Serious Plots 6: Srs bsns

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

Obriane can only follow, trying her darnest to keep up with Kitty. With all the clothes she had on, including the breastplate, moving quickly wasn't all that easy right now.
Still the spirit doesn't attack, yet Kitty can feel its presence every step on the way to the house, like it's right at their heels despite not even showing itself. She can even Something laughing at them nearby, yet there is nothing here at all.
The door is of course locked but Obriane is quick to knock at it with all her might. "Mom! Dad! It's me!"

There is no reply.

That only feeds Obriane's panic, but the next moment she appears to realize something. "It's me Obriane Bellamy, we had a dog called Admiral that used to drag me by a slad." She pauses. "I named my own pillow Duvet and I couldn't sleep until I had it." At the end of that sentence the door is opened and Obriane attempts to pull Kitty inside before it Closes again. A dark-skinned man locks it again and then blocks it with a bar. Kitty will recognize him from the window, this must be Obriane's father, he looks rather young to be a parent. As he made sure the door is properly sealed he turns to hug the exhausted-looking Obriane, saying something in that tribal language.

At least they seemed safe for now.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty would normally fuss over Obriane and make sure she's alright after that, but it looks like this man, who must be her dad, got to her first. Kitty looks closely at the man. Even in this tense situation she's curious about Obriane's family. They never really got a chance to talk about this 'visit' since they were in such a rush. There'll be plenty of time for that later. After they deal with the spirits menacing them.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

As they stand so close, Kitty can see that he is actually slightly shorter than Obriane herself. They have the same wide shoulders and hair & skin color though, and judging by his leather clothes, the same fashion style. A second person enters, this one a woman who must be Obriane's mother as they have exactly the same nose and length. But she is fair-skinned with dirty blond hair and petite features. Obriane might have inherited the lower part of her figure, but certinly not the upper one. Following shortly behind her is a little boy that looks just old enough to walk. His skin is slightly lighter than Obriane's, but otherwise he shares a lot of her facial features. Right now he looks as scared as the rest of the family though.

"Excuse moi, but who are you?" The woman suddenly asks Kitty, who might just now note that she has what appears to be a blunderbus strapped to her back.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty looks at Obriane, her eyes asking for guidance. What's she supposed to do here? "I'm Obriane's... I'm her good friend. My name's Kitty." She clasps her hands together and bows at the waist. "You must be Obriane's mother. I wish we could have met under better circumstances." She looks at Obriane's mother, father, and brother each in turn.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

Obriane has tears in her eyes, she had never been able to hold back those. "Y-you're a-alright." She sniffs, her father smiling widely at her, gently running his hand through her hair. "Of course we are beany, what protected you also protects us."

The little boy hides behind behind his mother as Kitty looks at him, though she meets the kitsunes gaze with her own, looking as if she's trying to peer into Kitty's soul. She seem to be waiting for Obriane to introduce Kitty though. "Um... yeah, this is Kitty. She helped me getting back here." Obriane claims as she manages to separate herself from her father, moving so she's standing by the kitsune once again.

The moment doesn't last long though as Obriane's mother moves up to hug her daughter. "I'm so glad you're back, and I'm glad you managed to make such a good friend."

As the two exchange hugs, Obriane's little brother is still just tugging at his mother's skirts, trying to stay out of Kitty's sight. Obriane's father moves up to the kitsune to give her a hug as well. "A friend of my daughter is a friend of me, welcome to the family Kitty. I am Kallik."

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Good friend. Yep, that'll do for now. Kitty's surprised to be hugged, but she'll return it after a moment. "Thank you. It's nice to meet all of you." The kitsune looks warily back at the door. "But we should keep focused. How long has that thing kept you holed up here?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

"About a day. The town will probably notice soon enough so it will have to force its way in soon." Obriane's mother replies as she lets go of her daughter to turn back to Kitty. "We suspect it has been here longer though, just watching us from afar. It was only luck that we managed to get everyone inside." She pauses, looking back at the changeling who is busy wiping away the tears. "It had taken your shape, Obriane. It did so more than once. So I just have to assume that your sudden arrival has to do with its presence here."

