IC: Balance Due, An Active Hunt Options

[BishopMcQ]

Drawing herself up, Gellawyn raises the bow and looses two arrows. As each is raised to string, whispered names in Sperethiel work their way across the hallway. Each name is one of the fallen, citizens of the Tir who have been murdered through Templar activity. The hum of bowstring strikes a bass note against the woman's contralto.

The first arrow pulls Ulick's attention from the purely astral beings of the ally spirits and turns upon his newly arrived prey. One nearly blind eye is milky with cataracts as the other seethes with righteous conviction. When the second arrow lands, you can see it clearly dislocates his shoulder. The zealot presses on unfeeling of the pain.

"Come inside. We have much to discuss about your coming deaths."

He moves back into the room out of sight from your vantage point.

[HeySparky]

Herne's coursing hound instinct masters him and he howls to his mistress as Ulick retreats behind the safety of the ward. He charges forward, savagely attacking the ward.

[Fenris]

An instant behind the hound, Fueryon snarls and leaps forward at the ward, jaws snapping at the astral entity.

[HeySparky]

Edana's lungs and legs are burning as she climbs the stairs, up. Up. And up some more. Black and silver specks swim in her vision. She pants, a cramp pulling at her side. The whip pulses with a sensation like heat, that seems to push away the fatigue. Or mask it, at least.

[BishopMcQ]

Under tooth and claw, the ward shudders and gives way. Without the carapace to conceal his acts, both allies see him standing near the closet. Ulick draws back his hand from within, taking a small item in the palm of his hand.

Power pulses through the astral bending the space around Ulick visibly.

"Come now. Repent and God's mercy may yet find pity upon your souls."

[Fenris]

Still cold inside, the Latin that pours from Kraxus' lips seems like it should be rimed with frost. The elf reaches inside, letting his hate for the Templars and his fear for Gellawyn's safety pour out through the conduits and connections he forms between himself and Ulik. The astral ripples as the channeled energy leaps across the room, towards the distorted space around the defiant terrorist.

[HeySparky]

A growl rises in Edana's chest as Herne and Fuer'yon tear down the ward and she feels the tingling surge of Kraxus' casting. Energy of her own crackles under darkly clouded skin. She rushes up the last of the steps and 90 degree right turn, diving into a sheltered corner of the hall, into a corner she hopes is out of sight. The whip catches on the handrail, wrapping and nearly taking her off her feet. She scrabbles at it, gritting her teeth as a nail bends backward painfully. The whip comes free... pulsing at her, willing her to join the fight. She dive-collapses into the corner and and plunges herself into the merciless wash of Astral Space.

[BishopMcQ]

On the outer edges of each of your senses, pain begins to wash over you. It starts in your palms and feet with the sensation of iron shoving through your flesh, followed by an aching in every muscle. The pain leaves you as a spear of deadly energy thrusts forward from Kraxus and takes Ulick in the side.

From the astral, Destiny enshrouds purpose and the zealot collapses. Edana surges forward into the room, the wash of the astral beating against her senses driving the memory of crucifixion into the same deep wariness that the osteocuspis resides in. The whip crackles with lightning pulled from her body and pulls forward wanting to snuff the final flickering essence from the martyr.

[Fenris]

His voice is sharp when he speaks, still crackling with the cold rage that had washed over him when Ulik spoke.

"Edana, STOP. Tend to your ally. Gellawyn, bring your first aid kit. There is much that could be gained if his life can be temporarily held from passing over."

[Buddha72]

Gellawyn slings the bow and drops next to the prone form of the Templar. She pauses a moment to remove trauma supplies from small pouches on her person. She eyes the small relic and shares a pointed look with Kraxus.

"Our time is extremely limited here. With the deaths and shots fired downstairs it will be mere moments before Lone Star responds. You can count on drones already being on site. Do we have a way to get him from the building unseen or at the very least evade our pursuers?"

[HeySparky]

Edana recoils abruptly back into her body, jolted by the sudden shift. Herne... what did he do to you? Are you okay? She gets up onto shaky feet, her lungs still burning with the effort of climbing the stairs - eyes still studded with stars of silver flecked black. She stands unsteadily, a hand reaching out to the railing she'd collapsed behind. She hastens to Gellawyn's side, closing the door behind her.

"The brumby! Is there any getting it out of here now?"

[BishopMcQ]

Gellawyn kneels down by the fallen martyr and is able to stabilize his condition. Ulick's vitals are thready but holding for the moment.

