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[5e IC] Sunt Venatores Venationem

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« Reply #30 on: <02-10-15/1207:27> »
The bouncer's body unconsciously begins to turn away at the sight of the assault rifle, but he has enough presence of mind to clear a Steyr TMP from a holster under his coat and let off 3 rounds in automatic fire before he turns and rushes inside the door of the club to find cover.  The bullets fly harmlessly by Stake, and crack against the wall of another club behind him.  Stake an see passerbys on the street begin to run away, though he doesn't so much as hear a scream or see any fleeing bodies inside the club.

As Stake prepares his next move he notes that while the bouncer has posted up to the right of the main entrance, there's a gun check to the left, the figure behind it cast in the shadows.
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #31 on: <02-10-15/2026:33> »
Achak gets the comm from Sister Rebecca. It's unfortunate, but given how clumsy he's been tonight himself he can hardly hold it against her.

<<@Sister Rebecca [Achak] I'm at the top of the stairs.>>

He almost adds <<I'll watch your rear>> before deciding it might come across as overly sexual.

He drops his Ares Crusader, letting the sling catch it. Stepping up to the top of the stairs, he turns the corner to be out of sight to anyone pursuing Sister Rebecca. He draws his gunstock war club, its weight and magical strength providing comfort in stressful times. He glances about to see if anyone has noticed him, then focuses his attention on the stairwell. Sensing Sister Rebecca is no problem; he waits to see if anyone pursues her.

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« Reply #32 on: <02-11-15/1904:23> »
Achak reaches out, magically feeling the air around the corner, waiting for movement to trigger his trap. He's ready to swing his war club like a baseball bat, clocking any guard with the temerity to pursue Sister Rebecca.

Keep it non-lethal, he thinks to himself. This business is hard enough without making new enemies.

But nobody follows. He would have been impressed if they had. Not many goons have the guts to chase after a woman with a giant sword and a chainsaw grenade launcher. Achak personally feels that he might have capitilized on the shock value of the weapons rather than bolting, but Sister Rebecca is a godly woman. Perhaps the Lord is showing her a better way.

He turns his attention to the second floor, scanning for guards or patrons that might trigger an alarm, or even intervene.

<<@Sister Rebecca [Achack] Continue with the plan. Eyes on the dance floor, looking for the Lost Boys.>>

He holds steady, ready to act if the situation changes.

<<@Sister Rebecca [Achack] And let's put Gadreel in motion.>>
« Last Edit: <02-12-15/0144:23> by Tecumseh »

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« Reply #33 on: <02-17-15/1145:49> »
Stake bursts into motion, his augmentations making the world around him move in slow motion. As the bullets fly past, Stake is already moving into cover to get a better angle. The bouncer ducks inside the doorway, attempting to get out of sight. A mysterious figure is directly across from the bouncer, but Stake puts him out of mind for the moment.

Shit! Hope this silencer is as quiet as Achak believed it was.

He raises the Alpha up and aims for center mass. Taking a deep breath, he fires. Three quiet sounds later, the bouncer jerks as if being punched in the gut, before falling over, unconscious. Stake pulls the weapon back, keeping it ready but out of sight of the doorway. Whoever Stake had saw earlier was probably part of the building security, and no doubt would be rushing to help his comrade.

<<@Team [Stake] Change in plan. Cut the power if you can; we'll use the spirit to flush out the vampires and hunt them down.>>

Staring at the limp body of the bouncer, Stake waits for the shadowy figure to show himself.

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« Reply #34 on: <02-18-15/1446:17> »
She's keeping her breathing steady. On some level she knew this might happen; the plan going sideways and all, but she never expected it to go awry so soon. She finishes rushing up the stairs, taking them two at a time then passes by Achak, waiting behind the doorframe with his massive warclub ready to pummel that poor bastard below, should he be stupid enough to give chase. After receiving the message from Stake, she quickly sends word out to her ally in the astral.

Noble Gadreel! There are fiends about us in this place. Vampires who prey on the innocent. I bid you, Please help me root them out. They fear the light and the flame and you are a servant of both. Smoke them from their holes and drive them toward the front exit and their final judgement!

