Doc had listened to what would seemed more like a campfire story if they hadn't just faced the proof of the story. It was all a bit much to take in but truth be told they were here and they had a mission to finish. It was still a Nazi secret weapon even if it was getting beyond their control. Jack expected Brutal to jump in feet first and sarge was man of action so he wasn't surprised by their resolve.

"Well it sounds like we don't have to kill all these things. We just need destroy the book and stone. These guys wanted to control it and died trying. So let's go find um and kick some boogyman butt!"

Corban wasn't surprised to hear the Sarge insist that they fight these things. He expected it. But somehow Brutals comments did catch him off guard. He never doubted the group Tough would talk about fighting them, but somehow Brutal "acting tough" and Brutal "doing the right thing to save others" just didn't seem to go together. Was it a coincidence, he wondered? It just so happened that acting tough in this setting also meant playing the role of the selfless hero? Or was their more to their gun-toting, cigar-smoking point-man?

Doc's words were no surprise at all. Some people you just knew you could count on.

Corban smiled a bit as he scanned the space around the group. He had listened to the ladies speech while keeping his eyes open on everything around them. It was the role of the sniper to be the groups eyes.

After the Sarge had snapped and Brutal played his slefless-hero card, Croban couldn't spoke briefly. It wasn't usually his place to speak up, but when tentacles start waving, perhaps the old rules start losing a bit of their meaning.

"I don't think the lady meant "run away from the mission." She just mean, "get the hell out of the reach of the beast." At least that's how I'd read it - and it worked once so far."

Turnign to the lady he asked a question. "Was that fire and cold steel? Otr was it iron? What does that mean? Is a bullet hot or cold? Will bullets do anything? Did the grenade work because it was fire? We picked up a few blades on the way here, are those really what we have to fight giant tentacles with?"

The words of the German spy slowly sank into Luke’s mind. This was all too bizarre to be true. But then again, they had almost been killed by a giant squid from hell. The thought of going into a laughing fit and giving into to insanity right there touched his unconscious for just a brief moment. It was resolutely annihilated by a more primal instinct to survive. Ever since he had touched European soil, a lot of rudimentary impulses had awoken from their socially suppressed state. The will to exist was driving him now, and he feared that he would never be able to return to suburbia, with its tea and biscuit ceremonial interactions, as the man he had been. It all seemed so utterly unimportant.

So, instead of dismissing Greta as a nutjob, he was willing to accept the fact that they were no longer facing German soldiers alone, but a possible army of monsters and wraiths as well.

His team expressed a similar desire to get on with the job, altered as it may be, and he was proud of them.

“Men, you are all tough as bricks. You do your country proud right now.”

He turned to Greta, and voice another question:

“Will destroying the items also close this portal you’re speaking of?”

After all questions were answered, he turned to the Sarge.

“We’ll be going for the library first. With a little luck we’ll find some more information on how to deal with these demons there as well.”

“Everybody, grab what ammo you can. Once we’re inside that castle I need you to be cautious with your grenades. We don’t want the walls caving in on us, alright! Keep your eyes open for any sign of flame-throwers. We’re going to need those.”

“Will destroying the items also close this portal you’re speaking of?” The captain asked.

Greta laughed briefly, "In theory. Please understand Captain that all I tell you is in theory and conjecture alone. Until a few moments ago, even I believed they only existed in the imagination of madmen. I am glad that you are so resolved gentlemen."

With Brutal on point, the unit moved into the next room. The room is a large entry hall, with a great stairs to the left, a hallway to your right and another set of bronze covered double doors across the 40 foot expanse of the room. Cobwebs hang from dust covered columns, illuminated by a few electric bulbs hung from ancient iron scones. Stone gargoyles stare down at you from a rim-ledge along the domed ceiling. Cracked and faded frescos are covered by years and years of decay.

On the floor of the room are two German soldiers, very dead and dismembered. You could swear that just for a second you heard pipe organs playing but it may have been a trick of the wind, like the trick of the shadows that made the gargoyles seem to shift.

... and then they move again and you realize this is no trick of the light.

Suddenly eight sets of glowing red eyes snap open and stare at you like you were the main course of the dinner. They take flight to swoop upwards and then plunge towards you, dark talons at the ready.

