Re: Through a Sandy Veil (Siege of Horsehitcher Pass, Thread #0)

[Kroll]

Kroll relaxed his grip enough to lessen the griffon's discomfort as he tucked in his wings a little, hastening their descent; with all three of the ships gone, finding shelter of any kind was priority one. He spotted the still-smoking wreckage of the first ship to go down: the Triumph. He began to arc in it's direction, tucking his wings completely inward in hopes of reaching the downed ship faster. Though the the odds of the crew surviving were slim, the odds of any supplies on that ship remaining intact were significantly higher.

As he neared the ship, Kroll flipped himself over so that the injured griffon was on top as he spread his wings wide open to bleed his speed. He hung onto the griffon tighter as he slowly crashed himself into the ground, digging his hind claws into the ground as he shakily skidded to a stop in the shade of the wrecked ship. Breathing heavily, he looked to his injured companion to see how he was holding up.

[Johan Tercel]

Mikael desperately flew with the staff in his entourage, away from the downed vessel. They had been crippled on commute, the bastard ponies had seen to that. Many brave griffons were now dead and gone because of the cowardly tactics of the ponies, and Mikael vowed he would see their lives paid back in equal amount.

He was flying half armoured; all he had managed to get on was his chestplate and some haunch armour. His sword was sheathed on his back, and impeded his flight considerably. A Stormtrooper was not meant to fight in the air, he was meant to fight like a demon from Tartarus on the ground. However, that meant that escape from a burning vessel was harder than it was for a rank-and-file griffon.

Mikael's main priority was to be safe on the ground, and tally the dead and wounded. He had suspicions he was the only remaining griffon officer left alive; he hoped that wasn't the case.

[Thorin]

Nikolai dove sharply, keeping his wings tucked against his body to present a minimal profile to any ponies that might be looking for targets. He clutched his armour and weapon to his chest and silently prayed that he would not meet an ingominious end at the hooves of the pegasi slaughtering the crew above him.

The sailor that he had saved whipped past him as he fell, hovering amongst the confusion. After a moment he followed the grey Griffon, realising the danger.

As the ground rushed up to meet him, he flared his wings and flapped hard to slow himself. He landed a bit too fast with an audiable thump and tumbled across the ground. For a moment he lay there, stunned, before realising that it was not a good idea to rest underneath a crashing airship and ran from beneath it.

[Sten Softclaw]

The 27th had started fleeing before everyone else, so had a head start when the pegasi started laying into the griffons still in their air. They landed a way away from the crash site, all twenty or so of them. Not the smoothest of landings, but everyone was a little het-up.

Sten cast an eye around the group. This wasn't all that was left, of course. There were probably a few more up who'd just gotten separated in the kerfuffle. Around him, the regiment slumped and sat down for a breather. There was a brief wash of heat as the Skycrasher and Happy Hour plummeted behind them.

"We'll go in a bit and fetch out survivors," said the sergeant, sounding more uneasy than you'd want your commanding officer to sound. But staying put for the time being sounded like a fine strategy to Sten either way.

[Tisis Antony]

The ships dropped to the ground below, hitting the sand with loud crashes. The Pegasus fighters gradually returned to their ship, the job done and the expenditure justified. The glissening chains dropped from the ballistae holders to the sands below, discarded and disregarded. Although the survivors lingered, the Knight began the process of disengaging itself from combat. Gradually clouds receded over the bow, covering it in a shroud of thunder.

The Pegasus fighters in the air who lingered too long were quickly dispatched by the numerically superior Griffin light infantry, lessening the morale blow from the savage preemptive attack.

__________


The night passed, and the survivors began taking to the work of organizing themselves. Improvised camps had been hastily erected in the ruins of the three ships, whose ballooning girths made for great shelters from the dessert heat.

It is in these circumstances that the surviving griffins found themselves- without supplies but what could be scavenged, and huddled together in the desert. An improvised medical camp had been created in the great womb of the Triumph's wreckage, and many griffins found themselves filing there for whatever medical treatment they could acquire.

[Freyia]

Freyia laughed as the ponies left, too afraid to try and finish them in straight battle. She proceeded to help collect the dead. Her squad was all but killed, only a few recruits and a gravely wounded NCO lived. She did not talk to any of the griffons, did not even look at them. With each body, she spent 10 minutes praying over them and resting them gently in the pile. There were hundreds, but she moved waveringly from one, to the next, to the next, each time saying the same prayer. She would join another squad as soon as it was done, then get back to the war.

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