2013.08.27 - Snakes are a Pain

The violet portal closes with a soft pop behind the the dark-clad trio as the step out onto the roof of one of the better hotels in the capital city of the South Pacific island nation of Rheelasia. Drawing an illusion about them, to disguise their clearly foreign and unusual appearances -- what with the armored mercenary, the blue demon, and the leather clad sorceress -- Amanda Sefton gives her two companions a tight smile and gestures them to follow her. She makes her way across the roof and descends a narrow set of stairs onto a back terrace, which takes them into the hotel proper. The illusion holds. No one gives them a second glance, though the hotel staff are all quite deferential. And the sorceress gives them a cordial nod whenever they greet her.
The game, as she explained back in New York before they arrived, is simple. One of her contacts in Egypt snagged her before she left the country. He told her about how a certain Junta official has been collecting Egyptian artefacts off the black market for exorbitant sums of money. Since she was so helpful in solving the mystery of the rotating Anubis statue (what was the official line on that, anyway?), he figured she might be up for a jaunt into the South Pacific to recover a certain set of scrolls that are rumoured to have come from the earliest of the Egyptian pharaohic dynasties. And he offered her a sizable reward for her services -- a reward that should help with the construction of the Maj and, just maybe, give Kurt some wiggle room, too. The type of money not even Dom would sneeze at.
Of course, for that type of money, Amanda's pretty sure there's more involved in all this than a simple snatch and grab. She's also sure she needs to take a look at those scrolls before she hands them over. Things are bad enough in Cairo, these days, she doesn't want to add to those ills by unleashing untempered magic on the city in the hands of an amateur... or worse, someone who actively means harm.
So, step one is register at the hotel under a decent alias -- one she's cultured before, on rare occasion, when she's been in this part of the world looking for other magical artefacts. Step two is get the lay of the land, figure out where the Junta man keeps his stash. Step three is infiltrate and secure the scrolls... and step four is get the hell outta dodge before anyone's the wiser.
Odds on which step everything goes to hell? Pending...
Mister and Mrs Smith?
Could Kurt have been any more creative than that? Okay, while 'Smith' is actually 'Schmidt', the point still stands. It's something, admittedly, he's always wanted to do on a 'mission'. Don't all the big spies get to register under aliasses?
Dammit, he can too!
Strolling through the lobby, if there's one thing Kurt can do is look as if he belongs in body language. He too offers the occasional nod, though now under his breath, "Did we get two rooms, two queensize.. or one very large king?" He can always hope?
(So a mage, a mercenary, and a teleporter walk into a hotel... Think I've heard this one before.)
Image inducers got nothing on a mage. Domino's used the technology before. It's incredible stuff, but not always the best for hiding obscene amounts of military grade ordnance. Now as she walks through the hotel with the other two, lugging around a large black polymer case that's sure to be packed full of very illegal party favors, she can't help but think that they're cheating.
Which, of course, is something that she wholly approves of. If you've got it, exploit it.
Someone had once told her that it was a bad idea to take contracts from one's buddies. With the number of zeroes following the estimated payout of this run she suddenly had a case of selective memory loss. Blame her if you'd like, after a few hours she's going to have more money than you.
With Kurt's inquiry she nonchalantly smirks, responding with a question of her own. "Why, anxious to spend the night on the floor?"
Amanda chuckles at Dom's response to Kurt. "Suite," she tells him, her accent oddly, very properly French. "Two adjoining bedrooms and a sitting area. It wouldn't do for Élisabeth Durand and her party to stay in anything less."
Apparently she's been holding out on Kurt. But there was a whole whack of time when he was in America and she... wasn't. Jemaine Szardos went through several reincarnations before she settled upon Amanda Sefton of New York (via London and Berlin).
Still, her facility with her mother's mother-tongue serves her well. And, let's face it: the English can't corner the whole market with wild, rich young female treasure hunters, can they?
She's used the alias on many occasions, when she's looking for unusual artefacts, usually of a magical nature, but not always. (A girl has to finance her magic somehow. And airline flight attending is really only good for the free travel and frequent rumours.)
"Ah, Ms. Durand," she's greeted as she approaches the concierge desk. "A pleasure to see you again. Your assistant called ahead. Your suite is ready for you."
"Merci beaucoup, Leung," the 'frenchwoman' says with a gracious smile. "Your hospitality is unsurpassed, as always." She reaches out to take the keys as he offers them, passing one each to her companions. "I am expecting company. If you could ring me, when they arrive, I will meet with them in the lounge."
"Of course, madame."
She glances briefly at her companions, nods her head toward the elevator, and waves away the bellhop that threatens to divest them of their luggage.
Kurt can't help but offer something of a theatric but soft sigh that is easily coupled with a smile at Domino's response. Touche! "I am wounded," is whispered.
Yeah.. not.
Acting every inch the 'and her party', Kurt studiously ignores the hotel employees, and steps forward to to touch the elevator once he's in possession of the key to their rooms. "Did they bring up the items you requested before we arrived?" Every 'famous' person has things readied in their rooms, be it water, soda, bagels.. or all sorts of area delicacies! "They do know you like your champagne chilled to a nice 40', ja?" Err.. "Oui?"
Wounded? "Not hardly."
French, not a language that Dom knows. So, while the keys are passed out she just keeps her mouth shut. A few seconds without witty banter isn't going to kill her. Heck, she's been accused of being the quiet one while on mercenary operations. These two tend to bring out the best (and sometimes the worst) of her.
The poor bellhop nearly receives an elbow in the face when he tries to help the lady out with her heavy luggage. "Uh..delicate instruments inside. Sorry."
Within the safety of the elevator she releases a slow breath in silence, reaching back to rub behind her neck while looking between the two. "Well, this is a trip. Now I can say someone paid me to listen to a German pretending to be French without lying." Like she used those words before without anything to back them up.
When her gaze falls upon Amanda again, she asks "So what kinda intel do we have on this run? Locations, opposition, environment, coordinates, anything you've got I'll take."
"The name of our target is Colonel Namkung Min-sang. Colonel Namkung's division monitored much of the south island's import and export business under Generalissimo Lee, before the 'beloved leader' was assassinated. After the initial round of fighting died down, he was recognized as the third most influential leader of the Junta that currently rules this country. He has a large estate just to the east of the city. When we get upstairs, I'll show it to you as well as I can."
Oh the joys of magic... and Google Earth.
"Given his influence here, however, I think it's a safe bet that he'll have all the bells and whistles a protected despot's personal fortress could ever hope to have. It's said he keeps his treasures in a furnished vault deep in the heart of his estate compound, well away from prying outside eyes."
Why make it easy, right?
Stepping into the elevator, Kurt waits for the ladies to enter before he pushes the buttons with his invisible tail, and the door closes behind them. (Look ma, no hands!)
Hey...
Kurt looks down at Domino, his brows rising in amused curiosity, and he simply can't help himself, "When has that -ever- come up und you've had to lie about it?" Looking to Amanda, the expression of 'dismay' still holds, "Have you ever had to lie about something like that?"
Though, as Domino begins asking her questions, those golden eyes look interestedly at the sorceress- coordinates! Those he can do! "Ja.. please do. If we have street view, even better." Even though he has a good idea that he'll be doing more walking, running and wall-clinging than bamfing through the alleys.
Though there's a certain impish quality to his face now, and he lowers his voice, "Does anyone have a picture of 'said' vault?" Oh please, let the answer be yes!
A thin look of amusement crosses the mercenary's mouth. "I'm not at liberty to say."
It's like music to Domino's ears. 'The name of our target.' The scrolls aren't the target. Ancient relics aren't the target. No, the objective of the hour stands on his own two legs and has a name. Someone with his reputation will have his picture all over creation, too. Super easy to ID. The albino woman abruptly inclines her head a few degrees, her tone purely casual when she offers two simple words in response: "Got it."
The Colonel's officially been marked for termination. No debates nor reasons necessary. This here's what she gets paid to do. The only question is whether Kurt will be able to handle it or not (or, saving that, if Amanda honestly did want this guy to get assassinated!)
"I'm not all that concerned about security given the team we've got. 'Going places in a hurry' is well represented."
When the elevator comes to a stop she's content to take point the rest of the distance, finding their room then sliding the key through to unlock it. No 'hostess first,' she sweeps right into the room and checks everywhere in a series of quick glances.
"Checks out." Nothing unpleasant waiting for them here. It's a start.
Amanda isn't big on the whole assassination thing, truthfully. As Dom verifies that the room is clear, she closes the door quietly, but firmly, behind them and starts warding the room carefully. Paranoid much? Maybe not so much as you'd think.
"Our primary goal," she notes, "is to liberate the scrolls. But, frankly, if I find anything else of particular value there, I'll want us to grab it, too. Killing... isn't our first priority. That said..." She glances between the two. "I've heard rumours about Namkung. I wasn't sure, at first, but when I tried scrying I bumped up against some pretty heavy shielding his whereabouts. I was tossed aside by some sort of ward symbol. I haven't had time to research it fully, but I recognized a... tag, if you will." Yes. As in graffiti tag. The artist signed his work. "It was the symbol of Ular Menunggu -- the Serpent Who Lays In Wait." She knows that'll mean nothing to them, but to a magic user, it's bad news.
"Dom, I don't know if you've seen the Majestic Theatre in downtown New York, or not -- or if Kurt's told you much about it -- but, for a while, it was infested with some pretty heavy dark magic. Ular Menunggu makes the crap we waded through there look pretty in comparison." And, as Kurt could tell her, they waded through some pretty nasty crap. All the way up to the ceiling.
"If the Colonel's been corrupted by the Serpent... well, I'm no angel. There are times you don't give a guy a do-over. When he's up to his eyeballs in a creature from the Outer Dark, that would be one of those times."
At least there's champagne! And fruit! And.. sweet pastries discovered when Kurt wanders into the common room of the suite. Perching upon the couch, his forearms rest upon his knees and he nods at Domino's words. If it's a quick moving team, silent in and out, that is definitely them. With firepower.
Reaching over to the chilled champagne, Kurt finds a corkscrew and begins the unwinding.. and the all around uncorking of the pricey bottle.
"Ular Menunggu.. geshundheit."
Still, Kurt can pick out the gravity in which Amanda explains, and his tail dips a little as he glances towards Domino. Bad man.
"Is it a case of exorcism?"
-POP-
The bottle of bubbly is opened, and there's a bit of an overflow which Kurt courteously tries to contain.. by putting the bottle in his mouth. He pauses, and those yellow orbs move from one to the other.. and slowly, he takes it out, but not without swallowing. "Sorry.."
"Scrolls, ja. Und any other bit of Egyptian things. Now, were these 'liberated' during all the conflict, I wonder."
It might be questionable as to whether a spare bed is required just for all of Dom's gear or not. The heavy case gets dropped onto one edge as the room is being protected, black capped white fingers popping the latches and swinging the lid open to reveal more than just a gun.