She stops running when she reaches the railing above the dancefloor below, putting both hands on it with a thump, inaudible over the pounding music. She looks out over the sea of bodies beneath her and tries to see their souls instead. The two "lost brothers" had advised her that vampires are dual-natured, and would appear a bit like someone who was astrally perceiving. She tries to filter out all the color and texture pertaining to mood, chrome, drug addiction, health, and general magical ability, only searching the crowd for that telltale pale golden whisp that spoke of a person straddling two worlds; the way hers probably looks right now. Could we be lucky enough that they're down here already? Probably not. As she carefully scans the crowd below, she mentally composes and sends a quick message on the comm.

<<@Team [Sister Rebecca] Recon is away. 2 awakened in main interior. 3 hostiles converging on stairs.>>
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« Reply #35 on: <02-19-15/1054:27> »
Gadreel bows his head, and disappears in a flash across the balcony and up the stairs.

Across the dance floor near the entrance, Sister Rebecca can see a tall elf lurch backwards and slump to the ground, and another figure duck behind an opaque neon-lit counter.  The three advancing men all grab at their right ears simultaneously, as if in great pain, and most pull out what she assumes to be earbuds as they come forward.  The biggest, a round-faced Japanese man docks the back of the head of the stairwell guard, and points up the stairs.  He pulls a pistol and advances cautiously.

The club patrons continue to dance unaware of the scene that's about to unfold near the back of the club, though the men on the balcony regard Sister Rebecca wearily, and a few begin to stand, looking as though they're about to run.
« Last Edit: <02-19-15/1059:15> by rednblack »
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« Reply #36 on: <02-19-15/1912:24> »
Achak's motion sense says that someone is approaching. He spins his club a quarter-turn in his hands so that he can hit with the flat of it. He hopes that he isn't about to play Little League with some disco habitué.

Swinging around the corner, Achak plants his feet and twists his hips to generate the most torque. It does not go off well and he clumsily thumps the Yakuza guard in the stomach. The man doubles over but does not collapse as Achak had hoped he would. The Amerind had pictured it so clearly: knocking the man out and pushing him down the stairs onto the other security guards, toppling them sequentially like dominoes. Instead, he barely even took the wind out of this one.

Before the guard can react, Achak swings his club out, then up and down in a painful arc onto the man's back. The man is knocked down, splaying out on the floor like an inebriated dancer. Achak sees the inexperience of youth - like the lamb to the lion - and is grateful that he is not facing someone more formidable. He is off his game tonight, which needs to change fast if vampires are going to be involved. He briefly wonders what the consequence will be for the young man's failure. Sorry about your pinkie, amigo.

<<@Team [Achak] One Yakuza down. Time to reposition.>>
« Last Edit: <02-22-15/0330:26> by Tecumseh »

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« Reply #37 on: <02-19-15/2139:26> »
Hearing the loud -CRACK- from behind her, the short stocky woman in the helmet and armor jacket turns away from the dance floor below to face the stairwell again. The sight of Achak dropping the poor security guard to the floor with his massive club tells her that the three men she saw downstairs probably aren't far behind. Her first instinct is to go for the launcher and put a pill right down their throats as they round the corner, but these aren't demons or vampires or toxic shamans or anything like that; just some men with some unfortunate employment.

Instead, she speaks a few words under her breath in prayer. "You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach." She barely feels the strain of the holy energy flowing through her and into the world. A moment later, a thin, shimmering barrier appears near the top of the stairs, blocking access from below. She can tell it's not very strong, but it doesn't need to be. I only need slow those fools down for a few moments.

She takes a quick glance back and forth to ensure she's not being flanked by any unknown attackers before snapping off a quick text to the team.

