Kazemitsu

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

With the wood set up, the bodies laid atop, and a burning branch from the campfire, Big Red set the pyre alight. Once the wood started to burn, good dry stuff, Archer Girl said what was probably a prayer from her people for the deceased adventurers. His own tribe didn't have parting words for the fallen, the bodies were always returned to the earth to let nature take its course. Even the bodies of enemies were laid to rest within the moist soil to feed the cycle of life and death. So he remained silent as the clothes finally caught from the priest, and spread to the warrior. He had the bare girl between them because of their clothes.

Druid Girl was trying to get the downed red head to drink, but judging by those coughs she didn't get much down. The dark skinned girl came over shortly after, all three party members watching the fire for a bit. It would be a while before the bodies and wood would be reduced to embers. So he didn't waste time, he returned to the weapons of the goblins. The ones owned by the adventurer's were clean, they weren't in the goblins possession long enough to get ruined. The stuff stolen from the farmer, and probably other nearby farms, were all pitted, chipped, and rusty.

The hatchets edge was chipped, but not too badly. Reaching into his pack he pulled out a dull gray colored stone. Picking the limbing tool up he began running the whetstone over the edge, creating sparks and a soft rasping sound. Druid Girl spoke up about maybe leaving some of the weapons behind. "When we get back I can do some maintenance on them. But money is money this early on..." He rumbled out. He wasn't a craftsman, but he could fix the least damaged of the lot. The daggers would be difficult, but he could grind them down into stilettos. The core of the metal was still good, most of this was just surface rust and misuse of the items.

The hatchets edge was mostly fixed, it was still chipped but not nearly as bad as it was. Now it could act as something more than a metal club. The hatchet and hand-axe were slipped into his belt, one on each side. "Keep a quality dagger, both of you." He said, sometimes having reach was not your friend. In that cave the longsword would have been useless for anything but predictable thrusts, maybe half-swording but still no room. The hatchet and hand-axe he felt would have too much weight for the girls to use effectively.

The clean, but heavily damaged daggers and knives were tucked into his satchel at the small of his back. He didn't carry a whole lot with him, his antidote and potion were used. The bottles laying down and empty beside a small package of dried meat. The left the damaged shortsword and quality longsword...and the damaged girl. Well the shortsword was tucked into his belt, it was dull so it'd be safe. By now the moons were high, they'd have to move or rest here.

"I'm ready to go, the pyre has pretty much burnt out..." He said, eying the pile of ash, some leftover wood, and the occasional bone. It'd probably turn to powder at a touch, and everything radiated embers. A shame lizardmen weren't fireproof, it'd be a simple matter to stomp it all out. Druid Girl mentioned covering it with dirt, so his tail swept dust and dirt onto what was once a pyre. If everyone was ready he'd scoop up the girl and let one of the others carry the quality longsword. He only had so many hands after all and his tail wasn't that flexible.

XCOM: Humanity's Rise

Drachen didn't give and affirmative or negative to Damian's assumption on why he joined the military. If he wanted alien alloys he could just send requests in to XCOM along with money instead of risking life and limb to potentially obtain them. He was however curious as to what they were about to be forced to watch. But when he started talking about Helene Weisser he started to get a feeling this wasn't going to be a kind video. It felt like a 'grind down to build up' session.

The video combined with Damian's words felt unnecessary. It showed the ferocity of Chrysalids, and a poor choice of poking the hornets nest. The result was three dead, two alive, one in prison the other pretty much retired with PTSD. His face was unreadable when Damian looked, the man was in a higher position so he could really reprimand him. Glancing to the two women to his left, his thick eyebrow rose up slightly.

Marcia was grinning like a loon and the girls eyes were dating between Damian and Helene. He couldn't really read what she was thinking...but it felt like she was having wrong thoughts. Could psionic wielders read minds? Helen however was clearly unhappy, giving a disdainful look to the Corporal. The Captain quickly shortly after Damian finished speaking. It was time to get going. Helene was the first to get going, scooping up her duffel and walking away.