Obriane nods. "Y-yeah, we met it. It told us it was going to kill you and then just left, I have no idea why. It said something about 'revenge', so maybe I banished on of its friends?" She is obviously holding away some important pieces of information here.

"It is obviously insane so I doubt its reasons for doing this matters, all we need to do is to wait for the townspeople to take notice and then your uncle could get rid of it."
Kallik nods. "Yes, we've been watching the fireplace in case it would attempt to get in through the chimney. Albin will no doubt deal with it. That's what he's good at."

Obriane nods hesitantly. "There... might be more spirits than that one though. We met a whole bunch of them before we got here. No idea what they were doing here though, they were not like this one." They had started to fight one another over Obriane. They would probably have followed her...

That makes her parents look concernedly at one another. "Well... you can't be sure they were going here too right? I know those things are attracted to you my dear, but you never see that many spirits close to a town. Albin said that too many people in one place makes them uncomfortable."

"Yeah... that's true." Obriane agrees, though Kitty can tell that she doesn't look convinced.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

"I wouldn't be so sure. They got really aggressive around Obriane. We shouldn't write them off." Kitty insists. "I really don't like the idea of sitting around here until help arrives. That thing out there has it out for Obriane. It's not going to give up easily. We need to deal with it as soon as possible."

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

"But how? We can shoot or stab it, nor do we know it's bane. Silver might work against a evil spirit, but I lost my axe outside when it first attacked." Kallik remarks. "At best we could use a piece of the ward, or Obriane's plate, but that material is dangerous to handle. But Albin told us that manipulating it might disrupt enchantment holding it all in place."

"Albin is Obriane's uncle." Obriane's mother clarifies. "Or technically, my cousin. And I am Aurora, Obriane's mother, if it wasn't obvious."

"She is right though, we have to fight it and, uh, Kitty and I might be able to do it." Obriane agrees. "Since... ah, Kitty is special." She looks at the Kitsune, hoping that she would explain further now that she brought it up in the open.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

"Oh, right. Um, well. I'm not exactly human." Kitty figures she'd better start slow, so she doesn't hike up her dress and uncover her tails. Instead, she holds up one hand and manifests a small ball of white flame.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

Kallik and Aurora let out a small gasp as they see the flame, the only one in the family who doesn't react with shock, is their son, who looks at the fire with fascination. "Wow!" He exclaims, the only sound he has made since Kitty entered the building. "Foxfire!"

His parents just look confused for a moment, until Kalik appear to realize something. "Oh, like in the book..." He looks between Obriane and Kitty as Aurora is taking a firm grip on her son, as if she is afraid he is going to touch Kitty's fire. "A hu-ldra?" He says the word slowly as if he can't pronouce it properly.

"Kitsune." Obriane corrects. "Kitty is one of the best persons I ever met and she have a child of her own. She doesn't steal people away or anything like that." She says while putting her hand upon the Kitsunes shoulder. "She have helped me fight the spirits we've encoutered with that flame of hers."

"I... see." Aurora replies hesitantly, not taking her eye from Kitty. "A-albin would probably be interested to see you."

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty touches Obriane's back to signal her appreciation. It's a small motion, but her parents may notice it. "I'm not sure how we can get rid of it, honestly. It's clearly very powerful. I'd rather be proactive than wait for help, though."

[FireFox]

[Ghost Town]

There is a place long abandoned. By most, not all. Things stand out in this dead place with their conspicuous life. A mansion shining with electric light. Three lightless SUVs, driven through pitch black streets with night vision devices. A tension in the air. A war soon to be restarted.

"The Huntress is infiltrating now. She'll deal with any high power threats, which leaves us to take out the cultists and secure any hostages. Coast in silently towards your assigned areas, then wait for my signal." The woman takes her finger off the transmit button and listens to the acknowledgements from the other two teams. She glances out of her window and sees a crow perched on a dead power line. Everything a ghostly green, she uses her NODs to scrutinize the moonless sky. From the enhanced light of the stars, she can see another bird flying... over where Team Three is driving. She props herself up in the window to look over to the left at the side street Team Two is taking to their objective. Another bird. The only birds she's seen in this empty little village so far.