OOC: The room is approximately 40 by 40 with a 20 foot wide corridor branching to the right of the main doors for another 30 feet. The stairway to the left goes up into darkness.

As they entered the first room of the castle proper… Brutal remembered what he had seen when he peered in earlier before they decided to stop and scavenge anything they could from the courtyard… he remembered thinking that he hoped those Gargoyles didn’t come to life …

He checked his Schemessier when he walked in and his eyes scanned the room and saw little hear except some dismembered body parts… he wasn’t sure how many people the parts were from… he wasn’t worried enough about them to bother counting parts and figuring it out… he saw little in this room…a large rug covered the floor was stained with blood… no surprise there… a few chairs here and there against the wall… otherwise there was nothing…

His eyes were drew upwards to the statues above … he paused… did he see one of them move?? … no.. just his imagination… No… they were moving..

“Holy S**t!” he exclaimed as he saw them take flight…. “LOOK OUT ABOVE!!” He yelled as he went into action… instantly he rolled to his left towards the wall to the left of the doorway through which they had entered… the wall next to what looked like a stairway headed upwards…. he came up his back to the wall… he brought up the Schemessier and taking aim on the closest gargoyle he opened up with the gun on full auto…

Brutal wouldn’t admit it but he was scared… he didn’t fear any man … but this wasn’t natural… the thing in the chasm… these living statues… they were not natural… he didn’t think any man could stand here facing such things and not feel some fear … but Brutal wasn’t the kind of man who would let fear paralyze him into inaction … he would stand and face his fear and die fighting… if necessary…

The interior of the castle was as gloomy as the outside. The big difference though, were the two dead bodies on the floor. They were horribly mutilated.
Luke had seen his share of dismembered soldiers during his time in the war so far, but these wounds didn’t look like they were caused by a grenade or landmine. It looked like some terrible beast had killed these men and vultured their remains.
For a second their old scheme whipped through his head as he thought how their uniforms were bloody and ruined, useless to his own cause. He dismissed the thought immediately. Uniforms no longer seemed necessary. In the chaos that was now roaming the castle, no sane man would care for alliances.

Then the gargoyles came alive, and Luke realised that he would no longer be surprised if Bela Lugosi himself came rushing through the door, seeking their blood.
The sight of these stone creatures taking to the air, ready to kill, was too overwhelming. He could deal with German soldiers, since he knew how strong normal men were and what their general tactics would be. With these monsters there was no telling how hard it would be to kill them.

He looked around and spotted the door through which they had come in.

“Everybody back to the courtyard! The door will function like a funnel!”

(OOC: we don’t need to fight these things all at the same time. I’m sure they’re a lot easier to kill one by one.)

“Holy S**t!” ….“LOOK OUT ABOVE!!” Brutal yelled as he went into action rolling to his left towards the wall to the left of the doorway; he brought up the Schemessier and opened up with the gun on full auto…
Doc looked up and saw the winged creatures leaping into flight. Jack understood Brutal move, keeping to the wall would prevent these winged things from getting a good angle of attack. Jack dove right trying to slide close to the wall and one of large chairs that sat stately there. Raising his M1 he took aim, at this range it would be like shooting fish in a barrel, he only hoped that his bullets would have an effect. With him carbine on semi automatic he kept pulling shots at the dropping nightmares, he may have been a medic but he could pop a reload clip with the best of them.

The rest of the group had moved into the room, they needed cover fire while they decided to run or fight. “We gotcha covered Capt’n.” Jack shouted as the rest group moved to deal with the threat.

As the statues came to life above them, Corban couldn't help but think that he was in the middle of one of the monster flicks that were so popular back home. This couldn't be real!

But that thought didn't have more than a moment before it was pushed aside by more serious thoughts of a very real need to survive. "Fire and cold iron." his mind had been puzzeling over it even as they walked into the room. It was like a riddle. What they had were guns. What he had was his trusty rifle. If they didn't work, what would? And then, quite literally, hell broke loose in the world.

Brutal and the Doc dove to a wall and started blasting. The sniper appreciated the idea of getting his back to a wall - and the use of the tunnel as a funnel sounded genius, assuming, of course, that they had some way to kill these beasts. If guns worked, Brutal and the Doc were putting on a good show!