A slight shift and he had his own duffel hanging by his index finger over his shoulder before he walked along behind Helene. His stride kept purposefully short so he didn't overtake the woman. He'd have attempted conversation, but he felt like she'd probably want to be left alone for the time being. If she looked back he'd give her as friendly a look as his naturally pissed off face could muster, but for now he stayed silent.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

The Fighter was genuinely surprised by the lack of any thrashing or screams at the joint being put back in place. Was the girl that broken that she couldn't even instinctively make the effort to fight against pain? Just lay there and accept it? If she was going to be like this forever it honestly felt like it'd be a mercy to end her mental suffering. But he wasn't a Seer, he couldn't check the futures of anyone to see what it held for them.

Druid Girl commented on his words, making him shrug. "If there's little to no benefit to something helping it's a waste of what was provided aside from morale and moralities sake." He said as he vanished into the dark of the cave once more.

Upon returning to the group with the bodies and his own figure bristling with crude weaponry, and laying them out, he finally sat down. Reaching into his pack he pulled out a big chunk of jerky and tossed it into his maw before chewing. Tough meat, but still yummy. While he was chewing he pulled off all the weapons and tools he had gathered. Some of them seemed salvageable, mainly the tools since they were built hardier than a typical weapon.

Pulling out a rag he began wiping the sludge off the weapons and tools while he waited for Archer Girl to return to the makeshift camp while Druid Girl tended to the injured and fire. Getting rust off would take chemicals he didn't keep on his person, and the deep nicks couldn't be worked out with a simple whetstone. The handaxe and hatchet could be worked over though, same with the higher quality knives and the longsword.

Speaking of the floofy girl returned rather quick, clutching a fistful of the plant Druid Girl wanted. While those two took care of the salve...or whatever it was Druid Girl was going to do with it he set about gathered old and new wood. The green would burn longer, the old would catch faster. He kept it local, not moving too far out because of the darkness. But still it didn't take too long to gather a portion of lumber.

XCOM: Humanity's Rise

Drachen had his arms folded across his chest as he listened to the Captain. He nodded affirmatives where they fit as the man answered the few questions they had. The team name was just chosen at random, they were assaulting a fortress so the number of enemies would be unknown, they left in ten minutes, and apparently they were assaulting multiple fortresses. Why was the UEG dividing their focus? Or were the other fortresses just to distract from the actual objective of killing or detaining this Ethereal?

The Captain brought up a holo-display of the fort they'd be going to and the names of it. Alpha via human, Warden via Alien. Which got him to tilt his head slightly. "Warden...? Is it supposed to be guarding something...?" He questioned aloud. Maybe they were trying to keep humanity penned in the Sol System? It wasn't likely humanity knew how far spread the aliens were. Shortly after letting them see the display the older officer handed out the XCOM patches with a warning not to abuse the power that came with them.

Who knew a simple patch, even on a Private, would hold such weight. Which was odd. But he didn't run things, he just followed orders.

Shit, now they were told to socialize, get to know each other. Was this some sort of video game? He shook his head when the Captain left
and turned his metallic gaze to the other three. Marcia Devries started them off with a slew of information. Games and reading were her thing, and apparently she was good at them. While also preferring the brave over the coward types. Helene Weisser, a fellow German, preferred more physical things like hiking and camping. She enjoyed doers, not talkers.

Sighing he let his arms drop and slip into his pockets. "I'm from Germany on Earth. In my spare time I like working with metal, making things by hand like in the ancient times." He stated, with his build it was very believable. "I dislike laziness, I like being active." He continued on before looking at the dual wielder expectantly.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

The trip out of the cave was uneventful thankfully. There had been enough excitement and ambushes for the night, they didn't need any more. Not that he'd be able to do much except kick, his arms and hands were a little occupied. It was strange how the quality of air changed once they were out, it smelled...cleaner and less dark. The goblin corpses remained undisturbed, so nothing had come to loot or eat. Honestly what would eat one of these smelly unclean creatures?

Still the girls spoke up, Archer saying she can keep watch until they decide what to do, and Druid Girl making a small fire and telling him to set the girl down on a dry patch. Shrugging he did as he was told before eying the dislocated foot of the injured woman. "Herbs and potions aren't going to fix that..." He said quietly before pulling his club from its loop. He wrapped a strip of cloth around its handle before placing it in the catatonic girls mouth.