There's six.
Right as Amanda explains that this isn't going to be a hit.
Black-clad shoulders hang in unison, met with a disheartened "Nawww... Way to ruin my fun."
Not that it's exactly slowing her down for long, in another moment she's idly whistling while hefting a big, scary rifle out of the case. Bolt goes here, magazines go here and here (the blasted thing holds two of them,) suppressor threads on here... Apparently she's planning on doing some late night hunts for those rare, elusive tanks.
POP!
Pale eyes narrow as her head darts back toward Kurt. In an instant the scowl is replaced with flat-out laughter as he stuffs the mouth of the bottle into his maw.
Once she's pulled herself together, she confirms "Been there a few times. Last I heard I had a Huey perched on the roof. Kinda hoping that's still the case, they're somewhat expensive to replace."
So..it's a bad, evil, dark man full of bad, evil, dark magic. "And we don't want this guy iced why, again?" she inquires with a brow hooked upward, her stance with the rifle worthy of a Kodak moment.
Amanda finishes her warding and takes her satchel off her shoulder, laying it on the table in the main room. She starts pulling some things from it in a manner not all that dissimilar to how Dom goes about taking care of her weapons. They serve a similar purpose, after all. She glances up to the merc as she laughs and follows her gaze to Kurt.
Now, she laughs, too, and shakes her head. Some things are guaranteed.
As the mercenary poses with her gun on her hip, her laughter turns dry, but doesn't noticeably fade. "It all depends on how tight the Colonel is with the Serpent. There is a point of no return. If the guy's crossed it --" She glances to Kurt -- "an exorcism is... unlikely to work." And she gives Dom a sweet smile. "Which is why bringing Big Bertha, there, was a good idea." Rounds of hot lead can and do slow even magical creatures (though she'll concede the Serpent may not feel them much, but Namkung will). She won't say it, given her own nature, but, often as not, the best way to kill a practitioner of the mystic arts is with a long-range sniper rifle from a goodly distance. What they don't hear or see coming they can't easily defend against.
She pulls out her compact with the ferrous dust once more and spreads an eight-inch mirror on the table. Then, she pours the dust onto it, beginning a soft incantation to pull up the images of the compound -- as closely as she can get to it, anyway.
There are parts of the illusionary model she creates that are indistinct, low res, if you will. But the sense of it is there. Interestingly enough, in the high res areas, the patrols can even be seen -- little figures no taller than three or four millimeters with even tinier guns, languishing at the corners or ambling along the compound walls.
"It's okay, liebling," and Kurt reaches out to pat Domino's arm. "I'm sure we can find an anthill for you to stomp on, or somesuch." He pauses for a brief moment, and in that laughter, he hands her the bottle. "Some?"
The Huey is on the roof? Kurt looks up, and the smile that is resident upon his face grows. "Ja, they are. You don't know the hell I went through to get that. They were shooting missiles at me!" The nerve! Stealing one of their military helos, and they had the audacity to try to shoot him out of the sky! "Und it was my second try, too. They shot und blew up the first one."
Pulling out his cellphone, Kurt looks all the world as if he's checking messages, but in the next heartbeat, he's got the phone up and with a *click*, the smartphone does, indeed, mark her pose for pixellated posterity. "Much better one than the one I have for your calls, liebling. Danke."
With Amanda's attention, Kurt simply offers an expression so filled with innocence- which is really hard when he looks as he does. "Would having your own personal demon help here? Or doesn't he know he's got his own demons?" He is getting better with the 'scary' lately.
Kurt nods his head, and reperches upon his seat, though he does lean forward for fruit, for cheese.. and some of those frosted donuts! Watching Amanda's preparations, he finally gets himself back off the couch and saunters over to where the display begins to come forth. Licking blue, fuzzy fingers, his tail sways gently behind him. He peers at the display, and there's a certain concentration in which he watches, discerning different potential landing spots.
"Well score one for the white team," Domino replies to Amanda. She's already got her own gameplan in the works, just in case that shot needs to be taken. It involves the Bamf Express to the nearest bit of high ground.
Speaking of, when the bottle is offered she has herself a drink in identical fashion. She's so civilized. "Oh no, I'd never shoot an anthill. Semtex works so much better for entrenched targets."
"Actually, I think I know exactly what kind of hell you went through with that," she replies while passing the bottle back to the furry guy. "Oh..wait, that's right. You flew that one. Good on you." Grin. "And I'll bet you had one hell of a good time doing it."
Then her picture is taken. "Betcha I can do ya one better," she challenges while setting the portable cannon down and going for another weapon to give it similar treatment (bigger than a pistol but small enough to be considered cute next to Bertha, there.)
The powder on the mirror is a neat trick. "Huh. Kinda like the movies." Then, squinting, she leans in reeeeeal close to try and identify the near-microscopic weapons those 'guards' are carrying. Yeah, not going to happen. The thick suppressor of her machine pistol sweeps toward the mirror, followed with a lazy "Bang."
Gun in one hand she takes the phone into the other, her stance relaxed as she flips through the pictures until she gets to the one of her flying out of an exploding Blue Rover while on the back of a motorcycle. This she passes over to Kurt as easily as she had returned the bottle to his custody.
Amanda raises her head from concentrating on the creation of her model and chuckles at the two of them. "Why do I feel like I need to give you guys a day by the pool just to play?"
She takes the bottle from Kurt, now, and grabs herself a tumbler in lieu of a flute, sloshing a couple of fingers worth into the glass and setting the bottle back down so the pair can share it. She also walks around to grab some of the fruit that had been left for them. It wouldn't do for the staff to think the Frenchwoman didn't enjoy their preparations.
Food and drink set on the table beside her model, now, Amanda picks up a tiny red fruit-spear sword and uses it as a pointer. "My best guess is that Namkung's inner sanctum is somewhere in here." Unsurprisingly, she points to where the resolution is lowest. "The closest portal I can get in without breaching any of the wards I saw when I was scrying is here." She indicates a spot inside the compound, but still close to the walls. "And that's providing whatever rebuffed me hasn't reinforced the wards. If it has, the safest spot is probably here." She points to a riverbank just north of the compound with a stream that flows off it into the estate.
"Oh, very clever, liebling. Hell jokes!" Kurt grins, and he reaches out to poke Domino with his tail, but pulls back at the last minute. "I might have put one or two little things in there.. that you may not have found yet." There's that mischievious expression, complete with sly smile.
It begins to fall, however, to see the picture of his Blue Rover! How.. sad.
Kurt reaches to take the cell from its owner for a moment, and he looks at the pic. His teak! The masts.. and.. and..
Sigh.
Kurt straightens in as he lets go of the picture. "Next time, I'll be sure to remind you to clean up after yourself, liebling. Leaving bits of boat in the harbour was discourteous."
Amanda's pointing gains Kurt's attention again, and now, he waves over to Domino to come back (in case she wanders too far afield!). He looks up at Amanda now, the smile creeping back to his face. "It wouldn't do any good, liebling. This -is- relaxed."
Though now, Kurt's attention if fully upon the picture again. His voice is low, "I might be able to telport into a circle," he begins. "Unless they've covered the infernal dimension to keep me out." Safest spot.. "I want shadows. Trees work as well."
"Oh gosh, mom, that'd be great! Can we go for ice cream, too?"
Dom pauses there as she glances back to the plates full of snacks. "On second thought, donuts are a lot closer. And now I'm hungry." She's also rapidly running out of hands to do things with, especially with storytime rapidly approaching. The PDW goes back into the padded case before she circles around, explaining to Kurt "It wasn't registered under my name. Besides, the other guys are the ones that left the mess." It's said as she claims an apple off of the tray by means of impaling it with the matte black business end of a combat knife on her way. A foot grabs a nearby chair and pulls it closer then falls upon the edge of the seat, leaning forward on that raised knee and taking a bite of fruit as she watches Amanda's demonstration from above.
"Are we going to have as much trouble when trying to find a way back out of the perimeter?" Because that would seriously interfere with the other options she's piecing together from the small display. Kurt's asking about cover doesn't surprise her any. It's his favored approach, which is ever so slightly different from her own. "Looking past that whole 'not killing' thing, are we looking at shadow op conditions or open engagement once inside?"
If she can't disable everything at their point of insertion with high velocity lovetaps then Kurt's idea of cover becomes doubly important.
Amanda wrinkles her nose. "I'll be honest: I prefer the shadow op approach." She's a magic user. What do you expect? "So we go in quiet. But, if" (when) "they start shooting at us, all bets are off." A beat. "Kinda like Shanghai, yeah? You guys keep 'em busy and I'll grab what we need." Which, yes, she realizes means there area lot of Junta soldiers and likely mercenaries who are going to have a very bad, very unlucky day.
"If I'm able to disable the wards from the inside, we can portal out. If not," she glances to Kurt, "it's the Bamf Express." Unless, of course, they decide to steal another helo?
"The intel my contact gave me suggest about 100 people living on the compound, all told. About a third of those are serving staff. The rest are either soldiers or the Colonel's aides, friends, and family."
"Oh gosh.. let me blow up your bike.. but that's okay. It's not mine," Kurt retorts, and he sticks out his tongue towards the albino merc. There's no malice in his words, not even a lingering bitterness. He's fine. Domino is fine. And one day, he'll have a new boat, and he'll hoist the flags!
And this time, actually take the ocean cruise.
"If we bamf, it's in und out easily." Kurt looks to Amanda, and frowns, "Would wards mean that you wouldn't be able to place a portal into the treasure room? They all would have to be taken out for you to do your thing?" For as long as he's lived side by side, there are still a few things that he's not quite sure about. He does look first at Amanda, then to Domino, his voice low. "I would almost say 'targets as presented'." Does he even have to say it? No women, no children... Probably not.
"So there are innocents there too." Backing from his spot, Kurt makes a leap for the ceiling, then straight down onto the couch, a donut grabbed with his tail in the action. "Mein bamf ist ihrer bamf."
Dom waits for Amanda's next piece before nodding once, pushing away from her temporary perch to return to her crate of goodies. Quiet she can do, despite popular belief. She likes shadow ops, thank you very much! It's usually the work of a teammate botching something that promises they'll be going loud before they leave.
Some thought is given before she reaches for a handful of assorted magazines that all have a single piece of dark orange tape wrapped around the bottom quarter. A few for the PDW, a few more for a pair of HK 45C pistols. What can't be loaded right from the start ends up getting swapped out with some of her current equipment.
"Already trashed the bike," she replies to Kurt before glancing his way with another smirk. "Too slow there, Furball." Not too slow in nabbing a donut mid-leap, though!
(Gods help me, he's still amusing sometimes.)
She could also just feel Kurt's glowy stare when he mentioned there being innocents involved. "Relax. I heard," she almost mutters with another chilled glance passed his way.
