The Red Tide [IC]

[KingOfLaughter]

Derek looks at the spot the angel disappeared from, <<That was kind of cool. Anyone want to start from the top of the tower and work down? I can get you up here.>>

[bindin garoth]

....... And there they go...... Great. Nexus thinks to himself. He wasn't quite sure what to make of what just happened. He deactivates his boots, slowing down a noticeable amount, and walks over to the dome. Casually reaching through the dimensions again, he pulls out a net made up of pure shadows, shifting in and out of view, ready to toss it onto the wolf.

<Ready to capture the wolf.> Is all he says.

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Net has the Invisible, Forced Shot, and Poisoned (Dex)
Ready an action to toss the net on the wolf.

Attack roll:(1d20+20)[22]

If hit, the wolf is entangled (-4 dex, -2 Att, move 1/2 speed) and must make a DC 24 fortitude save or take 1d6 temporary Dex damage. Heals at a rate of 1 per round.

[Lostbutseeking]

Amelia lets loose a snort of disgust as the creature she had been charging flickers and vanishes before she even reaches it. Recieving the colonels order to exam the targets and area she brings her mount to heel next to where the tiger-thing was, she dismounts to begin her inspection of it and the empty cocoon that had bound the angel.

<<So it's either gone, or wasn't there to begin with, though im not aware of any illusion spells that would act in such a way.>>

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Spot (d20+22)[32]
Search (d20+7)[20]
Spellcraft (d20+24)[39]

[JKTrickster]

Ziggs nodded at Rand's request as the others joined up with him. Juggling a couple of bombs, he walked up to inspect the dome. He was naturally interested in the strange substance and he wondered if he could ever incorporate it into his bombs. Laughing, he stepped back and readied a bomb in hand. It held several special arcane marks and he made sure it would disable the she-wolf before anything could happen.

<<I'm ready>> he said with glee.

[BelGareth]

With those around the dome of semi-real AEther stuff ready, and those others searching the area of the Tower. You move into action, Rand dismisses the Ectoplasm that held the she wold at bay, Ziggs' arm swung into motion even as he saw that the she-wolf was gone.

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Those with see invisibility or something else, can see nothing under the dome.

Muscles's stands inert next to the area where the she-wolf was covered, retaining his last order to the T.

Those of you who are searching/looking for things at the Tower can see nothing amiss, but can hear something instead.

A low humming pitch seems to be reverberating from the inside of the tower, and on second look and a more detailed scan of the tower, reveals a luminescent glow, barely perceptible at the edges of the doorway.

Something was humming and glowing from within the tower.

[bindin garoth]

<Well, that's not good. Shall we continue?> Nexus says, looking at the now empty area where the she-wolf was. He was curious about what happened. Did those in the tower know of them? Should they risk going ahead?

He figures that going ahead is best, however, as they need more answers.

[JKTrickster]

Ziggs' head dropped again when the she-wolf was missing. Dejectedly, he picked up his bomb again and placed it in his bag. For the first time in his life, it seemed like he had contributed absolutely nothing to the effort. Zero. Zip. Nada.

Sighing, he just sat down where the dome used to be. Rolling a couple of bombs between his legs, he just looked off far ahead. His mind was already ticking and whirling, figuring out the magic that had been used. He knew it was not something that he could accomplish himself - this wasn't arcane magic for sure.

Finally, he jumped up and smiled for once. "I don't think they'll be in there," he said as he pointed at the tower. "After all, that spell was a Word of Recall spell, a highly powerful divine spell. Those guys are somewhere safe and familiar...and unless they got all friendly in that tower, I don't think we will see them inside. But obviously whoever casted that spell on them knows now!"

[BelGareth]

With the she-wolf having disappeared also, the surge of excitement slowly faded, and everyone started to feel slightly light headed from the adrenaline fading from their systems.

But you are all professional warriors, and easily capable of moving through it, grimacing through the undergrowth you move closer to the Tower, as you do you start to hear the thrumming sound getting louder and louder.

The edges of the entrance open up easily, and with your tactical expertise, you manage to clear the first floor within seconds, finding nothing, except the strange glow and the ever loud thrumming noise.

It is obvious it is coming from below, from where the Scrying Stone would have been located.