The sniper snapped his rifle up and backed towards the tunnel. He paused for a moment to see if the rapid shots of his squad mates were having any effect. He was sighting carefully, leaving the front two gargoyles to the Doc and Brutal he picked the third closest and lined up his sites to hit the beast right in one of its stony eyes. If the other shots had an impact, he pulled the trigger a couple of times.

But his mind kept going over "fire and cold iron." Was there anything to burn in the room besides the big chairs?

“Everybody, grab what ammo you can. Once we’re inside that castle I need you to be cautious with your grenades. We don’t want the walls caving in on us, alright! Keep your eyes open for any sign of flame-throwers. We’re going to need those.”
As Romo and the rest started into the castle proper he could not help but think to himself that the Captain was not thinking things through if he thought using flamethrowers inside this old castle was a good idea. Even controlled fire was a dangerous element and added to that the weight and vulnerability of the weapon system itself he was not going to be the one to wield it. Outside maybe yes, inside this old castle, hell no. If they did find one somewhere he would recommend against its use.

With Brutal once more on point and Romo right behind him, the unit moved into the next room, a large entry hall. Large stairs to the left, a hallway to the right, another set of bronze double doors across the 40 foot expanse of the room in front of them. As the Sgt continued his scan of the hall he caught sight of a set of 4 Stone gargoyles sitting on a rim-ledge looking down on the group as they moved deeper into the hall.

Seeing what he thought was movement Romo was about to warn the rest when suddenly, as of sensing his awareness of them, eight sets of glowing red eyes opened and the gargoyles came to life. Taking flight the 4 creatures attacked!!

“Holy S**t! LOOK OUT ABOVE!!” Clements cried firing his captured German submachine gun at the first Gargoyle as the corporal dove to put the wall at his back.

“Everybody back to the courtyard! The door will function like a funnel!” The Captain cried as Doc dove to the ground, his back like Brutal’s to the wall, and brought up his M1 and started shooting. With both the Captain and McGuinness slowly backing towards the entry way pooping off shots Romo looked for the German lady Greta and moving quickly went to cover her retreat.

With the Thompson on semi-auto for more stability and accuracy he brought it up to his shoulder, sighted it, and began firing at the closet Gargoyle to the both of them (trying for head shots). He hoped the heavier .45 caliber round would be effective against the possible stone skinned creatures as he covered both his and the ladies retreat as per the Captain's orders.............

“Everybody back to the courtyard! The door will function like a funnel!” The Captain yelled
Brutal couldn’t argue with that logic… he continued to fire in short burst so he wouldn’t lose accuracy and slide his back along the wall moving towards the entrance they came in covering the withdrawal of the others.

The gargoyles swirled around making it hard to draw a bead on a target. They dive down and move across the room at such speed, they almost blurred as they let out a high pitch squeal.

Brutal opens up on full auto, trying to hit the flying creatures. Although he knows that he hit one at least four times, it still flies and brings itself down and across, directly through his allies. Brutal's lightning reflexes saves him from accidently gunning down the Sarge and Captain. As it curls up, the corporal puts another 6 bullets into the thing before it drops to the ground and stops moving.

“Everybody back to the courtyard! The door will function like a funnel!” the captain calls out.

Brutal, Doc, Corban and Sarge move to the wall and back towards the doorway along with Luke, Firing in short bursts or single shots as they retreat backwards to the door. Greta shoulders her rifle and fumbles with her bag as she runs to the doorway. The gargoyles take direct hits as you retreat and one more drops to the ground from combined fire or Romo and Corban.

Just as you think you will make it, one of the gargoyles swoops in and gets it clutches upon the Doc. Claws rip through the flesh of his left shoulder and he is snatched upwards. Romo moves to the doctor and fires a control burst, blowing the head of the gargoyle to pieces. Reid drops to the ground. Greta steps in front of the doctor and cries out :Get out of here. I'll hold them" and brings out a cigarette lighter.

A cigarette lighter? You all wonder for a moment what she plans to do with that when she presses a button on the side and a jet of flame fires out, engulfing a diving monster. The squeal is intense but it crashes to the ground, thrashing around.