<<@Team [Sister Rebecca] Hostiles ascending stairs have been temporarily halted. No contact with objective. Orders?>>
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« Reply #38 on: <02-24-15/1202:44> »
@ Sister Rebecca

Through her spiritual link, Sister Rebecca gets a faint feeling of triumph from Gadreel, one of the righteous anger of the Lord filling a minion of evil with His awesome fear.  With everything else going on around her, this good news does a lot to bolster her confidence in the operation.  Maybe the plan will work out after all.

@Sister Rebecca and Achak

Sister Rebecca loses line of sight to the advancing yakuza, and she trails them mentally around the stairwell, but they fail to emerge on the landing.  For a brief moment, she thinks her barrier will hold, but then, even over the roaring of the music, she hears a sharp crackling, the sound of her barrier giving way.  It seems her spell has done its work, but she expects them to advance at any time now.

@Stake

Stake hugs the wall outside the club, waiting for the figure behind the gun check to show himself.  It seems the man is playing defense, the smart choice certainly, and so Stake decides to spring into action.

He rolls inside the door to his left, Ares poised at where the man should be standing behind the gun check.  Instead, Stake is faced with emptiness, just the neon-lit counter and a row of guns with tags attached behind it.  What at first Stake thinks is just a shadow under the lip of counter, is in fact a rectangular hole, and Stake sees the tip of a shotgun barrel show itself before three bursts of gunfire erupt.  He has the presence of mind to step backward, feeling a slug graze the front of his armor, and he returns fire, letting off 3 rounds, two of which smack harmlessly into the counter.  The third finds its way though the peephole, but Stake notices that the barrel of the shotgun remains steady.

In front of him in the crowd, the screaming starts, and the music cuts out just before the lights come on, bathing the club floor in bright, garish white light.  The cheap, worn pleather furniture, the cracks in the walls, trampled and muddy confetti are all visible now.  What a shithole. 
« Last Edit: <02-24-15/1316:05> by rednblack »
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« Reply #39 on: <02-24-15/1554:07> »
Achak has only a fraction of a second to debate tactics. Three men are running up the stairs. Under other circumstances, he would probably slip away, figuring that they would split up to find him. Then he could pick them off one-by-one. But Becca is behind him and coordinating a cat-and-mouse game with a new teammate is risky. Instead, Achak decides to plunge forward, taking advantage of the height advantage offered by being at the top of the stairs. Be bold, be bold, he thinks to himself. But not too bold.

Charging down the stairs, he finds himself face-to-face with a moon-faced man. Achak swings his warclub, wishing for a moment that the edge wasn't as sharp as it is. It's a clumsy swing, and Achak is certain that the Lord is keeping him from showing off for Becca. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Lo and behold, the club lands forcefully, knocking the man backward into the man behind, sending them both down the stairs. He allows himself a moment of thanks before turning to drill the man against the wall on the right. It's a cleaner swing, the one he's been waiting for all night, and it sends the man reeling. The club produces a bad gash on the man and Achak wavers for a moment between his sympathy for his fellow man and the knowledge that the Yaks aren't exactly saints. Bad life decisions, chummer, the Amerind thinks to himself as he surveys the bleeding heap of humanity below him. But we're saving you from the zekes.

He turns and returns to the landing at the top of the stairs.

<<@Team [Achak] Three more down. Where is Gadreel?>>

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« Reply #40 on: <02-26-15/2312:31> »
The lights turn on and the music stops. The screaming starts. A shotgun pointing right at him. Overall, this hadn't gone well at all. He was going to have to improvise.

Stake's synapses were working in overdrive, the world slowing down enough to process the recent events. He might not be able to see bullets whizzing past, but he could very well try.

The bullets fly past and crack on the wall. The guard was using live rounds, of course. He thought he was safe behind his gun. Time to prove him wrong. With the ease of years of practice, Stake swings his gun forward, aiming for the man barely visible behind the shotgun. In one smooth motion, the gun fires. The sound is inaudible above the cacophony of screams. He hears a thump, the sound of his shots connecting and knocking down the guard.

