AMEN L: [Insert Ideas]

[Reinholdt]

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

Where Tiffany comes from, stepping on someone's back is just a more intimate version of saying 'hello' so Raven Ebondark is completely correct. She was rude and totally deserved being tripped.

Requiem's concentration is shot. With one body trying to monitor the location of people throughout the base and a second one in pain and on the floor, the third one doesn't have the presence of mind to stop herself from being thrown at the nearest henchman.

Knowing what's about to come, Tiffany-on-the-floor starts to shimmy farther out the door.

Raven Ebondark's plan to keep that henchmen between her and the gunners seems to be a good plan, because it does force them to readjust their aim for a second. "What are you waiting for?" Requiem yells, trying to get back up. "Shoot her!"
Of course, they start firing.

...
And then she notices what happened to the goth's clothes. "Aim for the face or neck!" Requiem adds. Purple mist starts swirling around the blonde woman, as she finally gets back onto her feet.

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

Tiffany and Raven would probably get along really well then. They have a lot in common after all. They're both lies. Only one of them has tipped their hand though.

Raven violently rips her dagger hand free from the henchman's chest and kicks his corpse towards the others. "You know, like I'm seriously going to clear this room, or whatever. You should just leave before the cool kids get here."

Her dagger ripples and transforms into a large translucent shield that she keeps held up as she darts to one side, her other hand becoming whip like. Each henchman she encounters turns her into a whirlwind of energy as she spins, her whip alternating from decapitation and binding groups together before either electrocuting them or simply mincing them to pieces.

Raven almost finishes one flank when a spare shot catches her in the leg where the shield isn't protecting. While her armor certainly helps, it's not bullet proof by any means and there's a sharp cry before she dives behind the couch for cover. While they certainly can and probably will keep shooting, they'll have to destroy AMEN's fabled social furniture to do so.

[Purple Eagle]

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

It is okay, let's leave it that way.
I am not sure what reference you do with the microphone.
Oh and it asn't a threat and nowhere meant so. Mostly it was just pointing out options.

Zefir doesn't appear impressed by Shuyoru's mentoning of his abilities. He migth even see a bit of annoyance.
"I guess you will be suprised how common you are in some other worlds." he just comments it. Zefir narrows his eyes at the last sttement. That was obviously a threat just telling that he can take over whenever he wants, but just want to avoid the expenditure of leading this organisation.

"If you say so." he just comments that befor turning to another subject. "What kind of experiments do you mean?"

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

"Hey, it pays to be on the safe side, boss. You'd be shocked how many people in the Nexus expect a certain type of vampire. That I can't just bite and turn anyone without a ritual, or that I'm not limited to a certain time of day to move about, is unheard of in some places." Shuyoru responds. When his boss narrows those eyes at him, he just smiles. "Don't take it the wrong way, boss, I already have my own criminal organization to lead. There's more to lose than to gain trying to take over, assuming I survive the attempt."

The little boy vampire shrugs. "That would depend on whatever the scientist looking for a test subject wishes... but I can tell you they're mostly unethical and may result in the death or mental breakage of the subject. Sadists like me should enjoy."

"Hey, boss?" Shuyoru has a new proposition for Zefir, and he steps closer so he can tell him. "What if I kept an eye on this other shapeshifter you don't trust for you? I do plan to keep an eye on the person, anyway, but if you wish, I could return to you with periodic reports on her activities?"

[Recaiden]

The henchmen open fire - mostly at the bear, which is of course big and attention-grabbing. I imagine bullets ricochet throughout the prison. Be careful.
One of them is promptly gunned down by Adir. Alas, nameless cloned henchman. We hardly knew you.

Right away, Omiko fires her high-powered particle cannon at Adir, while he's aiming at the henchman. No reason to make this too easy on them.
Now for Wenomir. Ah, he's already here.
Plates of armor bubble up around Omiko's neck as the sword swings. They are not helpful in the least, and the AMENite's head leaves her shoulders and rolls away from the door, bearing an annoyed expression. Really, one might have expected more blood.

