Zephyr Assault Pt. 2 - RPLOG
Participants
Date
29/11/2016
Log
When last we left our intrepid heroes (?), several of them were gathered in the lobby, with Angus liberating Astara from what seemed to be a glue grenade of sorts. Firecracker had taken down one of the mental mice who appeared to be controlling the guards, which had turned on the team and shot Astara, the only one to have been injured in the battle (except for the now-unconscious mouse). While Astara, Parthenia, and Angus dealt with the scenario in the lobby, a team composed of Zophah, Mal, and ? found their way to a sniper tower where an agent reported an absence of communication from command, and Phosphorus had gone off on her own to discover another post which was sadly missing its previous occupant. All three teams were getting ready to converge on the Zephyr building once more, which is where our scene resumes. Of the team, only Zophah has broken off to join the brawl, leaving Mal and Arris to join up with the others.
Angus tears the last of the restraining substances from Astara, making sure she wasn't going to fall on him before he finishes off helping the rest of the guards. "There, now that we've taken care of that sticky situation lets see who else we can find eh?" He asks no one in particular, drawing the revolver at his hip and putting it to half cock as he heads towards the stairs, not really waiting for an answer.
Astara is just about trembling with anger, and she casts a glance with narrowed eyes towards Angus... before she just sighs, hanging her head. "Does anyone have some rope? I want to make sure that fucking bitch isn't going anywhere when she wakes up."
Mal runs along after Arris, following the Gator into the building, with a grimace on his face and his M1911 ready. The human blinks and looks around, sniffing. "What the shit..." he mutters, shaking his head as he looks at the other agents. "Anyone know what's going on?" he asks, adding, "And...maybe what that smell is?"
Parthenia was on her way to go check out the choppa pilot but... Something change her mind. Instead she decided to share a piece of mind with Astara. "Wouldn't be much of a point in going bondage on her ass if she can just will someone to free her again. I say, blow her head off and be done with it?" Her attention turns to Firepony. "I suppose I could go with you... Safety is in numbers after all."
Arris hurriedly leads Mal back into the Zephyr building. Upon reentering the lobby, sie immediately catches a whiff of the glue bomb that went off earlier, looking over to the glue blob. "God, what happened here? Actually, don't answer that." Sie turns to Parthenia. "Zophah, Mal, and I have found out that communications with Zephyr HQ have went down. We should go upstairs and see what's going on."
Firecracker blinks in surprise as her links are cut off. "What the heck? That's not normal..." she says to herself as she turns midair to look back at the others flooding into the room. "Well whatever, up we go!" she announces as Angus heads up the stairs and Parthenia expresses her willingness to follow. She ascends straight upwards as she looks around for anything out of the ordinary, shouting over to the ones entering the building. "Yeah, the coyote over there blew his load all over the guards. Quite the sticky situation," she says with a grin and a shrug, slowly shaking her head back and forth.
As Angus and Firecracker begin to make their way up the stairs, they'll find that they're being peppered by a hail of bullets from the third floor; someone is waiting for them! Judging by the uniforms, another squad of guards was alerted by the firefight and has come to offer backup, not even bothering to ask questions before opening fire on both members of the team that have gone on ahead. The good news is that Firecracker is both small enough and agile enough to evade the hail of bullets. The bad news is that Angus isn't quite so lucky, with one of the bullets managing to strike an unarmored area and actually inflict some damage. Cover fire is laid in the lobby in short order, though they're careful to avoid hitting the gooped guards who are still stuck to the floor; it's simply going to be difficult to get up those stairs without getting shot!
Angus clutches his shoulder as he takes the ground, grunting and hitting the deck as the fire starts. Which is to say he turns around, and books it to the first floor as quickly as possible to find a good place to take cover and check the wound. "I swear, every time, EVERY fucking time some shit happens in this place I get shot."
Astara shakes her head in response to Parth. "I'm not much for killing people unneccisarily. Can just gag her and bind her eyes, shouldn't be able to do much then. More importantly, she might yet be useful to us in the future... somehow. Even if it's just for me to be able to execute some personal payback on her." The venom is practically dripping off of her words towards the end.
The succubus doesn't have long to stay salty, however, with the scene now re-escalating. Using her wings to help give her some extra velocity, she darts for cover in the alcove of the Coffee Shop.
Mal backs up as shots are fired, lifting his gun to aim at the source. "What the shit!" he calls out, trying to pinpoint where the shooters are, and what's going on. Seriously, this is out of his pay range...
