns so we need explosives. And we need ammo too because a batter that big means a big force to defend it. Not to mention they’re probably going to be fortified as well. They’re probably some distance as well too which means we need to find some way to get to that battery unseen over a long way.” Now that you say it, it does seem quite difficult. But nobody seems perturbed by the development. They all know the score. Another artillery battery means more pressure on all of you.

Hood says, “Well where do we start then?”

“The Deinos probably have a reasonable idea of where it is, right?” you ask one of the Deinos. It nods. Wait. It understood you? It snorts, pointing its muzzle to the southeast. Ah, you see. Southeast then. Probably towards the edge of the Swamp then, maybe in the marshlands in fact. Perfect for you then. That means there’ll be little place for that artillery to run. And…

You snap your fingers. Those mortars you captured. Those will come in handy too. “Those mortars still good?” you ask.

“Yeah,” says Godwin. “We know where they are, they’re still hidden far as I recall.” Alright.

> “Let’s bring the mortars up some place quiet, see how close we can get them to the battery.”
> “Leave them for now, let’s scout it out first.”
> “Let’s go back to base first, we’ll explain the situation, wait for the next night.”
> Other

>>3498625
>> “Leave them for now, let’s scout it out first.”
Rather save the mortars as a surprise for the hill. Also the fact that we have captured artillery might make the Lizards increase their bombardment efforts even more.

>>3498625
>> “Leave them for now, let’s scout it out first.”

>>3498625
>> “Leave them for now, let’s scout it out first.”

> “Leave them for now, let’s scout it out first.”

“Let’s leave them for now. We’ll scout it out first.”

Hood stands up, saying, “I’ll go back and get the others up to speed. I assume we’re not attacking them now?”

“Not in broad daylight, it’d be a horrific idea,” you say. “We’ll just give it a looksee and then see if we can find any weakspots.” Tierney walks up to you, eager as always to help you. You take your clicker out and nod to Hood, clicking a few times. The Deino snorts, walking up to Hood. Hood steps back, surprised. He’s probably scared. “Don’t worry, he’s just going to guard you on your way back. Go on.”

Hood looks at the Deino. “Well. Alright.” He nods at the Deino. “Come on then, scaly.” The two of them get walking north, towards the ship.” It’s not too far of a walk anyway, but never can be too safe.

“How are we going to get close?” asks Graves as she pulls her breakfast out of the fire. She unwraps it, and you’re immediately hit with the scent of freshly cooked fish. It almost makes you drool just smelling it. “I mean, think about it, we ran into way more than a company’s worth of Lizards last night. They can outrun us and outsmell us too.”

“Well.” You motion to yourself.

“…” Graves stares at you. “If you think I’m gonna take a marsh bath just to make myself stealthy to the Lizards, you got another thing coming.”

> “Relax. I wouldn’t do that.” Throw Graves into a marsh bath the first chance you get. Have everyone bath too once you get going.
> “I’ll do the scouting ahead. You guys just stay behind me a certain distance.”
> “Just stay here, I’ll be back.”
> Other

>>3498860
>> “I’ll do the scouting ahead. You guys just stay behind me a certain distance.”
First one does sound tempting though but we're not fully clean already anyway.

>>3498860
>> “Relax. I wouldn’t do that.” Throw Graves into a marsh bath the first chance you get. Have everyone bath too once you get going.

now is no time to be prissy

>>3498860
>> “Relax. I wouldn’t do that.” Throw Graves into a marsh bath the first chance you get. Have everyone bath too once you get going.
We can all bathe when we get back.

>>3498869
>>3498872
I'll switch to
> “Relax. I wouldn’t do that.” Throw Graves into a marsh bath the first chance you get. Have everyone bath too once you get going.
then. We can make it up later.

>>3498860
>> “Relax. I wouldn’t do that.” Throw Graves into a marsh bath the first chance you get. Have everyone bath too once you get going.

> “Relax. I wouldn’t do that.” Throw Graves into a marsh bath the first chance you get. Have everyone bath too once you get going.

“Relax, I wouldn’t do that,” you say. Graves stares at you, clearly recognizing that yes you totally will do it, you just lack the marsh right now to do so. “Right now, let’s just get scouting out. If we find a marsh though, it’s up to you guys to clean up your scent and hide it by taking a wash in them. Be careful of the Sarchosuchus too, they can be pretty wily but they don’t seem aggressive.”

“Big ones aren’t I hear,” says Connell. “They don’t have much to prove after all.” Very good point.

Once you all eat breakfast, you get moving south once more. It isn’t too far before you find a very brown and deep looking marsh. You toss a rock in to test it out. So far, nothing responds. “Alright, if you can get in there, do it.”

