@Gwyn
As you move through the bottom floor of the building, you don't encounter much of anything out of the ordinary. The first floor consists of a few offices, and a large warehousing room split up by shelves. that are mostly empty but might provide some cover if necessary. There is a staircase in the southwest corner, by the front door -- the one with the working light -- that leads to the second floor. You're just about to rise through the ceiling to examine the second floor when you notice the faintest shimmer on the astral plane. Pausing for a moment, it takes you a second to recoginze a low force alarm ward! Apparently someone had a little bit of time to help block off the second floor. Popping outside again, and now knowing what to look for, you see that the ward seems to extend around all of the second floor. Either the mage has been here for a while or there's a team working toghether. Either way,[i] you think to yourself, [i]things just got a little more interesting.

"Fuck!" Gwyn says as she comes back to her body. "There's an alarm ward around the entire second floor, which means I can't scout it without setting it off. Looks like we have to go in blind. There's nothing magical protecting the first floor and all there is is offices and a room full of shelves," she adds as she stands up.

"Ok, but the first floor is clear for the most part then? Lets go." Akuma heads into the building, drawing his pistol in his right had with his Capsule ammo loaded. He then draws his katana in his off hand, keeping it ready for action. He heads deep into the building, trying to be as silent as he can, then pauses at the stairs and turns to Soluna, "Is there any way you can shut down that ward without letting the guy that set it up know about it?"

"Well, the first floor is clear of magical trappings. I can't see physical things like cameras or stuff like that when I'm astral, so we should still beware of that sort of thing. I can take the ward down by engaging it in astral combat, but whoever put it up would know that I did," Gwyn answers.

"What we can do though, is walk through it since it only responds to magical things, and on the other side of it have me go astral again and see where they are. I can't go through it magically, but I can physically and then once past it can use magic again, so that might work."

Gwyn follows Akuma in, but leaves her savalette in the holster until after they get through the ward.

@Akuma & Gwyn
As you enter the building with Lex and Rowan behind you, you instinctively keep to the interior wall. You're in a long hallway, dark and only partially illuminated by more of the now ubiquitous blue security lighting. It makes the hallway look dreamlike with the soft glow.

@Akuma
"Akuma stop." Gwyn hisses at you.

@Gwyn
When you enter the hallway, you quickly scan the area for things that seem out of the ordinary. As you glance about you notice that behind you, on the right hand side of the coridor above the door is a small white box with a red, led light on it.

"Is the red light there above the door what I think it is?" Gwyn whispers to Akuma.

He nods silently and looks up at the device, checking it out.

"Ok. I don't think it's seen us, so here's what I think. I cast improved invisibility on each of us one at time. The person I cast it on walks down the hall and around the corner out of site and I drop the spell and then cast it on the next person. Then we can go through the ward and deal with the second floor," Gwyn says. "Any objections?"

"Better than my idea. Hit me up first." Akuma stands ready for the spell, waiting for Soluna to give him the go.

Gwyn casts the spell on Akuma first and then herself last. "Everyone just say something when they get around the corner, so I know when to drop the spell," she instructs them.

Akuma goes first, taking point. When he gets to the stairs he says over the comm, "Done."

He then watches the stairs for signs of anyone coming down.

Gwyn lets Lex and Rowan go next and then follows them. When she reaches the bottom of the stairs she drops the last spell. "Ready?" she asks.

"How far up is the ward? Do we have to get all the way up, or just half way?" Akuma asks over the comm as he begins to slowly creep up the stairs, eyes searching for any more cameras or security messures.

Flicking the safety off his Ares and setting the firing mode to burst, Lex looks up the stairwell. "Since we're not magical, are we going to set off that ward? Oh, one more question. Does the ward cover only the second floor, or the rest of the building? That could let us zero in on where our cargo could be."

<<Retroactively>> "Those Sentras arent big cars, and neither of them were rigged up. We're looking at at most six goons (doubt they'd want to squeeze in those cars), given two seats for our hostages, and at least 1 mage."

"We have to go all the way up the stairs. The ward only alerts to awakened people who are active on the astral plane or to anyone going through with a sustained spell up, so we're fine," Gwyn whispers.