"****." She pulls herself back into her seat and activates her comm again. "Lead to all teams: we're made. Assault the target now now now!" Her Escalade revs up and races towards the mansion as everyone inside flips up their NODs and prepares their guns. The up-armored vehicle makes short work of the decorative gate and screeches to a halt at the front door. Before it comes to a complete stop, the two men behind her are out and stacking up on the front porch. She yanks out a battering ram and charges up the steps, smashing the heavy wooden door off it in one fluid motion. She steps to the side, tossing the ram away and bringing her rifle up to the low ready as one of them men tosses in a flashbang. And she sees it come back out with just enough time for her to leap off the porch. Thank Prometheus for bleeding-edge hearing protection. The bang doesn't deafen her, so she quickly notices Team Two's automatic fire coming from the target's back yard. It also makes it easier for her to hear the screaming coming from her team up by the front door.

"Lead to Command, we're well and truly ******. Call the heavy hitters and get them here fast."

[The Bushranger]

[Ghost Town]

In addition to a place for nefarious planning, this is the kind of place where one goes to find one's self in the quiet.

Which is why a certain brunette paladin-and-telepath has been wandering here, remembering old (and very old) times and antics. Adventures fair and foul. Some with a higher rating than others. And...

...and her train of thought is cut off by the sound of combat.

And so it is that Quinn takes a deep breath, shakes her head, and heads for the sound of the guns, pulling out her sword on the way there.

[Recaiden]

[Directly Outside the Target Area]

Arlem teleports in, and fairly well blindly steps away from the flare. He looks around, physically and psychically, trying to get a sense of where they've been inserted and how badly things are going.

[Fenric]

Linda walks through next, rifle ready, and immediately winces at the brightness of the flare and steps aside quickly

Flare was perhaps a bit excessive.

[Reinholdt]

[Stay on Target]

Rein kitty pops through next with an absolutely adorable meow. It's a minor protest to having all his atoms shoved from one location to another across a great distance. Tends to be a tad unsettling. He too takes a moment to orient himself by immediately diving for the nearest piece of cover. Be that a person or an object.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty touches Obriane's back to signal her appreciation. It's a small motion, but her parents may notice it. "I'm not sure how we can get rid of it, honestly. It's clearly very powerful. I'd rather be proactive than wait for help, though."

[Rivi Des]

"Let's..." Obriane swallows. "Let's lure it out in the open. It will probably attack me at first sight. Maybe we could get the axe and I could... attempt to control it. I think I might be able to do that."

"Can you?" Aurora asks, skeptically. "I don't want you to risk your life for us like that Obi, or is this another set of news you're going to spring on us? First kitsunes, then sudden spirit control. Or are they one and the same?" She glances at Kitty.

"If she believes she can, she should at least try to, 'rura. If what they claim is true, we got nothing to lose."

Obriane nods and takes her mothers hand as to reassure her, but her gaze is seeking out Kitty, she needed the kitsunes support as much as she needed her parents right now. Kitty had helped her overcome one fear, so she could help her overcome another.

[Beans]

[Stay on Target]

Carrion arrives next, caste mark open as she darts for cover. She draws, from somewhere, a cross between string instrument and warhammer forged in dark steel and black jade.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty steps closer and touches Obriane's arm. She'd kiss her under normal circumstances, but she can restrain herself for now. "Obriane can is capable of remarkable things. This monster chose the wrong person to mess with." Kitty beams at Obriane, perhaps with more confidence than she should have.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

Obriane just nods and smiles awkwardly at Kitty's gesture. "Y-yeah, we should... should probably go and do this. If I go out in the open, you guys stand ready. Only Kitty should really attack it though, the rest should make a run for the town and get help."
"Alban will believe us, at the very least. And so will the rest of the populance if more spirits show up." Aurora agrees.

"Perhaps its best if I stay here with the little one though, I don't want to run with him." Kallik comments, looking at their son who still stands by his mother, his attention focused on Kitty.

"Good thinking, dear. It's best if I talk to Albin I suppose." She turns to Obriane and takes her hand, pulling her away a bit from Kitty as she embraces her in a hug. "Just be careful dear, you know I wouldn't let you do this if I didn't belive you could do it." She strokes the changelings hair as Obriane blushes, things was going to get all awkward with both Kitty and her parents.

