World War II - Kitten Issue #2

The alien finished speaking to his crewmates on the ship orbiting the planet. He missed Mars, the violent storm, the harsh, beautiful, dead landscape. Looking at the trees, rivers and wildlife of this neighbouring world, he didn't feel the envy the others of his dying race felt. They'd been 'picked up' in space after being adrift for ... well, ages. In stasis, they'd been awoken by the P'utinarians. With too many of the Putty men to fight, they'd agreed to help the P'utinarians and their new allies establish a base on the moon, mining the element they called Lunarium. In return, they'd get supplies of the stuff.

Finally then, they could get back to Mars with that and the information they needed... to conquer the Earth!

That had been the plan.

Now it was as dust! They'd been in stasis for hundreds of Earth years, and their desperate people, waiting for word of the Blue planet and its suitability for transplanting their race, was gone! Dead, perhaps. But there'd been no trace of bodies. They'd simply... gone.

The creature known as Ve'gho Charr'd stepped from the tent and looked out. The green forests rolled outwards from the mountain they were turning into a stronghold. He shivered, despite the suit he wore that maintained his body temperature. To live here, the Martians would have to perform a little... terraforming. He remembered the tales of the ancients, how Mars had been a lush, verdant world. The visitors from another world had bled it dry, and turning it into a dust strewn wasteland.

Earths fate would be the same once his people returned!

He looked out into the darkness, seeing various heat signatures of animals in the forest. Somewhere out there was the woman who had defeated the man Donohms, and possibly the metahuman Night Owl. A single woman! The Commandant had revealed, through his sources, her codename...



The Martian strode over to the command tent. "It's done. They are on their way."

=========

Major Joanna Van Der Berg looked up at the mountain...

'There's a good chance they know you are coming' said the inner voice. 'Your power is like the tip of ... what is the word...? Ah yes. An iceberg. We have those on some of the Ice planets we rule. Your enemies cannot see the tip, but the iceberg is too big for them to miss!'

"Major?" repeated one of the soldiers, number 3. "Your orders ma'am?"

She glanced at him, then at the other officers under her command! Things were happening so fast! Number four spoke up. "We have a number of options. We carry enough explosives to seal that mountain entrance but getting up there is the thing. DICE have told us to find out what they are doing, which is why they aren't bombing it to kingdom come. That said, if the chance comes to shut them down, they said take it, and we'll figure out what they were trying to do later."

Number one spoke up. "We see around a dozen guards, and three machine gun nests around the perimeter of their camp. The trees will hide our approach to the base of the mountains, and up to a point around 3/4 of the way up which is where they thing out to those outcroppings, which will bring good cover. They are alert from what we can tell, so I was thinking a diversion might see you and some of the lads slip unnoticed whilst a pile of us get stuck in raising hell. Gives you chance to get to their camp, find out what they are doing, nab a few prisoners and blow the place sky high! Easy!"

Kitten glanced up through the darkness. Her eyes were exceptionally sharp, even at night, but the distance was great. Still, she thought she could see a white clad figure standing near the camp entrance looking out into the darkness...

OOC Kitten can take whichever course she desires to get the job done. Her objectives? 1) Find out what the Nazis are doing 2) Secure prisoners and/or Intel on the Nazis movements in the UK 3) Find out what the mysterious flying saucer is doing, where it's from, and what its owners want 4) shut the place down in any way possible...

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

"Gentlemen," she spoke up though paused to consider what she was about to say. "They may have given me the rank, but I'm not going to stand here and pretend that means anything in comparison to your battle-hardened experience."

"When I was up there earlier, there was some type of aircraft that looked like some type of flying disc. I have no idea what it was, but if that thing is still up there and has any type of heavy weaponry on board, it needs to be neutralized if we're going to have any chance. I know it's valuable and I'd like to avoid destroying it, but if it comes to that, the scientists will have to settle with whatever pieces we leave them with to study."

"I like the idea of the distraction," she said, acknowledging the suggestion by soldier number one. "No matter how stealthy we think that we are, they have some way of knowing that we are there. By disguising our objective, they may concentrate their forces to repelling that assault, leaving just a few of them to handle the rest of us trying to sneak in."

"Agreed? Any objections?", she asked to solicit any final opinions. "Then ready your equipment. We're on the move in twenty minutes."

After dismissing the soldiers, Joanna went over to check on the white clad figure at the edge of camp to learn who it was and what they were doing here.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

Number one was about to say something after the Major said her opening words, but waited until she'd done and the men were dispersing to ready equipment.

