[Task] Prison Break (Mmur)

[Smerdle]

Unsurprisingly, that only led him back to the metal spies. Mmur swiped at them, they swiped back, and he moved on, only slightly more injured than he had been the last time he'd crossed their paths.  

[Smerdle]

He was still jogging when he reached the hunter's den, which was roughly in the same place that it had been the last time he had visited. Common sense dictated that they would have moved their computers and other technological nonsense farther away from where his people knew it would be, but there the hunter sat, weapon desummoned and looking bored. The contraption next to him seemed familiar as well. Some sort of project. Mmur tried to look over the human's shoulder to see what it was.  

[Smerdle]

"Not so fast, boney," the man said, reaching under the table and depressing something... another button. He should have known.

Mmur summoned his whip and ducked behind a filing cabinet. Surely they wouldn't shoot their own research?  

[Smerdle]

Indeed. The turrets did not shoot at the hunters' mysterious research, but they were also no longer tethered to static bases, so it didn't make very much of a difference in the end at all. Mmur heard a quizzical whir and then the turret was right beside him, unloading into his shoulder. He fell back with a surprised cry, pushing his FEAR into his whip and lashing out.

HP: 35/50
Damage: 6
Boss HP: 54/60  

[Smerdle]

The turret went down with a sizzle and a disappointed beep, but there were plenty to take its place. Mmur retreated deeper into the caverns once more, looking for some way to distract the majority of the machines so he could pick them off one by one.

Finding nothing in his current cavern, the horseman struck out with both FEAR and whip, clearing the hall ahead so that he could keep moving.

HP: 30/50
Damage: 14
Boss HP: 40/60  

[Smerdle]

It was rather unfair the way they just kept coming, or maybe he was just out of practice, as his hooded friend had suggested. Mmur was under the impression that he was still in top shape, but how could he be when he hadn't seen a real, dangerous battle in months?

A turret leveled a volley of tiny, piercing bullets that stung at him like gnats. Annoying. Mmur dispatched them with a flick of his weapon.

HP: 25/50
Damage: 7
Boss HP: 33  

[Smerdle]

But what of that hooded horseman? Why was he even trying to impress a man he'd never properly seen? The turrets spat bullets again, hitting Mmur in the cheek this time to get back at him for not paying attention. He tried to respond effectively, but he didn't make much of a dent.

HP: 20/50
Damage: 3
Boss HP: 30/60  

[Smerdle]

In fact, the turrets chased him down the craggy hall, their clanking metal legs skittering and slipping against the rocks. He tried to beat them back. His attempts were very unsuccessful.

HP: 15/50
Damage: 0
Boss HP: 30/60  

[Smerdle]

"Enough!" he shouted with all of the authority he could muster. It wasn't much at the moment. His voice echoed through the caves as he whipped the turrets, but they whipped him back just as hard. He was beginning to tire. It was very irritating.

HP: 10/50
Damage: 5
Boss HP: 25/60  

[Smerdle]

He called upon his last reserves of strength to fight, slashing at the mobile turrets ferociously, but for every one he struck down, five more rose in its place.

HP: 5/50
Damage: 4
Boss HP: 21/50  

[Smerdle]

Mmur ran, but he was overwhelmed. He did manage to make it back to the hunter before he dissipated, however, and he gave the human a glare that promised he would be back.  

[Smerdle]

attempt 3

Silence was key. He had been too cavalier with his volume the last time he had attempted this assignment. Mmur tried to tell himself that as he entered the portal for the third time. As a reassurance tactic, it almost worked, despite the fact that he knew it to be untrue. He had been stealthy and quiet and the hunters had gotten the best of him anyway. It was galling. The horseman summoned his whip as soon as he was fully in the human world. If they were going to go around being perceptive, he was just going to have to be quieter then, now wouldn't he?

The tunnels were drier today, even though Mmur was pretty sure it hadn't been that long since he'd visited last, even here where time was strange.

HP: 45/50 (bonus mechanic +10)  

[Smerdle]

The first metal creature he came across was easy to take down. It was alone, adhered to the wall near the opening of the portal and facing away from where he was standing. He could have struck out with his FEAR, but he wanted to feel the construct collapse in his hand, maybe pretend it was a hunter's throat. He padded toward it at a snail's pace, watching it scan the area in front of it, looking for him, presumably.

"Wrong way," Mmur whispered, reaching up and dislodging the bug from the wall, grinning as it collapsed between his palms. The metal didn't give way easily, digging into his hands as he applied pressure, but the bite of it sinking into his skin only made his victory more satisfying.

HP: 40/50  

[Smerdle]

He rounded the corner, coming up against seven additional metal spies, far more than he had found the last time he had visited. Did the hunters think him a greater threat than originally anticipated or were they just looking to overwhelm and eradicate him?

This time he did summon his whip, lashing out at the constructs one by one until they were all squirming ineffectually on the ground.

HP: 35/50  

[Smerdle]

The hunter's chamber was proving frustratingly difficult to locate this time around. Cavern walls grew indistinguishable from one another the longer he was on the move and the trails Mmur left behind seemed to disappear as soon as they were out of sight.

When he caught the first whiff of toast, the horseman accidentally ignored it, so focused on the path ahead that it seemed unimportant. He finally acknowledged it with a low 'aha!' and a grin, and as he moved to try to figure out where the smell was coming from, he wandered into an ambush. A harsh spotlight illuminated his grime-spattered skin and a red light blinked ominously in his peripheral vision. Well... crap.

Mmur didn't have a chance to move before he was pelted by a storm of bright rubber bullets.

HP: 30/50