"I can reset it, but it's going to hurt more than the actual injury." He told the pair as he shifted himself. He was kneeling, on leg over on arm. The other foot holding down her other arm, and his tail was coiled around her uninjured leg. "As much as I don't want to waste anything...when I reset it you should probably give her the healing potion in my bag..." Big Red continued. He was no medic, no shaman, nor a doctor, but he could do something as basic as resetting a joint.

And that's what he did. The girls leg and foot looked positively dainty in his hands. With a fast flexing pull and twist, and a rather nasty sounding pop and crack, he had the girls joint back in place. But he rotated the girls foot, making sure it was truly in while holding down her limbs with weight and muscle. Once she calmed down, assuming she was even aware enough to register the pain, he got up and went to the cave.

It was time to get the remaining bodies and all the salvageable gear the goblins had. Daggers, knives, hatchets, whatever was metal was tucked into a loop or into his belt to be worked on later. The longsword he gave a once over. It was good quality. End...bringer? What a dumb name. A dumb name for a dumb sword... He thought as he shouldered the fighters corpse after getting the longsword in his belt. As he left he hoisted up the priests body like a sack of potatoes and was swift to leave the now worthless cave.

Each deceased body was laid out, the bodies right next to each other. They'd need dry wood to light the bodies up...

XCOM: Humanity's Rise

Drachen's eyes were closed on the ride in the APC to Hartford and his hands were clasped behind his back. Leaning back like he was he almost looked asleep and his face wasn't that mask of anger with cold metallic colored eyes. When the vehicle came to a stop his eyes snapped open and up he got, exiting the vehicle with other recruits. But he stuck with two others, he had memorized their names and faces since they were to be a unit. An MEC directed the three away from the other recruits and to a separate hangar.

Weisser seemed very...proper while they moved. Her eyes didn't leave their sitting objectives. Devries...he didn't really get a read on her yet. Drachen however looked around, an air of caution around him as if he were an animal in a new territory. His hands didn't stay idle, tightening the straps on the fingerless gauntlets or adjusting his belt. It was a mental checklist to make sure he hadn't left anything behind really but most others would see it as a nervous tick.

Once the triplets got to their destination he took note that the jerky chewer was youthful while their commanding officer was an aging soldier. The younger of the two had twin pistols, namely revolvers of a plasma variety. The elder had a plasma rifle and a gremlin, why did they move onto plasma? A question for another time. Still he stood over with the others, staying on his feet rather than sitting down. Their mission would be starting soon, no point in sitting down now.

The mission briefing was short and to the point. They were to go to another system, kill or contain an Ethereal, and hopefully not die. "I have one, sir. Any idea how many contacts there will be?" He questioned, his voice was unsurprisingly deep and rumbled a lot like distant thunder. The others could catch a hint of a German accent but it wasn't even remotely heavy.

XCOM: Humanity's Rise

D'awww there's a relationship tab XD She's gonna haaaaate what is essentially a rookie who smashes things :p (I can't wait to start lol)

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

The lizard man watched the two with the wounded girl in his arms. Druid Girl administered two potions, but they only cleaned up and healed the most basic of wounds. There were still some punctures and deep scratches. "When we're out of the cave we'll need to clean up her wounds and fix her foot." He said as Archer Girl came back with the items from the crate and spoke to the unaware adventurer in his arms.

As much as the effort irked him, his tail coiled around the canine girls torso and pulled her along behind him. He only had two arms and he didn't think either girl would have the strength to lift a dead weight of probably one hundred pounds. Druid Girl mentioned it would be dark when they got outside, which got a shrug. "We can probably bug that farmer for lodging in his barn." He stated as he looked up out of the hiding pit of the goblins.