What's left of Omiko does not collapse to the ground or anything like that. A hundred fuzzy spider legs erupt from the stump of its neck, waving frantically. The body whirls on Wenomir, mechanical claw slashing at his face, living hands grabbing at his sword arm.
"Was that necessary?" grumbles a mouth on her left upper-arm. Omiko's main voice would have said that it was downright disrespectful, but it doesn't have any air to talk with. So at the very least Wenomir is spared her bantering.
"Should I grab the bear again?" Asks a muffled voice near the monster's tail. "No? How about the big guy?"
"Careful. That sword..."

They're kinda near the door to Ilpholin's cell, as we mentioned, but there's no other henchmen in Anika's way.

[5a Violista]

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

Unfortunately, Vigil already shot up the couches on the way in so there's nothing stopping the henchmen from finishing the job. In the process, they might even dent the silverware that's under the couch.
So, of course, the henchmen have no problem shooting it up or even with throwing a grenade at Requiem's favorite couch.

Requiem, on the other hand, is torn at a dilemma.
What's more important in this situation? Keeping Raven from going farther into the base, or keeping up the con with Tiffany? Of course, remembering that there are, in fact, crazy and might try to kill Tiffany (ruining the whole thing) tips the scale to one side. As the henchmen fire, she orders them to retreat to the more strategically optimal positions of in the doorways, to keep Raven from progressing farther, while Requiem "will take care of the runaway."

So Requiem heads towards the front door, after Tiffany.

[Murkus]

[Rescue - Infirmary]

"Hold on folks, we're coming-- ****!" Adir springs out of the way of Omiko's cannon, only narrowly escaping the full brunt of the blast, but the beam drags along the outside of his extended right leg and shears away a section of armor to scorch the skin beneath. He falls into a roll with a heavy thud, his armor banging on the tile floor, and comes up trying to shoot the remaining henchmen while Wenomir occupies Omiko. Despite the injury and the suddenness, his motions are smooth, professional, his weapon as level as it was when he came in standing.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

Running feet can be heard making their way towards the front entrance from deeper within the base. Lots of running feet. It seems reinforcements are about to arrive....

[Zefir]

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

"Hey, it pays to be on the safe side, boss. You'd be shocked how many people in the Nexus expect a certain type of vampire. That I can't just bite and turn anyone without a ritual, or that I'm not limited to a certain time of day to move about, is unheard of in some places." Shuyoru responds. When his boss narrows those eyes at him, he just smiles. "Don't take it the wrong way, boss, I already have my own criminal organization to lead. There's more to lose than to gain trying to take over, assuming I survive the attempt."

The little boy vampire shrugs. "That would depend on whatever the scientist looking for a test subject wishes... but I can tell you they're mostly unethical and may result in the death or mental breakage of the subject. Sadists like me should enjoy."

"Hey, boss?" Shuyoru has a new proposition for Zefir, and he steps closer so he can tell him. "What if I kept an eye on this other shapeshifter you don't trust for you? I do plan to keep an eye on the person, anyway, but if you wish, I could return to you with periodic reports on her activities?"

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

"You are not good in calming people." Zefir replies. For him it sounded even more like the 'easy task' way.

"I guess you are also going for the task of controlling people without them knowing?" Zefir replies. " Most likly while they stay alive?"

Zefir just waves it away closing his eyes with an annoyed expression. "Don't worry. That person is not here anymore. If she insited to get back here she defnitly will use a mask of some sort, but I don't think that will be worth it. You better spend your time in something usefull for me. Whatever it is your capable other then your projects or what you told me before?" His words insist that this is a question obviously asking if he got anything else to mention.

[Rescue - Maze]

The tech henchmen follow the group as far as the dungeon, but take up position just outside of it after they enter. After all, they're supposed to let the VIGILantes reclaim Ilpholin, and encourage them to get out quickly, not to stop them from doing so...

[Rescue - Maze]
Zefir stands theere for amoment taking a deep breath. Things are going as planned so far. The fight in the prison should take a while befor they get here so he is in no hurry to get away. The suit was effective enougth for noww, thought he was wondering why the bear didn't notice him or at least thats what he noticed. He stands up, stretching himself as he feels the Com device going off. He wonders. He switched it to emergency mode for a better hiding. He doesn't wanted one of those movie scenes where the phone rings in the worst situation.