Sending out your scouts, and following quickly behind them, they quickly report something is amiss even before entering the chamber, cords of sinuous chitin come from within the chamber, seemingly burrowing into the stone, and pulsing with power, in tune with the now almost deafening thrumming.

Moving closer, they peek inside the chamber and see dozens of cords along the wall, floor and ceiling, all converging at the center, where something hovering in place, attached to the cords like nothing you have ever seen.

The being hovers in place, it's skin a sickly dark green, which seeps and oozes as the cords come from within it's flesh. It has a pair of wings, but they are a sad image, most of the feathers having fallen out and fallen to the floor, where they sit in a pool of ooze. The beings hair seems to have fallen out, and it's eyes have been sewn shut. It seems to be alive, barely, possibly fueling the cords that are coming out of its body. It makes no move as you step into the chamber, and appears not to notice you in any fashion.

K. the Planes

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25 or <
What you see before is some kind of Angel, or used to be at least.

35 or <
The Angel is Planetar

You quickly manage to clear the room, finding no other threats present. You see the Scrying stone beneath the mass of cords that run up from the floor and into the creatures feet, legs and waist.

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No knowledge check is going to help with figuring out what is going on, it's all up to intuition, common sense and good ole figuring it out.

[Chambers]

Reya

Hovering in the entryway just beyond Rand, Reya is hesitant to enter the room. << Sweet tears of Isis...what have they done to it? >> Her compassion overcomes her fear and she flies in, dropping to the floor and walking as her wings turn into legs in a flurry of feathers and white cloak. She steps carefully around the fibrous threads holding the prisoner in place and reaches up to place a hand on the creature's chest, hesitating for a moment. "I don't know if you can hear me...but we're here to help." She says and closes her eyes as she says a silent prayer, again forgetting the mindlink, though she speaks in her native tongue, the words unfamiliar.

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Casting Cure Critical Wounds (4d8+11)[31]

Knowledge: The Planes (1d20+8)[21]

Current Effects: Mass Conviction (X.3/110 minutes), Bless (X.3/11 minutes), Spell Resistance 23 (X.3/11 minutes)

How long has it been since we first arrived and Reya cast Mass Conviction and Bless? How long since the end of the battle? It matters for the spell duration's listed above.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Rand orders Muscles to come along with him; no sense dismissing the construct if he might be useful later. Muscles does help clear out the tower, but he stays behind the group as everyone comes across the captive creature.

<Reya, wait, don't touch the--> Rand thinks hard at Reya as she swoops in to place a hand on the creature. <...half-dead thing hanging there,> he finishes with a mental sigh. <Gods below, people, we just saw some creatures disappear thanks to a contingent spell. This creature could be trapped or alarmed, it could be bait, it could be an enemy in disguise, it could be any number of things!> The colonel's mental voice carries an edge of frustration, his usual cheerful demeanor nowhere to be found, though he seems frustrated at the situation rather than his teammates.

<Just...don't touch the wires. I doubt whatever sick bastards were willing to do this to an angel are using it to power spells of sunshine and rainbows, and I don't want any of you to be affected by whatever left it looking like that.> He steps forward gingerly, careful not to touch anything, and tilts his head to inspect the scrying stone. Looking between the stone and the trapped creature, Rand calls Muscles forward. Come on up here, buddy. Sorry about this, but you're not alive and your body's disposable. He warily directs Muscles to carefully inspect the cords.

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Knowledge: Planes (1d20+22)[37]

Rand directs Muscles to tap one of the cords and see what happens. If nothing happens, he'll have Muscles tug gently on it to see what the tension is like in them. If nothing happens then, Muscles will just hold onto the cord for a few seconds, then let go.

If Muscles feels/senses anything, he is to relay it to Rand. If the creature or the stone seem to react at all, Muscles is to stop immediately and take a step away. If Muscles is changed/taken over/etc. in any way, Rand is readying an action to dismiss Muscles before anything bad can happen.

[bindin garoth]

Nexus was in shock of what laid before him. It was obviously an angel of sorts, but what had been done to it? It looked way too sick, were they draining its power!? For what though? That was the real question....


"I'm sorry...... But do you know what is going on?" Nexus asks the angel. He felt bad for the thing, he really did. But they should try to figure out things as quickly as they can, especially not knowing if the enemies would return.