Godwin shrugs. “It’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it!” He steps in eagerly, then wades in, washing his head and body of the thick liquids inside. Connell and Morrison wade in too, washing behind their ears to try and cover their natural scent and silhouette. Once this is done, you’re practical invisible to the Lizards and their big noses. Tierney tests the water out with her boot, then gently steps in before deciding to just wash her face and her arms with it. You won’t force her.

Graves however… She stares at you, folding her arms. “I ain’t going in there.”

“Right, I know you aren’t,” you say. “You don’t have to.” You look past her. “What’s that?” She turns around, confused.

Then you grab her hips and toss her in. “AH YOU-“ She splashes in, briefly submerging before exploding outwards. Godwin and Connell start laughing loudly at her. Even Tierney has to cover her face, as does Morrison too. She gives you a very intense furious glare, storming out of the marsh. She drips from head to toe in some unidentifiable brown liquid which nearly makes her look like a mud monster. She then proceeds to whip some flecks of muck into your face. “You are –washing- me when we get back.”

“Alright, alright,” you say. As this happens, a Deino bursts from the bushes, chirping to get your attention. He screeches at you, pointing to the southeast with muzzle then making a few clicks of his teeth. He must be trying to alert you of incoming patrols.

Right, what now then?

> Have the Deino gather some friends and cause a diversion, see if you can get the patrols to divert and give you an opening to go through.
> Sneak through. Best not to risk the Deinos here and now.
> Wait for the cover of darkness.
> Other

Sorry for the slow updates today, work was exhausting. Go ahead and leave your votes in however and we shall return in the morning for more. Hope you enjoyed.

>>3499164.
>> Have the Deino gather some friends and cause a diversion, see if you can get the patrols to divert and give you an opening to go through.
Make it clear that their only job is to distract.

>>3499164
>Have the Deino gather some friends and cause a diversion, see if you can get the patrols to divert and give you an opening to go through.
Stay safe comrade dinos

>>3499164
>> Have the Deino gather some friends and cause a diversion, see if you can get the patrols to divert and give you an opening to go through.
Rest well Survive, see ya in the morning.

>>3499164
>> Have the Deino gather some friends and cause a diversion, see if you can get the patrols to divert and give you an opening to go through.
Tell them not to engage directly and not to get any of their members killed, we only need them thrown off our track after all.

>>3499164
>> Have the Deino gather some friends and cause a diversion, see if you can get the patrols to divert and give you an opening to go through.
hope they can do it safely
>>3499168
thanks for running op hope you sleep well

>>3499164
>>> Have the Deino gather some friends and cause a diversion, see if you can get the patrols to divert and give you an opening to go through.
Best not to stay too long once we've scouted them, don't know how long the Deinos can distract them for.

> Have the Deino gather some friends and cause a diversion, see if you can get the patrols to divert and give you an opening to go through.

You click it out to him using your clicker then point to the east. The Deino nods, managing to understand your intent: a distraction. If they can divert any patrols in the area to them, they’ll free up the area for you all to make it through. It may even make it easier for the rest of the team to make it here as well. Once he gets the memo, he sprints off, leaving you and the rest of your filthy team to start moving out. Graves grumbles, splattering some muck onto the ground, seething so hotly that you could see steam coming out of her ears at this point.

Morrison says, “Come on, Graves. I thought you liked being dirty.”

“Not this kind of dirty,” Graves snaps back.

All of you start skulking through the woods. You have to admit though, the feeling of mud and… whatever else this is that’s drying and caking into your skin is starting to get to you. You hope this doesn’t turn into a rash or anything unhealthy. Last thing you need is to get put into hospital for rolling around in the mud for your own survival.

It only takes a few hours of marching around, cutting through the foliage and silently watching around for patrols for the first few shots to erupt. Raptors start crying out, howling out into the distance.

“Seems your distraction’s working,” says Godwin.

“Yeah,” says Tierney.

All of you start coming up to a clearing in the woods that opens up to a large still swamp. Like when you came in, sail-like roots were breaching the water, leaves were floating statically on the surface, and birds were poking and prodding at trees for their morning breakfast. You’ll have to go around. Not too far of a walk honestly. “While we’re out here, doesn’t it feel nice to be one with nature!?” Godwin says, grinning, his teeth showing brightly from his dark and dirty face.

“Shut up, Godwin,” Graves hisses at him.

“Just lightening the mood, sheesh,” he says.

>>3499964
“Let’s not talk too loud,” you say. “There could still be patrols around.” As you march, you look ahead and notice something. You stop everyone and look.

Up ahead, not thirty meters away was a Baryonyx. It stares at the water, snorting quietly. You all freeze, watching it. It raises its head and turns to look at you. You all raise your rifles at it. Then it snorts and goes back to the water. Huh. Quite docile despite its looks. It starts wading into the water, calling out with a clicking deep howl for a few seconds.

“Huh.” Graves smirks. “He’s a pretty friendly guy, huh?”

