The Dark Edge Chronicles - Clan War

White Flames of War

His fellow Ventru warned, Lash looked up at the grimacing Hand operative.

"Another gift from your human friends?" he asked tautly in vampiric.

"They promised those rounds would instantly ash you out!" the Hand operative growled back. "No matter. Now I have the pleasure of killing you with my bare... urk!"

The operative dropped to the ground, his neck cleanly snapped. While he had been busy spilling bluster and braggadocio all over the deck, Lash stepped in to take hold of him. A quick twist and the much smaller vampire was done. Then the big vampire was being pushed back by no less than three more operatives slamming into him, the Hand agents still hiding under their stealth daycloaks. As he took a step back to steady himself, Lash could feel his skin tingling from their now unsheathed car'dieth daggers.

Having watched Lash's initial encounter, Truk took a step out into the aisle. He then glanced at the car'dieth still stuck blade down in Lash's seat. It was just a matter of time before the Hand operatives he was currently struggling with began wielding their radioactive blades against him,

He needed to rebalance the battlefield.

"Scan fallen combatant," he directed to his Shiva.

"Scanning," the machine pistol's AI replied in its tiny voice. "Biometrics and EM signatures noted."

"Identify targets that most closely match."

"Targets identified."

Nodding in satisfaction, the Ventru nestari pointed his weapon down the aisle at the struggling knot of vampires.

"Smart mode. Target only those individuals that match. Fire."

The Shiva opened fire with a soft chitter, EM fields extending to guide the ceramic munitions around Lash and into the three Hand operatives he was fighting against. They grunted almost with one voice as the rounds hammered into them then they were dropping, their daycloaks falling askew to bring them into view.

A blink later a hail of ceramic slugs were zipping around Lash before either striking straight ahead, or darting to either side to scythe down the remaining Hand agents where they stood, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Not a few of the passengers found themselves gasping in shock as a body partially appeared beside them in what they thought was an empty seat. Or suddenly toppling over beside them, or even onto them from where they had been crouching in the aisle.

Seeing the bodies abruptly appear shortly after hearing Truk fire his machine pistol, Lash had to act fast.

"They seem to have taken some kind of suicide pill!" he shouted in English. "Careful, every ..."

The booted foot came out of nowhere to hammer him in the side, knocking him off balance and almost into the lap of an aisle-side passenger. Not because it had been hiding beneath a stealth daycloak. But because Lash didn't expect one of the passengers to abruptly stand opposite him to launch a hard kick into his ribs.

The big vampire didn't stay surprised for long, however. After a murmured apology to the person he had almost fallen into, he was using the backs of the seats to push himself back and up in time to block a heavy fist aimed at his head. Two more quick blocks against hard punches then he was using the arm he blocked with, to jab a fist into the snarling White Flame's face. While it hit the human like a battering ram, shattering his nose, the White Flame didn't go down.

Instead he launched another attack with blood streaming from his broken nose, boxing strikes mixing with martial arts-style knife hands and heel of the hand attacks. Unfortunately for the human, Lash was more than capable of going toe to toe in a hand to hand fight.