Battle with the Deep [Episode]

Quest:

This was it. Anton's first assignment since being given command of the Grand Steamer. He stood on the deck of the ship, watching the men and women of the marines milling around, doing their duties to keep the ship going. It was a bit overwhelming really, being in command. He had seen other captains working, and they made it all look so easy. Had they felt the same as him when they started out?

Behind him, Celia approached him, looking out over the crew below. A content smile on her face. "It's a big change, isn't it?" she said, looking over at Anton. The newly appointed captain nodded. "Yeah...it is. I...I don't even mind that we're going into a possible combat situation." And that was a big deal for Anton. Their assignment had been to stop whatever was attacking ships passing through this part of the ocean. And yet, after everything he had gone through, this seemed rather mild be comparison.

Celia blinked, a little surprised. "Wait, really?" Anton gave a small shrug. "Well, yeah. I mean, We've now got a ship, and we have a crew. I just hope I'll be a good captain. I've never done this before. Hell, I never thought I'd get this far." Celia looked up at him, and couldn't help but smile. If this was what he was worried about now, then it showed just how far he had come. Shame he had to go through so much in order to do it. But Celia knew he could be a skilled marine.

She looked out over the water. "I'm sure you'll do fine," she said, You've been doing pretty well so far. And I'm sure with this crew, this mission will be a walk in the park." For the first time in his career, Anton found himself agreeing with her.

Time passed as they searched the ocean. Something seemed...wrong. The briefing had said that ships were being attacked out here, in this stretched of the ocean. But they had been out here for at least an hour, and there was no sign of anything. They were flying blank sails, to hide the fact that they were marines. Surely whoever was attacking them would have noticed them and tried to attack them. But why weren't they?

"Celia," Anton spoke up, a little hint of nervousness in his voice, "I can't help but shake the feeling that something's wrong. Celia looked around, unable to do anything but agree. They should have run into the pirates by now. "Well, who knows. Maybe they were attacked and sunk by other pirates?" Yeah, that could be it. They could have just come out here for nothing.

Suddenly, the ship rocked, almost causing the two marines to fall over. Shouts came from the crew around the ship, trying to figure out what had happened. Was it him, or did Anton hear a banging sound before the ship moved. The water was picking up, churning into large waves. "What the hell is that!?" came a voice. Anton and Celia looked over to see one of the crewman, pointing out to see. The two marines ran to the railing, looking out over the water, trying to see what he was pointing at. There was nothing out there. Just open water.

And then, something surfaced from the water. Well, partially. It was large, dark green, and long. Like part of a body. Anton's eyes widened as there was suddenly another slam to the ship, causing him to roll back. "Is...Is that...?"

Suddenly, there was a burst of water, as something rose up from out of the water. It was large, long, and bestial. It looked like a giant snake on steroids. Large fangs poked out of its mouth, as it's golden eyes stared down at them. Anton's eyes bugged out in horror, as someone put words to the sight.

"SEAKING!"

Boss:

Anton La'croix uses
Fast Hopping - LT on self
Sonic Cutter - MT at Sea Ravager
Grind Slash - LT at Sea Ravager
UT at Sea Ravager

Sea Ravager uses
MT at Anton
LT at Anton
LT at Anton
UT at Anton

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 3, 14, 5, 18

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 15, 8, 4, 18

As the massive beast roared, fear crashed into Anton like a train. "THAT'S A SEAKING!" he shrieked. "I SEE THAT!" "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME WE WERE FIGHTING A SEAKING!?" "I DIDN'T KNOW!" "AAAARGH!" "AAAARGH!"

As both of them laid on the floor, screaming, the Seaking looked down at the two of them, its golden eyes staring at them like a predator at frightened prey. It was always the same. The little humans saw it, screamed, and then got eaten. And today was going to be no different. Celia snapped out of her screaming first, slapping Anton on the side. "W-Well, what are you waiting for? Fight it off!" Anton stared at her. "Are you serious!?" "You're the captain aren't you!? And it's going to eat us if you don't!" Damn that woman and her logic. Trembling, Anton climbed to his feet, adrenaline rushing through his body as he drew his blade. [Fast Hopping - LT active]

The Seaking, which earned the nickname the Sea Ravager, looked down at Anton curious. It had experienced this too. Little things wanting to fight it. This would be fun. It slowly reared its head back. "Look out!" Celia yelled out. The creature's head jerked forward, and its mouth opened. In a surprising move, a jet of water shot out, like a beam, right at Anton. The attack hit dead on, the marine barely having a chance to dodge. [Sea Ravager's MT - hit]

