In Dreams to Come

[piercetbh]

Rylan was glad to see Simon, a familiar face, and a confidence boost; the man was a Sleeper, and even he had managed to show up. There was no reason for the detective to be worried about himself. He spoke up after Simon stopped.

"However we get to the anti-projection field generator, we're on the worst side to do it," He said, relaying the information he was receiving from the guard. "It's closer to the back, which is also less guarded than this side. I can get more information, too, limited to what the guys at the door know. Perhaps their loadouts?"

He realised he hadn't introduced himself to the rest of the group, but Simon probably knew the extents of his skill set - he'd vouch for the detective. Looking back at the guards, he frowned. The answer to his second question was...intriguing.

[Necroticplague]

Thanks to the decision to walk everywhere on foot, one of the harems was the last to arrive at this party of those who are already here. Fortunately, laws of narrative causality allow her to be just late enough so as to not need crap explained to her specifically. So she tries to offer her contribution to the plan. "I might not burrow, but I can even the numbers bit. Theres a good 15 more of me about here. I could act as a first wave of chaff, soaking shots while you heavier hitters take potshots at them. Or a distraction, if you find alternate entrances. Even if individually I'd be easy to subdue, they would still have to devote some amount of resources to getting all of me. That's people that aren't firing at hostages or you guys."

[DukeGod]

"Right now I can have any one person struck with lightning, effetively move around any object made out of a magnetic metal, possibly make a mess out of persons's control of their own body and with some luck even disable technology. Though according to necessity of the plan I can accomodate to almost any approach"

And just as he speaks, Leviath uses his still enhanced senses to organize things, with an imaginary grid quickly covering his sight

Control of his creatures was based upon his own concentration after all, and while usually just pointing at something was enough to aim, for lightning strikes more specific coordinates were necessary

[GenericMook]

Erin makes the necessary modifications to the map, following along as Simon comments, and takes everything in as the others give her a breakdown on their powers.

"Alright, so here's how we're going to do this. Our mission is the extraction of the hostages that Brace has inside. In order to facilitate this, we need to take out the anti-projection device. To that end, we'll be splitting up into three teams for Phase One of our operation. Mandragora, Treetop and Gestalt are in Team One. Simon, Mr. Detective here and Reynold are in Team Two. The duplicator and I are going to be in Team Three.

Team One is support. Your mission is to back up Team Two, and get them to the anti-projector room safely. Mandragora, you should primarily act as a disabler, while Treetop and Gestalt can be the primary offense. Gestalt, I'm appointing you as the captain of Team One. Treetop and Gestalt, use the tree to block up the back entrance.

Team Two's objective is twofold. One is going to be disabling the anti-projector device. The second, solely for our mystery friend here, is gathering intel on the mercenaries' plans. Reynold, you'll be providing protection for them. As a note, try to not destroy the projection device, but just disable it to the extent that it can't be used. Simon is team captain for Team Two.

Team Three is our distraction. Brace will likely assume that I'm leading the assault, so our duplicator and I will be buying some time and drawing attention away from you guys.

Phase One concludes when the anti-projection device is down. When. that happens, the team captains need to ping their locations on the mission profile.

Phase Two is retrieval. I'll open up portals back to Hero Corps, and we use those to strike. That way, they can't track our movements. From there, we go and grab the hostages. We'll likely have to deal with resistance, but if we act as a team, it shouldn't be much.

It should be around this time that SIDE arrives, if we act immediately. At that point, when we successfully retrieve the hostages, that's when Phase Three happens. Phase Three is cleanup. We coordinate with SIDE, and take out whatever remaining hostiles. If SIDE isn't here by that time, then we can do it ourselves.

Finally, remember to communicate and work together.

Does anyone have any questions?"

[Born]

Mandragora found that, in spite of the dangerous mission lurking ahead, he couldn't help but chide Treetop about her choice of favored weapon.

"Couldn't you have picked something less... alive to use as a weapon?" Mandragora found himself blurting out to Treetop. "Do you know how old that tree was? Do you know how long it takes for it to grow to that size?" With a bit more of a pointed, accusatory tone, Mandragora continued, "Did you even bother checking whether something was living in it before ripping it out of the ground?" At this, he indicates a knothole in the tree where some small bird or animal could easily have been living at one time.