"Major." he said. "With all due respect, ma'am, what we've seen and learnt over the last few weeks from working with DICE has shown that conventional rank and training, even battle experience, doesn't mean anything in the face of the power we face. What use guns, bombs, knives, planes, tanks in the face of what you and your team mates can do? And the Nazis?" he looked at his own gun. "Might as well be tossing a paper aeroplane at some of them! That said, we will do our duty, and fight to the last if you order it. Every man here recognizes not only your abilities, but your intelligence and right to wear that rank. If anyone ever questions that right in front of me, I'll have words to say, and I will make that person eat my words!" he hissed. "Now, ma'am. I'll set up a perimeter and divide into squads. We'll sort out angles of attack and targets. Just one thing..."

Kitten looked up at the grizzled veteran, his salt and pepper stubble and a scan that ran the length of his face on the left hand side, probably from a knife. "Above all my other orders sir, you are to make it back alive. That's not an order from the Generals. Me and the other squad leaders were ordered directly by the Prime Minister and the chiefs of staff. So if I seem to be ignoring or disobeying one of your direct orders, it's purely for your own good." He stood back, saluted, added "Sir! The clock is ticking. T minus 20 and we move out. Good luck Sir."

=========

Kitten, having moved closer to the cave and shrunk to minuscule size, neared a guard...

The man looked out through the night. He was wearing some kind of body armour and the weapon was of a kind Kitten hadn't seen before. Some kind of machine gun with a tube set under the gun barrel. A grenade launcher of some kind? She shook her tiny head from where she sat in the bushes. Though vigilant, the guard took the time to unzip his fly and shivered as he urinated. Turning away Kitten saw another man walking down the hillside. The man's relief?

She had an opportunity to strike the man down and take down his relief, hopefully without making a sound. The team could then move up, hopefully unseen from this direction.

Or was there something else she could do?

'How is it they are able to find one as small as you?' purred an inner voice.

OOC There is partial tree cover and quite a bit of rock cover here, a couple of hundred yards away from the cave entrance. The Guard hasn't seen Kitten, is about to be relieved and Kitten could easily stay unseen most of the way right up to the cave if she so wished. Or perhaps a better plan might spring to mind...

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

There was something undignified about ambushing a man while he was... taking care of personal business. However, it improved her chances of success while his hands were occupied with something other than his rifle.

We need to get these two out of the way before the other squad launches their attack on the other side of the compound, Joanna thought. I could probably make it to the cave on my own but I need to get those other soldiers in while it's still quiet.

Springing from her hiding spot in the bushes, Kitten approached the soldier on nearly silent tiny feet, grew to her regular size and attacked him from behind.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

Preoccupied, the soldier, quite literally, didn't know what hit him! Kitten winced as he sagged down in his own... Shaking her head she turned and shrank again.

The other soldier came up to the watch point, unslinging his weapon. "Josef! I am her...here?"

THWACK!!!

Growing from below the mans chin Kitten slammed her fist upwards, shattering the Nazis jaw and sending him flying upwards, but her lightning reactions caught his ankle and dragged him down! Moving him and his friend into the bushes she checked their pulses. Both alive but after those solid hits unconscious for a long time. They'd miss the battle at any rate!

Taking a tiny flashlight, Kitten turned to where she knew her men were hidden and flashed the signal in very rusty morse. When they saw it, some of the men looked at each other. "Clean?" asked one. "Clear." hissed number one. "Get yor stuff. Let's move. Squads two and three, you know the drill. As much noise and threat as you can muster, keep 'em busy. Good luck!" With black paint on their faces they looked menacing, and it was with an intent of menace that the men set off into the night towards the cave...

=========

Not expecting a signal in return, Kitten turned for the cave again...

In her tiny form, she was reasonably confident she wouldn't be seen.

=========

He was intelligent and cautious. They were in the land of the enemy, an enemy that had proven itself capable and dangerous!



The alien looked down at the Commandant, who puffed nonchalantly on a cigarette. "Relax." the Nazi said. "My guards have their eyes open. We are well defended up here and have weapons that can cut through a tanks armour, never mind some British soldier!" Stubbing the cigarette out he checked another name off the roster on a clipboard he held as a relieved guard came back up to the cave and the tents around it. "3 hours rest, Schmidt, and don't be late for duty next time!" he spat.

The alien narrowed its eyes. "On my homeworld my heat sensitive eyes are robbed of their efficiency thanks to the never ending heat. Here? Your miserable, freezing little planet brings them into their own. By your own measurements, the human body operates at a temperature of 97.9 degrees of your farenheit measurement. Once I was shown this I was able to identify this specific temperature and variants of several degrees above and below it."

"So?" asked the Commandant, wondering where the sinister alien was going with this.