Then the Baryonyx is snapped by a giant Sarchosuchus, one the size of a bus. The baryonyx can do nothing except thrash about, not even able to scream before its sucked underwater by the massive predator. All of you stand there in shock and horror. That’s what saved your life last night!?

Tierney tugs on your sleeve. “Please tell me we don’t have to go through there.”

“We don’t,” you say. “Come on.” All of you start walking well clear of the swamp land. After several minutes of thrashing, the water becomes still once more, but starts running red with blood now. That Baryonyx is done for. You have to admit, it’s tempting to see if you can draw one over to the Lizards. They might be just as scared of them as you are of them. But maybe save that for another time.

Graves steps closer to you. “So if we find that artillery battery, what then?”

“We have to remove it somehow,” you say. “Artillery on the hill is one thing. But down here? They’ve got reach. And they have a lot of firepower. We can’t let that stand.” She nods, understanding.

She glances at you, giving you an inquisitive look. Tierney looks across you, staring at her. “You know,” says Graves. “You got a look in your eyes.”

“A what?” you ask.

She points ahead. “You’re way focused on something ahead that doesn’t seem to be there. Thousand-yard stare?” Godwin and Connell look back, also curious about that too. “Something you want to talk about?”

> “Not out here.”
> “Just imagining bathing you. That’s all.”
> “Last night was rough. Let’s just leave it at that.”
> Other

>>3499969
>> “Not out here.”
We can vent when we get back. Rather not in front of people like Godwin.

>>3499969
>> “Just imagining bathing you. That’s all.”
P-PTSD? Not us, hahaha

>>3499969
>> “Not out here.”
>>3499979
Careful don't want the other person with possible PTSD getting even more jealous :p

>>3499969
>> “Not out here.”

> “Not out here.”

“Let’s not talk out here,” you say. “We got a job to do, Graves.”

Graves nods. “Well, alrighty then.” She shrugs, falling back in line with the others. You sigh, rubbing your nose. Seems to you that maybe that artillery bombardment got to you. Everyone experiences that kind of fear some time in their life you suppose.

You look at Godwin. He smirks, looking ahead. What’s he up to, little bastard.

Whatever. You need to get to that artillery battery.

…

…

As expected, the diversion not only drew off a lot of patrols, it even seemed to desert the lines for quite a bit. You walk for the next ten or fifteen kilometers until you notice that things got a whole lot quieter towards the edge of the trees out towards the open marshlands. From walking, you went to crouching and crawling through bushes and under roots. No sound, nothing. Not even the sound of little bugs. Seems the presence of big time predators has silenced the jungle.

But after what feels like an hour or two of sneaking, you finally catch a glimpse of something. You stand up behind a tree then take a look with your binoculars.

Graves marks it on the map for you. Southeast, way to the southeast, was an artillery camp set in the marshes. They were on one of the few bits of dry land. It seems to be a relatively new camp, and yet they have guns, quite a lot of guns. They were not heavy mortars nor rockets (the rockets must be somewhere else), they were massive howitzers. Probably in the area of 105mm. The Lizards certainly know their artillery game. The camp itself was only two hundred meters from the trees. But you were able to make out details about the guns themselves.

They were of a strange revolving design. A single barrel, but a six shot cylinder instead of a standard breech. The barrel itself was long, pointed upwards towards the swamp itself. No gun shields though, so they’re definitely not expecting anything to come close. Crewing them were a number of Stenonychosaurus, loading spare cylinders with massive artillery shells. Triceratops were set in a pen nearby on the other side away from you, at least a herd of fifty left to graze in the marshes. Several sandbag positions were set up in a circle around the guns, which were set up in two rows. And at each corner were one of those revolving gatling guns that you saw at the Hill.

As for garrison, surprisingly nil. Maybe you caught them on a bad day. Maybe it’s actually some sort of trap. Or maybe they’re expecting a garrison to arrive to defend them. The only defenses are those four guns, the artillery crews (mind you, Stenos can put up a mean fight in close combat), the Triceratops, and at least two squads of twelve Stenos making for twenty four Steno scouts guarding the place.

>>3500351
Not what you expected but definitely not a pushover either. You try to look around, maybe there’s an officer.

There is one Steno wearing a black helmet that appears to be bossing around the others. It croaks louder than the rest, and the others bow deferentially to it when it passes by. That must be the head honcho there. If only you brought the AMP rifle.

Still, a few of you versus that anyway? Not a chance.

Graves kneels down next to you. “That distraction won’t keep the patrols for much longer. They’ll probably come back soon. What do you think?”

> “Keep observing, stay down. No movement. We wait.”
> “Let’s pull back a bit, find a safe spot to camp out and wait for the others.”
> “Let’s head back to the village.”
> Other

>>3500352
>> “Let’s head back to the village.”
We did what we came here for.

