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[img]https://i.imgur.com/C7nwoGY.png[/img]
[b][color=ea590c]wordcount:[/color][/b]  1,731 (+3 exp) (+6)
[b][color=ea590c]Edward Portsmith: Level 6 (16 cells) [/color][/b][color=ea590c]////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]////////////////// (44/60)
[b]Location[/b] Frozen highlands - Krat Zoo
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With the hunt complete, and the spirits of the various casualties of it gathered up, the poachers headed back to the stagecoach, with Edward easily being able to find it again due to his mental connection to the magical minions he had pulling/escorting it. As they traveled, Edward wrote up a note, and then upon mounting up once more, sent their one remaining pal sphere along with said note (which requested the sphere be delivered to one Dr. Yu for reverse engineering purposes) back to the armory.

A short ride later and they found an appropriate sheltered  place to stop, at which point Edward got to work. 

With the help of Ace, he scrounged up some suitable plant fibers for crafting and then, combining them with scraps of fur, bone, and leather gained from felled beasts and reavers, constructed a set of harnesses for their captured Reindrix.

After that was sorted, the Dreadnought gathered all the pal-spheres and started to release the Pals within one by one. He first got Blazermate’s help in healing the wounds their capture had resulted in, before he strapped them into the new harnesses, and attached said harnesses to the long chains at the front of the stagecoach, only after which he released the next one. Well aware that the beasts were entirely capable of firing ice missiles despite being chained up, the healing was accompanied by an offering of roasted nuts retrieved from the armory by way of peace offering. Making 5 portions go 8 ways, it wasn’t exactly a feast, but it signaled the intent to look after them at the very least.

Once they were all hooked up, he then finally pinned the two front spikes to his inferno steed, giving the 2 chains of Reindrix a burning frontrunner to light their way (and also stopping the two teams from splitting up and trying to run in different directions). 

Once that was all done, he dismissed the two sets of bronze golems, and replaced them with a pack of inferno hounds, keeping the remaining  mana cells in reserve for designating targets for the seekers, as he wasn’t going to be much use in combat during the rest of their time on the road.

This, of course, was because he’d be the one driving. 

From his perch at the front of the stagecoach (sat atop the straps holding the weapons he’d retrieved from his inferno steed) Edward grasped the bundled up ends of Reindrix’s reins, and prepared to get moving. Tugging on those would be more suggestions than anything, and as such the man was primarily relying on the pal sphere’s binding properties, and his front running inferno steed leading the way, to get them to go where he wanted.

Still, it definitely wasn’t a process he was going to leave to remote control, hence his seat in the driver’s chair.  

After giving five minutes of advance warning, Edward called out [color=ea590c]”All aboard, we’re heading out!”[/color] and then soon enough they were on their way. 

The eight great beasts (plus one magical inferno hound) certainly did a better job than his 4 constructs had. Too good, even, at least at  first, as the man had to immediately tug on the reins to stop them storming off at break neck speed, and even then it took a bit of getting used too. This wasn’t helped by the twisty turny roads leading down to the zoo, that was for sure.

Fortunately enough, Edward had time to get a handle on things without any harassment from the local wildlife, though reports of twisted wolves certainly indicated that it was only a matter of time till they ran into trouble.

All too soon, that time came, and it presented a new challenge of handling. Namely that while the Reindrix had rather quickly adapted to cantering along while chained to the stagecoach, the prospect of being trapped together while under attack by blighted apes was an entirely different situation, and they did not like it at all.

Some tried to bolt, some tried to shoot icy projectiles, and one even tried to ram straight towards the incoming apes, all of which caused the stagecoach to veer to and fro in a way that would make it a terrible place to fight from. The plaza was, at least, large, and so Edward could veer away from the cages that had contained the blighted beasts, and between a few of the other wagons.

In doing so, however, they ran straight into the ambush of a pair [url=https://i.imgur.com/pyeu401.jpeg]Lurking Carcasses[/url]. One slammed into the inferno steed, and got mauled with igniting fangs for its troubles. The other struck a juicier target, as it hurled itself into the side of the front right Reindrix, slashing at it with hideous claws with inhuman strength.