"In this vile freezing weather, that sense is amplified. For instance, I see two of your men talking in the bushes down the hillside. I see another urinating against a tree when he should be keeping watch..."

"What? I'll have them sh..." started the Commandant.

"And I see two of your men lying in the bushes. The variant temperature of their bodies suggests they are sleeping."

The Commandant cursed, moving over to a sergeant.

The Alien turned, looking out into the darkness, and strode away from the camp...

=========

Under the cover of bushes Joanna looked at the camp a little further up the hill...

The creature in the white suit couldn't be seen and there was some shouting going on. A man who appeared to be an officer was barking at three men and gesturing into the woods.. in her direction!

As the snow began to fall lightly around her, the temperature dropping all the time, she wondered if something was amiss. It was then that she noticed the temperature was getting... warm?

Looking about, she gasped! There! Moving through the trees with purpose towards her position, the alien!

OOC In case you were thinking this was some 'kobayashi maru' style no win scenario, a possible option would have been to let the guard be relieved, take out the new guard and shadow the old on, even ride in his jacket pocket or on the back of a boot. That'd have been the 'boring' way though - I expect this way will provide more fireworks! The alien is 20m away and walking straight for Kitten...

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

How do the Nazis keep making these monsters? Joanna thought as she viewed the creature approaching her. Or maybe it's another one of Brendoone's demons. That has to be why it's getting so warm.

Things were starting to heat up in the other sense of the word. Are they coming for me? Did I accidentally trip some kind of warning device again? It was incredibly frustrating and proved that they had to something to discover what other technological advantages the Nazis had that could neutralize Britain's special operatives.

However, if they were out here in the woods, that meant that the compound was unguarded. All she needed to do is somehow slip past them.

OOC: Kitten is going to try to time their advance and move up when they are partially obscured from her position. If they make corrections and change course, she'll know that she's been spotted. After that, she might need to make a break for it. She did get her speed back in her power up before the fight with Donohms. It wouldn't be enough to outrun the bullets that are sure to be fired in her direction, but if she can get past them, she might be able to run, shrink, hide (repeat as necessary) until she can get to a defendable position or find some other manner of discouraging further pursuit.

I liked the idea of sneaking a ride on the other soldier as a means of getting past the defenses. That would have been a clever solution. Unfortunately, it seems that Kitten's player wasn't that clever to think of that so she has to do it the hard way.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

Spotting what seemed to be a colossus coming through the woods towards her, Kitten became convinced the red skinned reptilian had seen her. How??? She sped off, moving from tree to tree, pausing to look back every now and again. The creature had slowed, and was looking out in the darkness. As soon as she popped her head from behind a tree, it set off again, relentless pace increasing as it started to jog, then run.

OOC using a bit of 'artistic license' here, if you object I'll scrub and rewrite...

The game of cat and mouse continued for minutes as the snow came down faster. She saw flashlights flicker from higher above on the hillside and saw they were pointing roughly in the direction of the place where she'd taken down the soldiers. A glance down the hill revealed nothing, but she knew her men were coming. With that, she changed direction...

=========

The footprints were tiny, and the heat given off miniscule...

It took a direct sighting to see the blazing red dot surrounded by cooling shades of orange, yellow, green and blue. The quarry was remarkable! Such speed and of course, the ability to become diminutive! Despite his hatred of the planet the Martian could not help but be intrigued, that a planet of teeming Billions such as this could throw out exceptional individuals that could walk amongst the masses as gods and instead walked alongside them!

With a shrug he continued through the woods...

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" barked an English voice from the trees. Curses! The female had led him on a merry dance, the trail had been disappearing so fast he'd lost track of his movements, ending up near the base of the hill! He looked into the woods. Half a dozen heat signatures, too close together to determine details but he expected his prey was somewhere amongst them!

The Martian grinned... and started getting hotter... and hotter...

=========

"There's something right behind me!" hissed Kitten.

Number one looked about. "Did you hear that?" he asked one of his men. "Damned if it didn't... look!"

He pointed as his superior officer, all 6" high of her, stood on a fallen log in front of them! They gathered weapons and waited...

The red reptile/man came into view, 20m away where the trees thinned a little. Kitten had gotten it to follow her to where her men were situated! Maybe bullets and bombs would discourage the thing, though it would give away their position. Number One seemed to have thought of that. "Get a message to the other groups!" he snarled at one of his men. "Change of plan! They are the assault groups, we are now the distraction!"

OOC Kitten can perhaps either help the assault group take on this Alien or use the distraction they provide to speed back up the hillside to the cave. INitiative 8 good guys, 1 bad guy. All four frames before the bad guy should you engage in a fight.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

"If we're taking prisoners, this is one that we want to bring back with us!" Major Van Der Berg advised them. "I'm going to try to take it down. Be ready to open fire on it if it looks like I'm in trouble. Any other Nazis that show up in the meantime are fair game. Keep them off of me."