"The axe should be near the storage, show that spirit that the Bellamy family is not to mess with." She glances at the Kitsune. "You too Kitty, as a friend to us."

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty nods firmly. "We'll take care of it. Let's not waste any time." That's what they came here for, after all. To stop this monster. Kitty makes her way toward the door with Obriane. When they're ready to go out, she meets her girlfriend's eyes. "Ready?" She speaks with confidence, showing no doubt in her own or Obriane's abilities. She offers her hand for Obriane to hold, despite the presence of Obriane's family.

[FireFox]

[Ghost Town]

In addition to a place for nefarious planning, this is the kind of place where one goes to find one's self in the quiet.

Which is why a certain brunette paladin-and-telepath has been wandering here, remembering old (and very old) times and antics. Adventures fair and foul. Some with a higher rating than others. And...

...and her train of thought is cut off by the sound of combat.

And so it is that Quinn takes a deep breath, shakes her head, and heads for the sound of the guns, pulling out her sword on the way there.

[Back Yard]

Through a gap in the dilapidated stone wall surrounding the overgrown yard behind the mansion, Quinn sees muzzle flashes puncture the dark night. Two figures stand back to back, wildly sweeping fire with a staccato beat at unseen attackers. The loud booms of rifle shots give way to sharper cracks as they switch to pistols in desperation. High pitched cries and savage growls from wounded beasts rise in counterpoint. Just as the paladin makes it into the yard, a pack of shadows take the mercenaries down and begin to feed.

From atop a nearby SUV, doors open and blood on the windshield, a four legged creature drops a body part as it notices the new intruder. The light from the mansion's rear windows make its eyes glow red. A warning snarl, low and powerful. A visible stiffening of muscles, tense and intimidating.

[Directly Outside the Target Area]

Arlem teleports in, and fairly well blindly steps away from the flare. He looks around, physically and psychically, trying to get a sense of where they've been inserted and how badly things are going.

Linda walks through next, rifle ready, and immediately winces at the brightness of the flare and steps aside quickly

Flare was perhaps a bit excessive.

[Stay on Target]

Rein kitty pops through next with an absolutely adorable meow. It's a minor protest to having all his atoms shoved from one location to another across a great distance. Tends to be a tad unsettling. He too takes a moment to orient himself by immediately diving for the nearest piece of cover. Be that a person or an object.

[Stay on Target]

Carrion arrives next, caste mark open as she darts for cover. She draws, from somewhere, a cross between string instrument and warhammer forged in dark steel and black jade.

[Front Yard]

The HALO group finds themselves in the road, next to an SUV with a team of security contractors. One of them is laying suppressive fire from a machine gun into the second story windows of the mansion. One of them is covering the front door with a high powered rifle. The driver is staying behind the wheel, ready to run like hell with a machine pistol in hand. The last one is dragging a bloody man in khakis and a plate carrier from the lawn back to the street, calmly murmuring reassurances that Everything Will Be Fine. A large corpse of something that looks like a bear with too many legs lies where it fell off the porch. There doesn't seem to be any immediate threat, but something is struggling up the stairs by the front door.

Arlem's psychic look sees the unguarded minds of the four mercenaries. They're terrified but disciplined. The guy being dragged is already deceased. Another mind, similar to the first ones but more protected, is just outside the front door. Surface thoughts of pressure and blood-flow, up there. The emotions coming from inside the mansion are too chaotic to sift through at a glance.

The others can find cover behind the SUV, but they're going to get a lot of strange looks. "... That's our back up?"

[The Bushranger]

[Back Yard]

Through a gap in the dilapidated stone wall surrounding the overgrown yard behind the mansion, Quinn sees muzzle flashes puncture the dark night. Two figures stand back to back, wildly sweeping fire with a staccato beat at unseen attackers. The loud booms of rifle shots give way to sharper cracks as they switch to pistols in desperation. High pitched cries and savage growls from wounded beasts rise in counterpoint. Just as the paladin makes it into the yard, a pack of shadows take the mercenaries down and begin to feed.