The second pair of sidearms get strapped around the outside of her legs, doubling the current count on her person. "Alright, here's my suggestion. We get in, go to cover. Once secure we split, Amanda can start tracking down our target while Kurt gets me around the grounds. Give me four minutes and I can have half a dozen distractions ready to go with the press of a button. From there we proceed as a group. If things get hot we'll be able to take some of the pressure off of us."
And that's why Amanda brings Dom to these little shindigs. She's so much better at figuring it out than she is. Well. Amanda's general solution is to cloak in an invisibility illusion, portal in and portal out. But, since she's got help on this job? Yeah. She'll listen to them.
Thus, she nods to the albino merc, and gives Kurt a tight smile. "It all depends on the wards. Some keep intruders out, but don't do anything to keep them in once they've breached the walls, so to speak. Others are meant to keep people in, but can't do anything to keep them out. Use the right combination and you have a one-two punch. Keep 'em out for as long as you can, but trap 'em if they manage to get in and then sic something big and nasty on them."
You know. Like Ular Menunggu.
She lets out a breath now, nods, and starts repacking her satchel. "Okay. Normally, I'd suggest waiting until full-dark. But, frankly, I don't think our timing is going to matter all that much. So... If you two are ready?"
The bike? It's trashed?
That's sad.
Not sad enough that Kurt doesn't work on his glazed donut, popping the last bit into his mouth. He's actually rather attentive to the plans moving around him, but he's also content in allowing the ladies to work out their parts.
"Ja. It is true. We can move around, und have things set such that they'll never realize it. All without a *bamf*." Kurt splays a three-fingered hand when he uses his teleporting sound effect. "Und I can put her anywhere she needs to be, und keep attention off of her, if need be." He is, after all, rather.. noteworthy.
As for the wards, Kurt presses his lips together, "You didn't answer my question before. Do you think this will become a demon versus demon thing? Because if he's got wards against things like that, I'll have to be careful as to where und how I go."
Kurt is, however, ready.. and rising on the couch, standing upon it, he looks to the two lovely ladies. "All I need is my sword. I've missed it."
No sooner has he said it, that he's back in the *bamf* of an eye, a rather sharp looking sabre sitting at his side. "Now, I am ready, lieblingen."
The call's being made. Good! Dom didn't fancy throwing all of these guns onto her person only to learn that they aren't planning on tackling this job for another four hours. The blade gets freed from her apple, briefly wiped off then tucked back into hiding. She's thinking maybe six guns will be enough (maybe,) dropping the sniper rifle across her back and slinging the PDW around the opposite shoulder. She's starting to look like a porcupine with stocks and barrels jutting out from her person.
The case gets flipped closed and locked, better safe than sorry. "If it turns into that, my money's on you, Blue."
Two half gloved fingers curl around the charging handle on the back of the PDW, smoothly retracting the bolt then letting it slap back into battery. "Let's go steal ourselves a little piece of history."
Demon versus demon? Amanda considers it. "I don't know," she says honestly. "It's possible. Frankly, though, if the Serpent manifests... well, the Outer Dark is to Hell what Hell is to Earth, if you get my meaning? So..." Her expression grows serious. "It'll take teamwork, that." She shakes her head slightly. "I don't know if they'll have shielded against Hell or not. Most Hellspawn avoid the Outer Dark, so the Serpent's presence may be enough. They may not have considered anything greater a threat. That said, if there are any dark sorcerers out there that want what Namkung has, I wouldn't be surprised if there are demonwards in place. Summoning a demon isn't actually that hard." Binding it, however, takes a little more work.
However, she smiles at Dom, now. "Okay. Let's do this thing." And yes, like the merc, even she has a look of anticipation. She turns, now, and calls up her portal, opening it at the base of a well-shaded tree.
----------------------------
The late afternoon breeze whispers through the palms high overhead. The trees provide shade and some shadow, which is handy, given the expanse between the edge of the forest and the sturdy stone compound wall (topped with electrified razorwire, of course, and patrolled by men and dogs). Behind the trio of intrepid adventurers, a glowing violet portal closes with a soft *pop*. Amanda Sefton carefully tucks an errant strand of blonde hair behind her ear, within the dark hood of her combat leathers, and whispers the soft spell to light her eyes with that second sight that is her magesight. She'll need it, if the soft whisper of magic she detects about the place is any indication.
"Alright," she says to her companions, now. "Blue, get us in -- get me to a position where I can get a good overview, while you and Dom set up the distractions."
That's the plan, isn't it?
Kurt can sense magic, and the moment that Amanda puts on her magesight, he feels the tickling of the fuzz on the back of his neck. Looking back as the portal closes, there's an expression almost like a scoff as brief *pop* sounds. What sort of noise is that?!
Holding out his hand for Domino, his tail for Amanda, the moment he's asked is the moment the trio is on their way once again. Into the compound, but high. There's a bit of roof that appears to be hidden from most of the view. (Kurt's studied the comings and goings on Amanda's little version of google maps!) Holding on to the pair just so they keep their balance after landing, Kurt is crouched low so as to be sure that there isn't even the barest chance of being spotted.
Looking to Domino, Kurt begins, "I'm going to keep you here, liebling. You have a good view for the moment." It's to Amanda next, then, that the fuzzy blue teleporter turns. "I can get you in to one of the rooms with a window. Watch your progress, und let us know when things go 'boom'?"
Bamf!
Game face casual Thursday! Domino's forgone any black warpaint touches for this operation, there's really no point to it even on a good day unless she wants to psych out the enemy a little further. With this run, getting noticed means losing points. The other two should have an easy enough time not being seen.
If anyone else notices her she'll just pull the trigger.
As the trio port into the compound she comes through already in a crouch, the 9mm PDW's stubby polymer stock wedged firm against her shoulder as she does an initial sweep. It's the biggest problem with teleportation, there aren't any guaranteed safe zones or fallback points. The situation needs to be immediately evaluated, targets need to be identified, cover needs to be established. Fortunately, both Amanda and Kurt are good at finding quiet places to drop into.
Dom's not going to ask how many mistakes it took them each to perfect that skill.
With Kurt's update she says nothing, dipping her chin slightly in acknowledgement before getting herself into a more ideal position to keep an eye on things around and below. They can do whatever they need to do, she'll be up here waiting. Ready.
Amanda's portal doesn't quite disturb the aether the same way Kurt or TJ's teleporting does. Thus, she gets a softer, less offensive sound. Lucky her!
As they port to the hidden roof top, she takes a quick glance around, scanning for key ward points. Generally, they're seen most easily at common thresholds -- doors, windows, gates. She squints a little, gazing to the main house.
"There," she tells Kurt softly, as Domino hunkers down. "That back wing is the servants' quarters. It's less heavily warded than the central areas. I should be able to make my way in from there." Of course, the servants' rooms are smaller, as are their windows. But, she's learned to exploit weaknesses where she sees them. "Once I'm in, I'm going to head toward the main vault room. I'll let you know when I get there -- but if you haven't heard from me in 10 set off whatever distractions you can manage and get the hell out."
Not, mind, that she actually thinks Kurt will leave until he knows she's safe. But she is better in a straight-up magical fight than he is.
Kurt's on the smaller roof now, and he's got Amanda around the waist with his tail as he climbs down the wall upside down (hello squirrel!), and bamf! into the small, visible room within, on his feet. Their feet. It's not dark, dark, but it's dim enough that he feels comfortable enough leaving her behind. "Now liebling," he whispers. "Ten minutes. If I do not hear from you, all hell will break loose."
And that's no idle promise.
In the next heartbeat, there is that tell-tale sound, and scent of brimstone and sulfur left behind before reappearing beside Domino, and crouching. "How does it look?" As if he can't see the tours of men below with their dogs..?
It's never a bad time to prepare, and a woman like Domino isn't satisfied unless she's got enough variations of a plan to cover half of the alphabet. With the others away she gets started, making her way over to an exposed chimney where the first charge is placed. It's tiny enough to barely have room for detonator leads, a literal speck of compound that will sound like a bird flew into the stack when (if) triggered. Distraction 1 is soon ready to go, it'll draw any unwanted attention upward.
Distraction 2 is a drop in the bucket. Literally! A light underhanded toss sends the next pellet of compound into a large metal drum lining the outer wall of another nearby building. That one'll sound like a rock or a foot ran into the barrel, impossible to miss. It'll drive everyone crazy. She might set that one off just for the hell of it.
Total mission expendatures: $35 USD, counting.
When Kurt reappears her attention doesn't waver, she's gotten so used to that Bamf compared to the way it used to make her jump. "Five and a canine south, eleven and two covering north expanse, seven and two east, three and zero south. Locations as marked: A, B, C, D," she states while motioning with white fingers around the foregrip of a black PDW to different places around the area. They aren't in order, seemingly picked at random for which letter they would be designated.
"Six seconds to A, we'll avoid the patrols."
She takes her work seriously. With a payout as good as this one and two buddies on the line, she can't afford not to.
Amanda takes a moment to look around the servant's room after Kurt has disappeared. She crosses to the dresser, where an old, stained and dog-eared photograph sits beside a rough hairbrush. Studying the photograph for a moment, she then turns to the closet and opens it. There are uniforms there, as she expected. Not military, but suitable to a household maid. Smiling wryly at the propensity so many of obscenely rich, evil men have toward the French Maid fetish, she whispers a soft spell, cloaking herself in an Downton-esque illusion that darkens her hair, eyes, and skin, and should let her pass mostly unnoticed through the hallways, without actually having to spend the energy to make herself invisible. Adjusting her satchel, she cracks open the door, makes a quick look left then right, and steps out, quietly easing the door closed once more behind her.
Even as Dom and Kurt make it to 'A', she begins making her way quietly down the hallway, toward the main living space and, she hopes, the entry to the inner sanctum.
Kurt's crouching, and those golden eyes are looking over each check as it's whispered. He has to remind himself not to move his tail quite so much; movement draws the eye, regardless of what it is. Bringing his tail around for it to be useful, he points ever so slightly off at 5:00 to them on the ground. Grass. Dirt. And there's something that caught the teleporter's eye. "Did you see the disruption in the dirt, liebling? It is difficult to notice, but it is there."
He can't help himself, however, and Kurt fashions his voice conspiratorially, adding a bit of gritty mercenary tone into his words. "Got a spare flash boom grenade? Just in case, I may want to drop .. an egg." Isn't that what they'd agreed upon in their particular code?
"It may not be an entrance, but the bad guys may use it as an emergency exit."
Cold blue eyes narrow when the disruption is pointed out, Domino's gaze following Kurt's. "Sometimes I forget how well you can see in the dark, Furball."
The question that follows would normally have her hanging her head with a sigh. "Flashbang. Not flashboom." Yet, ask and ye shall receive. She's barely done correcting the guy when her left hand comes back around with a small, lightweight, and entirely modern grenade to pass over.
"Make sure I know what you're doing before you boil that."