Sighing he adjusted the girl in his arms so she was held in one before using the claws on his fingers and feet to haul himself up and out with many a grumble and grunt. That 'ladder' wouldn't have held three peoples weight, hell it barely held Druid Girls earlier. At the mention of camp he shrugged his shoulders. "We could, but I plan to burn the bodies before leaving. Digging three graves would take too long." He said before gesturing to the Fighters dead body. "Grab the weapons from earlier. We'll decide on farm or camp when we get some fresh air..." He stated as he stated moving to leave the cave entirely.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

There wasn't much to the room really, no extra doors, nothing tunneled out, and only some gear in the crate. Goblins were small creatures, and their young probably smaller still. So he was actually surprised there wasn't anything but items in the crate. While he had swept about the room Archer Girl gave Druid Girl one of her potions to give to the injured woman. The only survivor to their party. Which got him to thinking, why only keep one alive? Did the party get there before they could off her?

Druid Girl spoke up which got his attention once more. "Depends on how long she has been hanging. The rope is pretty thick so she should have kept blood flow to her hands." He said as he approached the dangling girl. If the girl had to lose her hands they might as well just off her now. Leaning down he sat the girl on his shoulder before rising up some, taking the pressure off her joints. Meanwhile his tail tugged his only blade from its sheathe and cut through the rope. With her loose he let the girl slide down only to catch her in his arm.

Glancing at Archer Girl he tilted his head to the crate. "Please gather the gear and tags in the box and then lets get out of this hole." He said as he started to move to the exit of the goblin safe room.

XCOM: Humanity's Rise

Name: Drachen Steinboden

Age: 29

Nationality: German

Base of Operations: Earth; Europe

Class: Duelist

Preferred Advanced Class: Knight

Equipment:

• Main Weapon: Ion Ostryx Battle Axe
• Secondary Weapon: Ion Throwing Knives
• Armor: Ostryx Body Armor
• Gear: Plasmic Grenade

Gene Mods:

• Adaptive Nerve Firing: Allows a soldier to react faster to attacks. Boosting the soldiers Dodge that makes enemies miss more often.
• Adaptive Bone Marrow: Allows a soldier to heal faster than normal and grants Drachen an immunity to Chryssalid Poison.

Appearance:
Drachen is a rather large man, standing at six feet four inches with a heavy build. Thick muscles that would look more at home on a Heavy unit than a Duelist. His skin is darkly tanned from being outside so much, and is littered with numerous scars from various wounds over the years. On his back are a set of draconic wing tattoos that look surprisingly real. He's strangely hairless as well despite his ancestry.

Like the rest of him he's completely bald, whether by choice or not is in his file. Thick black eyebrows rest on a rather thick ridge, making him look angry and casting a small shadow over his eyes. Said eyes are a steel gray in color and slightly sunken. Between his eyes and lower down he has a block-ish nose. His lips are average, but hold a slight natural frown that gives his overall look to be angry.

Backstory:
Drachen was born in Germany a year after the war for Earth was over. His name is kind of a give away on that along with some of a remaining accent. His younger years flew by in an unimportant blur until he joined up with the military. Schools didn't cover the Alien Invasion very well, a lot of hush hush details apparently. Here he learned a lot more on what actually happened in the war by checking records available in his off time.

During training he found that he preferred getting up close and personal instead of hiding a mile away to blow somethings head off. His size, endurance, and overall might, tended to win out over technique when it came to hand to hand. A few Veterans of the War that were still active compared him to a Muton. Although biologically his strength didn't compare to their brutish might. After learning hand to hand techniques he was moved on to learn the weaponry of a Duelist. Swords and throwing knives. Unfortunately the swords were simply too light and adding weight would make the weapon awkward and clumsy. So an axe was made with the same technology. Thankfully an axe tended to follow the same attack patterns as a sword minus drawing cuts.

Unfortunately, in his mind anyway, there weren't any Aliens around after all that training. It was basic patrols, hunts that came up empty, and more training. Well he trained on his own, going above and beyond the norm. Between orders he did everything he could to increase his strength, surpass his previous move speeds, and to hone his reflexes despite the Gene Mods active within his body. Hell the Adaptive Bone Marrow let him abuse himself to go even further beyond normal human standards.

Finally it was decades after the War and Humanity decided it was time to go Alien hunting through space. He didn't really understand the tech to traverse space, would they be in cryo like in the movies? Or did the ships just move that fast now that they could just...warp to the planets and go on the offensive? He'd find out soon enough.