Jumping down from the log, she nearly disappeared back in the woods as her squad's attention was divided between watching where she was and where the reptile creature was approaching their position.

OOC: Kitten is going towards the creature, trying to lure it into a position where it wouldn't have much cover if she needed the squad to open fire upon it. If she can get close enough to it within the four frames that she has, she'll return to normal size to attack it with martial arts.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

OOC Thanks to her speed Kitten can move around the back of the alien in 2 frames. That gives the soldiers a clear shot from their position is she stays shrunk. If she decides to grow, that may put her in the line of fire should any shots miss the alien. That said, whilst grown, she is more likely to be the target than the Alien attacking her men, so I'll leave that up to you and determine your attacks first. Roll of 13, hit, 17Htc, Roll of 13, hit, 17Htc. Both are reduced by dividers to 8 and 9 damage, minimum inflicted because of small size. If you choose instead to grow as per your post, I'll reroll your damage, but in your diminutive form you're quite a bit harder to hit (-3 to enemy).

Kitten swung, the target of the 'giant' red skinned alien too big to miss for her! It staggered, looking about, and seeing the tiny red dot at its feet! "You will die for thisss indignity, human!" hissed the alien! It levelled an arm and emitted scorching, blinding heat!

OOC Roll of 9, reduced to 6, miss. At full size that is enough to hit Kitten.

Scorching heat blasted out as the Alien scorched the ground in the clearing, creating pockets of flame everywhere! Suddenly it cursed! Though the cold weather had enhanced its heat vision, its own searing flames had blinded it! It 'switched' to normal vision and started looking about, trying to stamp on Kitten! Suddenly it slipped on the snow, ending up on its back!

OOC 3rd of its three frames... Roll of 1. Ouch! Slip over. It spends its next frame recovering and needs another frame to get up. Initiative 9 Kitten, 1 Alien. Kitten gets four frames. The clearing is wreathed in flame and to her it seems the flames are higher than mountains! She can hear her men calling out, wanting the order to open fire, but things are going pretty well for her at the moment! The Alien is injured (taken 17htc), has used 10 of its 15 energy dice (round 1 of 5) and wasted two of its three frames next round. Kitten has four frames, is shrunk, so harder to hit but causes minimum damage, and is unharmed. Over to you.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

Ever since Joanna arrived in Scotland, fire seemed to be a recurring event -- the house of Brendoone's associate Mr. McMahon, the village of Glenn Cairne still smoldering below after her fight with Brendoone's other associate Mr. Donohms, and now the woods on the mountainside from the heat generated by the red lizardman.

"I'm never going to get the smell of all this smoke out of my hair!" she complained as she approached the fallen creature. The miniature martial-artist took advantage of the situation and struck quickly while it was down. However, she remained wary for a possible counter-attack. One slip-and-fall due to the snow did not mean that this creature was clumsy, but it also might not be suited for this climate either. Don't reptiles hibernate or something like that during the winter? Joanna tried to recall. It might not be a problem for this creature if it generated its own intense heat.

OOC: Kitten remains small and uses her 4 frames for martial-arts attacks on the alien.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

Before...

"They are a weak race. Carbon based, similar to us."

"You will find that the building blocks of life throughout the universe share a similar pattern."

"We are stronger. We absorb and manipulate heat, which they are incredibly vulnerable to. Their technology is backwards. We will mould the world and this weak willed race to our will. In time we will set their world ablaze! Volcanoes will rain ash and fire from the sky, and we will repopulate the world to bring Mars back to her former glory!"

"Mars... is a dead world. We are few. They... are many. Despite our advantages we need this alliance with this sect of humans they call Nazis."

"I have seen their teachings. They have some fine ideas. When the time comes though they will be swept aside like the vermin they are. Like they all are. All hail MARS! Ha! I like the name they gave our homeworld. They named our home after one of their gods of war! How apt..."

Now...

BANG!

The world reeled, and the alien raised its arms to parry the kicks raining in on it. Struggling to its feet it reeled as a hand pounded on its helmet, rocking its head and rattling its teeth in its sockets!

"RAAAAARRRRRGGGH!!" it roared.

Kitten circled, hunting her prey. She watched it, paused, waited, struck.

BANG!

The alien went down again into the snow, which sizzled as it melted. Kitten adjusted the cloth she'd wrapped around her fists.

From behind cover, the soldiers watched as the blur zipped about, pausing, crouching, waiting. "She's beautiful!" gasped one. "She's your commanding officer!" snarled Number One. "Remember that, keep your eyes peeled and watch for Nazis!"