Then they're off. Four points to cover, four charges to set. It's like clockwork, up until point D when she takes a partial step forward and stops dead when there's a Snap! of a dead twig underfoot. It's followed by a soft "Huh..?" from around the corner.
Sometimes being a ghost in the flesh is handy, she can't get that much more pale. She hisses a faint "Sidewall" between her teeth, stepping carefully as she moves into deeper, darker cover.
For the most part, as she moves through the house, Amanda is rarely given a second glance. Of course, she's careful not to meet any eyes as she goes. Once, she even picks up a silver tray and a couple of half-empty tumblers, carrying them with her a ways to make her passage look more 'natural'. As she reaches the center of the house, however, the magical wards begin showing up with greater regularity and she is forced to abandon her disguise. At that point, she changes the illusion, casting a careful veil of invisibility about herself and willing into it a muffling of sound and scent -- just in case. It takes precious energy to effect, however, drawing solely on the Winding Way as she is, so far away from those cities she calls 'home'. And it isn't something she wants to maintain for long.
She slides into an old study, following where the wards and sense of magic seems strongest. It's empty, but she can hear muffled voices through the walls when she pauses to listen and assess.
Kurt holds out a hand for the grenade, and he looks for a spot to affix it to his ensemble. He -does- have his sword, so it's set behind that. "You will be the second to know, liebling." After all, if he uses it incorrectly, he knows it'll screw up his vision, rendering him effectively blind.
"Of all the times to forget such a thing," he teases. "Work in the dark isn't one of them."
Kurt gains his spots easily. He's light on his feet, and there's no spotting him unless he wants to be seen.
Domino's whisper, however, brings Kurt's attention around, and there's a moment when he thinks, and quickly. In the next second, Kurt is .. virtually on top of Domino, but.. isn't. And there's something of a strange vibration, or at least perhaps the hair on the albino merc's arms rise. The elf isn't technically bringing Domino into his cloak of shadows, but rather, lying atop her, throwing that blanket over her, effectively, his tail wrapping about her waist. Just in case a hasty retreat is necessary.
Yellow eyes that are completely hidden from the view of such mere mortals, gaze out from his spot, and he narrows them.. waiting for the man to come investigate- if he does.
(Tail.)
It's to Kurt's benefit that Dom's muscles are already coiled like over-wound springs while lying in wait. She can't help it, every time that limb comes into play... Pop. Not unlike the sound of Amanda's portal. Cheng had it coming, but from Kurt?
Could he teleport her torso clean off of her pelvis just as easily?
Her grim, set expression remains focused on the approaching guard, biding her time. Hiding in Kurt's shadow aura, or whatever he calls that thing, gives them both another unfair advantage. Why, she can just watch and wait until his back is turned--
--Then come up from behind, cover his mouth with a hand, and pinch the right cluster of nerves to drop him with barely a sound. As he's let down to the ground the glint of light off of a reflective surface catches her attention, quickly discovering that he had been in possession of a key.
"I'll take that as a good sign," she mutters while tucking said key into her combat webbing. "Think you can drop our pal into a nearby basement? I'll just be a moment."
Distraction D, here she comes. D happens to be one of her favorite letters, too!
The voices remain indistinct. Muffled. All the walls in the room are heavily warded. Unnatural powers are not welcomed here. And, indeed, Amanda had to drop her veil as she passed through into the room, simply to keep from triggering one or two of the more sensitive ones. Her Sight is risk enough.
The doorknob to room turns behind her. She moves quickly, stepping into the shadows behind the door, between it and a tall bookcase. A young man enters the room -- half the age of the Colonel. He wears a house robe over a pair of jeans, but is otherwise bare-footed and bare-chested. Part of the family, then. The door swings partially closed behind him. He has a book in his hand and is distracted by its cover as he walks over to a shelf and raises his hand to put it back in its place.
His eyes grow wide as he sees the hooded blonde beside him. She reaches out with a quick hand and grabs his jaw, turning his face sharply to look at hers. He opens his mouth, perhaps to challenge her or perhaps to call out, but never quite gets the chance.
His brown eyes meet her blue ones and she lets her mutant ability do what her magic cannot safely accomplish in this highly protected space.
"Look at me," she says quietly, throwing the full weight of her will behind the words. His eyes grow wider for a moment as her innate ability to hypnotize plays out, wrapping her will around his. She rewards him with a smile as he starts to relax. He returns her smile as if it's the most natural thing in the world. "I'm just a friend," she whispers softly. "No one you need to worry about. No one you need to mention."
She isn't the droid he's looking for. Move along. Move along.
Carefully, she releases his face, once she's sure he's properly in her thrall.
Kurt can feel Domino's tenseness against him, but he can also see that she 'gets it'. They've never done this before; he's never tried this with her. After all? How in the hell does one actually succeed at hiding an albino in the dark?
Apparently he can.
The teleporter also times it, and slowly his tail uncoils from around her waist, and stepping back, taking his cloak with him, watches as his partner drops the guard. Not a sound as the man drops to the ground, and look! He's still breathing too!
Taking hold of him after stepping officially from the shadows, Kurt nods his head at Domino. "Ja, I'll tie him up, gag him.. und we won't be bothered again." Taking hold of the man in a crouch, there comes the familiar bamf! that marks his departure.
While Kurt's gone, however, there's a text message that appears on Domino's phone with no name or identifier attached, bearing potentially cryptic message. It simply says, 'Take the coin too.'.
Working as a team works so much better when people actually listen to Domino and follow her lead. Sure, most of her experience comes in following the lead of another. Most, but not all. Besides that, run through the motions and follow others for so long and one starts to learn a few useful tricks.
Kurt's gone, guard in tow. One more distraction set, this time in a storm drain. Then she gets a message.
(What, did he get himself lost?)
The phone is flipped out of hiding and into her palm, attention darting between the touchscreen and the tiny glowing reticle in the PDW's reflex sight.
What's waiting for her to read makes her stop short, all the way down to breath. (What..?) What coin? The guard's gone, he couldn't have had it. Besides, why didn't they contact Amanda with this kind of --who would even know about their op?!
(Sonuvabitch, we may be compromised.)
The phone is quickly put back into hiding, before Kurt can return. In proper Domino fashion she isn't about to say a word about this to the rest of the team. The message came to her. Her business. Her problem to deal with.
It's a strange time to have a sense of deja'vu. Blue eyes blink once then stare out across the darkened grounds, her thoughts momenarily detached from reality. Somewhere within another world. A planet within a planet.
Blink.
(Gotta be magic run-off... Just keep your mind on the job so you can get the hell out of here.)
The young man doesn't protest Amanda's presence at all. She nudges the door closed once more and steps around him. "Grab yourself a new book," she tells him simply. "Have a seat. Get comfortable." A beat. She glances at him, as he does exactly as she asks. "You wouldn't happen to know where your Dad keeps his secret art vault, would you?"
The young man smiles at her again. "Behind the wall." He points to a wide-mouthed fireplace sat at the far end.
Amanda blinks at it. And at him.
"He doesn't know I know," the fellow says, and he doffs his robe, tossing it over a chair. At least he kept his jeans on. "But we all know." He sounds casual. Like he's trying to impress her.
"Do you... know how to open it?" Well, hell. It's worth asking. You never know.
Looking disappointed, the young man shakes his head. "No. He took me inside, once. When the Man-in-the-Hood was here." He frowns. "I... don't remember much about it."
Amanda's brows beetle some and her eyes narrow. "No? Well, that's okay."
He moves towards her again, still smiling amiably.
Amanda meets his eyes again with her own. "Go sit down," she tells him firmly.
"I like you," he protests.
"And you can like me just as well from over there," the sorceress replies, gesturing to an armchair on the far side of the room. "Go. Sit down."
Kurt returns without blood on his hands, but his inky-black hair is a little mussed. "Sorry I'm late. Came across a few things while I was putting the guard to bed." Holding up a small bag, there is a decided weight to it. He doesn't reveal what is within, however, instead, setting it to the side, tying it to his belt.
Checking his cell phone, Kurt flicks it open in order to check the time. "Come on, Amanda.." he says softly. "Losing time, losing time.." and he looks back at Domino. "This almost seems.."
There, below, arrives a small convoy of cars pulling into the compound. Guards with dogs are checking the vehicles, the dogs allowed into the cars proper to get a good sniff going. All attention is to that gate with a couple of stragglers on the opposite side wishing they were at the gate to greet the newly arrived!
With the sounds of the unexpected activity, Kurt reaches for Domino before they're spotted, and he's ready to bamf the pair back onto the roof, hidden from direct view.
And there's Bamfus Prime. With..extras.
Bamfus Prime and Bamfus Prime accessories sold separately.
Domino merely glances his way as he checks his own phone. (By all means, have some of that action before anything else finds its way to my number.)
They may not be sitting out in the open but there's only so many hiding places. Plus, daytime. She's starting to feel kind of exposed out here. So, yes. By all means. Hurry up, Amanda.
In another moment the approach of a convoy works as a distraction in its own right, the merc letting the PDW hang at her side as she quickly and quietly slips the rifle around until it's cradled in her hands, thumbs popping the scope covers open so she can get a better look at the newly arriving individuals. "This would have been a nice thing to prepare for."
When the soft touch of a familiar three-fingered hand finds its way to her person, she merely mutters the word "Go." High ground, the very same thought that's now on her own mind.
The young man makes a moue as he's compelled to sit far away from the Sorceress. He flops gracelessly into the chair, folds his arms across his chest, and watches her, lower lip jutting some.
The blonde gypsy ignores him, now. Or, rather, she keeps half an eye on him, but otherwise returns to the task at hand. She doesn't have time to coddle him, and the next time he interrupts, he'll experience the oldest trick in the hypnotist's book: You are getting very sleepy...
Standing before the fireplace, Amanda steps back far enough that she can study it as a whole. She takes time to observe what she sees. Sure enough, now that she's paying close attention to the mundane details and not just the wards, she notices the scuff marks at the edge of the carpet and the slight shine to a couple of tiles on the facing. Stepping forward, she pushes at the tiles. There's a scraping sound and slowly, ponderously, the fireplace begins to turn.
She reaches into her satchel and pulls out a smart phone, keying Kurt's speed dial and voice-texting a quick message:
I'm in.
It is true, at least it seems it to Kurt, that he's beginning to work out methods and motivations of the woman that he calls 'liebling'. Where to move, how to move, when to move. Of course, the elf is a far cry from a mercenary. That requires a whole different skill set than the one he's been graced with by Divine provedence. But that doesn't mean that he can't augment, or enhance. The blue bamfer doesn't always run support, but there are times when it is the right thing to do, given the circumstances.
And with the softly spoken 'Go' given in mutual understanding, the elf does make for higher ground. He's back to where they had been; reasonable cover is afforded. Add to that the fact that it is rare for ill-trained guards to actually look up? Kurt sees them as pretty well protected, but that doesn't mean he's complacent. No.