"Yes?" he says as he takes the call. On the other end is a henchman sounding confused.

"Sir? Eh.. I think we got another intruder."

"What?" Zefir says now also confused. "Those are just images as far as we know."

"Sir, it's not like that. This person has appeard as the front door and doesn't look like one of the Vigil members. Requiem is currently dealing with her.."

"What't the point then if someone already deals with it?"

"eh.... well. this person created weapons in her hands, just like our hostage does."

Silence follows. Another person just comes to save Illophen? Maybe some related person, that would explain the ability. But a feeling that something is wrong just seems to be commited.
"Call the men heading for the prison. They should intense the preasure. Don't give them any minute to think about anything. I head for the main room. Keep me updated if the person moves anywhere inside."

The henchman comits and will call the tech henchman for the new duty.

[Reinholdt]

[Rescue Front Entrance]

A shame about Tiffany. She may have had the chance, but now that reinforcements are coming, Raven Ebondark can't afford to divert any attention into helping her. Which means Requiem pretty much gets away with whatever she wants at this point.

"Well, like, don't complain I didn't give you a chance to run." Raven's hair comes to life and catches the grenade, cleanly redirecting it towards the two exits into the base that are close together.

The worse for the wear couch grows much larger, far too quickly for the henchmen in the middle of the double exit and the third exit on the other side of the room. But that's what happens when the furniture is physically tossed at high speeds towards their face where they get to intimately understand each other in ways they never wanted.

The ones working towards the third exit have other concerns as Raven darts that way after throwing the couch. She leaps high and converts the speed into a diagonal spin as her two hands merge together to create a massively oversized greatsword that cleanly, if unevenly, bisects the group in that corner as she lands.

This leaves only a straggler or two alive in the room, aside from Requiem and Tiffany. So long as the grenade goes off and is a normal live grenade. Hopefully that explosive will suppress those two exits as well while Raven takes position to cover the third and kill people as they enter. Her injuries seem to have grown though as a strange black fluid flows from her shoulder. She mentally shuts off the pain and presses up against the wall with a khopesh in hand.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rescue - Prison]

The minions bullets kept loging into the bears hide and they certainly hurt but they didn't seem to slow her down as she attempts to bullrush the door to break it open. Putting all her weight and strength into it.

[5a Violista]

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

The explosion works as intended.

Requiem hears the explosion behind her, back inside. This...could be bad, right? If the intruder is with VIGIL, what's the worst-case scenario? What's the best-case scenario? And how can she turn the former to the latter? If she's not with VIGIL (unlikely, she thinks) then same questions.

Requiem kicks Tiffany so she's now face-up. "Don't you dare move. I'll be back for you," Requiem says to the other her.
She turns around to go back inside the front room and figure out where Raven has gone...oh. She's still there by one of the doors out of the room.

Okay, so the worst-case scenario, she thinks, would be if this intruder goes deeper and for one reason or another stops the VIGIL crew from rescuing the prisoner. Best-case scenario, this intruder meets up with VIGIL on their way out and have them leave through the front door. So, the obvious thing to do is to delay Raven here, in this room. Maybe she could trick VIGIL into thinking this intruder is an AMEN member and that...wait, no, that sounds too far-fetched. Unlikely. They're not dumb enough to believe that.

"If you'll just surrender," Requiem calls out to Raven, "I'll make sure you get a fair trial."
The blonde woman Requiem gets down on a knee and puts her hands on the floor. The ink-like purple and black substance quickly spreads out from her, completely coating the floor with a thin layer. Once it reaches the doors out of the room, it begins to coat the walls as well.

She pulls a similarly-colored lasso out of the substance on the floor, and stands up. "I'll even be your lawyer: you can tell me why you're actually here."
A lawyer's gotta know the truth about their client, after all.