Well, that was fun. Now then, to resume the attacking and the eating. However, before it could do so, something shot out at it. It looked like a blade of some kind, crashing right into the Seaking's face before it could react. The massive beast let out a roar of confusion and pain. What had just happened? [Sonic Cutter - MT - hit]

The beast growled and looked down at the source of the attack, pausing and blinking. Where there had been a scared man before, was now a sort of giant bug, dressed in similar clothing and wielding a sword. Where had this come from? Well, no matter. It was going to squash this bug. On the other side of the ship, the Seaking's tail rose up threateningly. Celia spotted the attack. "Incoming!" The tail swatted down, only for the bug to jump to the side, avoiding the blow. [Sea Ravager's LT - miss] The Seaking blinked, and then growled in annoyance, the tail swinging out to sweep the bug off of the deck. The bug man simply leaped up, the beast's tail swinging by underneath him. [Sea Ravager's LT - miss]

The bug suddenly charged at it, sword in hand. Closing in, the blade ground across the ground, before the insect suddenly shot forward, the blade catching the Seaking right in the face. [Grind Slash - LT - hit] Anton wasn't done though. Coming down, he aimed himself to land right on the beast's face, bringing the blade down right onto its snout [Anton's UT - hit]

The Sea Ravager quickly recovered from the sharp hits of pain. Seeing the grasshopper on its snout, the Seaking growled, before whipping its head around. Anton was dislodged from the beast's face, slamming down onto the deck hard. [Sea Ravager's UT - hit]

Anton let out a low groan, pulling himself to his feet. He now had the Seaking's full attention, and it was ticked off at him. This was NOT a good place to be in.

COMBAT TRACKERS:

Anton La'croix uses
B-Flat - AoE at Sea Ravager
UT at Sea Ravager

Sea Ravager uses
MT at Anton
LT at Anton
LT at Anton
UT at Anton

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 5, 20

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 1, 10, 11, 12

The battle was well underway, between Anton and the Sea King. After Anton's initial hits, the beast was well and truly focused on him. Whether Anton regretted this or not was up for debate. He was too busy screaming out and trying to avoid the beast's rage fueled attacks. The Sea Ravager reared up, letting out a roar and another blast of compressed sea water right at Anton. This time though, Anton was more than ready, bouncing off to the side as the attack hit the deck, denting the metal. [Sea Ravager's MT - miss]

The Seaking let out a growl of frustration. This bug was proving more and more difficult to swat. Growling, it started lashing out with its tail, trying to hit him. Anton only continued to scream, bouncing back and forth, the Seaking's tail swipes missing and slamming into the ship, causing it to shift and tilt [Sea Ravager's LT - miss] [Sea Ravager's LT - miss]

Anton suddenly lept up into the air. He couldn't keep dodging attacks forever. He needed to strike back. He shot down towards the growling Seaking, aiming to strike down right atop of his head. The Seaking shifted its head to the side, causing Anton's attack to miss, the marine narrowly landing on the deck, as the metal beneath his feet buckled. A foot or two off, and Anton would have completely fallen off of the ship. [B-Flat - AoE - miss]

The Seaking almost let out a chuckle. There we go. Bringing its head up, its swung it down, intent on crushing Anton under its own head. Seeing the head incoming, Anton let out a small scream, swinging up with a leg as the Seaking's head came down. Anton was smashed against the floor, but at least he had managed to kick it as well. [Sea Ravager's UT - hit] [Anton's UT - hit]

Celia watched the fighting unfold. To be honest, Anton was actually holding out pretty well, considering he was fighting a Seaking of all things. Those could utterly destroy a person without much effort.

COMBAT TRACKERS:

Anton La'croix uses
Sonic Blade - LT on self
Grand Strike - HT at Sea Ravager
UT at Sea Ravager

Sea Ravager uses
HT at Anton
UT at Anton

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 14, 5, 14

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 12, 8

The mighty Seaking let out a bellowing roar, looking down at the human, grasshopper, thing, that it was fighting against. Normally things on these boats went down after a couple of hits, but this thing in particular was proving particularly troublesome. Meanwhile, Anton was running on fear. He was fighting a Seaking, of all things. But, much to his disbelief, he was actually holding his own relatively well against it. How was this even possible? Any minute he was expecting something to go horribly wrong. For some powerful attack to smack him and take him out. As Anton stood there, trembling, he failed to notice that the intense vibrations were going into his blade. [Sonic Blade - LT active]