[Buddha72]

"He's stable for now." Gellawyn rises, her sense alert and her body held relaxed and ready.

[HeySparky]

Herne materializes at Edana's side, managing a haggard stoicism. A ragged slash across his neck and chest pulses with the eyewrenching secrets of the inner workings of spirit kind.

[Fenris]

Fuer'yon's elation at the kill, the take-down that signaled the end of the hunt rushed through the link as Kraxus reached out to him.

Keep an eye out for spirits. I fear the ward and the gunfire downstairs will could have drawn both other Templars or Lonestar support in the astral.

His ally spirits acknowledgment is tinged with the feeling of triumph. He pushes it aside, moving quickly into the apartment, gathering the focus Ulik had held into a secure pouch in the armor, and moving with the others to quickly search the apartment for items of either information or value. Objects too bulky to move were stripped of the essential components, such as memory chips from computers, while cellphones and palmtop computers were simply taken.

As the others continue to search, both in physical space and the astral, he fixes images of common people, in normal clothing in his mind, and wraps the flows of mana that will cover each member from both people and sensors.

[BishopMcQ]

Team
You spread out throughout the small hotel room and do a thirty-second search. Edana pulls a duffel bag out from behind a chair in the corner, which contains small armaments and ritual devices. Kraxus unloads a few choice items from the closet into the bag and tosses it to Gellawyn.

With new faces to conceal your most obvious features and lend a social illusion to the presence of armor, you make your way down to the garage. Friends shepherding their passed-out drunk friend out of public eye and back to the safety of his own home, you find yourself awash in rumors about valet joyrides, an angry executive, and screams of lawsuits as guests see wrecked luxury cars.

The initial response officers on scene are clearly overwhelmed as they try to contain the guests, most of whom are more focused on their damaged cars and delays to their itineraries than the dead valet. A fleeting concern for the missing troll decker passes your thoughts as you head for the Brumby past the mob.

[HeySparky]

Edana's eyes can't leave the dead valet. And the boots of the man she'd briefly known as Bishop's friend sticking out from behind Crash's truck. Crash was gone. Where? She refocuses her attention on their drunk 'friend' and helps Gellawyn and Kraxus get him situated in the back seat. He'd better not puke... She shakes her head, "This is some good work," she murmurs. The crumpled form of the dead valet keeps coming back and back and back into her mind. Downtown's boots. The valet. The girl. Gonzalez. Ballefour. Boots. Valet. Two new grisly floats in the gruesome parade.

She rakes the shifter and backs the brumby out. She glares at the rearview mirror. Ulick's pale face is there, slack, his head lolling back. She grits her teeth. You. You took them. And now I have you. Tears well in her eyes. She blots the dampness away. Herne is near-ish, he is still humming with pain and echoes of the hunt... he is keeping his distance... looking out for trouble.

[Buddha72]

Gellawyn checks over the prone Templar once more to make sure he remains stable for the transport. She looks to Kraxus. "If you are going to look for the information, you should do so now. I'm uncertain how long he will remain stable and we may have little oppurtunity after HE has taken him into custody."

[BishopMcQ]

Team
You quickly quiet yourselves as you approach the Lonestar patrolman who is blocking the exit from the parking structure. Down the street you see more patrol cars arriving as Lonestar begins to cordon off the area and begin the investigation of a double homicide.

The hum of the window lowering sounds mundane and brings on the assualting cacophony of noise from the street as sirens blare, and news drones vie against the no-fly zone edict of a crime zone.

Words are exchanged across the driver, as the officer leans close to the Brumby and Kraxus extends over the driver's seat in an effort to find a peaceful way out of the structure. A few moments pass in conversation and it becomes obvious that the patrol officer is insistent that your stay until a detective arrives on scene and clears your release.

The mundane appearance around Kraxus and Gellawyn melts away. Cold, blustery winds from the Emerald Isle brush against the Lonestar beatcop's face as the blood drains away. Video feeds from all drones able to see the SUV even those with telescopic lenses are confiscated under the shield of diplomatic immunity.

Members of the Department of Interior and organizations that don't even have names spoken aloud, enshroud the vehicle as property of Tir Na Nog. The driver and passengers are serving the needs of the Tir council directly and are allowed to pass.

The faint sounds of an imperial march resonate as you bypass the security measures and the black brumby is swallowed into the coming night.