He turned as The Alien staggered to its feet, having taken a beating. "Now, human!" it growled, "You will dddd....unnnh"

Then it fell forwards onto its face!

Number one rose. Walking over he gestured to the others to bind the alien. "Don't know how good those bindings will be, but good work. I'm not even sure..." he glanced at his weapon "If our weapons will even hurt it!"

OOC The alien is down. For how long? Unknown. Does Kitten plan to head back up the mountain or change the plan in some way? There are a lot of Nazis up there. Maybe some more of these Martians, and possibly another surprise or two...

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

"They might work," Joanna guessed. "I didn't have any weapons and I managed to knock it down." Of course, she also had the benefit of superhuman strength, but the soldier's rifles should be just as effective... or so she hoped.

"But if you want to be safe, it probably wouldn't hurt to keep a grenade or some demolition compound ready. This thing would be a valuable prisoner, but not if it's going to cost us anybody from the squad. If it comes to and starts trying to burn its way out, get away from it and blow it to pieces if bullets won't stop it."

Joanna turned to start going back up the mountain. "Get ready to start the distraction. I'm going to make another run at getting into the compound."

OOC: She probably could have gone with the other suggested plan and release the alien so that when the other Nazis that had accompanied it earlier came to retrieve it, she could secretly be carried back to the base too. However, it's too late for that now unless those Nazis show up now before she departs and the squad hides in time and doesn't open fire on them.

If that's too much of a coincidence, then she's headed back up the mountain and trying to find the best way of slipping in without being noticed.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

Kitten gave her orders, then set off back up the hill at speed, weaving between trees and rocks to where she was before. The unconscious guards had been recovered and taken back to the camp.. it was now on high alert!

As it was, that provided the perfect cover for Kitten as she sped up through the shadows. This time round she felt rather more confident that the one force that could have seen her had been taken out...

=========

Shrunk to a tiny size Kitten watched the Nazis rush to get into position...

She counted thirty nazi soldiers. Looking closer at the cave Kitten noted the heat ray used to cut into the moutainside had done an amazing job! The sides were shaped, melted but straight. Had the Nazis been able to finish the base they'd have had a bomb proof base, a fortress from which to mount wave after wave of attacks!

Kitten could easily pass through the ring of Nazi guards into the camp, to strike from behind, or perhaps even to venture into the caves themselves, to see if there were anything else of interest in the cave.

OOC Does Kitten intend to trigger/aid in the assault on the mountain, or investigate the caves the nazis channelled into the heart of the mountain? She's 10m away from the ring of Nazi soldiers set up around the camp in a circle. All are armed and armoured with weapons superior to those of her own men. They are mostly grouped in twos and threes, then spread out 5m or so apart. It's dark, so she can move unseen until she starts to smack Nazis around...

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

You're not here to fight them all by yourself, Joanna reminded herself as she reviewed the Nazi soldiers guarding the camp. That's why they gave her a squad of soldiers to raid this mountainside base. Even though the Nazis appeared to have the superior weaponry and equipment, she needed to trust that her men would be able to handle their role. Likewise, she had to follow her role and use her special talents to sneak in behind them and discover what other secrets this place held before they had a chance to use them or had a chance to destroy them to prevent them from falling into the hands of Britain.

Continuing her cautious approach, the shrunken spy attempted to sneak past the guards in order to get inside to see what other surprises were hidden in those caverns.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

It was childs play for the diminutive, fast and agile Kitten to slip past the guards as they readied for an assault, be it from the air or the ground. Moving inside the newly burnt cavern, she could see the Nazis had been hard at work. The heat ray from the UFO had blasted at an angle into the mountain side, and the labourers had been busy using machines and chisels to form stairs. She had to admit, they were efficient. There was even crude lightning with wires and bulbs set up, lighting the way. The corridor was wide and the walls were glassy, where the heat had fused the silicates in the rock.

Slipping down the stairs she saw the workers a dozen metres down, taking a break and having a smoke. Their machines were idle as they rested, but beyond them Kitten could hear noise further down into the mountain. She slipped past the workers and into the darkness, noting that it would soon become lighter.. the air was getting hot, and no wonder! The walls glowed a dim orange from the last blast the ship had sent down. She carried on, her footing tricky to keep without the stairs and the going slow until she was out of sight, and could grow to her full size. And there, right at the bottom of the deep sloped shaft... THREE of the suited aliens huddled around one of the walls, emitting roaring heat into what looked to be a side cavern deep in the heart of the mountain!

What on Earth could they be doing here?