The Sea Ravager snarled, looking down at him. It was time to break out the big guns. If blasting him didn't work, or swatting him with its tail didn't work, then it would settle for eating him whole! With a loud hiss, baring its fangs, the Seaking lashed out, fully intending on chomping on the bug and eating him down in one gulp. As the massive serpent shot down towards him, Anton let out a shriek and lept up into the air, the beast's teeth sinking into the ship, punching through the deck and, consequently, getting it a bit stuck. [Sea Ravager's HT - miss]

Anton was high in the air above it, looking down at it. It had missed, and more importantly, it was stuck! This was it, he had to take this opportunity. Raising his sword high, Anton plummeted down towards the Seaking. The beast's eyes widened as it realized just what was about to happen. Anton's blade struck down hard, leaving a large, painful gash on the side of the creature's face. The Seaking tore itself free from the ship, letting out a loud roar of pain. [Grand Strike - HT - hit]

The beast flailed about. The only thing it knew of that actually hurt it like this was another Seaking. What was this damn insect? In its pained flailing, its tail came up, slamming down hard, right on top of Anton. Though, this in a sense caused it another shot of pain. Anton's sword had gotten lodged in its tail! [Sea Ravager's UT - hit] [Anton's UT - hit]

Anton groaned as he pulled himself up. This was bad. Not only was that thing now completely and utterly pissed at him, but now he had lost his sword as well! He needed to get it back.

COMBAT TRACKERS:

Anton La'croix uses
Great Spear - MT at Sea Ravager
Grind Slash - LT at Sea Ravager
Snap Kick - LT at Sea Ravager
UT at Sea Ravager

Sea Ravager uses
MT at Anton
LT at Anton
LT at Anton
UT at Anton

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 15, 12, 7, 15

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 19, 4, 18, 9

This was bad. Very bad. Anton was without his sword. He needed it back! I mean, sure, Anton could try kicking at it, but have you seen the size of that thing? He doubted kicking it would do anything to it. His mind was racing, trying to find some way to fix this situation. He was so lost in it though that he failed to notice the Sea King winding up an attack.

"Anton! Watch out!"

Anton looked over just in time to get hit by another concentrated blast of water [Sea Ravager's MT - hit] Anton cried out and was sent flying off of his feet, off of the deck of the ship. This was it. He was going to be knocked into the sea and drown, if he didn't get eaten by the Seaking first. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. The creature's tail, with his sword sticking out of it. As he flew past, Anton reached out and grabbed the blade, stopping his flight. He swung around and brought his feet down onto the creature's tail, ripping the blade out of it, causing a little pain to the Seaking. [Anton's UT - hit]

Ok, he had his sword, he wasn't falling into the ocean. Now it was just a hop, skip and a jump to get back on the ship. Well, it would be if the tail suddenly didn't flick him off, sending him flying right towards the beast's face. The Sea Ravager opened up wide, intent on chomping down on Anton. And there was no missing this time. Anton let out a shriek, before thrusting out with his blade. A burst of air shot out, catching the monster right in the mouth, causing it to rear up in pain, once again. [Sea Ravager's LT - miss] [Great Spear - MT - hit]

Anton landed back on his feet. Well, that worked. He wasn't Seaking food. He let out a small sigh of relief. Unfortunately, his troubles weren't over yet. The Seaking, recovering from the attack, let out an angry roar as it brought its bleeding tail down atop of Anton, smacking him flat into the floor. [Sea Ravager's LT - hit] Anton let out a groan as the beast's tail flicked him to the side, once again. [Sea Ravager's UT - hit]

Anton tried to pull himself to his feet. He had been doing surprisingly well so far. He couldn't let it all fall apart. He had an entire crew counting on him. He had managed to wound the Seaking before, and he couldn't let it all end with him getting beat up like he was rookie. He brought his head up, just in time to see the Seaking's tail swinging again at him. Anton quickly brought his blade up, the sword slicing into the beast's tail, actually cutting off a small chunk of it. [Grind Slash - LT - hit] The beast roared in pain, its tail flailing about. But Anton wasn't done yet. Jumping up, he lashed out at the tail with a foot, a burst of air striking the wound he had inflicted on it, causing blood to fly. [Snap Kick - LT- hit]

Anton landed back on the deck. This was still anyone's fight. He was breathing heavily, looking up at the massive beast. He had fought monsters before. What was a Seaking, but a great, big monster?

