Dawn of the Dragonsworn-Part 7

Homsar dropped into a ready stance, inviting the Dragonsworn bodyguard to attack, and attack they did. They came at him, already too close to make good use of the blaster Homsar took from their masters, but Homsar--despite the illusion of sloth created by his armored suit--struck first with a ferocity unexpected by his enemies. One swing of his tomahawk-style war axe cleaved one man's scaled head clean from its shoulders, spraying the room with black blood and bile. Side-stepping a slash by a second man, he bashed the butt of his blaster into the eye socket of that second lizardman, dazing him, before firing point-back into that minion's scintillatingly-scaled chest and blazing a fist-sized hole through it and the man behind him.

The savagery shocked the Lord and the Lady. This man, this agent of the Republic, now showed himself equal to the very best warriors amongst their number- a civilized man, yet more savage than the savages that they ruled. Homsar, to them, presented now not only a practical threat but an ontological one- no, an existential one. Fear gripped them both, a primal fear neither truly understood but knew well since childhood, and in its presence their reason fled from them. The Lady too flight, but not the Lord; he took up the longsword of a fallen minion and pressed a button on a bracer about the wrist of his off-hand. Sword and shield ready, the Lord now determined to bury his blade in Homsar's raging heart.

"To me, brothers!" he said, commanding, and the remaining bodyguard hastily rallied about their master. Quickly testing his foe, he fired again and again, but found his purloined weapon unable to overload the Lord's shimmering shield. Casting it aside, Homsar put both hands to his war axe and rushed his foes. The Lord put forth his shield, ready for the press, but underestimated Homsar's ability to maneuver; in a flash, the armored agent turned on his heal and buried the point of his axe into a bodyguard's skull while he broke into the huddle. Now in close-quarters, Homsar put his advantages to best use. Short-hafting his axe, he struck home again and again; blood shot out in brief sprays, serpentine screams hissed and his screens steamed while his foes became blood-caked. Then Homsar again came for the Lord, and in one stroke he overloaded the shield-like screen; the force of the blow shorted out the bracer housing its power and electronics, and crippled the hand that wielded it. In a second brutal blow, Homsar feinted and beat aside the Lord's blade only to rush him and crush him against the wall, dashing the breath from the Lord's lungs.

The Lord, pinned to the wall by the head of Homsar's war axe, turned up his green glowing eyes at Homsar. "We are not done yet." he said.

"Oh, I am well aware of that fact." Homsar said, and he smiled a smile that told the Lord that, indeed, Homsar really did know. "I've seen this scenario played out so many times that I already know, without needing to look into your pitiful brain, that your trusted henchman and his men are not only blasting back here as fast as they can, but are already here and about to come to your rescue."

As if on que, Brilliant Shield did just that, firing on Homsar with their curious blaster-like palm-housed devices. His screens held, not even flaring much; Homsar gripped the Lord's collar, spun about and flung his foe at them like a rag doll. Brilliant Shield caught his master, and with his men covering their retreat the two fled the scene.

Homsar declined to pursue. He engaged them briefly, slaying a few to compel them to run after their Dragonsworn masters, but then broke off and went instead for what he knew to be their communications center. After quickly dispatching the lizardmen therein, Homsar quickly deduced the workings of their system and jury-rigged it into emitting a constant high-strength signal.

Aboard the Kinneson Admiral Smith received the signal. Without skipping a beat, he ordered full speed towards the source; this was so commonplace with Homsar that he need not ask for any message- the signal was the message: "OVER HERE! BRING YOUR FRIENDS!"

Admiral Smith then relayed the news to the marines, who knew Homsar enough to know that this was the time to begin preparations for combat. Soon they would bring the pain once more to the enemies of the Republic.