>>3500352
>> “Let’s head back to the village.”

>>3500352
>> Other
Gather the deinos and head back to the ship and gather everybody else, start discussing a plan of attack. We should attack under the cover of night, with everyone. A single decisive strike, leave nothing alive or intact.

>>3500362
Yeah actually just go straight back to the ship. Get cleaned up and hopefull disease-free then we can start planning this.

>>3500352
>> Other
Go back to the ship.

>>3500362
sure

> Other

“We best head back to the ship,” you say. “Get everyone together, get the Wife and some Deinos as well. And we start discussing a plan of attack.” You look at her. You can already see the muck crusting over as it dries out in the sun. “And get you cleaned up too.” She rolls her eye at that, clearly displeased at the reminder. “Come on, let’s go.” All of you start heading out. You look back once more as everyone leaves. They don’t seem to have noticed your presence. Good enough for you.

Time to head back to the ship.

…

…

The trip back was long but thankfully uneventful. You found Rutledge speaking with Burke quietly outside by the stable, just as all of you came in to report. “Hood told me everything,” says Rutledge as he looks at you. Burke steps to the side, looking at all of you curiously. “We got an artillery problem that needs solving?”

“Right now, yes,” you say. “Get everyone out here. We got to start planning.”

Rutledge looks at you, then sniffs at you. “And start bathing. You smell like the ass end of a Felisian.” He looks at Morrison. Morrison does not appreciate that remark. “No offense.” Definitely offense was taken at that.

Graves says, “I have dibs on the shower first.”

“Aw come on!” says Godwin. “Can’t we share!? I’m filthy!”

“Frak off, the shower’s mine,” she says as she throws her helmet off and starts undoing her armor as well. She looks at you. “I’ll share with you though, Daddy.” Tierney blinks, glaring at her before folding her arms. “Oh, you can go after me, Tierney. Ladies first after all.”

> “Go ahead, Graves. I gotta discuss this with Rutledge anyway.”
> Share a shower with Graves, no harm no foul.
> “I’m in charge, I shower first.”
> Other

>>3500810
>> Share a shower with Graves, no harm no foul.

>>3500810
>> Share a shower with Graves, no harm no foul.

>>3500810
>> “I’m in charge, I shower first.”

>>3500810
>> Share a shower with Graves, no harm no foul.

>>3500810
>> Share a shower with Graves, no harm no foul.
>He looks at Morrison. Morrison does not appreciate that remark.
What an asshole.

>>3500810
> “Go ahead, Graves. I gotta discuss this with Rutledge anyway.”
We shouldn't push things too far.

>>3500810
>> “Go ahead, Graves. I gotta discuss this with Rutledge anyway.”

>>3500810
> Share a shower with Graves, no harm no foul.

> Share a shower with Graves, no harm no foul.

You and Graves quickly stuff yourselves into the Command Truck’s little shower room. It’s cramped, but it’s something. And you being the gentleman that you are, you turn around and let her wash herself while you wash yourself too. “I notice Tierney has been glaring at me quite a lot, you notice that too?” she asks.

“I think she’s jealous,” you say.

“Very,” says Graves. “I might talk to her later on about it, I dunno.”

“I believe I’ve said to her that she doesn’t have to be like you. You have your own particular charms and quirks and she has her own,” you explain. You have to admit, it hurts a little trying to force yourself not to look at a naked Graves. But you’re still an adult, so is she. Best to handle these things in a mature manner. “I guess these things you can chalk up to insecurity.”

Graves giggles a bit. “I remember when I was her age and I was super insecure about everything.”

“You were –insecure about things-?” You almost turn your head to look at her. She’s getting most of the damn water. You’re having to just settle with scrubbing with soap and trying to force your head over hers.

“At one point in my life, yes,” Graves says. “Of course, now it really helps not to give a shit about what other people think. I’m just trying to survive this frakking place and get back home, Daddy.” Ain’t that the truth. She sighs, rubbing at her blonde hair before turning her head to you. “You know, it occurs to me. This is the closest I think we’ve gotten to each other.”

“Uh huh.”

“Like, birthday suit-wise.”

“Yep.”

“… you have a boner, don’t you.”

> “Alright, I’m outta here.”
> “… no.”
> “Eyes front, bitch.”
> Other

>>3501155
>> “Eyes front, bitch.”
why did we agree to shower with graves?

>>3501155
>> “… no.”

>>3501155
>> “Eyes front, bitch.”
Don't make me whip your ass with a towel.

>>3501155
>> “… no.”
>>"Trade places for a bit so I can wash."

>>3501196
+1
More polite I think.

>>3501196
I'll support

> “… no.”
> “Eyes front, bitch.”
> Other

“… no.” You sigh, trying to relax your lower half. You look back at her, and see the smuggest grin on her face. “Keep your eyes front. And trade places so I can wash too.” She snickers as the two of you turn around in the stall so you can get some of the water now.