[Morty]

[Rescue - Prison]

It would be too much to say that Wenomir expected Omiko to shrug off decapitation so easily, but he's not surprised, either. He had witnessed her resilience in Riverside and never truly lets his guard down in a combat situation. As such, Omiko gains maybe a second or two of advantage, before the danger of staying within the reach of his sword become apparent. The Answer darts back and forth, up and down, to weave a silvery trace as it wards off Omiko's blows and seek to slice off at least one of the attacking limbs, or cripple them if it can't.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cloning Tank Room]

Zenon frowns as he monitors the radio chatter from inside the base, continuing his own little radar trick for the moment. Things are not adding up. Someone is trying to distract for someone else, here, it seems, but is the attacker at the front room the genuine threat, then, or merely a second wave designed to cover for the first? If so, why only a single person? And why bother sending more troops to the infirmary? Omiko, with the guards, should be enough to make VIGIL want to book it as soon as they have Ilphy. Why the extra pressure? His frown deepens as reflections of these worries flow back from the Devourer. More direct observation is needed, is the decision that is come to. And the Devourer makes it so.

[Rescue - Infirmary]

The room becomes quite a bit more crowded, as the henchmen that were following the group burst in through the door behind them, and open fire. Four of them are targeting Adir, while the other two take shots at Wenomir, ignoring Anika for the time being.

And in an unobtrusive corner, not quite hidden, but hard to notice unless you're looking for it, a tiny mawsphere appears. No larger than a marble, its eyes will watch, to see how things play out here.

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

Dozens of the tech henchmen appear in each hall, peeking out from hidden doors, and flooding around bends that were hiding their presence. Many are armed with the standard weapons most of AMEN's usual henchmen are armed with. Some, however, are carrying much heavier weapons: a few are carrying rocket launchers, while others have heavy machine guns, or energy weapons of one kind or another. None, however, are foolish enough to actually move far enough down the halls to enter the front room. Instead, they establish firing lines and defensive formations that allow them to best use their ranged weapons in the hallways, forcing any trespassers to wade through a veritable hailstorm of ordnance should they be foolish enough to try.

And near the ceiling, another tiny mawsphere appears, to watch the new intruder and Requiem, to see what kind of new game the intruder wants to play.

[Purple Eagle]

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

"You are not good in calming people." Zefir replies. For him it sounded even more like the 'easy task' way.

"I guess you are also going for the task of controlling people without them knowing?" Zefir replies. " Most likly while they stay alive?"

Zefir just waves it away closing his eyes with an annoyed expression. "Don't worry. That person is not here anymore. If she insited to get back here she defnitly will use a mask of some sort, but I don't think that will be worth it. You better spend your time in something usefull for me. Whatever it is your capable other then your projects or what you told me before?" His words insist that this is a question obviously asking if he got anything else to mention.

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

"If that is what you want, then yes." Shuyoru replies, looking around. "Do you have a test subject in mind?" Perhaps the prisoner they have, if she's still around, not that Shuyoru knows about that.

The eternal boy sighs in dismay, but he has no intention on giving up on tracking this shapeshifter. "If you say so, boss... but something useful could turn up, something all her personas have in common." However, Zefir has other plans, and so he listens to them. "Asides from the obvious killing skills an old vampire like me would have? That's pretty much it."

"Let me clear up all your doubts, boss." The vampire boy says, suddenly serious for a moment. "I'm pledging my loyalty to AMEN."

[Reinholdt]

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

Raven Ebondark narrows her eyes when the henchmen don't immediately attempt to flood into the room. They were staying back, recognizing where they currently held a strategic advantage and capitalizing on it. Which didn't sound at all like the AMEN henchmen she was aware of. These were intelligent. Something's changed.

Or they didn't want to get in the way of the actual AMEN member. Given the blackness spreading across the floor, it wasn't unreasonable. Raven didn't want to be standing in that either. When she sees the inky substance rolling towards her, she leaps backwards in alarm, avoiding it and the potshot an opportunistic henchman fires as Raven's form briefly crosses in front of the doorway.

Raven leaps again almost as soon as she lands and gracefully perches atop a chair, crouching low and facing Requiem. Her muscles are coiled tight, clearly prepared to pounce, but cautiously remaining still as she studies the unknown factor that is Requiem. "Like, daddy's super rich and told me never to take a public lawyer. Those are for, like, commoners and stuff. Eww. So, like, you'd better leave, cause this room's mine now."