[JKTrickster]

When Ziggs entered the room, his jaw dropped. He couldn't quite understand what was happening - he knew it was an angel of sorts, and it was obviously in a great deal of pain and suffering. Part of his mind reached out for it, crying in sympathy, and yet Ziggs flinched at the sight of the angel's eyes. As his eyes traced the tubes, he tried to even figure out what was happening.

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How...how can something so beautiful be so....

I knew it! I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it! The sky is falling down and this angel fell down with it! I knew it I knew it I knew it!

Look how sad it looks....it's eyes are shewn shut....

This is a nasty abuse. I can't imagine someone being used like this. Like they're nothing but a battery. We shouldn't have been and neither should THIS guy.

They have huge and huge stockpiles of these! There's no way this is the only one! All and all of the angels stuck here! After all, how else can they capture an angel without taking its friends? Huh? HUH?

It...it can't even cry.....

It's fueling something, something much and much bigger! If it's in the scrying room...that means the invaders have took the whole fortress for just this room. This is all about arcane magic. Think, goddamn think!

I know how it feels.....

All that pain....almost unnecessarily...who can survive off of pain...that's who...need to think of who...

<<It.....it's being used to fuel....or maybe even torture. Or both.>> Ziggs thought, his mind still struggling to do anything more than that. Walking around the room, he inspected the scrying stone, wondering if he could find any more hints or clues to what was happening. <<They needed this room, this stone, for a reason>> Ziggs thought.

[Lostbutseeking]

Staring levelly at the bound creature and speaking outloud Amelia murmurs "You know, i'm glad we didn't eat breakfast, for that is certainly pretty unsightly." After a few moments she walks forward slowly and kneels nearby to inspect the stone and it's cabling with her glowing.

<< Fuel seems about right, I would guess the torture part was done already, but I doubt the ongoing part is fun >>

[BelGareth]

Reya -

The Angel stirs as if in a deep sleep as Reya touches it, the skin of the outsider seems to flicker alive, for but just a moment as the positive energy radiates through her body. It last's a moment or two before it is visibly sucked away through the cables and away from the angel.

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34 minutes from landing to walking into the chamber.

Rand -

Muscles touches the cable, nothing happens.

He tugs gently on the cable and is unable to move it at all, it is seemingly locked in place by a larger force.

Holding onto the cord for a few moments he feels a 'current' moving through the cable, away from the angel.

You can see the scrying stone is not physically affected at all, it is merely being covered by the cables. It's usual hum is not present however, and it seems to not be active.

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Your extraction transpo has 26 mikes left.

[Chambers]

Reya

Reya watches in frustration as the angels wounds are healed, only to be reopened as whatever process is behind the cables drains away its life. She turns and glares at Rand, her eyes narrowed to slits. "It could be a creature being tortured and in pain!" She says, louder than necessary as her anger mounts. She blushes and then shakes her head. "Sorry. I'm not angry at you, but at whoever did...did this."

"They know we're here, no point in maintaining stealth. Cover your ears, this might hurt." She says and takes a few steps back so as to see all the cords at once. She opens her mouth and three hawk cries burst forth, a hunting cry loud enough to startle prey - loud enough for a small hawk. With a humans voice and magical projection to carry it, the cries are sharp enough to shatter steel.

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Casting Shatter (electricity subbed, thunderbolt ability) three times, targeting a different cord each time. Using this part of the spell: "Alternatively, you can target shatter against a single solid object, regardless of composition, weighing up to 10 pounds per caster level." Her caster level is 14 for the spell so she can target 140lbs per casting. Will save negates, DC 18.

She'll target the three cords that are most likely to be load-bearing.

Current Effects: Mass Conviction (34/110 minutes), Spell Resistance 23 ? (X.3/11 minutes)

[bindin garoth]

Nexus watches passively while Reya continues to attempt to free the creature. But what he's really concerned about is the fact that the healing spell she casted on the angel was absorbed by those wires...... They're collecting large amounts of positive energy.

But what for? Indeed, that was the fact troubling Nexus the most. Who would need that much positive energy? Where they trying to revive something big? Or what else could it be used for?