"Hey! Why are the guards shooting at us!?" Arris sees the guards opening fire into the lobby, firing off a few shots at them with hir railgun before running behind the central elevator for cover and shooting at the guards from there. Sie ducks behind the column again before pushing the "call elevator" button, reloading hir railgun and shooting again.
Parthenia says, "Of wow, really?!" Perked up the human woman. She seemed way too excited to hear those news! If someone was smart, or tough enough to get to HQ, it could be either really good, or really bad! Either way, she simply had to go check out what is going on, find out who is behind it and most importantly, why?! To hope for the best was fooling of course, but she still did! "C'mon what are we waiting for? Let get going!" She exclaimed heading for the elevator. Maybe she should take stairs? Bah, it'll be fine! And then comes the fire. The stink-dog gets shot, the small horse is dodging like mad and Parthenia extends her finger to push the button responsible for the elevator summoning. She tries to stay out of the sight of aggressors, with her shotgun at the ready for when the doors opens for her, ready to blow whoever might be inside all over the elevator walls. Seems like no one is asking any questions. She isn't going to kind enough to do so either. The kind demon who didn't want to put a few new fuckable holes in the mouse just got a roll of human's eyes."
Firecracker grins as she weaves through the hail of lead, looking up towards the presumed source of the showers. "Looks like the fun's not over yet!" she shouts out as she darts towards the columns to get some cover as she continues to ascend. With her speed and weaving around, she hopes to lose at least a few of the guards' attention as she ascends towards the roof to get a better view from above.
The first floor of the Zephyr building offers ample sources of cover, but the gunfire isn't done. Cover fire is laid down with surprising precision; they seem to know exactly where to aim to ensure that the occupants of the lobby aren't going everywhere. For the moment, there's a lot of shouting going on, both from the guards downstairs and from whoever is up there, and between that and the constant usage of firearms? Good luck trying to hear anything. Angus and Astara will wind up in approximately the same area, safe from enemy fire, with Mal close enough to grab if needs be. Arris and Parthenia have a somewhat less tenable position by the elevator, but successfully hitting one of them is a lot more difficult...and will become even moreso if they duck into the elevator, the door opening with its ever-present quiet 'ding!' sounds. Firecracker will discover that it is indeed a secondary team of guards opening fire on those below, along with a second mouse, this one hale and hearty and smart enough to keep the guards between hir and the petite pony.
Angus sighs as the gunfire continues, digging a finger into an ear. "You know after that shit outside I think after this I'm going to have to take a vacation." He mutters to no one in particular. Reaching out he grabs Mal, pulling him into cover and past him as he steps out with gun in hand, sights aimed for where the gunfire originated before firing three times to see if he can't get anyones attention.
Astara is dismayed to see there's a casualty already, noticing Angus' shoulder. "Fuck, I really wish I knew some first-aid right now... how bad is it, Angus?" And now with Mal there, she looks to him, sighing again. "What now? I'm afraid I'm not much use for long distance, and while I can fly... I'm a pretty big target."
"What," is the only thing out of Mal's mouth as the Coyote grips his arm and tugs him behind cover. The human blinks and watches Angus in confusion before poking his head out from behind the makeshift defenses, holstering the pistol in favor of the Remington 700. "God dammit..."
Parthenia pulls the barrels of her shotgun up and steps in to the soon to be moving box. Not a second later hits the button F3. She didn't want to get shot at any more. Well.. At least not while firing back! Arris obviously following her in before the door close. "So... I see you got some range on that thing." She nods towards the rail gun. "I'm going to take out anyone close to us, you, aim far." She reaches down to touch her belt. "I'll step out first, Got nanite buffer to take a few shots of anyone is on us." She lifts her gun again getting ready for the door to open. "Oh. And if you see a mouse. Shoot the bitch and ignore the guards." Pausing for a moment she looked up, her lips forming a cute little 'o'. "I suppose if our floor is clear, take a dash to the railing and take down the assholes on the second floor." Ass soon as the door opens the nearest individual gets a slug from her gun.
Arris stays behind the column, barely able to hear the sound of the elevator opening through the gunfire. Sie steps inside the elevator, pushing the "Floor 2" button. "Yup. Uh, yeah, so basically you run ahead, get shot instead of me, and I shoot you with my healing gun." Sie holds up hir Heal Pistol with hir left hand. "I kinda want to go to the second floor. It's safer since we're more close to the rest of the team, going to the third floor immediately may bring surprise, but it's also very risky." Sie pushes the F2 button.