She was sweating freely now, and knew why - this place had been a Volcano once, and chiselling this far into the mountain had brought the tunnel within metres of fiery lava beyond its walls! She touched one of the tunnel walls, and yanked her hand back! Hot! Extremely hot!

Suddenly she heard a wailing cry from the direction of the three suited aliens and the hole in the wall... She was perhaps 20m or so away now, and they hadn't noticed her. Indeed, they were intent on pouring as much fire and heat from their hands as they could into the hole! What as going on in there?

Suddenly one of the Aliens broke off, said something unintelligible, and started walking up the steep slope! Kitten would be seen in moments! She looked about, there was no cover, only the molten walls still glowing around her, too hot to touch! She could shrink, but without anything to hide behind, would the alien see her?

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

Joanna looked up at the steep slope behind her that she had just descended. Even though she could normally move quite quickly, the treacherous footing in this passage would have slowed her considerably that she would have been spotted even if she could outrun the creature that was rapidly approaching.

Ruling out that option, she only had one choice left. Maybe it's too busy with its own problems to notice me, she hoped as she once again triggered her power to shrink in size. Joanna remembered reading something where some predatory animals were more likely to notice movement. Perhaps if she kept perfectly still it would walk right past her....

OOC: Shrinking then keeping still until it passes by. Will probably shadow it back up the slope if this passage is otherwise a dead end with the other aliens.

If it does happen to notice her, she's going to try to keep the high ground and knock it back down the slope. If successful, she'll keep climbing up the slope, pausing if needed to play King of the Mountain and knock back any other aliens following her until she can get to the top where she might have a better chance at using her speed to her advantage.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

Standing as close as she could to the glowing walls, Kitten shrank and made herself as 'small as possible'. She felt sure she'd be seen, but the darkness and the proximity of the great heat coming off the walls helped her. The creature even looked directly at her, ignored a 'cooler patch' on the wall and moved on.

'It sees heat, especially in darkness. In here, there will be heat and cool patches, because the stone cools at different rates.' rasped the inner voice.

Watching it go, Kitten crept on further down to see if the passage was a dead end. It was - but the room where the heat was being blasted into was off to the side.



The aliens were pouring fire and flame into the side cavern, and the heat coming off was tremendous! From within the side cavern came a wailing cry, long and keening.

'Birth is never a pleasurable experience' said the sneering inner voice. 'I much prefer death - and lots of it!' it laughed.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

That's how they noticed me out in the woods! Kitten realized as that annoying inner voice of the Princess revealed what these creatures were able to do. It made her feel better to know that she hadn't been making a stupid mistake, but it also reminded her that she still had to be careful because her special abilities would not always work in all situations, especially if the Nazis had special operatives of their own that could counter her powers.

Joanna tried to ignore the other comment about birth, but especially for the joy it expressed on the subject of death. If these creatures were giving birth to something, it couldn't be a good thing.

OOC: Just to make sure that I understand the situation -- the description of the wailing cry. Does it suggest a mother about to give birth or is it the cries of an infant emerging into the world? Or is it something else, like gas escaping from out of the rocks? I'm trying to figure out if this is describing the birth of a living thing or if they are trying to cause the 'birth' of a volcano as they both seem equally likely for these aliens.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

OOC It's an adult making the noise, so presumably a female giving birth, though these things may be sexless or completely different in some way to humans. The two by the entrance to the side cave are blasting with their flames inside the small cave and the heat being given off is intense, like being near to a blast furnace.

'If snakes and other reptiles are anything to go by, this thing could be laying between 10 and 40 eggs.' said another voice inside Jo's head, calmer, more considered and certainly less 'growling' than the other one.

Kitten was sweating now. Then she heard gunfire from way up the tunnel! The camp was being attacked by her men! She glanced to where the flames were lighting up the pair of reptile-men intent on sending searing heat from their fingertips into the hole. They hadn't seen her and were totally preoccupied. if there was a time to strike, somehow, this might well be it! And yet... what if her men were being pinned down, shot to pieces up there?

Suddenly the weight of the rank seemed slightly heavier...

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

These caverns are going to be crawling with these lizardmen if those eggs hatch, Joanna realized. The problem was that there were two of those creatures down here with her in this confined space. That didn't give her much room to get out of the way of their flames if they decided to redirect them at her once they were attacked. On the other hand, perhaps the heat absorbed by the rocks would be masking her heat signature and would make her harder to detect like the one that had passed by her on the slope.

I should go back outside and lead the soldiers down here so that they can seal this place in with explosives, she considered. However, it might not be that easy if the young that were about to be born had the same capabilities of the adults. I need to stop this now! she resolved.