Before he could stop himself, Mandragora found himself listing off a laundry list of animals that could potentially have taken up residence in the various parts of the tree without a casual observer even noticing.

Spoiler: Likely unnecessary routine Expertise (Nature) check

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Expertise (Nature) (10 + 20 = 30)

Mostly to know the approximate age of the tree, what might have been living in it at the time it was plucked, and what likely WAS in it (if anything) when it was plucked. I sure hope this thing isn't an ancient/rare tree....

[Quellian-dyrae]

Reynold considered the plan for a few moments before nodding. He was a bit concerned about the risk that Erin was taking upon herself and the duplicator, but trusted Erin to know how great a force she could take on.

Treetop didn't have any complaints either. Or, not when Erin described the plan itself. She blinked in surprise at Eric's vehement defense of the previous state of her weapon. "It's a tree..." she responded defensively. "No, I wasn't paying attention to how long it had been standing around being a tree. I was too busy thinking about how much better I could save actual lives with it than I could hitting bad guys with my fists! Seriously, this is probably the most accomplished tree you'll ever meet! How many trees do you know whose resumes include things like 'crime fighting' and 'stopping dangerous Dreamers' and 'pretty much anything other than standing around in the dirt'?"

With a huff she looked to Erin. "Can I be on someone else's team?" she requested, clearly annoyed.

Spoiler: Mandragora

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Enjoy your Hero Point!

[Dorni]

Simon Candler

It wasn't a bad plan. It wasn't perfect, but then it never was. If they could work together, it had a decent chance of working.

Simon couldn't quite keep the scorn from infecting his words. “Save your tree-hugging for later, Greenhorn. Both the hostages and your teammates' lives are going to be depending on you. We can argue about trees later. ”

His attention shifted back to Erin. “Captain, what you're proposing is an assault, not an infiltration. I see a few issues. The hostiles have someone stationed at the security hub and I wasn't able to disable the security cameras. The mechs also certainly have radio communication. Bruce will know that we're attacking within moments of our strike regardless of a diversion. His likely responses will either be to move troops to intercept us or threaten the lives of the hostages, possibly the Mayor unless we back down. If that happens, are you prepared to continue the assault?” There was a lot hanging on the question. Losing the Mayor would be a symbolic defeat for the Corps and would make it harder to calm the populace.

But if the captain got cold feet mid mission it could get them all killed.

[GenericMook]

Erin's left eyelid twitched, and the temperature in the area may have just gone up a degree or two.

But Erin needed to be calm. As much as bickering, in the face of such a crisis, irritated her, she needed to keep her cool. She takes a single deep breath, and folds her arms, looking at Eric.

"Simon is right. If you two have a problem, save it for after the mission," she said, glancing at Simon.

"And you're right. It is an assault. We delay Team One and Two's movement until Team Three has attracted the attention of the mercenaries. If Brace has access to any of my mission debriefs, he'll expect a trick of some sort. The cameras and the back patrol should be moving to intercept me when you move. If he doesn't fall for it, the duplicator and I take out his side patrol and we move on to the back. If he does want to execute one of the hostages, there's a high probability that he'll address us somehow. That means his attention is focused on us, That's why the duplicator is coming with me. It isn't perfect, nor is it my best strategy, but half of this team is made up of people I haven't worked with. I'm going with what I think is right, but if anyone else has any constructive feedback or ideas to make this go smoother, give them now."

[piercetbh]

"Well, here's an idea, since you're asking; once I'm done probing the soldiers, I can set up a telepathic connection between all of us. It'll let us all remain in mental communication even after we split up, but it's possible that the technology Brace has set up will block me. I know that whatever they've got is enough to at least partially resist my Mind Reading, but after a few tries I should be able to force my way through it. So we might have that, and we might not." After mentioning his potentially useful ability, Rylan once again focused on the connection he had made with the guard out in front of City Hall.

Considering his options, he developed another question to ask.

Spoiler: QD

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I'm making an IC post anyway, so I figured I'd put my third question here.

"What are your battlesuits equipped with?"