From atop a nearby SUV, doors open and blood on the windshield, a four legged creature drops a body part as it notices the new intruder. The light from the mansion's rear windows make its eyes glow red. A warning snarl, low and powerful. A visible stiffening of muscles, tense and intimidating.

Quinn draws her sword, gripping it for the first time in a long time. She holds it before her, glaring at the beasts. "In the name of Neirian, I command you: leave this place! You have no purchase here!" Her voice is strong and commanding, and it carries Power, even as she gathers her own Power in readiness, a soft breeze making her brown ponytail sway.

[Beans]

[Stay On Target]
Carrion glances at the incredulous soldiers, teeth glinting in a humorless smile.
"Your backup, their nightmare."
Drawing her finger up the string of her dahu, she closes her eyes. The caste mark on her forehead flares darkly, and the whirling black vortex of her anima banner becomes more concrete. Something flickers over her, and though she's no bigger, no more muscled, she seems to have taken on aspects of something ancient and malevolent. Raising a hand against her is suddenly no task for the weak-hearted.
"Any idea how to draw them out? Don't like the idea of having to go in after them, but if we have to..."

[Recaiden]

"That guy's already dead. Leave him for now. There's something by the porch, on the other side of the stairs."
Is...is that a cat hiding behind his legs?
Is it that cat?
You know the one, of course. That one.
Well what can Arlem do but crouch down and pet the thing?
"Do we need to keep the building standing? What do you think, little guy?"

[Reinholdt]

Front Yard

Reinholdt totally doesn't purr very loudly as Arlem pets him.

"I think this was vaguely worded as a rescue operation maybe and we need more information before destroying buildings." Pure nonsense of course. Destroying buildings needs no information. Only a will and a way.

He points a paw at the driver since they seem the least preoccupied and loudly inquires, "Who is in command here and what's the situation?"

[Fenric]

The characteristic whine of a charge-pump filling high volume capacitors comes as Linda takes the safety off her gun, then sends a brief volley of blazing blue-white bolts of high energy death to the upper windows herself.

Yep: backup. We going in? I've done my share of close-quarters before.

[FireFox]

[Back Yard]

The feeding beasts grab a few more bites to go, then flee before the paladin's Power. The one on top of the vehicle flinches, but stands its ground and starts barking. Deep-throated, vicious, and drawn out like a lion's roar. A very intimidating distraction, as another one comes running up behind Quinn, rushing for her hamstrings with serrated teeth.

[Front Yard]

The driver waves his machine pistol at the front door. "Golem's our Lead. We wasted the... thing that tore her and the rest of her fireteam to shreds, but we can't go get her. Gunfire from the upper windows..." The ones that are now flickering with fire? Linda's weapon makes a very convincing argument that nobody by those windows is in any sort of combat shape by now. The contractor running the machine gun stops firing and let's out a low, impressed whistle. "...Huh. I guess you can go get her now. But yeah, intel says they had some prisoners, maybe even being used for sacrifices or something. That's why we threw this together without enough planning. Also, we were told one of your people was going in first. I'm all for bombing the damn place, but maybe you want to see who can be rescued."

The shell-shocked mercenary with the dead friend looks back and forth between the corpse he's been dragging and Arlem a few times before silently bringing the body back to the SUV. That done, he checks his shotgun and takes up a post facing away from the mansion, watching the group's back. He stands as far away from Carrie as he can get, his fingers clenched bloodless on the grip of his firearm as his whole body shakes.

[The Bushranger]

[Back Yard]

The feeding beasts grab a few more bites to go, then flee before the paladin's Power. The one on top of the vehicle flinches, but stands its ground and starts barking. Deep-throated, vicious, and drawn out like a lion's roar. A very intimidating distraction, as another one comes running up behind Quinn, rushing for her hamstrings with serrated teeth.

Quinn keeps her eyes fixed on the creature before her...but as the beast behind lunges, she spins, her sword flashing out as it blazes with a mixture of holy and psychic fire.

Freedom: from injury!
Power: against abominations against nature!

And she aims her swing to slash across the throat.
Assuming the charging beastie even has one.

"Again: begone!"