Staying in her smaller size, the shrunken spy dashed down the passageway and charged at the nearest creature while it was occupied with sending its flames into that hole.

OOC: Kitten is going after the first of the two creatures with martial arts. Depending on how the initial attack goes, she may need to make a hasty retreat if she can't bring them down... or has a whole army of newborn little lizards coming after her too!

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

The heat was immense as the diminutive heroine made her way down the tunnel. Closer and closer, and every step seemed nearer to searing agony, like standing on the edge of a volcano!

'I can make things easier for you. Their power is too much for you. The heat will scorch your flesh from your bones before you can strike!' said the teasing female voice inside Joanna.

As if to emphasise the fact, Kitten pulled a foot up from the floor. Her soles were starting to melt and grip to the floor! She cursed, looking up. At her small size it seemed as if there were another 100m to go before she even got to the aliens!

=========

"We're outnumbered!" yelled number four. Number one turned, grabbing another clip and slamming it home.

Bullets zipped all around them. As per his orders, his men continued to hit and move in pairs. Despite their mobility and tactics, they were indeed outnumbered, being circled and flanked. Worse than that, he'd seen several of his men cut down from behind cover, the enemies weapons punching through thick wood of fallen trees like it wasn't there. the grenades had been worse. Some exploded, the worst emitted a localised scream - within 3m of the impact it literally burst the soldiers eardrums, blood spraying from their ears. They rose, staggering, clutching their heads and swaying drunkenly before being scythed down like wheat in the cross fire.

"SURRENDER!" yelled an accented voice. "OR YOU VILL ALL DIE!"

Number one grinned. Gauging the sound of the voice from the loudspeaker he took his best guess, checked his weapon and nodded to his men. Coming up from behind the rock he aimed and fired... a hail of gunfire was his response...

=========

Inside the cave the heat was growing intense. No longer could the screams be heard...

With every terrifying, painful step Kitten got closer. Through sheer effort of will she came up behind one of the creatures and grew, rising to her normal height and delivering a cracking shot from behind. The alien staggered forwards, its flames spilling out and around its feet, causing Kitten to leap back as it threatened to engulf her! Suddenly the other one turned, and shouted something in its native tongue as it saw the sweat drenched woman standing there, hair plastered to her face. The Alien that she'd struck shook its head, groggy, and glanced at the hole in the wall.

It pointed to the hole and its companion, before sizing up this new foe.

Kitten reeled, the heat smashing wave after wave of pain across her. She could barely stand, and the heat reflected from the small opening in the wall threatened to completely cook her!

OOC Kitten is taking Htk (killing) damage every round she's in here. It WILL kill her, if she's in here long enough...

The alien grinned inside its helmet. It knew it too...

OOC Kitten has another frame to act - attack or move, maybe something else. But in these confined quarters she will soon be in trouble!

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

No! Don't listen to her! Don't let her free! pleaded the desperate voice of the young British girl that also shared residence within Joanna's mind. Running into the middle of this oven had been a major mistake. The insistence of that voice resolved her that she should not compound her error by allowing a greater threat loose in the world, especially after it has recently expressed a preference for death over birth.

Instinctively backing away from the source of the pain, Joanna turned and ran up the passage which would take her back into the main chambers carved into the mountain. She dared to look back over her shoulder to see if the creatures were going to chase after her or if they returned to their previous task which seemed to be assisting the birth.

OOC: Kitten is getting out of there and heading for a cooler region within the mountain. If they're chasing her, she's not going to try to hide since they can pick up her heat pattern, but will look for a place where she has room to fight. If that means leading them out of the mountain into the middle of the firefight, that works too.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

A glance back revealed one of the aliens had stayed put. The other was shouting in its weird tongue, then set off after Kitten! At super speed Kitten expected to outrun this thing, but it seemed able to match her stride for stride! That said, her head start had her nearer the entrance, tantalisingly just out of range of the creatures dangerous flame powers! As Kitten got to the top, she heard sporadic gunfire and emerged from the cave cautious. There were far fewer Nazis around, only a dozen or so, and those spread about. They seemed to be cheering themselves and gloating. Further down the mountainside fire fights were still taking place, but less fierce than before.

Shrinking, Kitten glanced about. Plenty of places to hide! She would have no problem escaping the creature that followed her. Moving a few metres from the entrance to the cave she took cover behind a box. Stepping back, she looked at it "Granaten" it said, whatever that meant. She frowned. (OOC feel free to google it - if you know it, so does Kitten). Just then she saw the creature emerge from the cave and start looking around! Before long it would find her, thanks to those heat sensing eyes of its!

OOC A number of options spring to mind - make a run for it, start fighting the alien and/or the Nazis, take cover near a warm body or heat source and hide, or perhaps something else...?

