[IC] Worlds of Fire

[KS Pathfinder]

Seeing that after treating and tying up yet another batch of cultists, and as he’s the closest to the door leading to the others participating in the ritual Mark-315, especially upon hearing Seann’s shout, quickly opens the door and charges in, looking around and trying to ascertain what the alarm is about before taking action.

[Totem]

Originally Posted by Talosian

If it makes it to Seann's turn and James is still a threat, Seann will repeat his previous attack, except (probably) without the aim maneuver, and aiming for the vitals instead of the ankle (he doesn't have fast-draw, so it'd take too long for him to get his handcannon).

Originally Posted by KS Pathfinder

Seeing that after treating and tying up yet another batch of cultists, and as he’s the closest to the door leading to the others participating in the ritual Mark-315, especially upon hearing Seann’s shout, quickly opens the door and charges in, looking around and trying to ascertain what the alarm is about before taking action.

Given that Mark is looking confused by being called in and Charles (who is only slightly less confused) and Ehrahm (who can't see what is happening) are both NPCs at present, the onus is on Seann to act at this point.

[Talosian]

Setting his jaw, Seann changes his aim towards James' heart, hoping to at least slow him down. A second burst of nearly silent needles erupts from his wrist, speeding their lethal way towards James.

(Base Guns (Pistol) skill: 13. Bonuses: +1 (All-Out Attack, Determined); +1 Laser Sight; +2 Targeting Program; +1 Braced. Penalties: -3 Hit Location (Vitals). Effective Skill: 15. Roll: 8 (again). Firing three shots, and again, they should all hit. Damage: 1, 1, 3 (again, rounded up to minimum damage of 1). Multiplied by three for the vitals, so: 3, 3, 9. Total damage: 15. [If you will allow ranged Deceptive Attacks for those without Gunslinger (one of the books has several options for what this could represent, but I don't have time to find it), I would choose to take an extra -2 to skill there.])

(IQ roll: 14. That was close.)

[Totem]

Originally Posted by Talosian

Setting his jaw, Seann changes his aim towards James' heart, hoping to at least slow him down. A second burst of nearly silent needles erupts from his wrist, speeding their lethal way towards James.

(Base Guns (Pistol) skill: 13. Bonuses: +1 (All-Out Attack, Determined); +1 Laser Sight; +2 Targeting Program; +1 Braced. Penalties: -3 Hit Location (Vitals). Effective Skill: 15. Roll: 8 (again). Firing three shots, and again, they should all hit. Damage: 1, 1, 3 (again, rounded up to minimum damage of 1). Multiplied by three for the vitals, so: 3, 3, 9. Total damage: 15. [If you will allow ranged Deceptive Attacks for those without Gunslinger (one of the books has several options for what this could represent, but I don't have time to find it), I would choose to take an extra -2 to skill there.])

(IQ roll: 14. That was close.)

James (?): Dodge 8, -1 Deceptive Attack = 7: 4+5+2 = 11 (failed by 4)

Seann's shots all hit James in the chest [15 damage reduces James to -4 HP].
Roll for Major Wound: HT 11+?: 3+2+6 = 11 (barely?)

James remains conscious, but is clearly injured. Equally clearly, he is healing fast.

Father Arad, without breaking off from the ritual, manages to look down at James, see the state he is in, and then returns to the ritual, making a quick announcement: "I believe that he is possessed by the demon; as long as the tatoo on his chest is not whole the demon cannot escape his body. And if he is injured still then it will have to focus on healing him. I fear we have an awkward decision to make here."

[Clarification: Chu'dam is riding around inside James; he's a member of the cult, so this was always an option. The tatoo (the sign of the cult) is covered by Chu'dam's healing abilities, so that will come together fairly soon. As long as James is below full HP, Chu'dam is trapped. And if you can remove the tatoo entirely then the only way to get Chu'dam out (or for Chu'dam to get out) would be completing the ritual. But if the ritual can't be completed then Chu'dam is still trapped. The problem is that James is now tied up very closely with the demon inside his soul.]

[Talosian]

Completing the ritual as planned would still function normally, yes? If so, Seann would like to continue as planned.

(Would Mark be up next? Or...?)

[Totem]

Originally Posted by Talosian

Completing the ritual as planned would still function normally, yes? If so, Seann would like to continue as planned.

(Would Mark be up next? Or...?)

The ritual can be completed as normal, aside from someone needing to do about 3-6 HP of damage to James' chest fairly constantly in order to keep him below full HP. He's not going anywhere while he's healing, so we're basically talking mutilation of a living body. Any volunteers?

Next to act is Douglas in initiative order. But he's not immediately involved and as long as it's healing Chu'dam isn't going anywhere, so we can drop out of combat time at this point while people sort things.

[Talosian]

Seann's preference would be to restrain him using some of his gear (yes, he has appropriate gear), and leave him in a corner. I figure that even if Chu'dam leaves him, he can't do much but take over a cultist who is attacking (who is much more likely to be shot lethally - and repeatedly).

[Totem]

Originally Posted by Talosian

Seann's preference would be to restrain him using some of his gear (yes, he has appropriate gear), and leave him in a corner. I figure that even if Chu'dam leaves him, he can't do much but take over a cultist who is attacking (who is much more likely to be shot lethally - and repeatedly).

