Mruklurk Hunt
The Squadron eventually found the Mruklurks. After 13 hours of searching. Lexie had even reappeared a couple hours in.
They did in fact, have to retrace their steps all the way to that original fork, but it all worked out in the end. If by working out, you meant the Frear Squadron had to fight a pack of Monsters while half of their members were almost sleep walking, and definitely out of formation.
As the Squad got mobbed in the center of the four way intersection, they managed to rally a little bit. Logan, having not slept for over a week now, felt completely alert. As the slimy amphibious humanoids came out of the tunnels Logan stepped forward and wove the patterns for the Soul Sword. Luckily, his tentacles danced the steps correctly and the resultant blade slashed a leading Mruklurk in half.
“Get back in formation!” He yelled at the squad, before promptly teleporting out of harm's way.
Larry was there to pick up the slack, eager to wade into battle. Behind him, the formation filled out, and Lexie once again was invisible even to Logan’s enhanced sight. Larry’s axe swept through the initial wave of enemies, clearing a large path.
Then, executing a maneuver they had drilled prior, Amar leapt into that space, and swept out with her own Bear Claws. Instantly, all the momentum the enemies had built with their charge died. With their enemies on the back foot, Lucius and Sophia moved in for easy kills, duel swords flashing for both of them.
Some of the Mruklurks from the side tunnels tried to skirt around the carnage of the frontlines and head for the rear. Luckily, Arasaka was paying attention and intervened with a large metal shield, pushing the Monsters back. Jerry then threw a bottle at their feet, while Aerie used her crossbow.
Logan took a couple steps backwards and surveyed the battlefield. Too late, as somehow a Mruklurk had snuck up behind him, wrapping him in a full tackle. His clothes prevented the contact poison from effecting him immediately, but the Monster seemed to sense this, and tried desperately to rip them off Logan’s person.
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Logan barely managed to keep his feet, and focused on a spot just a few feet to his left. Teleporting, he left behind his assailant, but the Mruklurk managed to keep some of Logan’s clothes in the process.
Standing only a few feet from the Monster now shirtless, Logan tried once again to summon the Soul Sword. Focusing, he brought both his hands together and swung, only for nothing to happen except his pride taking a hit.
With the amphibian scrambling towards him, Logan was forced to teleport again, this time further into the tunnel. Standing behind the frontline, he once again tried to summon the Soul Sword. Logan really brought all of his attention, all the neurons in his brain, onto this one task. His tentacles wove about in a twisted dervish.
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And it worked. The Soul Sword originated from his right hand. Determined not to let it drop again Logan ran over to assist the frontline, instead of teleporting. He hadn’t practiced doing this, but had seen how they like to coordinate.
The two swords users both flashed from target to target, usually eliminating targets, but sometimes just savaging their bodies. Amar too, was able to hurt large quantities of the Monsters, but wasn’t able to kill them. So Logan stood just behind them, finishing off their downed opponents.
Instantly, the trickle of Mruklurks who had previously found their way through to the backlines were being obliterated, as if they had instead found their way into an industrial grade blender. The lessened pressure on everyone allowed the battle to flow smoothly for several seconds.
Then an unnatural scream sounded out in the cave, echoing off the walls. It had come from behind, the Mruklurks, and it sounded like it was getting closer.
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The frontline continued to make hay while the sun was out, but they were drawing closer, bracing for whatever was coming their way. Logan used it as an opportunity to retreat to the backlines once again, taking stock on the way.
Everyone seemed to be alright health wise, but it looked like Aerie was running low on crossbow bolts. Maybe with some luck, Logan might even learn what she could do. Then, the Frear Squadron learned what had made that noise.
Bursting out of the central tunnel, a massive, bulkier Mruklurk screamed its presence out. Although it was easily twice as wide as its compatriots, it was only a foot or two taller, making it around Logan’s height. Still, from the bulge of its muscles as they contorted, Logan did not want to tangle with that thing.
“MINE!” Larry screamed. Apparently he had the opposite reaction of Logan.
The large man charged at the Monster, and tried to cleave it in two with a massive overhead chop. Instead, halfway through his motion a moist mitt came up and blocked Larry’s axe dead. The Monster and the man started wrestling over the weapon, and the rest of the Squad was left to handle the rest.
Without their spearhead, the Frear Squadron found the horde more difficult to handle. Although their numbers were diminished significantly, it was still the Mruklurks largest strength against the humans. As such, they tried to group up and mob a single target, as Jerry had warned once again.
This time, the Monsters target was Amar, who had wound up exposed with Larry’s indisposition. Ganging up on the white haired girl, the Mruklurks flew at her in groups, all trying to pin her down.
Amar batted them out of the air with Bear Claws, but she was gradually getting surrounded. The situation looked dire until someone shouted out.
“Everyone get down and close your eyes!”
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Logan immediately listened all the while keeping the Soul Sword active, having seen no better options. Then, someone brought the sun into their cave. It was so bright, even though Logan was laying down, eyes closed, face in the dirt, his eyes stung. All around him the Mruklurk let out terrible gasps, and Logan thought he could hear them sizzling.
The light lasted for almost half a minute, and then just as rapidly as it appeared, it vanished. Logan pushed back to his feet and opened his tender eyes. He found that many of the Mruklurks had been half-baked alive, tottering around but clearly not fully functional.
Logan was glad he had managed to hold onto the Soul Sword pattern for this moment. Sweeping through the tunnel Logan cut the Monsters down in lots, felling multiple with every swing. However, Logan realized that his pathing had been suboptimal, leaving him opposite of the last of the stunned enemies.
Gritting his teeth, Logan forced himself to teleport. His concentration wavered with the spike of nausea that rose up, but somehow his tentacles maintained their elaborate pattern. Appearing on the other side, Logan slashed out and cleaned up the rest of the stunned Mruklurks. That’s when he noticed what the healthy ones were up too.
After having their first target foiled, the reduced horde of Monsters had shifted gears and begun to crowd Larry. Although he would normally be able to handle it, Larry was too busy grabbing the handle of his axe, wrestling with the larger Mruklurk.
The smaller Monsters crawled all over Larry, trying to peel off his armor and clothing. It looked like the Squadron had leapt from the frying pan into the fire, until suddenly a Water Arrow shot out from Aerie. It launched out with great speeds, cutting through the chaos at the perfect angle to pierce the Mruklurk leader’s chest, leaving a gaping hole.