Firecracker shouts down to the guards and mouse as they fire their guns down at her allies and up at her, cape flapping behind her and shades glinting dangerously in the light. "Hey! I'd duck if I were you!" Right in the middle of the group of guards, in front of the mouse's face, a bright pink orb of light shines into existence as the air becomes dangerously hot, threatening to explode in just moments. Several other orbs of pink light come into existence in the air around the guards as well. They really should duck. And when they do, Firecracker will take the opportunity to charge at the mouse.
Zophah comes running into the lobby, out of breath. She had left her drones, summons and her daughter to deal with the riots, and finally got back to Zephyr. She comms to the rest of the group "Does anyone know where the end goal is?" She tracks the crew she had 'marked' with Biomonitoring Sight nanomagic, looking around their locations with Biodetection nanomagic as well. She then calls appon her phoenix dedication to shift into the iconic bird of fire, flying up the middle to try and head up the third floor. "Firecracker would be jealous." She says to herself.
Getting past that cover fire quickly proves to be significantly easier than it had been, what with Zophah making a very dramatic appearance and a fireball momentarily dazzling the mouse, along with several lights to make it difficult for the guards to see and distract them to no end. None of the guards actually heed Firecracker's advice, though, and while only three of them are still firing in the wake of the fireball, one is still focused enough to keep fire down on the ground while the other two aim at Zophah - easily the larger of the targets! Mercifully, every guard still aiming forward is drawn by the much larger target, the intently focusing Firecracker briefly going unassaulted...and Zophah will narrowly dodge both bullets, though it's immediately obvious that staying out in the open isn't tenable for long. In the meantime, ding - the elevator opens on Floor 2, revealing no great scuffle of any kind. The sounds of conflict can clearly be heard above, though!
Angus scowls a little as bullets still riddle the lobby, he rolls his shoulder a bit to test it before answering Astara's question. "Not the first time I've been shot, I'll be fine. Just hurts." He answers before turning his attention back to the third floor. Cocking the hammer back he closes one eye and takes aim before commenting to Mal with a bit of a smile. "Hey, bet you I can hit him before you do."
Astara resummons her forest wisp companion, and it blazes back with renewed vigor right besides her! "...well, they seem distracted enough." Her wings flap again in preparation for a use and she steps out of the alcove tenatively, laser pistol in hand. The succubus casts a look to Mal and Angus, the tiniest of smirks on her face; "Think you two can keep the covering fire down long enough for me to get up there?"
"We can try?" Mal responds, aiming down the sights of his rifle. "Ya think Zephyr would send me a bill if I shot one of 'em?" he asks, eyeing one of the guards. "I don't think I can afford to pay for someone's medical..." he adds, grinning. Hah, insurance jokes. Classic.
Parthenia turns and peers at her companion. "Are you... Fucking... Shitting me!?" Hisses the woman through her teeth. "You going to play games here or do as I say, bitch?" Armored finger snaps agaist the F3 one more time. "I'm honestly astonished by your inability to follow simple orders. Just hope you are a more capable shooter." She turns away starting at the door again. "If you are to have any more -bright- ideas, do consult me /first/!" Her gun is once again aimed at the door. The nearest Guard gets it. Unless of course the poor little mouse is so preoccupied with all the Fiery flames and is so helplessly in the open... In the case the shot gun goes... BLAMF! BLARGBF!
Arris can't do much else than nod with a flustered face as Parthenia rages at hir, somewhat afraid that sie will have to deal with her and not the guards. Sie is about to move to push the button to floor 3, but Parthenia is already on it. The gator instead readies hirself again to shoot once the doors outside the elevator open.
Firecracker rolls her eyes and shakes her head with a disappointed "Tsk" as none of the guards seem to care about a fireball going off right above them. "Guess this is my chance anyway," she says to herself as none of the guards seem to be focused on her. She lights up in a pink aura of flames as she charges towards the group, aiming to tackle the dazzled mouse off the walkway and down to the second floor, following it down as they go. A ten-foot drop onto its back shouldn't hurt it TOO badly.
Zophah turns invisible with her Vanishing nanomagic while creating three duplicates of herself with Illusion nanomagic, splitting off to distract the gunmen while she goes to the mouse. Once close up she tries to force the mouse to stand down, using her Kitsunetsuki power to try and dominate the mouse's mind. She even puts some heroic effort into getting the mouse to submit.
