Novinsk was far behind Katya now, as she stumbled through the sharp, unforgiving gauze-bushes that proliferated these hills.  Small scratches and bruises marred her legs, arms and hands, and the cool night air stung her lips and lungs.

Not so far behind her, Katya could hear the hating of the hounds.  Boyar Herkovski’s hunt-squad hot on her heels.


From the high hillock she now stood upon, she could see hints of the Zeraf River far off on the horizon;  just occasional glimpses of the moon reflecting off its surface as it wound its way through the lowlands ... and on the other side, (relative) safety of the The Oasis States.
At least, that was the dream.  The promise of security that she clung to; the only hope she had left, and the one that drove her onwards.

That hope, and the fear of what chased her.
Have you seen the move, ‘Alita Battle Angel’?   If you have, imagine the hunting dogs from that.   Cybered and augmented beasts with steel jaws and glowing red eyes.




Katya is on the run, for her life.   If/when she can escape pursuit, she can rest ... and work a plan for future security, and finding the one person she suspects can truly help her.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:00, Mon 02 Dec 2019.

Katusha tore herself free from those clinging barbs, their sharp bite barely registering. She could not recall how long she had been running. Even though her limbs ached and her breathing was coming bellows-hard her body was yet to truly show the signs of flagging. It was as if it had reached the very cusp of giving out and then flatly refused to cross the threshold, settling into a rhythm which was oddly steady in spite of the circumstances. Whether that extra push keeping her going was born of desperation, terror or something stranger still she could not say, but then she had far more pressing concerns to worry about than the source of the one small thing that was going her way.

She was unlucky enough to know a little more of the hounds of Herkovski than most. Tireless, pitiless and hideous to boot, even if it had been some years since she had played her small part in casting their ghoulish visages their presence had always brought on bitter pangs of guilt. At the time it had been bad enough – Valentin had known well how she felt about dogs – but now it only served to turn matters into something of a cruel joke. The sins of her past were literally snapping at her heels.

That had seemed the way of things of late. After barely keeping her head above water for so long all it had taken was a single misstep to bring her down and suddenly she was falling …

Katusha hit the ground hard. Black spots flared before her eyes but she was rising even as she frantically tried to blink them away. Her momentum had sent her tumbling down a natural incline and now with the rise of the next hill ahead of her she was left stranded in the patch of blackness between, the distant silver river lost beyond her sight. She didn’t need to see the hounds to feel them closing in – to feel the noose about her neck. If she had ever had any hope of avoiding them it seemed all but lost now.

With no small effort she half-dragged herself to the crest of the slope ahead, ever-expecting a grey and hungry maw to lunge out from the corner of her eye. None came. Maybe her luck was holding, or more likely they were merely toying with her, waiting for her to burn out like some prey animal that knew no better than to run itself dead. Sport.

She threw herself onward, towards the river and that distant sliver of hope. A flicker of pain flared beneath her wrists, the sensation like something tearing at her skin from the inside, but Katusha did her best to ignore it. She didn’t care if they thought her a coward who didn’t have the stomach for a fight … and not only because there was some truth to that. She just didn’t want this to end with blood on her hands. Not again.

The Power that had somehow rejuvenated Katusha from oblivion, and miraculously hold back the cyber-virus had given her this strength to come this far.
She’d, certainly, been running for days now, and without rest, or sustainence.  Always with some pursuit on her tail.

But the Power was strained; and the further she pushed herself, pushed the Power, the more exhausted she became.
And with the exhaustion, the Power lost its ability to withhold the virus: which she could feel in her wrist now, slowly gnawing at her flesh and humanity ... fighting to transform her.

But somehow, she pushed on.
That thin, evasive silver sliver of hope in the middle distance.
If she could just make it to the river.

It was as she reached the high ground of this high hill, that a glance backwards froze her heart.   For she could see dark shapes moving down the hillside behind her.  Several indistict, shadowy forms moving swiftly and while through the underbrush ... a brief glint of moonlight from one.

Stumbling on, it was on the next hillock, looking down at the river below, they caught up with her.
On swift legs they circled her ... harrying and surrounding her.
Red eyes glowing in the early morning darkness, as metal teeth scraped against themselves in desire.


Let’s have a skirmish.    Katusha will need to fight her way through:
a small mob of cyber-hounds (2HD Worthy Foes)
AC: 5
Hit Dice: 14
Morale: 7
Attack: +2 (total BAB of +3)
Move: 40’ run
Save: 12+
Damage: 1d8 average weapon
Effort: 1

When she overcomes this last obstacle, Katusha will have a clear run/stagger to the Oasis boarder.
As PC, Katusha gets first combat post.

A fleeting glance to the left was enough to know that she was surrounded. The same again to the right only confirmed it.

Katusha shrank away from the threat, her eyes trailing the circling shapes. She did her best to hold her nerve and focus, watchful for the first sign of attack, but she could feel the familiar hot pinpricks of tears welling up as if to spite her. It wasn’t for fear – not wholly for fear – but for the pain thrumming through her arm like a savage second heartbeat, and deeper still the sense of shame pooling within her gut. Only now with her back against the wall had she finally her spine. Whatever pretty lies she chose to tell herself, it was clear now that she’d had the will to face this fight all along.

Embracing the pain was easy after that. She had no right to refuse it.

The floodgates opened. Katusha’s veins ran black, iron worms carving their way downward from beneath her elbow to curl up and make nest within her palms. Cruel sensation rose like knives shivering along her bones until she was sure her teeth were about to splinter, then it fell away into a nothingness that was somehow worse. Her flesh felt cold and dead; her numb right arm was like an anvil pulling her down. It hung before her gently swaying as a corpse upon the gallows.

Then something like life stirred within the iron limb and Katusha remembered how to breathe. A good thing too, for her present company were hardly likely to be so courteous as to allow her time to catch her bearings.

She held her ground as the hounds closed, inviting their advance, then lashed out with her wicked talons at the first unfortunate enough to come within reach.

---

06:43, Today: Katusha Serebrenikov rolled 26 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 18.  Attack Roll.
06:44, Today: Katusha Serebrenikov rolled 11 using 1d10+3 with rolls of 8.  Damage Roll.

Not a bad start at all.

As the first few of the CyberHounds sprang forward to engage Katusha, their packmates circled.
They knew how to hunt; and pack tactics dictated that while several attacked directly, the others harried and circled, looking for opportunities, and preventing their prey from escaping, while staying out of the way of their snarling brethren.

- CyberHounds, rolled 10 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 5.  Attack Katusha.
Three came to Katusha simultaneously, only one from the front.  But with a speed that surprised even Katusha, she spun ... slashing out with razor-sharp talons that seemed to erupt from that iron limb.   The blades tore into the hounds ribcage, as Katusha pivoted, and sent the helping flesh-metal dog careening into its own packmates with sick force that Katusha heard something within the second snap.

As the two entangled beasts landed sprawling on the ground nearby, unmoving, the third had sailed past without connecting, and was now rejoining the pack that circled the Iron Lady.
Wary now, they were.   First blood had been drawn ... and not by them.  They’d lost two of their number, and even their predator’s instinct told them that they faced something much more dangerous than they’d recognised.

Tactics changed, and two charged Katusha from either side.
This message was last updated by the GM at 20:53, Mon 16 Dec 2019.