[Dorni]

Simon Candler

Simon grunted in acknowledgment. The captain hadn't really answered his question, but it she'd made up her mind. A good soldier knew when to follow orders.

He shook his head at the detective's suggestion, his words professional but not unkind. “Rylan, if you have to focus on forcing a mental link through the nullification field, you won't be able to concentrate on the mission and we'll have to worry about protecting you.” It surprised Simon a little to see Rylan being so open about his powers. Usually the man didn't like to advertise he was a Dreamer. No matter.

He shifted his attention to Erin. “Captain, I suggest we leave one of the duplicates back here with my car. It still has open access to the security cameras and the enemy isn't likely to shut me out. The duplicate can use my spare communicator to radio enemy movements to the squad leaders so we can react to the enemy's movements. I'd also like to request exchanging Treetop for Reynold. The anti-projection device is in a secure room and we may need a Heavy to force the door if we want to get through quickly.”

[Necroticplague]

"Another score against telepathically hooking up: Doesn't really work well on any of me. I'll try and see if one of me can keep an overlook from the car, but keep in mind none of me/we/I are very good at anything above the basics." She seems to give some hand signs towards a distant area between buildings, as if signaling the relevant info. Unnecessary, but it avoids too many questions. One who former job was to stay at home and keep a watch instead appears, heading back towards the car, still with the job of keeping tactical info up-to-date.

Spoiler: Auto-conversation

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Secundus:You people getting all this?
Prime:Loud and clear.
Home-zero: Should I be part of the distraction, or the one in the car?
Tertias: Hmmm...Prime would probably be more secure in the car, but that would cause us to take longer to get back into the fray. Plus, its leaves her more defenseless, since she won't have the hero backup.
Prime: So Go into the car, I'll keep splitting up.

From home, a women on a couach dissapears, reappearing in an alley near city hall, where she's already moving towards a car full of useful information.

[GenericMook]

"Keeping the duplicator on hand to coordinate us is a sound choice. Thanks for catching that, Simon. As for switching Reynold for Treetop, it is a possibility, but I chose Reynold for multiple reasons. First, he's more precise than Treetop, and telekinesis is versatile enough to cover both offense and defense. Second, in the event that the projector device needs to be disabled manually, Reynold's telekinesis aids in that regard.. Third, and most importantly since the issue just got raided, I want Mandragora and Treetop to learn to work together. Put aside your differences today for the sake of the people here," said Erin, turning to look at both Mandragora and Treetop and folding her arms.

"If I hear back from Gestalt that this squabble of yours actually interferes with the mission, you're both going to regret it. As the field commander, I actually have the power to see this taken all the way to court. Do not try my patience. Do I make myself clear?"

Erin didn't raise her voice while addressing them, but the two of them could definitely tell that their little antics earlier had clearly ticked her off.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Treetop got a hopeful look at Simon's suggestions, but it faded when Erin spoke. For just a moment, she looked like she might say something argumentative, but apparently she was smarter than that. "Understood, Captain," she responded respectfully.

[Born]

At the rebukes from the leaders, Eric managed to catch himself and restrain his dream-induced concerns. It wasn't very often he'd lash out like this, even against people who demeaned Deionism. He'd have to apologize later when the situation didn't demand that he be Mandragora.

"Yes, Captain." Eric managed to say calmly.

Spoiler: Internal Monologue

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"Urgh, what's going on with me? I never thought the whole nature aspect of my dream would manifest like this. It's always just been about understanding nature and living with it, until this." Eric thought to himself. "I wonder if any other dreamers have had progressive attitude changes like this. I might have to look into it once this is over. If only my dad were still here so that I could check if there's been any IDEA research into it."

"There is one other thing I didn't mention that might be able to help." Mandragora began. "I can't burrow, but I can feel through the ground. Accurately, too. Do you think it's worth a try, Simon?" Mandragora looks around for any patches of grass through which he might be able to feel under City Hall.

[Dorni]

Simon Candler

"If you need to be on natural ground, I don't think it will be practical," retorted Simon. "Gather any intelligence you can while we cross the lawn, but we can't linger in the open."