COMBAT TRACKERS:

Anton La'croix uses
Sonic Cannon - HT at Sea Ravager
Shed Skin - LT on self
UT at Sea Ravager

Sea Ravager uses
MT at Anton
LT at Anton
LT at Anton
UT at Anton

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 6, 9, 10

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 14, 18, 1, 16

Anton and the Seaking squared off. Anton was panting heavily, trying to steel himself, while the Seaking was heaving with rage. It was bleeding, its body hurt, and it had this damn tiny thing to blame for it! The beast reared back its head and let out a roar of blind fury. Time to take this damn thing down! It swung its bleeding tail at Anton, causing the marine to leap into the air to avoid the blow [Sea Ravager's LT - miss]. However, this time, the beast was ready. Bringing its head up, it fired off another powerful water cannon right at Anton. Up in the air, Anton wasn't able to move out of the way, taking the hit head on and crashing down into the floor. [Sea Ravager's MT - hit]

Anton bounced as he hit the floor. Before the marine could even react, the Seaking brought its tail down atop of him, before slamming him a second time, for good measure. [Sea Ravager's LT - hit] [Sea Ravager's UT - hit]

Celia watched in horror. The Seaking was almost snickering as it lifted its tail, showing Anton laying flat on his back. Anton had been fighting pretty well, but that was a brutal beatdown. Could this be it? Was this when everything suddenly fell out from underneath Anton's feet and everything came crashing down? The Seaking was looking down at Anton was well. Had it finally managed to squash this infernal bug?

Suddenly, Anton still flat on his back, lifted his legs up, before suddenly rubbing them together. The Seaking only moved just in time for a blast of compressed ear to graze along the side of its head, right where its scar was. [Sonic Canon - HT - hit (graze)] The beast roared in anger. How was this thing still fighting? It brought its tail up, trying to strike Anton, only for the insect to roll to the side, leaving what looked like a heap of skin in its place. [Shed Skin - LT used] The tail slammed harmlessly on the ground, as Anton spun and lashed out to kick the wounded tail [Anton's UT - hit]

The Sea Ravager was surprised. Celia was surprised. Anton sprung to his feet, eyes focusing on the enraged Seaking before him. Something had overcome Anton. He seemed more...focused. Stronger now. It was hard to pinpoint it specifically. The Seaking didn't notice. It was too angry. But Celia noticed. She had seen this sort of thing before.

Back at Las Camp.

COMBAT TRACKERS:

Anton La'croix uses
Insect Launch - HT at Sea Ravager
Fast Hopping - LT on self
UT at Sea Ravager

Sea Ravager uses
AoE at Anton
UT at Anton

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 3, 7, 9

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 9, 18

Celia couldn't believe what was happening. She kept to the side, watching her captain and the Seaking facing off against eachother. Anton was battered, bruised, and even a bit bloodied from the hits he had taken. But, he wasn't trembling. He actually seemed, oddly calm. Focused. Determined. His eyes locked on fully on the beast before him. That was a hell of a lot more than what could be said about the Seaking. The beast was beside itself in rage. Nothing seemed to be working in bringing this insect down. It had pounded him flat against his own ship, and he just kept getting back up and hurting it even more. It had come down to these seas before the hunting was supposed to be EASIER. But this, this thing was proving more than it could stand.

It was going to hit it with everything it had.

The beast drew back its head and roared. A roar so loud that it echoed around the sees. Dark clouds started to form overhead, as Celia's eyes widened. Was this beast really doing what she thought it was doing? Was it even possible? The beast's eyes seemed to light up as it looked down at Anton, before letting out a roar like thunder. And then, lightning fell from the sky. Great bolts, raining down onto the ship. Celia cried out, diving for cover, along with the rest of the crew. Keeping the ship going came second to dodging the storm coming down from above.

Celia looked out from beneath cover, and what she saw caused her to pause in awe.

As the bolts came down, Anton was moving. Dodging each bolt as it came down. When, when did he move so fast? It was almost mesmerizing. [Fast Hopping - LT active] [Sea Ravager's AeO - miss] Suddenly, Anton shot out of the storm like a bullet, shooting right at the Seaking's face. Anton crashed into the beast at top speed, earning a roar of pain, shock and fury from the beast, as it flailed around. Its mind was trying to comprehend what had just hit it. How something had just hit it. [Insect Launch - HT - hit]

Anton flipped back over onto the deck, landing rather gracefully. Glancing to the side, the marine saw the beast's injured tail flailing wildly. Anton brought up his sword just in time for the attack to hit him, pushing him back, but at the trade off of getting his blade stuck in him again. Part of the beast's tail was barely hanging off of it anymore. [Sea Ravager's UT - hit] [Anton's UT - hit]

The beast was hurt. The beast was in pain. And it was actually looking like Anton was going to win this. Blood was pouring from the beast's face, as Anton stood there. His body relaxed, things picking back up to speed.