[Recaiden]

[Rescue - Prison]

"Hold on folks, we're coming-- ****!" Adir springs out of the way of Omiko's cannon, only narrowly escaping the full brunt of the blast, but the beam drags along the outside of his extended right leg and shears away a section of armor to scorch the skin beneath. He falls into a roll with a heavy thud, his armor banging on the tile floor, and comes up trying to shoot the remaining henchmen while Wenomir occupies Omiko. Despite the injury and the suddenness, his motions are smooth, professional, his weapon as level as it was when he came in standing.

The minions bullets kept loging into the bears hide and they certainly hurt but they didn't seem to slow her down as she attempts to bullrush the door to break it open. Putting all her weight and strength into it.

It would be too much to say that Wenomir expected Omiko to shrug off decapitation so easily, but he's not surprised, either. He had witnessed her resilience in Riverside and never truly lets his guard down in a combat situation. As such, Omiko gains maybe a second or two of advantage, before the danger of staying within the reach of his sword become apparent. The Answer darts back and forth, up and down, to weave a silvery trace as it wards off Omiko's blows and seek to slice off at least one of the attacking limbs, or cripple them if it can't.

Nice roll, Adir! The last henchman doesn't stand a chance. He's still wavering his gun between Adior and the bear when he's shot and collapses.

Anika tears through the door, the lock no match for all her strength. Nothing is left between her and Ilpholin except some flimsy medical monitoring machinery which I'm sure is safe to get rid of.

Omiko almost has him, but is quickly put back on the defensive when Wenomir hacks into her mechanical arm and cuts some important wires.
He's just too fast!
On the other hand, he only has one sword, and she has plenty of extremities.

She skips back, retreating before the Answer, lifting a pair of fang-filled pseudopods into a guarding stance. Meanwhile a fifth arm (this one purple and hairless) sprouts from her side and reaches down to try to collect her head from where it lies. The cannon swings out to the side and blazes towards Adir again, aimed more to keep him off-guard than to hurt him this time.
They almost have Ilpholin in hand.

[Murkus]

[Rescue - Prison Infirmary]

Adir's head whips toward the door they came through, and he brings his arm up in time to help shield his face from the black powder deluge. His armor rattles and splinters, bullets blasting craters in the ballistic plates without penetrating. His mask and its lenses were, in theory, equally bulletproof... but he'd still prefer to hold off testing that as long as he can.

Omiko's second salvo comes as quite the surprise, and it's all Adir can do to duck away from the beam. He grabs the nearest thing he can find for cover, perhaps a spare bed like the one 'Ilpholin' is on if such is available, lifting it as a shield to protect him. The stag is just too busy being bombarded to retaliate this round. "Come on!" The stag cries in challenge, swiveling his head between Omiko and the troopers. Better if he keeps so much attention... probably. "Everyone's so scared to attack AMEN, huh? You people couldn't keep a fat kid off cake!"

[5a Violista]

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

Watching Raven cautiously avoid Requiem's power gives her an idea. That actually makes sense, though, right? Requiem hasn't been around for any of the recent battles. She's been away from the Nexus far longer than Vigil in its current form has existed - and left shortly after Watchtower was formed. Not to mention, she's swapped bodies a couple of times since then. In fact, she'll bet that nobody in the Nexus besides current AMEN members even knows who she is, let alone what she can do.

And, all she needs to do is keep Raven in this room until Vigil heads out. Sure, based on what Raven's done so far, she could easily overpower Requiem at this moment. But, so long as she capitalizes on this uncertainty, power won't even come into the equation.

There's no need to even fight right now, actually. All she has to do is ooze confidence and keep the intruder guessing, at least until Vigil makes some headway.
So.

Requiem scoops her hand like she's a conductor telling her orchestra to stand up. Instead of that happening, a chair and a wine table with a wine glass on it - everything the same purpley black as everything else she's created - rise out of the inky surface. The chair is right behind her, and the table right next to her. "I won't tell your father if you don't," she says.

She sits and crosses her legs, as she places her lasso onto the table.
In contrast to Raven's tense muscles and caution, Requiem is completely relaxed, as if she's not worried about a thing - not about Raven attacking, not about the possibility of Vigil suddenly succeeding in their trip and entering the room, or anything else. Like, the dangers of any of these don't matter to her at all.