Glowing, featureless golden eyes seem to be looking everywhere.
The buzzing of the phone gains Kurt's attention, and he blinks a moment before reaching into his pocket to check. All thumbs on the screen, but he does get to his messages.
I'm in.
Kurt sends a message back, his thick fingers actually somewhat nimble on the virtual keyboard.
'Time reset.'
Amanda has another 10 before check in is required.
Back to the roof they go. Dom drops prone without hesitation, keeping the much bulkier rifle pinned and ready against her person. The view's much nicer up here, though it isn't lost to her any that this also happens to be one of the weapons currently on her that doesn't have a less than lethal ballistic option. If she has to shoot something with this gun, that something dies.
It's a good thing for everyone involved that they're still in shadow mode.
She doesn't ask for an update. Instead, Dom softly asks "She doing alright on her own?" (Because I'm getting an itchy trigger finger with all of these oblivious idiots running around.)
An alabaster fingertip lightly taps the safety switch on her rifle, the crosshairs silently drifting from one head to another across the way. It's not likely to happen, but if she does happen to get a positive ID on their primary bipedal target... (Yeah, yeah, I know, can't kill the ass. Yet.)
The muffled voices are more distinct as the fireplace rotates. They are, however, speaking a language Amanda doesn't quite recognize. Something Asian. Most of Amanda's expertise is European or dead languages from Ancient Antiquity. There's some heat in the voices, however, and the sorceress steps gingerly off the fireplace as it stops rotating. Relieved of her weight, the mechanism triggers once more, turning back to its rightful place.
As the stone seals her into a broad alcove -- not a dank cellar -- she glances down at her phone and checks the bars on it. They're reduced, but not gone. That's something, at least.
She slides the phone back in, looks at the wards surrounding her, and steps carefully through them to hug the far wall, away from the sound of those voices. Moving lightly along the wall, now, she eases forward until she comes to the far wall, wherein two pairs of double doors are set. She pauses by one and listens. The voices have grown softer now. Irritation sounds particularly from one. There's a thump, and the sound of footsteps approaching. Amanda draws her hood up farther over her eyes, steps back against the wall and prays the door won't swing back far enough to hit her when...
BAM.
The tall, uniformed figure of Colonel Namkung strides through the thrown-open portal. The sorceress-thief holds her breath tightly. The man wears a black robe adorned with red cuffs and lining around its front, over his military uniform. Hastily, Amanda pulls up her veil spell, whispering it out as softly as she can. Against the wall as she is, she risks flaring the wards, but without it she risks detection. One way or another, she's probably screwed. At least the veil carries with it a 50/50 chance she'll get away with it.
Kurt stays close, and his tail is ever present near the sword that hangs on his hip. Crouched near, he whispers the answer to the question, "She's in, und I told her that time has been reset." She has ten minutes before check-in is required.
Looking at the different targets, even if Domino has a scope, there are a few things that Kurt's catching. How they talk to each other; particularly after the caravan pulls into the compound proper. Who closes the gates? Who walks away?
Who catches the radio.
Narrowing his eyes, Kurt nudges Domino and gestures towards radio-man as the man on the ground walks rapidly away from the gathering of guards. "He's the next target," is whispered. Kurt's identified him as that 'key' player.
This isn't right. Weren't they all going to regroup once the distractions were in place? The sorceress is alone down there and Domino's stuck up here. On the roof.
Away from any peculiar coins.
She's not going to blow this op by breaking away from their plan to go on a fool's errand. But, they're here now. This is something that she should do. Maybe not something that she needs to do, but... She's not going to get another chance out here.
(We should be helping down there.) "Can you still get us to her location?"
With the target of interest identified she sweeps the reticle around to fall upon the singled out guard, her thumb habitually clearing the safety with a faint Tik.
(Maybe some witty banter will help get my mind off of everything.)
With the rifle still braced against her shoulder she grins from behind the optics. "It's fun, isn't it? Just think, we could be doing stuff like this for a living. Travel to exotic new locations, track down valuable possessions, reach out and tap interesting people from a thousand meters out, you'd fit right in."
(Nope.)
The man remaining within the vault calls out to the Colonel, who turns sharply. Amanda blinks as she sees his face, the etched, if impermanent, tattoos inscribed across his cheeks and forehead. She remains carefully still, the door partially concealing her. When it's evident the veil is holding, as the Colonel replies sharply to the other man within, she eases her phone back out of its pocket and carefully swypes a message that reads:
'Distract them!'
Because, seriously, she needs these guys out of here.
When the man within the vault replies to the Colonel's pique, however, the Colonel starts peering around the alcove suspiciously.
(Aw, crap.)
Another swype: NOW!
Kurt knows exactly where he'd dropped Amanda off, and yes.. he can easily take Domino to where she is. For the most part. Looking around the perimeter from his vantage point, he exhales in a soft sigh. It's true. He'd like to be there, in the fore, and he's getting a little antsy. (After all, didn't the lovely merc see glowing yellow eyes during one of HER ops recently? Kurt likes action!)
"Ja, I can. Without anyone seeing, now that I have the lay of the room." He didn't before. The elf had to wall-walk to look in first, dangling Amanda upside down for a moment as he did so.
His gaze follows the progress of the muzzle of the rifle, and his words are a whisper, "Unless it's an instant kill, liebling, he'll get a message out. I could take him for a tour of Hell." No radio traffic! "One coordinator out of the way." Though hardly as fun for the merc!
Settling in, his tail sways gently, staying low, and stretched out beside Domino as she muses. Kurt catches the grin, and he chuckles softly. "I could travel, ja. Track down possessions. But all my 'tapping' would be on the shoulder before I proceeded to beat them to a pulp." The thought honestly had gone through his head before now. Could he actually take up the life of a mercenary?
"I'm afraid that I would stick out like a sore th-"
BZZT
Kurt checks his phone, and he nudges his compatriot. "Now!" he hisses softly. "Distraction!"
"Wunderbar," Domino mutters under her breath. (Glad we got that bit cleared up.)
Already her finger is settling upon the suppressed .338's trigger, though something about this quickly feels ..wrong, somehow. Skin remains in contact with the curved trigger but she stays the necessary pressure to take the shot. "Are you actually telling me to kill the guy?"
Kurt. Kurt.
Her stare stays on target as she explains "I'm running a cold-loaded Lapua Magnum against an unarmored target, Blue. For this caliber he's practically a point-blank shot." Beat. "And I don't miss."
It's true. Domino and Kurt have been working together a lot these days. One thing they haven't yet done? Play Sniper and Spotter. Up here the rules are different. Care should be taken when one chooses their words. They're talking about putting down the radio caller.
Then Kurt tells her 'Now!'
-Thoomf!-
That nudge. The timing. The odds. 1 in 96,208.
The rifle hammers back into the albino's shoulder. The nudge from Kurt put her aim off, by that much. The lone guard probably feels a stiff wind beside his ear and the Whiff! of a large bore slug sailing clean past him just shy of the sound barrier, where it instead slams into the radio and blasts it inside out with such force that bits and pieces of circuitry and casing go flying out across the lawn.
'Distraction!'
"You stupid, reckless, pain in the a--!" Blink. "Um. She's got her distraction."
Down in the vault, the Colonel's brows beetle as he continues to visually search the room he's in for some sign of an intruder. Amanda shifts slowly away from the wall, willing the man not to see -- not that her will has any affect over him at this point. Unlike with his son, she hasn't actually put the whammy on him, yet. And given the ink across his face, she's not sure she can.
The other man inside the vault strides out into the room. He is garbed all in black, his robe adorned with red as well, though in a manner that is somehow reminiscent of a Sith Lord. He bears a black staff in his hand, its head carved in the shape of a snake's head with open maw and fangs, its body sculpted with snakes curling up its length, heiratic sigils etched into the scales on the bodies.
His face is hidden within a hood on his robe, and even if it weren't, it's covered by a black leather-and-wood mask. Amanda plants her feet in a balanced fighting stance, clear of the walls, now, and raises her hands, ready to project either bolts or a shield, depending on what he does next.
His glowing red eyes, suffused with magesight of his own, settle on her lithe form. Spellwords bark out from both their mouths simultaneously and as a serpent of blue-black fire lashes out at Daytripper, her veil falls away in favour of the one-two punch of a hastily fired bolt followed by an even hastier shield that -- just barely -- deflects the fire away, against the wards of the antechamber.
Outside, the only real indication something may be wrong within is a slight thaumic surge that might (emphasis on might) be felt by the interloping blue elf. Indeed, most of the distraction outside, is being raised by the radio man, who's letting out a physical whoop and holler at the state of his radio... and how close that came to being him.
"I never said that you miss, liebling. What I said is, if he doesn't die immediately, he will get to his radio, und--"
Kurt is stunned, absolutely, positively stunned that his nudge was the one thing that set off..
"Ach, mein Gott!" Now, of course, it's time to cover, and without any other muscle twitch (so as not to give off direction from which he came), Kurt disappears in a cloud of sulfur, and lands right next to the man with the radio. In the blink of an eye, a twitched beat of a heart, the teleporter grabs him and disappears, only to reappear in a shadow.
Alone.
Though now, the fur on the back of Kurt's back is up. He can feel the magic, and it feels different. Not good.
The fuzzy elf teleports back up to the roof, though now he's not quite as worried about cover, even if he does stay low.
"Liebling. I think Amanda's.. made contact. I feel it. The magic," and holding out his hand, he's ready to take Domino with him to the room.
"Unless you'd rather find another vantage und cover? The roof of the other house?" The smaller servants quarters, perhaps? That's where a good number of guards will be going, if Kurt guesses correctly!
('I don't miss.' Well, that's not exactly a miss, is it?)
Domino knows exactly how to deal with this situation. Trigger a distraction, the two of them bamf to cover while everyone's looking toward the sound of the unusual noise, no sniper nor cloud of blue to track.
Naturally, Kurt has his own idea.
There's a *Bamf!* that's quickly followed by a soul-weary sigh, "And now I'm the distraction."
Remaining prone, she pulls out the variable detonator and triggers one of the small charges off to the side, going off with a comical DUNK! within its hollow metal confines. (At least that'll cover Blue's ninja vanish.)
This time when he does return Dom jumps, just enough to be visible, while working the rifle's bolt. The spent shell comes out into her palm, quickly tucked into an empty side saddle typically meant to carry spare live rounds. Quick and clean forensic cleanup.
On any other day, any other op, she'd happily be taken to high ground to continue conducting this place like a well-timed orchestral symphony. But, the rooftop doesn't contain the coin.
(This is stupid.)
An open palm rams the bolt back into battery, then she rolls out across her shoulders and both swipes the rifle and catches Kurt's awaiting hand in one move. "Inside!"
