In Nomine: the Pacific War (OOC)

[tHEhERETIC]

...and there is the smacking sound of the palm hitting the face. I'm making no promises on Kane's survival right now.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

...and there is the smacking sound of the palm hitting the face. I'm making no promises on Kane's survival right now.

The reason I'm not face-palming: Kane didn't care.

Soul-combat takes time, even with six on one. Especially when that one can bring an edged weapon into the combat. The way Kane sees it, that's time War could use to get reinforcements to the site. Sure he might not survive, but by the time a War-crew arrived, it would see six demons fresh from a tangle with an angel who didn't care if it lived or died. I.e., six demons who are wounded and weakened ... assuming they didn't lose one or two of their own in the process.

One angel erased from existence in exchange for the chance of utterly destroying six demons? Absent orders from a Superior, Kane will take that tradeoff every time.

[ladyarcana55]

Kane may be cool with that trade off, but I imagine the Archs wouldn't be so cool.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

Kane may be cool with that trade off, but I imagine the Archs wouldn't be so cool.

Don't be so sure. Remember, Hell only has a 2:1 advantage in numbers -- if more angels made that tradeoff, that advantage would melt away like snow in the sunshine. (From a Malakite's POV, of course. But remember, his current temp boss is David, who's not only a Malakite, he's a brutally pragmatic long-term thinker. If losing angels now means having an unstoppable edge against Hell decades or centuries down the road, why not?)

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

Don't be so sure. Remember, Hell only has a 2:1 advantage in numbers -- if more angels made that tradeoff, that advantage would melt away like snow in the sunshine. (From a Malakite's POV, of course. But remember, his current temp boss is David, who's not only a Malakite, he's a brutally pragmatic long-term thinker. If losing angels now means having an unstoppable edge against Hell decades or centuries down the road, why not?)

Ah I see it, but here's what I saw:

Kane used his 2 last Essence. He's getting back in his body how?

Celestial bodies vanish when their host is killed. There are two bodies on the roof--soldiers. No telling how many angels went down. Lots.

The demons had the smarts to take hostages of the Malakim instead of playing pop-up with them. They went into Pohang with an open attack of overwhelming force, despite this being near-impossible for the mundanes to ignore. Reinforcements would be even noisier. Worse, once the gate to that tether was destroyed shortly after Kane got through it, there was no real way to get reinforcements there in under...well, Pohang to Busan is 3 hours by bus according to Google, presumably because of all rivers and high mountains in between.

With the gate closed and the soldiers dead there's nothing left to do but get the hostages out. Kane would have ripping fun but he'd go down, and most of those demons would survive anyway. The numbers in that place are a lot worse than 2:1 at the moment. Tactical thinking--note Laurence and Michael are collaborating on this response.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

Kane used his 2 last Essence. He's getting back in his body how?

It doesn't require Essence to get back in your body, only to leave it.

Also, from his POV, there's an easy source of reinforcements -- the recently snuffed hostages. If I recall how the mechanics work, wouldn't their new vessels reappear at the spot where their last vessels bought it? That's part of what gives the Malakim their Terminator rep.

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

It doesn't require Essence to get back in your body, only to leave it.

Also, from his POV, there's an easy source of reinforcements -- the recently snuffed hostages. If I recall how the mechanics work, wouldn't their new vessels reappear at the spot where their last vessels bought it? That's part of what gives the Malakim their Terminator rep.

At work and can't check books, so I'll take your word on it.

As I understand it, they pop back up after a lightning briefing upstairs, at which point their Sups can pin them down if they wish. In this case, they wish. (I figure hostages /torture is unusual/shocking.)

One more thing, and lurkers are welcome to help. The Mal with the gag off is in an old man vessel (Entropy) but is otherwise undefined. I'm asking : what is the meanest, most satisfying thing he could say /Sing in that moment? I'm open to suggestions.

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

Despite the internal pressure starting to build, Kane nods, smiles and holds up one hand. The flaming sword is drawn back in the other, looking for the moment like a curious battle stance.

(OOC: The one remaining -- is he the one whose gag was pinned to his mouth?)

I'll leave that up to you, but if you have no preference, then...no.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

I'll leave that up to you, but if you have no preference, then...no.

My preference would be to have the one with the more traditional gag, since it could be easily ripped or cut free.

Today's going to be sporadic, by the way; my back is very unhappy with me. I inherited many wonderful traits from my mother, but the spinal column isn't one of them.

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

Fire, he thought, it rolls off her like the real thing. He'd have to choose his words carefully.

Rolls off her like the real thing? What did he mean by that?