Gorel lures out the guards

Another mortar crashed near the ground, causing the floor to tremble under their feet. They covered their eyes to protect them from the flying debris that covered their naked bodies. Flying shrapnel scratched their skin. “We need to do something fast!” Pearl stated, “Or we’re going to end up as part of that rubble!”

As the dust settled, Jessica made out an area of remaining wall from the collapsed building. It could be used to lure in the guards for an ambush! “Alright, Gore, we’re going with your plan!” Jessica announced.

“We are?” Gorel asked, dumbfounded by the decision. He quickly recollected himself and saluted his captain. “Uh… yes mistress! Gorel make you proud!” The soldier ran off to gather ammunition for his assignment while the ladies gathered around to decide what their plan of action would be.

“So, what’s our jobs, boss?” Pearl asked Jessica.

Jessica pointed out the nearby wall. “When the building went down, it left the wall up over there! That’s a perfect chokepoint to lure them in. We can have Gorel lead the guards through and set an ambush!”

The sorceress and the daemonette looked to each other, then back at their leader and gave an affirmative nod. They were confident enough with each other’s abilities to see the plan succeeding.

As another mortar crashed in the nearby distance, Gorel returned with an armful of fist sized stones ready to be deployed. He looked to Jessica who directed him behind the wall. Everyone took their positions and she scanned the guarded void shield. The guards were spread out, monitoring all points of entry. Jessica turned to Gorel and gave him a ‘go ahead’ nod.

Gorel nodded back and stood up. He leaned back with his arm outstretched, wielding a heavy rock. With one motion, he swung his arm forward and catapulted the rock a hundred yards away, landing square at the foot of the closest guard. The guard looked down at the implement, then looked up to see where it came from. Passing it off as mortar fire debris, he went back about his business scanning the area. The group stared dumbly for a second.

“Great aim, Gore!” Pearl remarked facetiously.

“These aren’t grenades, Gore, you’re going to have to aim for their bodies!” Jessica explained.

Gorel frowned like a chastised puppy and said, “I do better!” He hefted a larger rock and tested its weight before sizing up the distance it would need to travel. With his aim trained on the same guard, he let the projectile fly!

A moment later and a hundred yards away, the guard crumpled to the ground.

“That’s more like it!” Pearl cheered.

Gorel grinned, but the daemonette pointed out, “But, we can’t disarm him all the way over there!”

Gorel balked and realized his error, but Jessica noted, “That’s still one less soldier we have to deal with.” She put a hand on Gorel’s shoulder and said, “See if you can take out the next one…”

Gorel smiled and nodded, then narrowed his eyes to find the next closest target. The one to the left looked good to him, so he took aim and fired. Just then, another mortar hit, shaking Gorel’s footing. The rock shot out like a rocket and hit the ground several feet away from its intended target. Gorel stamped his foot in frustration. Yanet smirked. She approached the stout soldier and teasingly rubbed his neck. She asked him, “What’s the matter, Gorel? Did we sap your strength in the playroom?”

The soldier hunkered down, ego hurt from the daemonette’s words. This also made him want to prove himself even more. He made a determined face and grabbed another rock. He took another moment to measure out the distance, then wound up and with a monstrous grunt, shotput the stone high up in the air. It arced upward, then let gravity take it back down. Over a hundred yards away, they watched the guard standing still, then lurch over and fall to the ground.

Gorel roared proudly at his achievement! Suddenly, the remaining guards took notice of the commotion and realized a couple of their comrades were down. They spotted Gorel puffing his chest and immediately surged out into the battlefield! Any logical soldier would have ducked back into cover, but Gorel was high on his victory and roared out, charging into battle with a rock in each hand.

“No, you fool! They’re supposed to come in here!” Jessica cried out. It was already too late as Gorel was already halfway to the guards.

“Should we follow?” Yanet asked, eager to join the fray.

Jessica sighed and watched, muttering, “Give him a minute…”

The trio stayed hidden as their comrade engaged with the three guards. The guards halted just before he was within arm’s reach, then they raised their weapons and opened fire! Gorel, realizing his folly, chucked his rocks and swiveled around, running back for cover! Gorel took several pistol shots to the back and behind, but his tough skin managed to absorb most of the impact. His hastily thrown stones managed to knock out one of the guard’s weapons while the other one only managed to graze the second guard. The chaos soldier got chased down, guns firing off behind him. Fortunately, yet another mortar blast his closeby, offsetting their aim. Running faster than Jessica had seen him run before, Gorel managed to make it back to the group’s ambush spot in relatively one piece. The guards came charging in right after him.

As soon as their quarry passed the threshold, Jessica called out, “Now!”

With precision, Jessica, Pearl and Yanet each took down a guard with a surprise strike. Jessica came up from under her target, elbowing him under the chin for a quick knockout. Pearl pounced on her target from above and wrapped her arms around the guard’s neck, **** her out. Yanet looped around and caught the final guard from behind, slitting his throat.

After the guards were dispatched, Pearl brushed her hands together and said, “Well, that was easier than expected…”

“Well… for some of us…” Yanet noted, looking at Gorel’s bullet riddled backside. “Looks like another minute of gunplay and they might have done some permanent damage…”

Gorel lay on his front and groaned to indicate that he was still alive. His back was riddled with bullets, still smoking out from their points of impatct. The ground rumbled again as another mortar hit the area. “We’ll have to treat him when we get away from these blasts!” Pearl cried out. The weapons fire did not appear to be dying down any time soon.

“Grab what you can! We’ll need to be prepared in case there are more inside!” Jessica ordered as she took Gorel under her shoulder to help him walk. Yanet helped Gorel from the other side as Pearl picked up the weapons and stripped the guards of their armor.

“These should help with the summoning spell,” She noted, passing a pistol to Jessica for a more practical use in the meantime. Jessica checked the ammo, and gun condition before telling the group, “Alright team, we move in!”