Internal cartridge system? Phintil had never heard that phrase before. Still, the important thing was that it would work. He watched Herrick's hands counting down, and he took off slightly behind his new ally when he reached zero. He moved without the subtle grace demonstrated by his counter-part, but he was quiet enough to not alert the three men sitting around the campfire.
The same, of course, couldn't be said about the huge gun in Herrick's hands. When he fired the weapon, the report that rang out almost deafened Phintil. He saw the largest figure sitting at the campfire begin falling forward, and watched as the two other men next to him reacted almost instantly. They must have been well-trained, to move so quickly from a position of surprise.
The pair of bodyguards wheeled on Phintil and Herrick, and they charged brandishing huge axes. Phintil wasn't sure with the armor on, but it looked like one was human and one was an Orc, like Headbiter. One was certainly much smaller than the other, and he moved with a much higher speed. He sprinted at the pair of interlopers, leaving his bigger companion behind.
Phintil shouldered his way past Herrick and charged forward to meet the first man. He didn't stop to engage him, and instead spun a full circle as the two came close, sending his powerful tail out in a leg-sweeping blow. The attack was unexpected and the man's attempt to swing his battle axe at the lizardman was forestalled, for the strike took him off of his feet. He landed hard and was winded, but definitely still alive. He immediately started trying to stand again.
Phintil didn't bother trying to finish him, the larger bodyguard would be on him before he could, so he instead kept running past towards the second man. He brandished his axes, just in time to use both to catch a horizontal swing of the man's huge axe. The strike was too on-target to deflect, so he tried to absorb the blow instead. Even using both his weapons though, the shot was difficult to stop.
A normal man trying to prevent the attack would have been sent flying. As it was, Phintil had to dig his foot-talons into the ground and use his tail as a brace to keep himself on his feet. He held it though, and the Orc, Phintil was pretty sure that no human could hit with that much force, pulled his weapon back for another swing.
Phintil didn't give him the chance. He knew that his axes wouldn't penetrate that plate armor well, and that the Orc would probably ignore any minor wounds he inflicted, so he instead tackled the creature. The Orc, already off-balance from his wind up, went down under the lizardman's massive weight. The force of the tackel and their combined weight slamming into the ground stunned the bodyguard, and Phintil took full advantage of the opportunity. He dropped the axe in his left hand and shifted his hold on the one in his right so that his grip was far up along the shaft, right next to the head. This was the grip he used for close-in work.
He dug his left hand under the Orc's helmet and lifted it up to reveal his foe's neck. His grip on his axe allowed him to use it like a punching weapon, and he slammed the blade down hard on the exposed green skin. Red blood burst from the laceration and the Orc made some odd gurgling sounds, and struggled a bit before falling still.
Phintil stood up quickly, recovering his left-hand weapon as he did so, and looked around to assess the situation. He needed to know how Herrick and Headbiter were fairing, though he had significantly different reasons to worry about both.