<I'm going to keep watch above. Who knows if or when we'll be assaulted again.> He says, walking back up the stairs.

He opens the door at the top of the stairs and takes a look outside. If he see's noone, he creates an illusion of a closed door (while it is actually open) and keeps watch.

Note: If there is no door outside of the stairway, he will instead create an illusion of rubble, as if the entrance had collapsed on itself.

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Using silent image

Spot:(1d20+17)[32]
Listen:(1d20+17)[36]

[BelGareth]

As you Nexus goes out to keep watch over everyone, the Angel suddenly speaks.

"PHASE SHIFT INITIATED, SIGNAL BEACON PRIMED."

The cords that are attached to her seem to glow slightly, as if the energy pulsing through them was excited by something.

"BATTALION ONE, LANDING SITE LOCKED. BATTALION TWO, LANDING SITE LOCKED..."

As she speaks the cords grow brighter and in only a few moments the whole room is awash in the bright light, so bright it's almost blinding.

"...BATTALION SIXTEEN, LANDING SITE LOCKED. REGIMENT COMMAND, LANDING SITE LOCKED. PHASE SHIFT IMPLEMENTING IN T-MINUS 200."

The light is so bright now it forces you out of the room, you can still hear her as loudly as if you were standing next to her. Some form of magical amplification processing her voice to all over the surrounding area.

"199.198.197.196.195.194..."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Holding up his hands to shield his eyes from the light, Rand growls a few angry phrases that would probably get him disciplined for Conduct Unbecoming an Officer if he were to say them back at base. Over the mental link, he grimly sends <Celestial or not, that sucker has to die. We can't let that phase shift--whatever that is--happen. I'm going to see if I can buy us some time; whether I succeed or not, throw everything you have at those cables and the scrying stone. We have to assume that destroying those will stop this thing, because if they don't we're completely fu--screwed anyway.>

Closing his eyes against the glare, Rand reaches into his pack and pulls out a wire-frame lantern, concentrates for a moment, and opens his eyes as the light drops to manageable levels. Stepping into the room again, he glares at the angel and thinks Give us some time, won't you? in its general direction, then orders Muscles to start attacking the cables.

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Rand pulls out his darklight^{Secrets of Sarlona 140} as a move action, adjusts the light level within 80 feet to Bright Light (torchlight) as a free action, and manifests time hop on the angel as a standard action in the hopes that the angel hops forward while the cables stay put. Rand spends 2 PP to make it affect Large creatures; the angel has to make a DC 22 Will save or be sent 11 rounds into the future.

Muscles charges into the room and attacks the nearest cables. His attacks, if you need them:
Slam: (1d20+12)[18]; Damage: (1d6+10)[14]
Slam: (1d20+12)[29]; Damage: (1d6+10)[14]

[Chambers]

Reya

Her mouth hangs slightly open as the cables resist her shout. She narrows her eyes at them and mutters a curse in her native tongue. "Colonel, remove your construct. I can shut this abominable machine down." She says and steps forward, waiting a moment for the astral construct to step back. She lifts up her hands towards the cieling and half-closes her eyes. "As the Bountiful Lady gives life and grants power, so it is hers to take away. Mistress, strip away these foul chains and free this creature from its grasp." As she finishes intoning the words of her prayer the world around her seems to snap and vibrate slightly as the magic is stripped away.

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Casting Antimagic Field (after Rand Time Hops the angel, hopefully), standing right next to the scrying stone and angel.

Dice - not trying to godmod your construct, just didn't want it to pop when she cast AMF.

[bindin garoth]

Almost as soon as he puts up the illusion, he hears the voice.

PHASE SHIFT IMPLEMENTING IN T-MIN....

The voice nearly destroys his illusion as he almost losses concentration! Oh s***! They can't have that happen! If the others can't do anything, he'll just have to kill it! We can't have whatever they have going on here escape, and besides, it'd probably be putting the thing out of it's misery anyways.

He quickly drops the illusion and runs back downstairs, already reaching into his dimensional pocket of weapons. Unlike before, he draws it effortlessly, almost as if the pocket understands the severity of the situation! Two daggers are in his hands at a moments notice, covered in shadows, as he reaches the room......