Romo hauls the Doc out to the outer room as Great fires her lighter once more than again. the jet lesses with each use and finally she clicks twice, then tosses the lighter as she dives across the room and through the door.

The gargoyles charge after Greta, anger and enraged but the threat of flames. As the first two come down, they are overwhelmed by the salvo of bullets from the unit. The third flies back into the main room.

There is a long moment, a few minutes where you wait. The doc is in pain and needs help badly.

"That was a Byakhee!" Great says, "According to legend it can ...."

*PFAFFF*
"TELEPORT!"

Suddenly the creature appears behind you, moving at full speed. Talons stretched out to grab the Sarge. However Corban has his rifle ready and fires a rapid succession of rounds into the creatures head. Brutal reacts out of instinct and fires as well until it drops to the ground, unmoving.

OOC: Corban's trustworthy gut gave him a feeling that something was coming from the other way and Brutal's lightning reflexes served to react in time.

Doc has taken 7 stun damage and 7 Life wounds (out of 17). He is conscious but in a lot of pain.

With Teeth gritted in a snarl.. Brutal engaged the foul creatures… when the one teleported behind them it took him by surprise for a moment… not something he expected… but he recovered quickly and helped Corban finish off the thing… looking around he dropped his empty mag and slammed home another.

“Is that all of them?” he asked everyone.. his voice a bit higher than need be from excitement and adrenaline… his eyes came to rest on Doc’s mangled form

“Oh Sh** Doc!” he rushed over to the man and moved him easily onto his back.. he saw blood and dragged out the medkit that Doc carried and opening it quickly drew out (checks large list in Q&A) a Dressing and using it starts to apply pressure to the largest amount of bleeding he can see where the beast grabbed him.

“Ok Doc… I’m no good here… I’m use to inflicting wounds not bandaging them…” he said with a faint grin… then he looked at the others as he knelt next to the Doc.. “Anyone else have any medical training?” What he was doing was about all he knew about wounds… he would continue to apply pressure until someone else stepped in to handle the situation and could take over.

The logic to get close to wall seemed solid, the wall would interfere with the gargoyles wings and they’d have to keep more to the interior of the room, but these things defied natural aviary flight. The speed and movement was erratic and unpredictable.

Doc stood slowly, his M1 held tight to his right should as he kept firing at the blurs darting around room; he covered the Sarge as he moved toward the doors. A screaming squeal came from directly over head. The weight of a sledge hammer slammed down on Jack’s left shoulder buckling his knees with the downward force. Then a searing pain explodes through his chest as the talons of the gargoyle sunk into his flesh as the breast latched hold of him. In the same instant it reversed its flight back up toward the ceiling jerking him up off his feet in its desire to carry away this fleshy meal.

“Braaaaaackkkkkkk……..” the roar of a machine gun drifted behind him as the gargoyle head shattered from a flaming shower of hot lead. The upward movements turned into a free fall plummet as Jack and carcass of the gargoyle dropped the stone floor of the entry hall. The impact of hitting the floor broke the grip of the talons and Doc crumbled to a dazed pile on the floor. A hand grabbed his right arm that gripped his M1 and pulled him toward the door. Survival Instinct took over and Jack got his legs moving to carry him through the open entry doors.

Once outside the room things started to blur again as the shock and pain started to take their toll. Jack stumbled and dropped to the ground. The words of the group are garbeled, then a shout “Teleport” followed be more gun fire.

To be continued……….

As Brutal helped the Doc, Corban held his usual sniper's position - being on the lookout in case some other part of the castle came alive to attack them. He watched the courtyard from which they had originally entered, scanning everything as quickly and thoroughly as he could. Hs heart was racing, but his fingers were firm on the trigger - the trembling would come later.

When Brutal called for medical help Corban risked a look away from his guard duties to see if anyone else was responding. Seeing nobody else jumping to Doc's aid, the sniper muttered, "S***!"

Kneeling down beside Doc and Brutal he started he took a closer look at the wound. As he did so he said, "someone take my guard. I'm not Doc, but I've done a bit of emergency work before. Let me get a closer look Brutal."