"Here is the plan for the infiltration team: After Team 3's distraction, we hit the back door. Leviath, you said you can shut down electronics with your lightning. Assuming the two hostiles behind the building don't move, hit them. Preferred outcome is disabling their suits without a fight. If you can't manage that, then frying their communicators will prevent them from radioing our numbers back to command, frustrating their response. Consider the security camera and rear door alarm as secondary targets for the same reason. Members of Team 1 & 2 without enhanced mobility will approach in my car, everyone else will rush the door. Priority is quick elimination of active hostiles. Treetop will breach the door and we'll enter the building."

"If the enemy doesn't respond, we proceed as a group to the room containing the anti-projection device and disable it. If practical, we'll blast any security cameras we encounter to prevent the enemy command from learning the size of Team 1 & 2 for as long as possible."

"If the enemy responds aggressively, it will likely be by allocating troops from the other sides of the building or the roof. If so, then the corridor immediately after the rear door is a solid chokepoint. We can't afford to get surrounded and we may be able to buy time effectively by leaving a team to hold that point while the remainder of the team proceeds to the target. I'll make the call after we breach the door. The wild card at play is how many hostiles are stationed in rooms without cameras; we'll likely need to engage them en route to the target. Rylan, I need you to confirm the enemy's force size asap. Any questions before we move out?"

[GenericMook]

Erin nodded with approval at Simon's plan. It was sound, for the most part, and took advantage of the team members' individual strengths. She wasn't so confident that Gestalt could prevent Treetop and Mandragora from tearing each other apart, but at least Treetop knew not to push things.

"Team Three will move to act as the distraction. We will approach from the left side of the building, and proceed to eliminate targets. Our first priority is the hostiles on patrol, followed by the ones on the roof, and finally, the ones on the front. We can't cover all angles, so the right side is our lowest priority. Once the front group moves in on Team Three's position, then I'll give the signal for Teams One and Two to make their move. If Team Three manages to clear out the opposition before the device is disabled, we will move to the back and reinforce Team One. Simon, I need to know where the targeting computers on the suits would be, to make taking them out easier. I'm going to contact HQ, to try and get someone to act as operator for the teleporters. Their job is to extract us once Phase One is clear, and from there, we begin Phase Two. Give me a quick minute to make a call, and then we can get started."

Erin steps away for a second, taps on the active crystal interface on her gauntlet, and sends out a call back to Hero Corps HQ, available to anyone that was able to take a call.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"This is Rachel," came the answer after two rings.

[GenericMook]

Erin was relieved. Rachel Dons wasn't a Hero, but at least Erin could count on her to get things done. Whether or not she knew how to operate the teleporters was a different story, but they could walk her through that.

"Rachel, this is Phoenix. I've got a small team near City Hall, and we have a plan of action to retrieve the hostages, but it's going to require some help from someone over at HQ. What I need you to do is head over to the teleporter room, and figure out how to get them working. Then, when I call you, I'll send you three coordinates. I need you to simultaneously open three portals to those locations. Can I trust you to do that?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

There was a long breath at the other end of the line. Then, "Yeah, I got it. Heading there now. Good luck."

[GenericMook]

Erin thanked Rachel, disconnected the call, ans turned to the rest of the group.

"Alright people, let's move out!" she says, turning to the diagram on the wall and adding extra scorch marks over the whole wall to hide their planning.

[Born]

Mandragora moves nervously toward Simon's car for the infiltration. He prays to the Drive for success to calm his nerves and keep his thoughts off of the confrontation with Treetop. Of course, in this case, success meant more than saving the mayor - it also meant finding Harold Brace's daughter. Brace may have been playing the part of supervillain right now, but he was still a father worried for his daughter.

Along the way, Mandragora instinctively searches out patches of grass to feel through, just in case there is any useful information to be had from the underside of buildings or the movement of the subterranian animals.

[Dorni]

Simon Candler

"You heard the captain. Lets roll." He suits his own words by reaching into his car, withdrawing a sleek-looking pistol from a door compartment and slamming in an energy pack with practiced speed. Before he'd finished loading the gun, Simon reached out through his neural link. The car let out a low hum and burred. A second later, the hum had stopped completely and the car faded from view. Only the interior of the car was visible through the open door. "Load up or get to positions."