Fire sizzles past Amanda's hood, close enough that she can feel the heat -- though the leather has been inscribed, as all her armour has been, with careful wards to keep her largely from harm -- while Blackrobe dodges her blast. The Colonel pulls a gun from its holster on his hip, raising it to fire at the armour-clad interloper. Again calling up her shield, Amanda surrounds herself in shimmering violet energy. Two bullets ricochet off of it, impacting the plaster walls that surround them...
And very likely giving an audible clue to her two team mates as to just where forward in the house she may be.
She dashes forward, now, leaping acrobatically past the Colonel, fists glowing with new bolts. As she nears Blackrobe, his own shield appears between them, pushing her away from him. She tucks and rolls backward, angling back into the vault. Wards flare around her, but the threshold has already been breached, sapping a lot of their power. Black energy slithers over her body, but her armour repels it.
She looks up at Blackrobe, smiles sharply, and reaches into her satchel at her side.
As Domino rolls, Kurt's got her easily, sweeping her up into his arms, he's off with a bamf! to the little room where he'd put Amanda. The moment they land, Kurt is on the ceiling, and his tail is pulling out his sword, the sound of it making a metallic *shing*. The report of bullets sounds ever so close, and in the next second, Kurt's teleported outside the door to the room, on the ceiling of the hall in a maneuver that declares that he's got point. "Clear," is called back, and once again, he sounds off, "Right!" the direction in which he goes to follow Amanda's tracks, heading down to the main living room.
Not good. Kurt can feel his fur crawl.
Dom's got the rifle back against her spine before the blue smoke can clear, the PDW snapping back into her hands as she takes off in a run after the ceiling crawler. The extra bulk and weight will get in the way of some of her fancier footwork but they've got Kurt on hand for the crazy acrobatics! Besides, it's not like she's going to have to dodge bullets today, right? Maybe..?
When he banks to the right, so, too, does she. There's no sense in her adding to the call of 'clear!' He already knows as much. She can keep an eye on their backs but they didn't exactly come in through the front door, no one knows they're here yet. They're definitely in the clear despite charging straight for a dead end.
Will oldschool magic be able to defeat modern ballistic technology..? That may well depend on who the lucky one is.
In the vault room proper, Amanda has the opportunity to glance around quickly. As she does, her magesight is dazzled by the web of magic that is spread through the place. It's not unlike the Cairo museum... except it's more organized, more focussed, less haphazard. She doesn't have time to make a full assessment of it, however, when Blackrobe is striding in after her, firing more black bolts at her.
The Colonel fires off more bullets, three reports like clarion calls through the house. Amanda dodges out of the way, rather than wasting energy on a shield, firing more magic bolts as she goes. She hunkers down behind a sizeable stone plinth in the center of the space, pulls out the cylindrical object she was fishing for in her satchel, and peeks over top of the carved surface to see which way the two men are moving.
Of course, they're moving to flank her in a pincer. Blackrobe is her greater concern, really. Especially as she catches enough of the inscription on the plinth to realize it's better described as a stone table or altar than a broken statue base.
"Ah, bloody hell," she curses again. (Shoulda seen that coming.)
And the scrolls aren't anywhere near to hand.
Outside the antechamber, however, at the fireplace, Namkung's son pounds on the stone tiles, trying to find the ones Amanda pushed. When the shots ring out, he shouts in frustration, pounding on the mantle with his fist... as the mercenary and the demon burst their way into the study.
-------------------------
Burst is a good word for it.
The guns reports sound loudly, and as Kurt enters at a dead run on the ceiling, those glowing, golden eyes look to where the young man stands, and his features are set in a kind, welcoming expression. The cavalry is here, and leaping across the room in a single stride, Kurt rolls and rises to his feet, sword in hand. He's not concerned with the young man, however- he's more concerned with what is going on elsewhere. Calling out, he can feel the rise of magicks in the way his fur stands on end.
"Wir sind hier!"
Now if he can only get to Amanda!
One would have to be oblivious to not realize things went south by now. Keeping pace with the Tailed Blue Guy is actually kind of challenging! Dom's great for speed bursts but she can't really run faster than a non-mutant athletic sort. Once they round that last corner it becomes a little less important to keep pace. It really is a dead end. A fireplace does not make for an obvious doorway or else she'd offer to blast it to pieces.
Instead they get some blitzed out guy to deal with.
A fancy nearby chair suddenly becomes a spot of cover as she stops short, one heavy boot planted within the plush cushions as the top of her 9mm PDW, and a somewhat unnatural glare behind it, peer over its upholstered back. Both are leveled at the third individual.
"There's a fight happening. We want in on it. Get us there."
Pinned down behind the stone altar in the vault room, Amanda grips a small metal cylinder in her hand. She peers carefully over the top of the stone table, back to the carved rock, peeking over a shoulder. In a low whisper, she mutters a spell, concentrating on the little cylinder.
Out in the ornate study, Namkung Jr. turns around from his pounding when the two former X-Men come bursting through the door. He picks up a heavy metal vase from the mantle and grips it like a bat... though it takes a moment for him to register what they're saying.
English. Not his first language, though he can speak it, obviously.
His eyes are a little glazed. If Kurt has seen Amanda's hypnotism at work, he may recognize the after effects of it, though it was never something she practiced a lot as a kid. Most of her practice came later, when she was trying to truly master magic and her mutant power as a young adult.
"The woman," he says, his voice accented. "You can save her? She went through the fireplace. I can't get it to turn."
Kurt stops short, and stares for a long moment, but he can't help looking back over his shoulder at Domino's arrival and insert. "Ja," and he swivels his head back to the young man. "We can. We need in."
Looking at the floor, Kurt can see the scuffs and the discolourations of the floor. "Where is the hinge.."
Looking back at Domino, those yellow eyes almost look like they're pleading. "Charge?" Something quick, easy.. and above all, effective? Please?
"The woman," Domino confirms with a note of warning in her voice. The kid did pick up something heavy and metal and make threatening motions with it. If he didn't have his change of heart when he did she would have shot it right out of his hands.
Through the fireplace. A quick glance is passed back to Kurt, thinking that he could simply bamf them through on to the other side. Then he's asking her about charges. Not the 'charging through' sort of thing so much as 'blast the door to hell.' (Sigh. Yeah, this isn't going to set us back any.)
She steps away from the chair and approaches, grabbing that vase and forcefully yanking it out of Namkung Jr's grasp as she goes, flinging it aside. All eyes are on him when she tells Kurt "Keep an eye on our pal."
Charges. Hinges. Estimated weight of the door. Points of contact. ..Wait. She turns around, taking a partial step back. "We could always look for the trigg--"
Right as her shoulder presses back against the correct part of the mantle to open the hidden door.
Dom glances to the door then back to Kurt, giving a blank shrug. (Game on.)
Blackrobe and Namkung move in, the darkmage throwing down his staff before the altar. The ebony wood shutters and writhes. It swells and the snakes carved upon it are released to create a carpet of writhing black forms that spread out across the floor. The hissing sound nearly drowns out the rumble of the fireplace, though the snakes can feel the vibrations. Several of them turn, rising and hissing. As a whole, however, they begin carpeting the floor like a living oil slick.
And, yeah. Odds are very high they're poisonous.
Amanda turns and rises from her crouch, extending the hand with the cylinder before her. She depresses the nozzle atop it, speaking a spellword as she does, her other hand spreading out along side it as she does. Pepper spray lances out like water released from a firehose as she uses her magic to enhance its spread and effects. She aims first for Blackrobe, and then slices around to catch Namkung as she does.
Her action can be seen through the antechamber doors when the fireplace spins around, and the spray can be seen to cover very nearly the entire front half of the room. Nonetheless, two more shots ring out from Namkung's gun before the spray hits him -- making seven shots fired off in total, for those that are counting.
Amanda's dark form jerks back as the shots impact her upper torso on the right side, sending her pitching backward with the force of the point-blank rounds from a heavy automatic pistol.
It's a kid. If the boy even considered using that thing, Kurt would be on top of him in the flicker of a heartbeat, yoinking the item from his hands while pushing him across the room, into a wall.
Threat assessment? Nil.
Keeping watch over his partner in crime, Kurt's attention moves from the boy to the albino and back again. The *click* of the catch does gain his attention, and a wide smile crosses his face, though he shows fang. To anyone who doesn't know him, it could be a rather daunting expression to witness for the first time. "Und here I was asking you to make explosions."
Though he does still have his flash-bang.. ohhhh...
"Lieb--"
In the next breath, Kurt is calling out, "Longbow und Clear!" Softer, the elf sounds a heartfelt request, "Find a nest where you'll be safe.." before he's gone in a flash.
In the next breath, Kurt is gone in with a snarl and a brimstone filled *bamf* to lay that flashbang grenade on the altar, and he sweeps Amanda up in his arms.. though not before she's hit with those rounds.
Kurt is quick, and he's out.. before he's back in, he'll wait for the short fused grenade that is filled with sound and fury!
Even the best thought out plans don't always work out as expected.
There's enough time to reach the antechamber and stare with widened eyes as the entire floor turns into a giant snake pit. (Good thing Indiana Jones retired before taking on this gig.)
It's all of the hesitation that's required for those few shots to find their mark. Amanda.
Dom's snapped out of her momentary hesitation with the first concussive blast that slams out into the room. Kurt beats her before she has the chance to say the words 'Longbow Clearport!' He's the only soul alive that has any idea what those words mean in this situation. Fortunately, this is an area where they have trained.
She's got four and a half seconds to work in before Kurt's flashbang goes off, snapping the PDW back to her shoulder as she targets Namkung, smaller bullets spitting out with little more noise than the machine pistol's bolt makes on a full auto cycle. The bullets themselves, those mags marked with dark orange tape, hold Kinetic Gel slugs. They're much like rubber bullets used for riot control except that they expand three hundred percent upon impact. Each hit is like taking a swift punch from a prize fighter. It's all about the proper distribution of energy.
At the four second mark she lets up and turns, looking away from the room with eyes pinched shut and mouth open. As soon as that grenade goes off she's expecting to be bamfed right back into the room with a nearly empty magazine and approximately twenty seconds left to find that mysterious coin before things go from bad to horrible.
Amanda barely hits the display case behind her, cracking glass, before blue arms grab her and sulfurous smoke surrounds her. They BAMF back out to antechamber. The sorceress groans and slumps to the floor, left hand coming up to her right shoulder. The magic flare around wards on her shoulder harness are just fading in the half-heartbeat it takes for Kurt to bamf in, grab her, and bamf out.
Go, go, mage armour.
The pepper spray canister lays empty on the floor amidst the snakes. Blackrobe, roaring in pain at the toxic spray, stumbles backwars, clawing at his face. Namkung does much the same, lurching off to the opposite side of the room.
Growling and hissing, Blackrobe's body begins to morph, becoming a giant snake. While in the flux of transformation, Dom's shots don't affect it at all. Namkung, on the other hand, is only human. He is pummeled by the punch-shots, his gun skittering from his hand.