<<@Team [Sister Rebecca] Hostiles ascending stairs have been temporarily halted. No contact with objective. Orders?>>

<<@Team [Stake] Cut the power and search for the vampires. I'll be done here soon.>>

He drops his left hand, leaving his right hand holding the gun. He pushes the unconscious bouncer out of the way, moving around the security checkpoint. It blares as it detects the extensive cyberware and weaponry present throughout his body. Stake ignores it, and looks at the unconscious guard.

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« Reply #41 on: <03-02-15/1153:50> »
@Sister Rebecca

After summoning Leliel, Becca begins to ascend the stairs to the third floor.  She wheels on the landing, and looks up to see another figure running from the opposite direction, toward her.  He's a little thick in the middle, with a receding hairline despite appearing rather young, though his movements are too lithe and precise for a man of his size to be natural.  His aura looks, wrong somehow.  Sister Rebecca can tell that he's magically active, and also that he's astrally perceiving as well.  In fact, his aura is strong, too strong, and it seems to be made up of different parts, as opposed to simply comprising a whole.  He's diseased, but potent, and when he catches sight of Sister Rebecca he snarls.  It's only then that she notices blood staining the white cuff so his dress shirt, and small flecks of gore sitting on the stubble of his chin.  The man looks back behind him, then down, then back again, perhaps unsure how to proceed.

@Achak

From the landing between the first and second floor, Achak sees the yakuza men on the ground stirring, and the crowd begins to rush toward him.  They're obviously fleeing the scary looking man holding the assault rifle standing by the front door, and they pay little heed to figure on the crowd, some crushing them underfoot as they try to ascend the staircase.  One look at achak and his gun club, give the crowd pause, and some try to turn back, as other surge forward. 

He can't help but to feel bad for the yakuza at the base of the staircase.  Most are probably too dazed to protect themselves well from the trampling patrons, and he doubts they're going to be able to walk away from this, even if he wanted them too.  Of the crowd that's closest to him, Achak can see a few sizable orks, and humans in their Sunday best holding up bare hands and try to back down, only as they get increasingly pushed forward.  "Don't hit me, don't hit me!" the nearest one yells.  "You can have all my money, chummer.  I'm not with these guys."

@Stake

The club-goers give Stake a wide berth, as they try to find other exits.  The backdoor opens, and the cacophony of screams is augmented by the club's alarm system.  Too the south, Stake can see Achak's knees, as the Amerindian stands watch over access to the second floor, and from the balcony to the west, Stake can see 4 yakuza in armored jackets exit one of the rooms, guns drawn.  He sees also, that they notice him, and each finds what cover they can behind the columns that line the balcony, as they work their way south.
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« Reply #42 on: <03-02-15/1926:35> »
Before the stocky helmeted woman gets a response from the team as to what her orders are, she feels two small "snaps" as she's come to call them. It almost feels like an angel shot her with a rubber band and she knows that's what it feels like when you lose a spiritual connection to something. No doubt Gadreel and her minor wall or force had both been defeated, leaving Sister Rebecca alone, save for the two "lost brothers", whose plan is starting to seem less and less well thought out with every moment that passes. She can hear the sounds of gunfire downstairs and can only assume that a few people are being shot. Innocents. Sheep who know not they follow a wolf. Beneath her identity obscuring helmet, an expression of grief and regret racks her face, but she keeps her head on the task at hand, as she's been taught. Then, the chatter starts up again.

<<@Team [Achak] Three more down. Where is Gadreel?>>

<<@Team [Stake] Cut the power and search for the vampires. I'll be done here soon.>>

<<@Team [Sister Rebecca] Orders acknowledged. Recon is down. Power will be out momentarily.>>

With newfound clarity of purpose, she begins jogging up the stairs at a relaxed pace, which for her is quite impressive, being the exceptional physical specimen she is. As she does, she reaches her will out into the astral once more. "Heavenly Chorus above!!! I, your humble instrument in this world beg of thee, send me the aid of Leliel, Seraph of night that I might darken these corridors and save more innocent lives! Please!" Within the span of a thought, she is joined by a floating astral figure. A blueblack skinned genderless humanoid form which is somehow exquisitely beautiful to gaze upon floats along beside her as she pounds one foot after another up the stairs. "The lost brothers injure the flock. Some may even be slain before the sun rises. Your name shall be on their deaths as well," it says to her in a near admonishing tone.