She folds her arms, smirking. “It’s fine, Daddy, honest. Shower sex is so overrated anyway. Water is a terrible lubricant.” Thank God for that. You splash some water in your face, sighing even harder when she touches her back against yours. “Though let me tell you something, Daddy. We should probably sit down with Tierney together.”

“Graves, a threesome is-“

“Not like that,” she says. Oh. You stop, looking down. Damn it. “You think I have a dirty mind? Honestly.” She shakes her head, scoffing. “No, we sit her down together and talk it out like the adults we are. Tierney’s still a kid. She’s impressionable. We just need to let her know this isn’t a romantic thing we got going on here. I’m perfectly fine being the bottom bitch like Burke says I am.”

“Are you though?” you ask.

She pauses for a second, then says, “I mean, I’d rather we –not- get into relationship drama here of all places.” That’s a fair cop. “I mean, when we get back onto a starship, I’ll take you to bonetown anytime and let you frak me until my legs give out but here, let’s try to play it safe. Tierney’s clearly uncomfortable. So we gotta do something. We’ll do it together, okay?”

“Alright, that’s fair. After we finish our business with that artillery though,” you say. “Then we-“ The water suddenly stops. “… it’s out of water, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

…

Well, at least you’re mostly clean.

>>3501522
…

…

After having to endure complaints from the others, some water was shuttled in by various Deinos. You, Graves, Rutledge, and Burke kneel down by a map outside the doors. “So, twenty guns covered by four gatling guns and a few dozen Stenos not to mention quite a number of Troodon and Raptors including a Champion among them in this artillery camp, am I correct?” asks Rutledge. You nod. “Whew. They’re not pulling any punches.”

“The good thing we have going for is that they don’t know we know they’re there,” you say. “So the element of surprise is on our side.”

Burke says, “To the north is mostly open marshland according to the map. It’s going to be rough crossing that terrain on foot. Going east too. There’s only several select bits of dry land. If they want to retreat, they’ll get bogged down.”

“And vice versa for us if we get mixed in,” you say. “The camp’s two hundred meters from the treeline so we can probably hit them from range. But that means we’ll be open to these two gatling guns.” You point to the ones covering the northwest and southwest corner. Their arcs can effective criss-cross into each other to face directly west, creating a huge killzone. “Not to mention these are only the guns. We still don’t know where the rockets themselves are.”

“It’s twenty guns though, it’d be a huge setback to lose them,” Rutledge states. “I think what we should do is coordinate a two-pronged attack.” You’re listening. “So let’s say we have our team, and we have the Deinos. This ain’t like Harrell’s bit. We use the Deinos to divert patrols away, and create a large distraction that’ll surely get the attention of the vast majority of the defenders. But, here’s what I’m thinking. They lure them out over the marshlands north.”

“Why so?” you ask.

“Think about it, those guns are pointing northwest,” he says. “If they point north or even northeast, they can’t drop bombs on the second team coming to get at them.” You scratch your chin. The Deinos do seem better suited for the marshes than the Lizards at least. “We snipe and shoot from the trees, close in, spike the guns, get out before the reinforcements come back. The Deinos wouldn’t even have to commit to an engagement. They just need to draw out the majority of the local Lizards for us.”

Graves is quiet for a second, then she says, “That distraction earlier today. That did buy us a lot of time. And we managed to walk the entire way to the camp without getting spotted by anybody. We didn’t even see any patrols.” That’s true. “These Lizards might be itching for combat. A distraction like that might actually work.”

> “Okay, Rutledge. We’ll go with your plan.”
> “I say direct assault. If we get everyone working in concert, we don’t need a distraction. The important thing is assaulting the guns together and overwhelming them.”
> “Let’s try something sneakier. There’s a graze area for a huge group of Triceratops over here. A stampede can cause a lot of damage."
> Other

>>3501530
>> “Okay, Rutledge. We’ll go with your plan.”
Sounds good. If that stampede opportunity shows up when we're there maybe we can reconsider.

>>3501530
>> “Okay, Rutledge. We’ll go with your plan.”

>>3501530
>> “Okay, Rutledge. We’ll go with your plan.”
I like it. I was going to suggest having the deinos charge into the gatling guns before they can realize what's happening and set up while we hit the main battery and its defenders, but this is good.

>>3501530
>> “Okay, Rutledge. We’ll go with your plan.”

> “Okay, Rutledge. We’ll go with your plan.”

“Alright, good plan, Rutledge. We’ll go with it.” Rutledge smiles, nodding enthusiastically. “Let’s get our weapons together. I want frag grenades ready for everyone, at least two per person. Burke, take the AMP Rifle with you. We better bring the DAB along with us as well in case things get interesting too.” Burke nods as well. “We got ourselves a fine plan here. The only thing it needs to survive now is contact with the enemy.”