It jerked away in response to this, crying out in pain, crashing into the one beside it and threatening to cause a massive bloody pileup. It was only Edward’s escorting inferno hound duo being sent to blindly charge into the threat that got them off of the pulling team and gave Edward the time he needed to circle them back around towards the entrance. Time to use his feather staff striker to heal the wounded Reindrix. Time for him to plan.

As he pulled them around to the entrance he told the Reindrix [color=ea590c]”Steady, steady. Hold fire til my mark”[/color] in a calm and commanding tone. This, and the fact that some of the seekers were now more between them and the hostiles than they had been at the start, seemed to do the trick, and there was no wild bucking or frantic firing. Instead he gradually slowed them down to come to a stop.

As they slowed, the Dreadnought surveyed the situation through his inferno steed’s eyes, letting him get a look at things even as his view was obscured by cage bars. It meant that once all the Reindrix had a view of the enemy, but even before he was, the man had a target. One that he promptly marked with his magic.

Atop one of the tilted cages a blighted ape was ripping up and hurling the broken bars like primitive spears at the seekers fighting the others down on the ground. It paused in its latest hurl as the world turned blood red as Edward cast Designate Targeted on it. A moment later its world went ice blue followed by black as a rapid fire barrage of 12 ice lances came flying at it with enhanced accuracy, the four Rendrix on the side facing it all unleashed their Ice Missile skill all at once in response to a point and a shout from their driver.

Horrifyingly, the blighted ape didn’t actually fall in response to this, even if its face and front were perforated beyond recognition where spear sized spikes of ice weren't still sticking out of it. Its attempt to back blindly out of danger did at least take it out of the immediate fight however, as it promptly fell off the back of the cage in the process of doing so.

With that dealt with, and no more obvious targets that would not risk friendly fire, Edward wanted to take a leaf out of Sandalphon’s book and to take up a sniping position (the magic rifle he’d sold her seemed to be working out quite well for her, he noted, looking forward to hearing about how her experiment was going) but with the presence of other threats lurking, he couldn’t afford to let go of the reins. The one behind them was at least dealt with, as the burning lurking carcasses were vaporized in a fiery explosion as the inferno hounds vented heat into them.

As the pair moved to catch up and guard the rear of the stagecoach, Edward stuck to support, designating targets and having the Reindrix perforate any mandrills that tried to take the high ground with Ice Missiles.

Soon enough, it was over, and the stagecoach could move forwards, a little more cautiously this time. For the briefest moment Edward was sure that they were about to be attacked by a great hairy beast, but it turned out the mammoth was only a model. Curious as to why it was this instead of a taxidermy, Edward had his inferno hounds wander over to plaque for the model. Their ambient heat melted the frost coating it, and upon it  he read that apparently the great beasts were extinct in the world this zoo had come from.

A shame, even though they still lived on those in the astral sea, and, also, almost certainly somewhere out there in Galeem’s world. 

Behind the mammoth was a resilient metal door, one that Edward briefly considered portal dodging through in order to see if they were simply barred from the other side, before thinking better of it. Who knew what horrible creatures could be found beyond? Better not to risk it, he decided.

Instead he parked them before the door, before suggesting [color=ea590c]”We may as well give the Reindrix some rest here, rather than try to drive through the narrower halls of this place”[/color]

He wasn’t about to unharness them, mind, and instead lined them up so that they could either go through the door, or loop around the other side of the mammoth if trouble came knocking. He wasn't so paranoid as to not let them lie down however (which incidentally gave him an idea about how to increase the firepower of their broadside)

He also used a few mana cells to build 3 scout squads, sending them out to explore the place, seeking a route to the other side of the door. They’d not be able to open it themselves however, or get past any hostiles, but at the very least he could find where the obstructions lay before they collided with them. Something he could relay to Sandalphon and which she in turn could inform any scouting seekers of.

He himself meanwhile took his time chatting with her, inquiring [color=ea590c]”How are you finding the rifle so far? Feeling any significant synergy with it so far?”[/color] while also inspecting the Reindrix’s harnesses and general disposition and health, especially that of the one that had gotten clawed.