COMBAT TRACKERS:

Anton La'croix uses
Sonic Cutter - MT at Sea Ravager
Grind Slash - LT at Sea Ravager
Hopper Kick - LT at Sea Ravager
UT at Sea Ravager

Sea Ravager uses
MT at Anton
LT at Anton
LT at Anton
UT at Anton

The member 'Anton La'croix' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 9, 20, 18, 9

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 19, 8, 7, 15

Man and Beast stared eachother down. The dark clouds overhead, their payload already unleashed, were starting to part. But that wasn't the only thing that was fading. Something was starting to overcome the Seaking. It was bleeding, it was in pain, and more importantly, it was realizing that it was LOSING this fight. This small, strange insect man was actually beating it. This wasn't right. Small things like this were supposed to be prey. They weren't supposed to be able to fight back like this.

For the first time since this fight began, the Seaking felt fear.

It let out a roar, this time out of pure desperation. It needed to stomp this thing, and do it now! It fired off another water canon, right at the bug. Anton didn't avoid it this time. He brought his arms up, taking the attack head on. The attack pushed him back, but not enough to launch him off of the boat, like it had planned. [Sea Ravager's MT - hit] Yes, this was it. If it could knock the damn thing off of the boat, it would win! It swing its tail out, trying to smack Anton off of the boat, only for the insect to merely leap over it like it was nothing. [Sea Ravager's LT - miss]

Dammit, it was doing the jumping thing again! It swung again, and another miss as Anton lept out of the way. [Sea Ravager's LT - miss] Letting out a roar of desperation, the beast tried one last swing, though the force of it, along with the damage already done to its tail, caused part of it to be torn off by the force. The Seaking let out a roar of pain as its now torn tail hit Anton, though not as strongly as it would have liked [Sea Ravager's UT - hit]

Anton landed on the deck. He was still standing. Yes, he was bleeding, but he was still standing. Slowly, the marine looked up at the Seaking. The beast drew back as Anton readied his blade. This was it. He was about to attack. The Sea Ravager had to get out of here!

As the Seaking tried to pull back, Anton let out a loud shriek and swung his blade. An arc of compressed air shot out, moving faster than the beast could react, as it sliced it right along its neck. [Sonic Cutter - MT - hit] The Sea Ravager let out one last roar of pain, as its body finally decided to just give up. It fell back, hitting the water with a loud crash, sending foam spraying everywhere.

And then, everything went silent.

Slowly, the crew peeked out from their hiding places, all eyes falling onto their captain, who stood in the middle of the damaged deck, not moving. Celia slowly stepped out towards him, looking out incase the Seaking would come back up.

"A-Anton?"

Anton slowly turned his head to look right at Celia. Everything was quiet for a second...and then the man screamed. It was a loud shriek that echoed across the sea. Then, after a brief second, Anton merely flopped over, causing a surprised Celia to yelp as she caught him. with the fight over, Anton was spent.

At that point, the crew cheered.

COMBAT TRACKERS:

"So, let me get this straight," The marine commodore said from his desk, looking at Celia, who sat opposite of him, "You guys found the Seaking, and then Anton went and fought the beast by HIMSELF?" To say he was surprised by this was an understatement. Yeah, they had been aware that it was a Seaking that had been attacking the ships, but they had expected them to merely drive the beast off, not actually defeat it.

Celia nodded. "Yes sir." she replied simply. She wasn't exactly thrilled that they had been put up against a Seaking either, but at the same time, she was proud of what Anton had done.

The Commodore rose an eyebrow. "And you didn't use the ship's cannons or anything to assist him?" Celia flushed lightly. "Erm, no. We didn't. Actually, we kind of forgot about that, and it all happened so quickly..." Really, it would have made things easier to blast the thing with the cannons. It would have given Anton some much needed assistance. The Commodore sat back in his seat. Unbelievable. He had expected it to be tough, but he never thought Anton would outright challenge the Seaking, let alone beat it by himself.

When they had come into the dock, Anton had glared at him for a good minute, before he simply screamed at him, and then stormed off. That was why Celia had been brought in here, to at least explain what had happened. He had feared that they had failed at first, but this...this was beyond expectations. "The rest of the crew can back up the claim," Celia said. The Commodore nodded. "No, that wont be necessary. You're dismissed. Thank you." Celia got up and gave him a salute, before walking out of the office.

He couldn't believe it. A Seaking! He would need to make a couple of calls.

[END]