And the flashbang goes off with a cascade of sound and fury even those outside the study can hear, now.
Kurt averts his eyes for the flash/bang, and the moment the sound assails his ears, the flash of light flickers around the edges of his vision, he's on the move once again. One step, two steps are taken towards Domino- she of the big guns. Those golden-yellow eyes look directly at her, and he makes a lunged grab for her, and makes to toss her onto his back, upper back and shoulders.
"Blue Nest," is offered, and in the next second, the pair are gone from view once more, entering the sanctum sanctorum of sorts, perching in a corner for maximum support.
Oddly enough? There's no period of mourning for Namkung. Maybe later, but at the moment, Kurt's thoughts are a jumbled mess- pity any telepath that tries to get a read on Blue Boy! All he cares about at that very moment are the two women in his life.. and in the moment where he lays Amanda on the couch, he can see that her life's blood isn't spilling onto the floor.
Once more into the breach, however!
Bamf!
"What..?"
Bamf! (Well. This is new.)
Dom's not expecting to teleport back into the room riding piggyback on the core of her transportation network. The angle's kind of awkward to cover the rest of the room from but at least no one else would be expecting her to jump back in quite like this! "Making up new rules as we go?"
She still needs to find the coin. The coin won't be hanging from a wall. "Down. Get what we're here to get then get the hell out!"
With all of the commotion inside it seems like a grand time for another outside distraction. Point B is flipped, a larger set charge sounding out in a Poom! from further out across the grounds. Just enough to send a slight tremor through the building, itself. (Keep 'em thinking.)
Her priority is now set. The only obstacle..is the snake pit. It's distracted from the spray, which means the time to move is right now. As soon as she's mobile she's looking for the coin. So much the better if no one else realizes that's what she's after, or that it's about to turn up missing from this collection.
Amanda appreciates the couch. And Junior comes running through the swivelled fireplace to be at her side, trying to push back her hood and stroke her head. "Gah! Stop!" she protests, pushing him away with her left arm and coughing as she tries to roll off the damned couch to get back to her feet.
"You're hurt!"
"No kidding... Outta my way, kid." Kid. He's probably in his early twenties. Not much younger than any of them.
"I need to protect you!"
"You need to get the hell outta my way," Amanda growls, now, eyes crackling with power. "Before the snakeman kills you, too."
The young man looks confused for a moment. The sorceress sighs. "Look at me."
He meets her gaze. She pushes him down onto the couch, grimacing as she does so. "Go to sleep," she tells him, her blue eyes mesmerizing. "Just... go to sleep. Wake up when this is all over, and forget it ever happened."
Junior's head droops, and finally, he slumps.
The sorceress turns stiffly toward the doors of the vault room once more, in time to see the snake fully coalesce, crackling with magical power.
"Ular Menunggu!" she calls, voice rough, one hand against the door frame. "You don't belong here, Outsider."
Ah ha!
Kurt has Domino on his back, and slowly, he brings his tail up for her to get a grab on in case it's needed, though it's full in the knowledge that it's probably not the most desired of limbs in her case? Glowing, infernal-looking golden eyes widen as the snake demon fully forms, and there's a snarl that rises from the teleporter's chest. Demon.. meet demon?
"Outsider!" is echoed. "Be gone! Or I will take you to a realm where you will find torment as you have never experienced." How's that for a threat?
Outsider, Outsider... "Just get the hell out of here," Dom verbally snipes back to the Snakeman. (Why'd he have to go and get in the way..? Amanda won't want to leave here without dealing with him first.)
Finding the coin: Important. Finding other items of value and interest: Important. Not getting killed: Top Priority. Grumble. For what it's worth she does a quick mag change on her MP9, the orange taped box replaced with one that has no markings on it at all. Three guesses what that translates to.
"You're outnumbered, outgunned, and about to be seriously down on your luck." Chk-Chak! "So get the hell out of here."
(Heeere, mysterious golden coin...)
Dom's right. Amanda won't leave here until they've dealt with the snake thing first. The suprademonic creature opens its jaws and a sputtering hiss escapes it. It probably takes a few moments for anyone to realize the thing is laughing.
"Nottt evennnn togetherrr, do you havvvve enoughhhh innnnnferrrnalll powerrr to do defeatttt meeee, Halffff-Bornnnn Chillllldrennnn..." Its speech blends one word into the next in a rolling ripple of sound, like the thrumming bass of a submerged motor. "Two Halfffff-Bornnnn and a Luck Bennnnderrr arrrre nothhhingggg to the Loooorrrds of the Outerrrrr Darrrrk."
It does not start by attacking, however. Instead, it slides over to where Namkung's body lays, its jaws unhinging. Its tongue darts out, lifting the body and scooping it into its mouth, where it swallows down its dark gullet, the progress of the meal evident by the protrusions in its throat as it swallows. Energy crackles around it, dark and threatening, and it starts to rise up on heavy coils.
Amanda's brows crease at the creature's words. She pushes them away, however, and turns her attention on the creature itself, magesight glowing in her eyes. "Not seeing anything more than an ugly, overgrown worm, myself," she quips. "What about you guys? You see any kinda Lord of anything around here? Can't say I do..."
Yes. She's trying to goad it. She has shields. And her friends attack better from the flanks and the rear. So, she might as well yank the damned thing's tail. "A worm might be kinda gross, but it's really not scary." And she unleashes a pair of magical bolts at the back of its head.
It's true. They're not going to leave. Not a chance in, well... hell?
Kurt isn't entirely certain how to go after it, but he's more than happy to put on that demon front. His tail would be whipping side to side if he didn't have an albino merc to hold steady up there.
Still, his head quirks at the briefly hissed posturing, and the elf bares his fangs once again. Glowing, golden eyes look to Amanda, and as she moves, he can almost feel the magic welling up, the fur on his back rising. He has a pretty good idea of what's coming, and how it's supposed to go.
Assuming it goes to 'plan', that is.
Bamf!
Suddenly, teleporter and merc are gone from their spot on the wall, and he deposits Domino on the back end of altar, as far away as possible from those jaws.
Kurt knows where Domino stashes her grenades on her person, and he grabs one before leaping off the altar, and vaults onto the demon's back, up and over the head in order to lob the primed grenade into its mouth even as Amanda gets off her magic, landing upon the wall, and on the move back to get another 'back' shot.
"Fire in the hole!"
Maybe.
"Flying demon guts!"
Hopefully!
Natch. The job's never over until something has died. This snaky demon guy's also got Dom's number, that sucks a little. Part of what makes her power work so well is that no one else ever sees it coming. Subtlety, it's useful. It's also lost to her in this confrontation.
Is..that giant snake guy really going to eat--eww. That's just..eww. He's just entered into a whole new level of creepy.
"A worm with horrible taste," Dom confirms with a slight grimace. "Do you have any idea where that guy's been? He probably hasn't washed that robe since the seventies. Hope that magic of yours lets you conjure up a--"
Bamf!
"--mint--damnit, stop teleporting me while I'm monologuing!"
That's a word now.
(And now I'm on the altar. Find the coin, Domino, find the coin... Three on one, great odds for an underhanded snatch and grab. Did he just take one of my grenades? That's not the kind of snatch and grab I had in mind!)
"Damnit--!" Duck and cover!
The creature's head pitches forward a little, as Amanda's magic bolts strike the back of its cobra-esque cowl. It hisses, opening its mouth conveniently for Kurt's hoop shot. The grenade shoots down its gullet and it hisses at Kurt as the blue demon bamfs in and out of its immediate sight. It swings around swiftly, far swifter than something that size has any right to be, trying to follow at least one of the attacks aimed at it. So, it heads toward Domino's voice. It's jaws open and it makes a lighting strike to try to swallow her... only to spit inadvertent fire and flesh when the grenade goes off in its gullet, making puree out of its last meal.
But that doesn't so much stop it as it throws it off balance a little.
"Eeeeew..." Amanda doesn't usually take the time acknowledge the more disgusting aspects of the fight. But, really... gobs of half-digested flesh and snake gullet are gross. Really, really gross.
"It's the Majestic all over again!"
She starts running forward, now, firing bolt after bolt after bolt to run interference between it and Dom.
Kurt winces at the blast, and even moreso as bits of flesh go flying, a glop of something landing on a thigh. A three fingered hand wipes it away, before he catches the direction that it's traveling-
Towards Domino!
"TJ would be helpful in this fight, denn.." Kurt offers up the suggestion, something that certainly carries little to no weight! If wishes were horses?
With Amanda's run forward, Kurt too is moving, flipping into the air, his sword fully in hand now as he lands to leaps foot over hands in a lope behind the creature.
Swinging in a full arm's arc, Kurt is ready to embed his sword into the back of the creature's head, calling out, "Ular Menunggu! I know your name. I command you in the Name of the Father, der Sohn, und Heiliger Geist.. depart!"
How else does one deal with a dark demon? By calling on the Big Guy!
GBLORP!
It's a good thing Domino hunkered down for cover because in the next minute she's wearing bits and pieces of partially digested old guy and other assorted stuff that she'd much rather not think about. It's enough of a mess, and unexpected enough of a mess, that she slips and falls off the back of the altar with a startled yelp.
Which prevents her from getting impaled by giant, venom-filled fangs.
Heavy combat boots shove back against the altar, sliding the mess-covered merc across the floor with a streak of gore as the 9mm automatic comes up in a two handed grasp, dumping all thirty rounds straight up toward the snake as she goes.
"This is the part I'd happily do without!"
Momentum lost she twists about and jumps away from the floor, the empty magazine flying out of the smaller weapon's grip as she lunges for cover behind another display case.
One which has a peculiar golden coin sitting just beneath the glass.
"A little more clearance before breaking out the party favors next time, Blue!" she yells back while slapping a fresh mag into her weapon.
(Gross..gross..gross...)
Amanda's bolts leave scorches in the demonic skin of the snake creature. As Kurt calls out an invocation full of the power of True Faith, his sword glows with a brilliant white light and slices into the creature. The Outsider twists, screaming in pain, its tail lashing. Amanda is forced to leap out of the way as the end of it threatens to knock her off her feet. She lands, however, on a skid left behind from Domino and slides to the opposite side of the altar without quite meaning to. Oh well. She can still fight from here.
Meanwhile, however, Kurt has captured the creature's attention almost entirely. Its form becomes smokey, morphing yet again. It swells to twice its original size, tentacle like limbs breaking from its shoulders as its tail also splits into multiples. It lunges for the Bamfer with several of them, sparing others to reach out to try to grapple the women as well.
Kurt calls back, his glowing golden eyes blinking as he realizes that this might actually be working. "I didn't have time. I though his flesh would buffer it a bit!"
Which was probably the case.
But now? There's goo. Ooze.. and it stinks to high heaven, or is that the depths of whichever hell this thing came from.