With that, Simon broke into a light run, drawing short at the corner and cautiously peered around. Spying plenty of cover, he made his way forward, careful to keep hidden as he approached the edge of the green. He'd get as close as he could before taking aim. Hopefully Guestalt's lightning would eliminate the targets, but if not then he'd be in a position to play clean-up.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Treetop couldn't really fit her weapon into Simon's car, and wasn't exactly the stealthiest sort. Rather than following around the building and closing, she leaped up to a relatively nearby rooftop, to get a decent vantage point where she could leap to the attack when Teams 1 and 2 made their move.

Reynold followed after Simon, floating along a couple inches above the ground and sticking to cover. Neither they, nor Simon's car (or any of the heroes within it) appeared to be noticed as they moved around to the back of the building.

Phoenix, on the other hand, was. The two mercenaries on the side of the building readied their weapons. Anyone in the car would see on the screens Simon had left up that the mercenaries on the roof were also moving to that side of the building.

But Phoenix was the faster...

Spoiler

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Phoenix, Mandragora, and Simon are on turn. I'm working on the assumption based on previous discussion that Harem is following Phoenix, and that Gestalt and Rylan are in the car with Mandragora and...I dunno, was Harem Prime in there as well? Regardless, although you three aren't on turn yet, feel free to post to clarify your positions and roll Stealth if you're not taking Simon's car. I figure as combat time begins you're all within one-hundred feet of City Hall on your targeted side (but feel free to specify a greater distance if you prefer).

And if I've misinterpreted who's where or doing what or whatever don't hesitate to say so.

[GenericMook]

Erin hovered in mid-air, her flaming simulacrum of a sword in her right hand. She was hoping that she'd been spotted, and that's exactly what had happened. Not too surprising, really, given the giant flaming wings extending from her back.

Still, she needed to play her part. She needed to be a solid distraction and hold their attention here.

And she knew just how to do it.

"Hey, bucketheads, over here!" she shouted, as she shot towards the two guards on patrol and struck the nearest one with the flaming blade.

Spoiler

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Free Action: Swap to Sun-Forged Saber

Move Action: Fly to the nearest opponent.

Standard Action: Attacking with Sun-Forged Saber. Attack Roll:(1d20+10)[29]

If the attack hits, it's a DC 25 Fortitude Save against Damage and a DC 20 Will Save against an Affliction (Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated).

Move-by Action: Fly away from the enemies. Erin is going to keep far enough away to where they can't engage in close combat, but close enough to where aiming and firing just isn't feasible.

Somewhere around 50-75ft., really.

[Necroticplague]

Spoiler: On previous positions

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A harem that isn't prime is in the car, and is going to stay their to keep overwatch of the situation as it develops. Meanwhile, Harem Prime and the rest are following on rooftops, making use of cooperative athletics to make their way and try and get a drop on the enemy. Lack of super-movement means it'll take her a bit. Routine team checks would out both stealth and acrobatics at 33.

Seeing everyone else moving, Most of the harems get moving, as well, helping each other make their way from above, trying to not cause a stir too soon.

[DukeGod]

Gestalt, sends his bird into the air as he enters the car. No more enhanced senses. Wouldn't particularly matter much aniway

He focuses on the squares he had seen before. He couldn't see them now, but he had viewed them enough that he could imagine them, pretty much exactly as they were based on what coordinates several landmarks had and extrapolating from there.

[Born]

Mandragora remains in the car, awaiting the signal from Phoenix. He readies himself to sprint to his position, keeping a close eye on the guards he would soon be restraining.

[Quellian-dyrae]

The far side of city hall had an expanse of lawn, leading up to a parking lot. Simon and Reynold crouched behind a couple of the cars, Simon's own floating silently above. The two guards patrolling the back didn't appear to notice them. Simon lined up his shot, while Reynold began to focus his will, preparing to defend them from incoming attack.

The mercenaries at the side of the building didn't even have time to get their arms up before Phoenix was upon them. Her blade sheared through the first mercenary's suit cleanly, cleaving into the other. Its path was redirected just enough that it struck the second flat-on, not penetrating the suit, but still hitting with enough force to drop that mercenary senseless.