Looking closer he quickly adds, "good start stopping the bleeding. Excellent . . . Ok, Doc? You with me at all Doc? I could use any help you can give. You got some stuff in the wound, so we are going to have to clean it out a bit. If we can do that, we can bind it up. I'd really hate to have to do stitches out here. I'm going to clean what I can Doc. i'm going to need your kit."

Looking around quickly he adds, "Someone look in Doc's kit for his medical gear. I need something to clean some gargoyle pieces out of the wound - a tweezer or something. See if there is sometype of cleaner or alcohol as well. Bandages, maybe?"

(I'm not a medical expert myself, so i'm guessing here - and acting based on the "medical expertise" in the character description.)

The adrenalin had got Doc on his feet and out the door but now it was about worn off. The pain in his shoulder ravaged at him and he knew he was bleeding badly. Doc had dropped on his side in an attempt to loosen the med kit that he now had to use on himself. As the guns continued to roar near him Doc tried to stay out of way. When the guns silenced he heard a gruff voice, “Oh Sh** Doc!”

Brutal looked down and saw Doc’s face was ashen pale but he was still breathing. Blood was showing through the slashes in Jack’s combat jacket where the gargoyle talons had pierced. Remembering his basic first aid training Brutal rolled Doc on to his back and elevated his feet. Opening Doc jacket Brutal saw the deep gashes. He rummaged through the med kit grabbing a wad of gaze to compress over the wound to stem the bleeding. The pressure on the openings hurt like hell but Doc knew Jake was doing the right thing.

“Ok Doc… I’m no good here… I’m use to inflicting wounds not bandaging them…” he said with a faint grin… Doc started to open his mouth with a smart quip when Corbin stepped up.

The sniper‘s sharp eyes looked over wounds and saw that the talons has left debris. Corbin knew that needed to go, who knew what kind of funkiness it might cause.

Ok, Doc? You with me at all Doc? I could use any help you can give. You got some stuff in the wound, so we are going to have to clean it out a bit. If we can do that, we can bind it up. I'd really hate to have to do stitches out here. I'm going to clean what I can Doc. I’m going to need your kit."

Doc opened his eyes, “Oh geez, I didn’t you cared” he choked out. “There’s tan pouch in the kit, it’s got surgical stuff and there’s tweezers for the big chunks. Put water on a big bandage and rub the rest out.”

Corbin set to work cleaning the wound, he was rough as hell but Jack gritted teeth. With his free hand Doc searched the kit for couple of more items. When McGuinness had finished Doc looked down at his chest and saw that three gashes were still oozing blood freely.

“Well those need closed, at least at the deep end. “ Handing the items to Brutal, Doc said, “ Open these and thread that needle with the silk. Corbin, you pinch the end shut and I’ll sew it closed, but first shake a little sulfur in the hole before you pinch it.”

As Brutal tried the several time to hit the needles eye Greta came over, “You men are so good with shooting, but leave the fine work to me.” She took the silk and needle and in smooth deft motion she threaded, drew and knotted the silk. As Doc reached for the needle Greta glared down at him,”You lay still, I’ve sewn a person before, I had brothers that couldn’t seem to keep from falling out Grandfather’s trees.” Pushing Doc’s hand away Greta leaned in and blocked Jack view. “I’ll have to put two in each; I’ll be as quick as I can.”

With the same deft motion she used to thread the needle the lovely angle of mercy used the forceps to guide the needle through the flashy edges of wound and drawing the silk tight, pulling the gashed meat together. One, two… one, two…one,two….. as the last stitch was drawn tight and knotted, Greta let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “There, that should hold them. If you have any disinfectant you need to clean it over those before you cover them.”

Doc released the clinched fists he’d held so tight to ward off the pain. It hadn’t worked. This wasn’t the first wounds Doc had taken so he was surprised. He let a breath too.

Reaching down to the lower pocket of his right leg, Jack pulled out a silver flask. Rolling the lid between his finger and thumb the top spun off and danged from a fine chain. Lifting it to his lips he took a quick sip and then poured several once out over the wound. The brandy seared as the alcohol soaked into the wound. “Closest I got to disinfectant”, he gasped. Jack held the flask out to Greta, “You make a fine Doc, please be my guest.” Greta took the flask, “Now bandage him up, you may need him later” she said, but Jack didn’t see if she took a drink.