“Trust me, buddy.” Rutledge stands up, hands on his belt. “I can do planning in my sleep. I’m a lot smarter than I look.” No shit.

“Just get everything together.” He nods. He whistles, getting everyone’s attention. He starts barking out orders to everyone. And with that, people are getting on the move. Weapons are being loaded up. Ammo is being checked. Frags are being passed around to everyone. You check your own carbine and quickly reload it. Burke walks alongside you as you wait for everyone to get ready. “We’ll have to leave some people behind.”

“Nielson is a natural choice,” says Burke. “Along with Early and Whitney and obviously Joffrey.” Fair. “Other than that, we can afford to take everyone. I’m sure your Deino companions as well will inform you of any attack while we’re gone.” By howling, sure. But you still don’t understand how those howls work. And you sure as hell aren’t throwing out your throat to imitate them. She slaps your arm, nodding to you. “Good luck out there, Boo.” Before you can say anything else, she’s gone.

You sigh. Maybe you’ll talk to her later too. You noticed that her and Rutledge have started getting chummy all of sudden. Might be your imagination though.

> Once everyone is done, get moving.
> Get talking with the Wife. You were going to fill her in later but you might as well now.
> Have a chat with Tierney about her mental state, make sure she’s okay.
> Other

I must go to sleep so go ahead and leave your votes in overnight. Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the morning.

>>3501992
>> Get talking with the Wife. You were going to fill her in later but you might as well now.
No point in putting it off, we're right here. Then we'll get moving and hit the batteries by nightfall.

>>3501997
Thanks for running, Survive.

>>3501992
>> Get talking with the Wife. You were going to fill her in later but you might as well now.

>>3501992
>> Get talking with the Wife. You were going to fill her in later but you might as well now.
Make sure the Deinos and us are on the same page.

>>3501992
> Have a chat with Tierney about her mental state, make sure she’s okay.

>>3501992
>> Get talking with the Wife. You were going to fill her in later but you might as well now.
We'll hit up Tierney if we have time too

> Get talking with the Wife. You were going to fill her in later but you might as well now.

You decide to get talking with the Wife about this. Delta helps translate the plan out to her. And surprisingly, the Wife is actually not only understanding of how the plan works, she’s even okay with it. She doesn’t snarl or hiss or vocalize anything resembling protest when you explain it. If anything, it’s unnerving how much she actually gets. Delta croaks to you, tapping his feet. “Right, I get it,” you say. “You understand?” you ask to the Wife. She nods, understanding. The kids all leap and jump up. “Right, the kids are going to have to stay though, they’re a little too young.”

The Wife snorts, then starts nudging the kids back into the stable. The kids whine sadly, whimpering that they want to come along too. But they’re way too young to participate in something like this.

Hell, this is a bit of a test run. If you can make it work here, then the Hill will be a dawdle.

Delta sniffles, chirping. “No, Delta. You’ll stay here. Okay?” He nods, smiling. You can’t risk your translator and potential supporting engineer going down. “Just take care of the kids.” The kids all poke their heads up over the stable wall, glancing at Delta. Delta looks at them, then his smile drops. “Relax, you’ll make a good uncle, I’m sure.” Delta tilts his head, apparently not understanding.

The Wife throws her head up and makes a long howling call before charging off. She’ll be gathering forces for the diversion.

Rutledge nudges you. “Everyone’s ready.” You find the entire group outside. “We’re leaving Nielson, Early, Whitney, Joffrey, and Delta behind for now. But everyone else is coming along.” Alright then.

Stoakes hands the Runt over to Whitney. “You take good care of him!” Whitney and Early look at the Runt, disgusted but not completely so. Nielson nods, smiling at Stoakes.

“Glad we’re starting to take the offensive for once,” says Banner. “Show those Lizards we mean business!” He bumps his fists with Bryce. “Give them a good spanking!” Bryce gives a sharp glare at Banner in response, stepping away. “Aw come on, it was a joke!”

> Wait for nightfall before you head out.
> Start marching. It’ll probably be dark by the time you get there.
> Other

>>3503256
>> Start marching. It’ll probably be dark by the time you get there.

>>3503256
>> Start marching. It’ll probably be dark by the time you get there.
Maximise the amount of darkness we have.

>>3503256
>> Start marching. It’ll probably be dark by the time you get there.

>>3503256
>> Start marching. It’ll probably be dark by the time you get there.
Hell yeah boi, time to wreck their shit.

> Start marching. It’ll probably be dark by the time you get there.