Firecracker rolls her eyes and shakes her head with a disappointed "Tsk" as none of the guards seem to care about a fireball going off right above them. "Guess this is my chance anyway," she says to herself as none of the guards seem to be focused on her. She lights up in a pink aura of flames as she charges towards the group. She dashes past them to hit the wall, kicking off it quickly to slam into the dazzled mouse and knock it off the walkway to the second floor, following it down as they go. A ten-foot drop onto its back shouldn't hurt it TOO badly.
The cover fire provided by Mal and Angus proves to be enough to get Astara up to the third floor unassaulted, though the two guards that were dazzled by the light show are quick enough to recover - these guys are smart and disciplined. It's no wonder Zephyr relies on them in case things go down! Zophah's attempt to dominate the mouse will meet with some resistance, though that resistance is dampened by Firecracker's assault and the distracting shouting from the second floor. Soon enough, the elevator rises, and makes its way to the third floor just in time for the next round of battle. Ding! One of the guards peels away to provide support fire against the pair in the elevator, and there's a moment where they regroup and fall back just slightly...but even then, they only seem to tighten their defenses. There's a bit of a sour patch, though: even at high velocity, being kicked by a six-inch pony isn't really enough to topple the mouse, who reacts to being kicked by turning around and grabbing Firecracker in both hands. With a savage grin, the mouse starts to twist - the pony will want to get out of there in a hurry!
Angus takes the opportunity caused by the chaos to take the stairs, not really in a hurry due to how crowded it is already. As he does he snaps the loading gate open, ejecting spent casings as he goes before loading the empty cylinders with fresh ones, spinning the cylinder and gently resting the hammer forward as he continues on his climb to third level, party town central.
Mal blinks as the Coyote takes off, but within seconds is running after him, shrugging the rifle over a shoulder as he chases after Angus. The Human eyes Angus' revolver and hmmphs, "I need to get one of those..." he mutters, drawing his M1911 as he goes.
Astara arrived at a good time, it seems, based on Firecracker's predicament; she casts her hand outwards towards the rodent, and her forest wisp immidiately goes towards it. The succubus, much more obvious and shoot-able than an ethereal ball of fire, focuses on the guards, casting a marsh wisp over them as she flies at one. She's certainly an imposing figure.
Parthenia knew perfectly well where the fight is. With all she shooting going down, the flames, the lights. The doors open and there isn't a soul right in front of them. She gets ready to stop out. "Remember. If you don't see a mouse, shoot the guards. If you do. Right in the head." She taps her armored finger agaist the visor of her helmet, probably pointing between the eyes. With that she steps out falling to her knee, weapon raised and aimed at the guard who was so willing and ready to hold off the elevator assault. BLAMRF!
Arris waits for Parthenia to leave the elevator, following closely behind her. Spotting the Mental Mouse doing... something, crushing something in her hands, sie quickly aims at her head and fires. Loading a fresh round, sie starts shooting the Zephyr guards in the knees.
Firecracker grins as the mouse holds her and starts to crush and twist. That means it has nothing to protect its face from the near point-blank solar breath that shoots out of the little fireball's mouth as she wrests her way out of its grip to follow up his a vicious headbutt. That mouse is going over the railing whether it wants to or not.
Zophah quickly pulls a hypodermic needle from a pocket of her lab coat, stabbing the mouse with Paralytic Venom on a main artery to pump her full of sedative. She then becomes visible as she tries to pull firecracker away from the mouse and other's attacks aimed at the mouse as well, ready to use her medical expertise if need be.
With the team of five guards having their attention split three different ways - two aiming at Angus and Mal, two at Zophah and Astara, and one at Parthenia and Arris - their actual ability to provide cover fire is severely curtailed. Of course, it's five until Parthenia and Arris open fire...and then it's four, one of the guards shuddering as he's splattered with the brains of his nearby comrade, the killshot proving quite effective. In the meantime, clutching her scorched face, the mouse drops Firecracker and makes a run for it down the hall. Instantly, the four remaining guards huddle close together to guard the mouse's escape, needle still hanging out of hir arm; this position is becoming indefensible, and shi's hoping to put some distance between hirself and the fight before the venom kicks in!
Angus smirks a little at Mal. "You know where Narwen's shop is? I supply his gear, come around there tomorrow and ask him about a custom order, I'll make you one." He answers, humming to himself just a bit as he inspects the hole in his coat, man that's going to suck to repair. As they get closer to the third floor he very quietly puts an arm out to slow Mal down, cocking his head at the door. "LEtsss not go bursting through, who knows if someone with an itchy trigger finger will take pot shots right." He comments, holding his gun with the barrel pointing towards the cieling before he tries the door.