The sword glows.. and there's an infusion, strength from the blade for the Light guides the elf's hand to do the best damage that such a blow could do. He's not infused with luck, however, and while he has a touch of heaven, his hand is purely mortal, as is his aim.
But, all in all, Kurt has done what he'd intended. He's taken the infernal's attention away from the other two, and brought it upon himself. And, apparently, he's got some aid in this fight. "Lieblingen! Your crosses!"
The fuzzy elf has no clue if it's the holy symbol or the faith that imbues it with meaning, he really doesn't. Any chance, however.
Reaching into his shirt, it's the crucifix that Kurt always wears that hangs around his neck that is pulled out. "Ular Menunggu! Depart this Realm and never..."
Oh.
Kurt looks up as the beast begins to grow before him, and pulling his glowing sword, twisting as he does, and begins his leaping up.. and he begins his combat bamfs over.. and over.
Bamf!
Stab!
And there.. Kurt works hard to avoid, teleporting in and out rapidly. This isn't something new to him. What it is, however, is the fact that his enemy is infernal.. and infernally fast!
One of those limbs does make contact, and while it's a glancing blow to the creature, to Kurt, it knocks him back, sending him flying, landing and smashing through a case with a crystalline *crash!*, the shards of glass causing cuts and gashes in the blue furred paladin.
The gooey albino is already regretting sticking her head back up over the display case as soon as she does so. Now the greater demon's channeling Cthulhu. Wonderful! When a tentacle comes her way she dives into a sidelong roll, causing the unnatural appendage to shatter the glass enclosure beside her.
(Wasn't my fault!)
Another thirty rounds, a lot more Big and Ugly to shoot at. (And since when does Blue's sword glow? Seriouslywhat the hell did I miss?!)
Domino knows what she doesn't miss, however. A small golden coin. It disappears into one palm as the weapon within the other drops another empty mag, the plastic-encased spring rattling as it hits the floor.
"We got a gameplan here, people?" she yells out, letting the PDW hang by its shoulder strap as she switches out to the suppressed .45's at her thighs. (Bigger is better. Erm. Yeah, I mighta not carried that cross, like..ever.)
She's still got a few tricks of her own, however. What do Gods like to do? Smite shit! She brings her aim up onto the ceiling, over and around the demon, and starts shooting the crap out of that. When in doubt, bring the roof down onto their heads!
The holy symbols are meaningless without true faith behind them. And, truthfully, neither Domino nor Amanda likely have enough faith in Kurt's God to do the crosses justice. Which isn't to say they don't have faith in something, be it their weapons or some other set of beliefs. But, it's easier to focus through a symbol -- though Kurt's glowing sword might suggest that's not strictly necessary.
The Cthulu-whatsit takes clear damage from the sword wherever it hits, the flesh failing to seal back up again after. But the thing doesn't slow. It strikes out at Kurt again and again and again, until the blue furred demidemon is throw tail over toetips into a tall, cylindrical column of a case. Glass shatters and ancient weaponry clatters to the floor -- a gleaming Egyptian spear, a Roman gladius, and a Greek fishing trident, among other knives and darts and similar such things.
The case Dom shatters contains the coin, yes, among other small treasures ranging from jewels and jewellery to small shards of pottery and statuary. The broken glass mashes into the blood and guts from before, creating a dangerous paste that will definitely leave a mark if anyone slips on it, now.
Amanda launches herself ceilingward as the tails whip back and forth in an effort to claim either her or Domino. She begins chanting a much heavier spell than before, eldritch fires starting to form around her fists. Dust and falling plaster from Dom's weapons fire obscure her vision some, but she doesn't spare a thought for a shield just yet.
Groan.
Kurt shakes his head, trying to clear it even as he's bleeding from different spots where the glass shards bite into him. Each move digs in, but gritting his teeth, he moves to regain his footing while at the same time, he's reaching for the spear and the gladius. To his tail, the spear sits.. and the gladius is in his 'off hand', which really isn't off. Standing upright slowly (but still in that necessary slouch!), those glowing yellow eyes gleam brightly in the battle now, infused with the knowledge that he fights on the side of the Lord.
"Depart this world! My lord commands you!"
Kurt isn't near as fast as he had been before that glancing blow, but he still can bamf!
And bamf he does!
Immediately, he's gone from where he was, and lands atop the creature, ready to hold on for dear life. "Im Namen.." and now, with the three weapons, he at least knows he's got the one glowy one that allows for serious damage to the infernal.
"Der Vater!"
The weapon in his right hand digs deep.. the glowing, all around sabre!
"Der Sohn!"
Stabbity.. and Kurt holds on for dear life, on that second blow, only to begin a leap to thrust that spear into the creature's eye as he leaps forward, tucking and rolling, ready to get the hell out of there- "Und der Heilige Geist!"
This.. this is definitely going to hurt.
Game plan? What?
"Nein, liebling.. but if you find something that works--"
Like.. bringing the roof down. That's work!
Kurt has to dodge the falling bits of ceiling, dancing and dodging, and bamfing in some cases..
The words 'why won't you die?!' come to mind. Two more guns have run empty. That's seventy-eight rounds total against the demon for those keeping track at home.
Total mission expendatures: $890, counting. (Grenades aren't cheap!)
Rather than reload, Domino switches guns. Two .45's for two 10mm's, another thirty-two rounds at her fingertips, no suppressors, none of this less than lethal BS. Much like her more effective allies, now she's playing for keeps.
Kurt has religion. Amanda has magic. Dom has faith just in herself. Maybe her guns won't start to glow but she trusts that her aim will be true, even if she's not shooting directly at the demon. Does it even matter what she ends up hitting? It always works out in the end!
All the same, she goes for the called shot first. "I've got your Heilige Geist right here, you son of a bitch." A nearby fire extinguisher gets ripped away from the wall and flung toward the Beast with one hand, the other sweeping around and snapping off a shot but a moment later.
Contents under pressure, handle with care.
There's a BWOOMF! as white foam and twisted bits of red painted metal shrapnel rain out across the room, resulting in an even bigger mess and Gods know what else.
The last remaining sunlight of the day slants in through the wrecked ceiling, pieces of extinguisher shrapnel embedding in both the snake and some of the now exposed fire suppression infrastructure of the vault. There's a hissing sound as deadly gas escapes the fire suppression lines. These aren't sprinklers. They're gas-based, instead. The gas begins to flood the room, and if Kurt's smart, he'll grab the girls and bamf out through that hole in the roof, just in case.
Amanda cuts loose with her eldritch spell, sending fire raining down on the snake. The ceiling opens up as a weakened spot is affected by the last of Dom's bullet. Green fire lances upward, joining with the sunlight that cascades down onto the tentacle monster's inky, oily form. Incandescent flame shoots out of the oozing stab wounds Kurt gave it and its lets out an awful roar of agony and rage as the light of day, magic, and faith consume it.
"Liebling! You're taking--" Oh, of course she is.
The roof caving in on them all is quite the way to bring Kurt's attention from the task at hand, that is, to keep the creature away from the girls! As long as he could keep it from fully targeting them, they could and would be free to do that which they do best! That is.. keep shooting at the thing!
Kurt ducks his head, the foul odor of the gas-based fire supression system leaking fully into the room. He looks like crap.. goo now clinging to fur, mixing with the blood from the slices of glass. (Some of those will need stitches, or a sorceress with a good healing potion.)
He's on the other side of it, now watching it go down with the spear still in its eye. Kurt crosses himself quickly, and searches for Amanda and Domino, and the moment he catches sight of both, he can't help but smile wearily.. and takes a single step forward towards Amanda first, before Bamf! and he appears beside her. Wrapping his tail about her, Kurt has to teleport again to get near Domino.. and he reaches out to take her hand.
"Time to go, meine lieblingen!" Before they're stricken by the gas.
Bamf!
And back they'll land, outside the compound, out where it's a fair bit safer...
Sunlight..? Sunlight..! That might work. In fact, it seems to be working just fine.
(Quick, Domino! There's gotta be a good one here. 'Happy to light up your life?' 'Mind if I shed some light onto the problem?' 'You should play outside more?' Ah, screw it.) "Let there be light!"
She's covered in half-digested cultist, give her a break.
There's also gas in the air. Three guesses what Kurt's going to end up doing. Which means someone here has to work quick. Her payout's riding on it! Pistols go back and she goes sprinting for the broken display case, grabbing whatever she can that looks valuable and not broken. Isn't that what they were here for, collecting important material?
"Don't forget about--!"
Bamf!
"--Nevermind."
They're still in the compound. People are probably going apeshit outside after the commotion these three caused. "Time to ditch this party, kids!"
"Stand back," Amanda commands as Kurt bamfs the three of them out beneath the tree where this all started. She chants out a portal spell and green gas and building dust pours out of it. Staying out of the line of fire, herself, she spreads her hands and starts chanting again. Items start flying through the portal. Artefacts. And scrolls. And other bits of treasure not nailed down.
Finally, she turns to Kurt. "Junior's on the couch in the antechamber. He's going to die in that atmosphere..." Unless Kurt bamfs him.
She snaps the portal closed, however, and begins opening up the one that will take them back to the hotel.
Kurt lands, and he balances in his crouch. Looking up at the pair, he catches the fact that Dom's hands are just a liiiiiiittle full with random things, and he turns his head around to watch Amanda. Blinking at the creation of the port, the gas and dust emenate from it.. and it causes the elf to cough in automatic reflex.
"Junior.." Rats.
"Okay, liebling. I will go get him out."
Still not out of his crouch, the blue fuzzy elf disappears once again, only to land in the increasingly inhospitable room just outside the former 'vault'. "Okay, Junior," Kurt begins, even though he knows the lad is probably asleep, thanks to Amanda. "Time to go.."
Bamf!
And once again, the elf returns to lay the lad down on the ground. Now safely out of the house, and out of the gaseous room. House.
Who needs a portal to the hotel? Kurt's got it memorized, and in that cloud of brimstone and sulfur, the holy warrior returns, bloody, bruised.. and tired.. and smelling to high heaven. Just like the girls!
How quickly Dom can feel out-classed around some individuals... It's not that anyone's better or worse so much as having the proper application of the most relevant power set for a given situation. She had to run for the broken glass. Amanda cleans house so efficiently that the items of interest come to her.
Blank blue eyes stare at the sorceress. "I didn't know you could do that."
What's left for these three? Getting to the hotel. Oh, and "Dibs on the shower."
All in a day's work!
Amanda looks at Kurt, as they all stand dripping on the plush penthouse carpet. "Normally, I can't. But, I clocked where the scrolls were before we bamfed and basically created a sort of magical magnet to pull anything that wasn't organic but was suffused with magic. I don't think I got it all, but..." She looks at what they brought back with them. "Well, at least, we'll get paid."
And that's what the day's work was all about, after all.
Category:Log