...... Only to find the others are already trying to take care of it! He keeps his daggers drawn for now, in the instance their powers don't work. Can't be too careful, after all.

He does, however, take a moment to look over the room, and see the flows of magic. Perhaps they'll provide insight as to what they did here.

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Looks like Dice and Chambers are handling the angel. Might as well look around.....

Using my Magic Insight and See the Unseen invocations.

See invisible creatures/items, detecting magic.

[JKTrickster]

Compared to the others, Ziggs didn't even jump up at the loud noise. As the others raced around him, Ziggs merely walked towards the door. His pace was even and measured, unlike how he usually ran. He was even unusually silent, like a ghost walking past them. He stood outside the door, looking up at it and around to see where he could work best.

He worked his way around the frame, his fingers slowly tracing ancient runes into the stonework. His fingers were meticulous and careful, never hurried or even disturbed by Nexus' frantic running. He worked like the craftsman he was, obsessed in his runes and lost to the surroundings. Yet in the back of his head, all his voices were counting. Counting to that tone, to make sure he still had time left.

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Ziggs uses the next 5 rounds (just about half a minute) - to inscribe 5 runes around the door of the room. 1 of them is completely normal force rune with a Command Word Trigger - the other 4 are special runes with the Chain Reaction trigger.

Basically with one word he can activate all 5 runes to collapse the door/hopefully collapse the room on the angel/sever the chords.

[Lostbutseeking]

Whipping round as the angels voice booms out "Not Good, Really not good" seeing that Reya and the Colonel are attacking the link between the angel and the stone she starts to make preperations for an emergency extraction.

Quickly directing her mount to near Reya and allow her to mount she then summons a second and directs it to Derek.

<<If we can't stop this Reya and Derek take the mounts, dont forget to drop the antimagic field first. They will get you to the Corvette. Everyone else link up on me for teleportation back to HQ>>

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If the covette is 3 miles away it's an 11 minute flying ride away by the mounts.

[BelGareth]

Rand drops the light in the room to a somewhat comfortable level, move in he attempts to wrest the corrupted angel to another time stream. The angel flickers, as if it was in two spaces at once and could not decide between the two.

It disappears for a longer period, you feel like your plan worked, and then she reappears.

"186.185.184..."

Muscles moves in and starts to pound on the cables, he makes little progress, but does manage to dent the massive things. They resist his physical assault with the strength of adamantium.

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Thats just a colorful reference.

Reya moves in and dismisses Muscles to outside the room, he nods as Rand acquiesces the situation and room to her. You cast your powerful spell and bathe the room in its power. The Angel suddenly opens her eyes and stares right at you, her black soulless eyes boring down deep into your very soul.

She screams. An ear splitting, bloody scream that rattles you to the bone, and it..whats that...it sounds like she is saying something?

LEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAVVVVVE!

And she stops, her eyes close just as suddenly as they opened and she continues to speak.

"ERROR, WARNING, LANDING SITE COMPROMISED, UNKNOWN INTERFERENCE, QRF ALERTED. QRF IN ROUTE."

Nexus drops in and scans the room, you see an overwhelming bright light, bright blue energy almost drips from the angel and through the cables, pulsing as if it were a liquid, the angels brightness seems to lessen with every pulse.

Ziggs manages to scribe his runes on the arch with ease, ready to blow the whole place if need, or not, whatever works.

Amelia summons another steed and sends them both to their respective targets, they move willingly, and stand next to Reya and Derek looking slightly awkward in the small hallway of the tower.

[bindin garoth]

"You know, I hate to suggest this, but perhaps we should kill her? End her suffering?" Nexus suggests to the group. He didn't like the idea, but they had to do what they had to do, didn't they?