"Of course, Noble Leliel. I apologize for them, dearly. I shall share of my strength and wisdom with them, but I shall also take equal share of their sins and misdeeds until I can draw them back into the glory of the Father." With but a blink of its lashless eyelids, Leliel responds melodically, "We have made covenant, then. What aid do you require of me?" Heart beating fast as she ascends the stairs, the screaming and commotion beneath her getting slightly quieter, she responds, "In the basement, there are several electrical generators. Destroy them, please?"

With nothing more than another blink, Leliel is gone; off to attend its task. It's then that she hears the footsteps above her, moving toward her. She looks up to see flashes between stairs of a shleppy, balding, middle aged man, moving with far more grace and speed than he ought. Then she notices his aura. He's clearly awakened, dual natured, and "different" somehow. This has to be a vampire...

<<@Team [Sister Rebecca] One contact just below 3rd floor stairwell. Engaging.>>

...but let's be certain before we begin cleaving him. Still jogging up the stairs, she points the barrel of her Arm Tech upwards, in an attempt to lob one of the new toys she's borrowed from Achak up near him. I've got a full clip of these things after all, and they'll only irritate him if he's not my target. I should be lucky enough to have such a weapon on every demon hunt.
« Last Edit: <03-02-15/1932:05> by Poindexter »
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« Reply #43 on: <03-04-15/1208:19> »
@Sister Rebecca

Sister Rebecca's grenade smacks the man square in just and detonates immediately.  A puff of sand-colored sawdust erupts on the man's face, and the well-placed shot has him inhaling before he knows better.  Becca can see the capillaries in his face bursting, bringing blood in long spider lines to the surface of his face, and he coughs once before the lights go out.

In the astral, Becca can see him turn and run, leaving her line of sight a second before she hears the sound of a door being torn off its hinges to her right.  She feels a word, a word she should not utter, nor even think, begin to cross her mind before she stuffs it down through a sheer force of will.  ". . . He's fast."

@Achak,

Achak holds his ground against the onslaught of patrons.  It seems some near the bottom of the stairs have realized that they're not getting anywhere, and the bottle neck begins to ease.  They'll go elsewhere to find their escape.  Before the ones nearest to Achak can back down the stairs, the lights go out, and the stairwell is filled with the sound of falling bodies and gasps for air mixed with the sounds of panicked screams.
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« Reply #44 on: <03-04-15/1208:46> »
The world starts to speed up again as the overload of information starts to filter through his brain. Stake shakes off the chaos and focuses his attention back on hand. His thoughts start to speed up again as the chaos of the crowd just ... disappears. He knows they're there, but his mind doesn't pay any attention to them. It doesn't matter where they are going or what they are doing, just that they are there.

What does matter are the 4 Yakuza that exit with guns drawn. I do not have time for this. There's no time to check if the guard he shot was truly down. He'd have to risk it. Stake quickly analyzes his options. He could run straight at them, and while he could take them by surprise, he was clearly outnumbered. That wasn't a good idea. He could exit the building and wait for the power to cut, but that would just backtrack him. That left the bar. It was made out of wood, and it was decently thick. It would be good cover.

Stake pulled the mask out of his inner pocket and put it on. He could hear much more clearly now, and was comforted by the sight of the biomonitor displaying that he was at 100%. Sprinting, he swiftly reached the bar and ducked behind it; cutting off line of sight from the Yakuza, at least temporarily. There were two bartenders cowering in fear. That would complicate things.

Stake raised his gun slightly, pointing it at them. Forcefully, he commands, "Do not make a sound. Understand?" The assault rifle can clearly be seen by both of them. They didn't need to know the gun wasn't loaded with lethal rounds. With a mental command, he activates his thermographic vision. The world drastically changes, as the colors disappear and are replaced by blues and reds. "And don't even think about running. If I don't shoot you, I'm sure your guards will."