“Right, let’s get moving!” you say. Everyone looks at you. “We’re going to hit us an artillery camp and we’re going to show those Lizards who’s the real top dog around here!” Levy pumps his fist, whooping loudly. Everyone else hollers and cheers, following behind you. Short and simple. No need to overcomplicate things. After all, it is just a gun camp. You treat it like something bigger then by God it’s going to look really dumb when you all get slaughtered.

Nielson, Early, and Whitney watch you all as you head into the woods. Delta steps up next to Nielson, sniffing the air. You look up at the clouds and see dark clouds in the sky.

Risk of rain.

…

…

The march down to the camp was uneventful. Again, it seems like contingents of Deinos took it upon themselves to harass the patrols on your way and make it impossible for them to intercept you all. You check the frag grenades on your belt and look back behind you. Everyone is rucking up quietly, the jovial mood gone now. There’s business to be done.

Worse still, you could feel it dripping. It’s starting to rain.

By now however, after a quick snack in the village, it was starting to become sundown. Soon it’d be pitch black. You still hadn’t made it to a good point yet. But you know the Deinos will wait until its dark to begin their big diversion. Once you hear the sound of Raptors howling and gunfire, you’ll know that’s the time to move in.

Burke steps up alongside next to you. “I heard about what happened with you. The artillery bombardment. You alright?”

“Just dandy,” you say. She nods, a heavy scowl on her face. “What about you?”

“I have a hunch.” She looks back at Rutledge. He yawns, inattentively bringing up the rear. She looks back at you. “Just come find me when we’re done with this, alright?”

“Can we not talk about it now?” you ask.

>>3503595
>>3503595
“Not right before we’re going to do this,” she says. “It can wait.” You suppose it can.

“How much further?” asks Bryce, still rubbing at her butt. Probably still tender from that tail whip she received.

“Not too far now,” you say back to her. “Just another half kilometer.” Everyone groans in frustration. It’s a long way, you know. But it’ll be worth it.

Sundown slowly starts cascade into a night sky as you continue the long walk. It’s made even darker now thankfully with the rain clouds moving in overhead too. Despite having to march through the rain and mud, nobody complains. This kind of weather is welcome in fact.

Once you’re at the tree line. You all sit down. Right in sight, not two hundred meters away was the artillery camp. It was now populated quite a bit by innumerable Troodon and a few Raptor Minors. But if the distraction goes off, then you have yourself a somewhat empty camp to occupy. On the other side, the Triceratops were now sleeping through the rain, barely acknowledging anything. Visibility is horrific now. But they’ve made things worse on themselves by lighting camp lights on each corner of the camp, letting them be seen for kilometers.

You all sit by trees, roots, and bushes, waiting.

Right, what now?

> Once the distraction commences, open fire and engage from the treeline.
> Sneak around, see if you can get around to those Triceratops.
> Try and sneak a team around the south end to create two lanes of fire on the camp. They won’t have much cover but dividing their firepower could be good.
> Other

>>3503603
>> Try and sneak a team around the south end to create two lanes of fire on the camp. They won’t have much cover but dividing their firepower could be good.
Wouldn't want the guns opening fire on us and wiping us out

>>3503603
>Try and sneak a team around the south end to create two lanes of fire on the camp. They won’t have much cover but dividing their firepower could be good.
Also once the shooting starts maybe put some shots towards the Triceratops, see if they stampede.

>>3503621
>>3503625
+1

>>3503621
>>3503625
This.

> Try and sneak a team around the south end to create two lanes of fire on the camp. They won’t have much cover but dividing their firepower could be good.

“Rutledge.” He comes up to you, kneeling down. “I’ll take a team with me to the south. We’ll make two lanes of fire once the shooting starts. Sound good?”

He nods. “Take the plasma cannon and Burke with the AMP.” You nod back. Right, you’ll take Burke, Tombs, Tierney (with the cannon), Morrison, and Godwin. Everyone else will stay here. All of you lay prone and start crawling outside towards the southern edge of the camp. You make sure to maintain more than a hundred, even two hundred meter range away from it. Last thing you need is them spotting you somehow in this torrential downpour. Mud and water seeps into your clothes. Your helmet dings and rattles from rain pelting it over and over again.

But after some time, you manage to make it down to the south end. Just in time. Gunfire and Raptor cries start sounding to the north. The garrison of Troodon and Raptors immediately bails, hurrying northward. You see some smokestacks of fires in the trees too. Now you’re curious as to what they’re doing in there.

Burke nudges you. “Officer.” You look up. You’re hidden just below the dip of the marsh behind you. But in your sights using the binoculars you can see the Steno Officer crying and yelling at his Steno subordinates. Burke places down the AMP Rifle, setting up the bipod. “I’ll take the shot.”

> “Not yet.”
> “Fire when ready on the Officer, Burke.”
> Other

>>3503919
>> “Fire when ready on the Officer, Burke.”
Hopefully losing their leader will make them even more disorganized.