The blonde woman grabs the dark wine glass then holds it to the side and snaps - from the mist surrounding her, a wine bottle materializes (floating in the air) and begins pouring an inky liquid into the glass. "What you did with the grenade? That was really clever," she says. "I haven't seen anyone do that since the audition when I joined AMEN." She shrugs: "Gordon really liked it. Man, the Nexus was different back then."

She points at the ground near Raven's chair. Another dark purple wine glass rises out of the floor, and takes a sip from her own glass. "Thirsty?"

[Zefir]

[Rescue - Prison -> Front Entrance]

Zenon can allways ask Zefir why he gave such orders. He did mention to increase the preasue and get them out. And his player is still not sure what Omiko is capable of.

On the other hand he leader of the group starts to worry. Something isn't right here , even thought his plan go well for now. He continues to head for the main room and might need one or two rounds befor he is there.

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

"If that is what you want, then yes." Shuyoru replies, looking around. "Do you have a test subject in mind?" Perhaps the prisoner they have, if she's still around, not that Shuyoru knows about that.

The eternal boy sighs in dismay, but he has no intention on giving up on tracking this shapeshifter. "If you say so, boss... but something useful could turn up, something all her personas have in common." However, Zefir has other plans, and so he listens to them. "Asides from the obvious killing skills an old vampire like me would have? That's pretty much it."

"Let me clear up all your doubts, boss." The vampire boy says, suddenly serious for a moment. "I'm pledging my loyalty to AMEN."

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

"Not right now." he says (for timeline safty I assume she is gone but Zefir also wouldn't give a foreinger his most valuable hostage) "Maybe if we catch someone we will need this. I just like to know my options."

Zefir narrows his eyes at the last comment.
"Would you sign a contract which would curse you if you act against it?"

[UncleWolf]

Rescue - Prison Infirmary

"Ilpholin" seems to be asleep or catatonic as she lays on the bed. She's pale and a touch clammy, but for the time being she's stable. The back of her neck is bandaged and there's the smell of anti-septic coming from the area, but no sign of the horrible red infection that had once been forming. Both of her arms are in the middle of regeneration but are only back to her elbows now, showing signs that they had once been cleanly severed. Despite her state, it is likely that she's still bound or strapped down to the table due to her previous behavior. The heart monitor is picking up a pulse at least, and she's breathing easily through an oxygen mask. It will probably be complicated to get her out of here.

[Shadowcaller]

Rescue - Prison Infirmary

Anika's entire bear body was anching now. After being hit again and again by bullets and crashing through a prison door she needed some kind of respite. But it could wait for just a little longer. They were here. Ilpholin was about to be saved. Now they just needed to carry her out of here.

She turns to face the door, the bear growlingly loudly while looking between Adir and Wenomir. As soon as they grabbed the nymph, she was ready to charge out of here.

[Morty]

[Rescue - Prison Infirmary]

When the henchmen open fire, Wenomir suddenly lunges upwards and sideways, away from Omiko and landing deeper in the prison. As he lands, he throws a knife, aimed precisely at the arm reaching for the head, trying to pin it to the floor.

"What did those lunatics do to her?" he growls. "We need to be careful getting her out of here."

Meanwhile, Adir will hear a whisper in the back of his mind, coming from the ring he's carrying.

"...this isn't Ilpholin. I cannot feel my pledge weighing on her. We are being tricked."

[Purple Eagle]

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

"Not right now." he says (for timeline safty I assume she is gone but Zefir also wouldn't give a foreinger his most valuable hostage) "Maybe if we catch someone we will need this. I just like to know my options."

Zefir narrows his eyes at the last comment.
"Would you sign a contract which would curse you if you act against it?"

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

Shuyoru stares back at Zefir, then breaks into laughter. After a while, it subsides, and he looks back with amusement on his face. "Of course not! What, are you going to gift me with a high-ranking official position in exchange for undergoing such a permanent ritual?" He points at the hologram. "That doesn't benefit me one bit, otherwise. I'm a prospective member, not a henchman, remember."