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

You can't hide here! That box contains grenades! the voice of the young British girl who also must have been fluent in German helped to translate the semi-familiar word for her. If that creature's flame was hot enough to burn through solid rock, it could easily melt the casings of the grenades and set of a series of explosions.

Joanna expanded in size ever so slightly until she was just tall enough to look over the top edge of the box and confirm its contents.

OOC: Even if Joanna wouldn't know it, I think that Kylie would have been fluent in German from the background of her world.
If there are grenades remaining in the box, Kitten will grow in size some more until she can carry a couple of them (at least one under each arm). She will run out of the cave and try to sneak into a group of soldiers, arm one of those gifts, and leave it behind for a nasty surprise. If the alien creature chases her, she will also try to lure it into a group of soldiers and hope that it's not disciplined enough that it continues to shoot fire even if it could accidentally hit the soldiers.
Once she is able to get behind the alien again, Kitten will try to grab any remaining grenades, descend into the passage, and try to toss a couple of them into the birthing chamber.

Major Joanna Van Der Berg
Code Name: Kitten

Kitten dashed to a group of soldiers that were firing all out against her men. They were focussed, and rightly so, pinning several of her troops down in a deadly crossfire! Without pause for thought or emotion, she calmly pulled the pin, rolled the grenade between the legs of a crouched soldier. Even as the man glanced down, eyes widening, another grenade rolled between two crouched men across the other side of the clearing.

3

The Alien came from the cave, and Kitten turned, eyes narrowing. With a grin she held out a hand, gesturing to 'come on'. It worked. The Alien yelled out, levelling a hand and screeching a war cry! The air in between it and Kitten lit up, flame jumping like a living thing between the two... only for Kitten to roll aside at the last moment and soldiers scream as they burst into flames!

2

Kitten sprinted, moving across the clearing as soldiers turned, hearing the screams over the ring of gunfire... Mid run she reached down, grabbing the box of grenades and at super speed, plucked the pins of four before turning to the cave...

1

Soldiers started to rise, shouting, and the gunfire ringing out was from Kittens men now as they broke from cover and charged towards the hill, knowing their sacrifice might buy their leader enough time to do something, anything... yet all knew in their hearts theirs was a lost cause. The Nazis were circling them, closing in. Soon they would be surrounded...

Kitten cried out, flames searing her back as the alien caught her, and the material seared as it set fire. She rolled in the dust, tumbling end over end. She cried out as her head cracked a rock, and saw across the clearing the Alien grin in triumph! It had her!

Then it noticed the woman no longer held the grenades. It glanced at the cave entrance, saw the crate disappearing into the darkness! As it raised it's arm, the first grenades went off, sending screaming men into the air, fragmented and burning...

The second went off, and Kitten covered her head to avoid the fragments as bullets went off in magazines. Screams filled her ears, but she ignored those, and listened ... the Alien sprinted past her at speed rivalling her own! Kitten counted, each second seemingly lasting eons. The creature would reach the grenades, and ... she heard seperate clattering sounds as the grenades tumbled from the box, spinning and bouncing towards the bottom of the tunnel having been propelled by superhuman strength. She tightened her grin then, and covered her head again. Even at her top speed she'd not be able to catch that box of grenades. She finished counting, and waited.

Nothing!

The Germans, reeling in smoke and rubble as rocks rained down from the sky, coughed and staggered about as her men leapt over the perimeter of boulders and sandbags, firing at anyone who didn't surrender!

BOOOM!!!!

The flames and dust blew outwards from the cave, boiling outwards in a smoke cloud and obscuring the battlefield. The nazis took the opportunity to scatter when they could, only for the few men remaining of Kittens squad to rattle out more gunfire, sending the Nazis tumbling.

Rubble continued to fall from the roof of the cave, and crashing sounds came from within. Then there was an enormous crash and the soldiers cried out, running for cover, as the mountain caved in on the cave below. A hole section of the mountainside crashed inwards, sending smoke and dust wafting along the valley.

As nazis staggered forwards, then dropped to their knees whilst covered with weapons, Kitten rose, grimacing at the pain but satisfied.

She'd won.

The nazis, and a possible alien invasion, had been beaten off.

For now.

She looked about, then sighed. Her group consisted of only eight or so men now, all wounded, but triumphant. Number one wasn't in their number, and she looked at the highest ranker, three. He met her gaze, then shook his head sadly. They'd won, but the cost had been high...

OOC If you'd like to 'wrap' with Kittens reaction, her adventure in Scotland is just about over. The DICE teams will move in on the underwater base, and Kitten is going to be recalled. There's the small matter of an army to fight off...