>>3503919
>> “Fire when ready on the Officer, Burke.”

>>3503919
>> “Not yet.”
Shouldn't we at least wait a minute or two for the garrison to move out to intercept the distraction?

>>3503944
>The garrison of Troodon and Raptors immediately bails, hurrying northward. You see some smokestacks of fires in the trees too. Now you’re curious as to what they’re doing in there.
I assume they've already left?

>>3503948
Yeah, JUST left. As soon as fighting begins at the camp they're going to 180 and come back to defend.

>>3503944
This. We're gonna need a couple of minutes atleast for when we unleash hell

>>3503951
>>3503959
Fine I'll switch then
>> “Not yet. Wait till the garrison gets further away first.”

> “Not yet.”

“Not yet,” you say. Burke holds off. You take up the binoculars and observe. So far, the garrison has left, leaving the artillery crewmen by their guns. They patrol around the perimeter of the camp, watching outwards, looking for anything. But in this weather and this darkness? They have to rely on scent. One of them sniffs the air, then curiously chitters to another. The second sniffs the air too, before going back to patrolling. They haven’t caught your scent yet, perfect.

The Officer hops onto one of the guns, then he sniffs the air too. He looks in your direction, then westward, near where Rutledge and the rest of the crew are. He snarls, before sniffing the air once more. They’re trying to sniff you out. They know something is amiss but they aren’t sure what.

You sigh deeply, waiting. You hear some gunfire and howling in the distance. The garrison is engaged. Now might be a good time to snipe that officer. Then you look at the Officer once more. He holds up a big pistol and fires up in the air.

The big flare shoots up into the sky, blasting the area with red light. You all freeze up, staying still. They all look out, trying to catch glimpses of whatever might be out there. Shit! You nudge Burke. Let her take the shot now! She raises the rifle.

But then a grenade shoots out from the woods. It smashes into the southwest gatling gun. The Lizards start screaming and yelling. Shit, Rutledge! The Officer immediately ducks behind a gun, screaming and screeching. Damn it! Plasma fire erupts from the woods. They all start shooting back with the remaining gatling gun and their rifles in response.

“I don’t have a shot on the Officer!” says Burke.

“They haven’t noticed us yet,” says Tombs.

> Close in while they’re distracted.
> Open up on them, divide their attention.
> Move around to the right towards those Triceratops.
> Other

>>3504129
>> Other
Burke stays put, us and Tombs will move around to a flanking position on that officer and flush him out so she can nail him when he moves.

>>3504135
Support. Also get Tierney to open up with her cannon on that gun; that should definitely force him out once his cover literally melts.

>>3504135
>>3504153
Sounds good.

>>3504135
sure

> Other

“Tombs, with me. Rest of you stay here, we’re gonna flush him out.” You start crawling to the side with Tombs. He crawls with you, one hand on his rifle and the other pulling himself along on the ground. The flare slowly falls over the field, keeping the place lit up. They’ll never to fire up another one soon before it goes out. But in the meantime, Tierney, Morrison, and Godwin start putting down suppressive fire of their own on the camp.

You and Tombs crawl over into another ditch and set up. You see the Officer cowering behind one of the guns. “There, flush him out!” You and Tombs come up to a kneeling position and open fire. The shots make the Officer pop up and jump out for his own safety. Right into the plasma shots from Tierney and Morrison. It dodges around, trying to jump into cover behind a sandbag.

Up until his head explodes from an AMP shot. It goes flopping over, dead as a doornail. The remaining Stenos run around, trying to put down fire everywhere. Some even fire away at the north, apparently unaware of how big your actual force is.

You do see the Gatling on the southeast sside turn on you. “Down!” You drag Tombs down with you into the ditch. It starts firing. The shots slam and explode straight into the ground around you. Shot followed after shot, not as rapid as a plasma cannon but definitely repeating over and over again. Another grenade slams into the sandbags from Rutledge’s position.

Right, this is a fight now!

Right, we're going to have to end it here. Unfortunately, I'm going to be taking this weekend off from this Quest to give myself some time to regroup and recharge a little. So just this weekend and we'll be back on the 22nd or 23rd thereabouts. Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed and I sincerely hope to see you then.

Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger. Not really.

I must go to sleep now so any questions you got I will answer in the morning.

>>3504428
>So just this weekend and we'll be back on the 22nd or 23rd
Feels bad man

But thanks for running, Survive. It's been fun.

>>3504428
Thanks for running Survive. Since you're taking a break to recharge just wanna ask how far ahead you've planned things storywise?

>>3504456
I definitely know how it'll end (depending on what happens) but the middle parts I usually have to improvise a little bit.

>>3504777
Thanks. Hopefully we can get a good ending then.

>>3504428
thanks for running survive

>>3504428
Thanks for running and see you next week.

>tfw no dino party this weekend