Nexus circles around the room, walking closer to the cables and the angel."I could try destroying those cables if you drop the spell. Of course, that means he's open to continue the plane shift. I don't know how successful I'd be, but I could give it a shot. But what do you all want to do if it doesn't work?" He asks

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Rand continues using the mental link even though everyone's together with no known eavesdroppers; he just finds it more comfortable than talking aloud. <If momentarily interrupting the connection didn't work, then it'll probably start the countdown again once Reya's disruption field collapses,> Rand says grimly. <I see no other choice than to destroy the angel, the cables, and the scrying stone to be thorough.> He looks around the room for a second, thinking. <I'd say we should target the angel first, in case it's under their control and will try to escape and continue the invasion if freed from the cables--not very likely, after that scream, but we can't take chances. After that, the scrying stone, their most likely point of connection. Once those are both down we shouldn't need to destroy the cables, which is good since they look like they'll be a real pain to even damage.>

Taking a few steps to the side and pivoting so he can look at both the angel and his teammates, he continues: <Reya, you'll need to keep that field up as long as you can. Anyone who can attack the angel in that field should do so, and if and when you kill it go for the scrying stone. Everyone else, head outside and prepare for the arrival of whatever this "QRF" is; at the bare minimum we want to stop it from interfering with those of us killing the angel, so delaying tactics are as good as direct offense. If the time comes for Ziggs to blow this place to Elysium, I'll outline that plan then.> He moves as if to leave--he's not very effective in a fight without his mental powers, after all--but stops and asks Reya, <How many more fields can you create after that one dissipates? We don't know when the "QRF" will get here, and we might need to attack the angel without it for a bit if we don't make any headway.>

[Chambers]

Reya

"As many as needed." Reya mumbles to Rand, her eyes downcast as she stands next to the angel. "If we have to kill her, be quick about it, please." She says and holds her arms around her, hugging herself. She looks up to the angel. "I'm sorry we couldn't save you."

[bindin garoth]

And Nexus walks out of the anti-magic field for a moment, his face stone. He didn't like having to kill such a creature, but what could they do? He didn't see any other way. And so his hands would run red with blood tonight, and the shadows shall have their sacrifice. He lifts both of his hands, and slowly, two daggers seeminly rise out of his shadow, leaving his shadow rippling as if it were liquid. He waits on another before moving in.

"........ Goodbye, angel." The words seemed to roll off of his lips too easily; his face still stone, yielding nothing to onlookers. And he strikes with the first blade, his other hand ready to slip the next blade in the creatures back.

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Drawing two daggers out of my gloves of storing.

Move and attack after someone gets into flanking position.

Attack (Including the +2 from flanking): (1d20+20)[37]
Damage:(1d4+7)[8] + (2d6+12)[18] SA damage = 26

DC = 26 fort save, or staggered for 1 round.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Rand walks over to Reya and places a comforting hand on her shoulder, twitching slightly as he walks into the antimagic field and feels his telepathy become suppressed. "I know this isn't easy, and I don't particularly like killing celestials--it sucked the last four times, too," he says with a cheeky grin; he's trying to lighten the mood, and though it's probably not the best idea to joke about killing angels with a priestess, his sense of humor dial only really has settings for stun, kill, irreverent, and non sequitur. "But whoever is responsible for doing this is the one at fault, and releasing the angel from this...contraption...is the best mercy we can provide."

He gives her another smile and a nod and leaves the antimagic field, relaxing as the mindlink reforms. <All right, Nexus, while you stay down here and put the angel out of its misery--> He glances at Reya and corrects himself, <--I mean, out of her misery, the rest of you come with me; let's get ready to give the three-letter assault force a warm welcome.> Suiting words to actions, he walks out of the room and up to Nexus's illusion, tries to open the door, discovers it's an illusion, and walks through to keep watch while he waits for the others to get up there and make their preparations.

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Bel, correct me if the angel isn't actually helpless, but since it looks to be practically the textbook definition of helpless right now, Nexus doesn't need a flanking buddy to get sneak attack, and in fact he can coup de grace it for the quick mercy kill Reya wants.

[JKTrickster]

Ziggs nodded as he already started juggling a few of his treasured bombs. While he didn't feel the same amount of attachment to the angel, he understood the pain it felt. Turning away while Nexus did his work, Ziggs followed Rand up the stairs.

For once, he was silent. He wasn't a stranger to death, but the image of the angel left its imprint on him.

[Lostbutseeking]

Amelia Follows the Colonel outside with considerable alacrity while redirecting Dereks steed to Garoth.

<<As a rough guess, under the circumstances QRF would be a Quick Response Force.... So let us be a little quicker than they are >>

Grinning and muttering as she casts Haste on all those gathered outside.

<<I do hope I actually get to hit something this time... the others were so... boring!>>