[Reinholdt]

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

When Requiem puts the lasso down, Raven's body starts to lean, as if to pounce, but stops at the last possible second. Another time she would have without hesitation certainly, but her near death experience was still fresh in her mind. She ends up snarling instead. She's mostly accomplished what she hoped to, barring this one particular road bump. It wouldn't hurt to wait a little for her own wounds to heal as well, the injuries she's suffered thus far slowly but steadily mending themselves. Visibly enough that Requiem might notice before they close completely.

"No thanks," Raven says, declining the purple bottle of probable poison. This was a member from Gordon's time? Raven searches her memory, but no one comes to mind, except perhaps Jack Empty who was a lot more yellow than purple. Someone who fell through the cracks?

"Like, what would you want in exchange for leaving AMEN for an hour?" Raven asks. Who knows? Maybe this person was selfish enough to cut a deal that was favorable to them alone and not the organization. Finding out might not be all that helpful though. Raven Ebondark doesn't seem to have much to actually offer.

[Recaiden]

"Us lunatics? Saved her life, actually. You should have seen her before. Scoffs a voice from Omiko's stump of a neck. Probably whatever part all those spider legs are attached to, which is surely not just a spider.

Omiko doesn't even turn to face Wenomir as he zooms up and over her. Just blinks open new eyes on her back as a few of the others shut and disappear. The back of her hand bulges and hardens, the knife rebounding off with just a shallow cut. The Answer might be able cut her apart no trouble, but lesser blades are a different story. With the head in hand, the monster scrambles back towards the entrance. Towards Adir and the reinforcement henchmen. (Who sent those? This wasn't part of the plan! Unless they weren't ever told the whole plan...)

Which means that if Wenomir wants to apply his opposable thumbs to the task of rescuing Ilpholin, she won't be stopping him.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Rescue - Infirmary]

The newly-arrived henchmen press their attack, now hoping to keep Adir pinned down long enough that Omiko can retreat, the two that were attacking Wenomir refocusing their fire on the stag and whatever sort of makeshift cover he's managed to pull together. One of them reaches into a pouch on its side and withdraws a small canister, waiting for an opportunity to throw it. Obviously a grenade of some kind, though the bright blue markings suggest it's special somehow.

[5a Violista]

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

Oh.
Oh! So, Raven's kind-of revealed what she wants, for Requiem to leave momentarily. That could mean one of three things, she figures: either she wants to get farther in the base, she wants to confront Vigil for some reason, or she wants to keep the way clear for Vigil. The first is unacceptable, not while Vigil's here. Requiem would need to try to stop her.. The second...fine. One way or another, it could work. The third would be the optimal situation. So how can she get this girl to confirm one of these three possibilities? she wonders.

She sets down her wine glass and it sinks into the table. The 'wine' that was in it continues hovering in place, however, as if the glass is still there. "Well, I was already gone for a while, gone shopping - somebody's gotta keep the fridge stocked, after all and if I leave it to the boys, they'll just fill it with junk food -" she says, raising her hand to her chin to think better. "Because I saw you two at the door" (Raven and Tiffany) "I had to leave my bags on the side of the side of the mountain but they need to be put away...and I was hoping Vigil's playdate would be over by the time I came back, because that elf's pretty scary, of the three I don't think I could take her." There actually are no groceries, she's still trying to bluff enough confidence to keep Raven in doubt, and it's actually the fae lord she's the most terrified of. She really wants this body to leave the area before that fae thing comes back. Everyone else could just kill one of her bodies, but that thing...

Talking doesn't seem very helpful...Although, every minute she spends here is another minute closer the Vigil guys get. That's a good thing. If all else fails, she's planning on bailing right before they arrive, anyway.

Wait.

She has an idea. It worked to get Zefir to trust her enough to rejoin AMEN, maybe it'll work well enough with this girl? "So I'm not really supposed to let people get farther than this room without informing the boss first, but..." Requiem snaps with her thumb on her ring finger, and all the dark purple floor-goop retracts towards Requiem, only being immediately around her. She reaches into the floating 'wine' and pulls out a quill from it. The liquid level drops. "...how about a contract?" She smiles.