As Phoenix flew back, the mercenaries on the roof leaped to her side, their jumps assisted by their suits' jetpacks, propelling them easily across the distance. Four landed in crouches, the other four standing behind them, and they took aim with military precision. They didn't seem aware of the Harems ninjaing their way across the rooftops, focusing on Phoenix and firing a disciplined barrage of short bursts.

Spoiler

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Simon Aims at one of the rear mercenaries. Reynold will raise a Force Shield over himself and Simon (Defending and using his Deflect on Simon), but I forgot to post that before I did my initial post so I'll just have to roll for it later.

The eight roof mercenaries take Move actions to get to the side of the roof.

Four use their Standard actions to Aid the others:
(1d20+13)[33]
(1d20+13)[18]
(1d20+13)[16]
(1d20+13)[29]

The other four fire, resolving as a pair of Team Attacks:
(1d20+8)[9] Receives +5 from Aid and misses anyway with a natural 1.
(1d20+8)[21] Receives +2 from Aid, hitting.
(1d20+8)[24] Receives +2 from Aid, hitting by two degrees for +2 Damage from Multiattack.
(1d20+8)[10] Receives +5 from Aid, resolves as a Team Attack granting +5 from Teamwork, just enough to add +2 to the above.

Phoenix, roll a DC 23 Toughness vs. Damage and a DC 27 Toughness vs. Damage.

Current Status:
Phoenix: Normal (pending attack results). Position: Left side.
Rylan: Normal. Position: Back, Simon's car.
Harem: Normal. Position: Left side, rooftops (Stealth 33).
Mandragora: Normal. Position: Back, Simon's car.
Leviath: Normal. Position: Back, Simon's car.
Simon: Normal. Position: Back (Stealth 29).
Treetop: Normal. Position: Rooftop.
Reynold: Normal. Position: Back (Stealth 20).

Left Mercenaries: 0/2.
Front Mercenaries: 8/8.
Right Mercenaries: 2/2.
Back Mercenaries: 2/2.
Roof Mercenaries: 8/8.

All PCs are on turn.

[GenericMook]

Erin grits her teeth as the mercenaries on the rooftop move to intercept her. She needed the duplicator to get into position, and help her out over here, otherwise she would probably get overwhelmed.

Erin spun around, trying to avoid the bullets, but several of them managed to hit. There weren't any critical injuries, but moving too much didn't seem like a good idea.

Well, she could always slice apart the suits at range, but doing so under fire was tricky.

Dismissing her sword simulacrum, Erin pointed her right index finger at the mercenary furthest to the right, and began to draw a line across the mercenary's chest. Just as her hand began to move to the left, a thin beam of focused orange fire erupted from it, following her movements.

While she unleashed the beam of flame against the group of soldiers, Erin tapped the earpiece in her left ear, and issued a single order: "Move!"

Spoiler

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Current Status: -2 to Damage checks, Dazed until next turn.

Free Action: Swap to Searing Beam.

Standard Action: Attack with Searing Beam. Since it's technically an Area attack, it's a DC 20 Dodge check to half the effect, and a DC 25/20 Toughness check against damage. The actual attack is also Precise, Incurable and Subtle.

Takedown: Gradually move to the left with the attack, taking down the mercenaries one by one.

[piercetbh]

"Let's go for a spin, buddy," Rylan said as he eyed one of the two mercs guarding the area behind City Hall. He wished he didn't have to be so open about having powers, not to mention having to use them like this, but this situation was above the private investigator's normal comfort zone; he wasn't just going to sit in here and hope for a lucky shot with his gun. Hell, from what he'd found out about those suits of armour, he probably wouldn't even be able to shoot through them.

So instead he went directly to his most effective power, and tried to take over his target's mind from a distance. There were only two back here that he could see from the car, so if he could get one to attack the other, they would hopefully take each other out. His body stiffened as he focused on the power, losing his ability to react to outside stimulus as everything started to disappear, save for his mind and that of his chosen foe.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Using Mind Control on one of the mercenaries. If Rylan can tell which one Simon is aiming at, he'll go for the other one. If he can't, then...whichever one is on his left.

Mind Control check to get past the Anti-Projection Field: (1d20+10)[26]

DC 20 Will Save if it gets through, and Rylan is now Vulnerable for one round, which doesn't really mean much from the safety of the invisible car.