Very well; if Seann can talk someone else through using this gear (provide details about the rolls, if any, necessary for this and I'll kludge it from there), and then we'll continue. If Seann does the tying up he's out of the ritual.

[Totem]

[OOC: no rolls required apparently.]

After James has been tied up firmly for a minute or so he subsides and a glance is enough to tell that he's not possessed any more. He's not in a good state as a result of it though, and even if untied is going to require assistance moving once the ritual is over and everyone makes an exit.

Less than a minute after Chu'dam leaves, there come some definite sounds of people moving around just out of sight of Douglas and Ehrahm (and Mark if he is back on defence again). The sounds aren't clear, and come and go a bit, and very suddenly things happen.

Sentinel Armour Comm Log:
Serena: (flashing up comm-signal icon on Mark's HUD) "Uh, Mark... I've got a call coming in using a Sentinel encryption code. It's listed with an active authentication code, under priority Aleph Breeze Sand."

Mark-315: *Raises an eyebrow in surprise* "Here? Well, we better respond. This ought to be interesting, I wonder who it could be?"

Serena: "Opening a channel..."

Mancini: "Attention Sentinel-315, this is captain Mancini, commanding the Bane of Asgard. We are inbound to orbit with orders to assist your team with your current operations. Requesting report on your current situation."

Mark-315: "Understood Captain Mancini. To be honest I believe our current situation is tenuous at best. We've managed to hold off the cultists from interrupting the ritual to trap the demon Chu'dam, but it appears Chu'dam is now attempting to interfere directly by possessing cultists. Any assistance would be appreciated, sir."

Mancini: (Mutters something about "and demons as well") "Understood Sentinel. Be aware, you've got some kind of teleport jamming active in your area. We can't evac you or get people in to assist while it is still active."

Mark-315: "Roger that, understood Captain. Do you have a possible location for the source of the jamming? That way we might be able to come up with a solution to the problem, remedy the jamming and free the way for evac or teleportation of reinforcements."

Mancini: "Negative, we can't localise it. We can't even recognise the type; I don't know where you got this from... It doesn't appear to extend beyond the complex you are in though; get outside and we'll be able to pick you up."

Mark-315: "Roger that Captain. Guess we have no choice but to hold our position until the ritual is complete then exfil outside for evac." *Actually chuckles softly* "It's never easy is it? Well, as George-052 would always say, that's why they pay us the big credits."

Mancini: "Don't tell me that they actually pay you... I thought you CI agents were all on the usual scheme for that kind of stuff. We'll be making orbit in two minutes. You've got what appear to be hostiles approaching still; recommend that you don't hang around once you're finished. We'll evac you once you're outside the jamming. Bane of Asgard out."

Three cultists run around the corner and rush at Douglas and Mark down the corridor that Douglas was originally guarding. Another two rush down the corridor that the Angel is standing in. The Angel appears unconcerned by the whole thing still, having come and gone a couple of times over the last few minutes.

Behind these cultists come others, including a few faces that can be recognised: Guy, Sale and Wolf are there, with definite hints about there being others in the background.


[Combat Time: Initiative]
Angel: x -- Just standing there
Douglas: 7 -- Guarding
Mark: 6.5 -- Dealing with cultists
Charles: 6.25 -- Staying in ritual
Ehrahm: 6 -- Guarding corridor
Dale: 6 -- Rushing Douglas and Mark, range -2, lighting -4, obscured -2
Matt: 6 -- Rushing Douglas and Mark, range -2, lighting -4, obscured -2
Seann: 5.5 -- Staying in ritual
Guy: 5.5 -- Rushing Douglas and Mark, range -3, lighting -5, obscured -2
Wolf: 5.5 -- Rushing Douglas and Mark, range -3, lighting -5, obscured -2
Serena: 5 -- Went with Mark
John: 5 -- Ecstasy for 6 minutes
Cultist #16: 5 -- Rushing Douglas and Mark, range -2, lighting -4
Cultist #17: 5 -- Rushing Douglas and Mark, range -2, lighting -4
Cultist #18: 5 -- Rushing Douglas and Mark, range -2, lighting -4
Cultist #19: 5 -- Rushing Douglas and Mark, range -1, lighting -3
Cultist #20: 5 -- Rushing Douglas and Mark, range -1, lighting -3

## Tied up
Tom: 6 -- 7 HP, stunned from Major Wound, crippled leg
Simon: 6 -- -1 HP, stunned from Major Wound, 10 FP
Cultist #3: 5 -- 4 HP, stunned from Major Wound
Cultist #11: 5 -- 4HP, stunned from Major Wound
Cultist #12: 5 -- 5 HP, stunned from Major Wound
Cultist #14: 5 -- 3 HP, stunned from Major Wound
Cultist #15: 5 -- Knife, 3 yards from Mark/ Douglas, 5 HP, crippled leg, not stunned

* Changed position in Initiative order due to Wait
[/Combat Time]

[ErhnamDJ]

OOC: I'm going to need some time to figure out what's going on here. Assume Douglas is taking a Wait maneuver to shoot something, I suppose.