"Don't worry, I'll let you dictate most the details. You tell me exactly why you came here, I leave and don't come back, and you have to stay within, let's say...thirty feet of this room until either the contract ends or Vigil arrives, and the contract automatically becomes void in, let's say...fifteen minutes. Not quite an hour, but better than nothing. Interested?"

I dunno, though. Contracts sound kinda sketchy.

[Murkus]

[Rescue - Prison Infirmary]

Adir does indeed pick up a metal gurney to defend himself with. Between it and his armor, he manages to keep most of the fire off him. Long enough to collect his thoughts... so he can lunge at the newly-arrived henchmen with surprising speed, turning the gurney into a makeshift club. He tries to take out the group of them in one fell sweep, simply clobbering them with bone crushing force and startling reach.

If he can manage to bash them all down, he'll hurl the dented gurney at the monster carrying Omiko's head. And... then he realizes what the King in Rags just said.

"Hey, the spooky fey that covered our entry just said this Ilpholin's a fake!" He shouts, if the gunfire is quieted. "Damn, shoulda known this was too simple!"

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Rescue - Prison Infirmary]

The group of henchmen is not expecting Adir to so quickly or forcefully recover, and as such, it only takes one or two swings of the gurney to send the lot of them flying into various parts of the architecture, considerably quieting the gunfire. The one hench who was holding the canister does drop it as he's batted into one of the walls, though, and the canister reveals itself to be a smoke grenade, as that end of the infirmary quickly begins filling with a thick, grey smoke.

And the mawsphere takes note when Adir yells his revelation that this is not the real Ilpholin, relaying this information back to Zenon and the entire Devourer entity. A cascade of decisions follows, and the sphere waits, watching to see what VIGIL will do now.

[Reinholdt]

[Rescue - Front Entrance]

Requiem's not sure she can take the elf? Elf... Anika? If she isn't sure she can take on Anika, then Raven can definitely take down Requiem no problem. Does that change anything? Well, maybe. It means Raven Ebondark has a stronger position than she thought. Let's see where this goes first and switch to plan B (attack) if it doesn't work out. This only seems to be reinforced when the purple substance retracts.

"Twenty minutes." Raven says, raising the number a little, but not unreasonably. "And the terms state I can't go more than thirty feet further inside the base from this room. Outside is fair game." Getting trapped in a contract that essentially imprisons her for fifteen minutes is dubious. Especially if Vigil show up in the next two. Talk about counter productive!

"And the penalty?" Contracts are good and all, but can they be enforced properly? That always needs a thorough examination.

[Zefir]

To: [Rescue - Front Entrance]

Zefir is running to the Front entrance since there wasn't any clear informations what happens there only short reports that leave more questions open then they solve. As he goes on he passes the pit.Without a moment waiting he walks on heading for one of the side walls without slowing down and he appears to run through it without stopping. If anyone would be here they might see little steps that came from the stone which disapear after he passed the pit. Where did those come from and why have they been in perfect distance?

As he gets closer to the hall he slows down hearing someone talk. He even turns to sneak as he notices a foreign voice. His suit should hide him from sight for now, but maybe he was heared before. As he listens he wonders. What is Requiem doing?

Not supposed to let people get farther than this room? He thinks You should normaly not even let them in or kick them out of the base if they are hostile.

He will wait and see where this contract thing is going and maybe he has to react.

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

Shuyoru stares back at Zefir, then breaks into laughter. After a while, it subsides, and he looks back with amusement on his face. "Of course not! What, are you going to gift me with a high-ranking official position in exchange for undergoing such a permanent ritual?" He points at the hologram. "That doesn't benefit me one bit, otherwise. I'm a prospective member, not a henchman, remember."

[Shuyoru and Zefir]

Zefir doesn't seem to find this funny at all. His expression nearly appears like set in stone as he waits for Shuyoru outburst.

"Trust." he replies to his questions, thought he waits even after Shuyoru points out that he is no henchman. "You should know that blood contracts have been common business around here since forever. It's nothing new for members. I just don't do them mostly due to several facts." He then makes a short break. He speaks up befor Shuyoru will say something. "Unless you decline you are now a member, thought there are some restrictions for new members. Some places won't be available, but I assume you will understand the why. Is there anything else?"