"Once we get to the top of the stairs, watch my body and I'll go astral again and see if I can find what room they're in."

@All
When you get to the top of the staircase, you're in a long hallway.. It seems to run the length of the second floor. There are two doors on the left hand side of the hallway. A quick glance also shows you that there doesn't seem to be any physical sensors like there was on the first floor.

The hallway is bare and the lighting is poor, mostly only the ambient light coming in from the three floor to ceiling windows on the right hand side of the hallway.There is an old, dry potted plant next to one window and a bench about halfway down the hallway.

Gwyn sits down for a moment against the wall, takes a deep breath and goes limp.

@Gwyn
Popping onto the Astral plane makes you feel a little ill, which is something that's never happened before. There's an aura of fear and pain throughout most of this area of the building, an aura that you couldn't detect through the ward. About you, you can see the three auras of your teammates, a comforting sight as they prepare to protect your body as you explore the second floor.

However, before you get a chance to even leave the hallway you notice a swoosh on the astral and the telltale sight of a watcher spirit zipping out of your line of sight. As your attention is drawn to the end of the hallway. There, standing on the astral plane appears to be the astral form of a woman, rather beautiful, staring at you and the others. As the watcher spirit zips out of your field of view, the astral woman begins to approach.

"Fuck!" Gwyn says as she goes back to her body post haste.

"A watcher spirit just went to warn the mage, so we should have company soon. I kinda expected that given the ward and all, however, there's also a rather strong ally spirit as well. You three are going to have to deal with the goons that should be here shortly and I'll have to go astral again and deal with the ally. Just give me some time. I have to keep her from manifesting on the physical plane. On the physical plane she can hurt all of us, but if I keep her on the astral plane she can only hurt me and that might give you guys time to get them out. If I'm not back in my physical body by the time you have the mother and child, leave without me, understand?"

She sits back down and prepares for astral combat.

@Gwyn
As you slide back onto the Astral plane and prepare yourself to assault the spirit, you see that has approached you moving slowly -- a good thing for you -- as you gave the information to the rest of the team. There is an aura of hostility about the spirit as she eyes you upand prepares to engage.

Akuma runs up and kicks the bench over so he and the rest of the team can use it for cover. He ducks down behind it and get ready for the coming shootout.

@Akuma, Lex
Thinking on her feet, Rowan grabs Gwyn's body and pulls it back down the stairs a little and then braces herself against the wall of the staircase with her SMG read and pointing down the hall. Her assault rifle leans next to her where she can get to it in a pinch.

At about the same time as Rowan drags Gwyn's body away, the door at the far end of the hall, on the other side of Akuma's improvised cover, the door swings open and for a moment, everything is a stunned silence. Then, a small round object rolls into the room at an angle so that it hits the back wall of the hallway and like an expert shot in billards, it bounces across to the side wall and then angles to begin sliding toward Akuma's bench.

Combat Phase One

In a blur of motion, Akuma rises from his location and squeezes off two shots at the approaching grenade. The first one strikes it the second one glances off the side putting it into a back spin and sending it almost straight back towards the door. As he moves back behind the protective cover of the bench, a lanky human moves quickly into the hallway holding a katana, surveys the area before diving back into the doorway as a short burst from Rowan's SMG errupts in the hallway. The shot misses, but look on the swordsman's face was well worth the three bullets.

Time seems to slow for a moment for those of you on the physical plane as, perhaps instinctively, Lex and Akuma crouch behind the bench knowing the grenade is about to go off. When it does, it's not with the explosion that you had been fearing but rather with a pop and a hiss. Risking a peak, Lex curses as he sees the hallway begin to fill with a thick, choking smoke. Some muffled cursing comes from the end of the hallway as the opposition realizses that their smoke grenade went off much closer to their end of the hallway than they had originally hoped.

On the Astral plane, matters move at the speed of thought. Quickly taking advantage of the spirit's almost gloating aura of superiority, Gwyn summons the mana and unleashes a powerful bolt at the approaching spirit. The triumphant cry of the Gargoyle can be heard on the Astral seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once as the astral form of the spirit implodes around its center disrupted by the spell. With a slight auric breeze of color and hatred, the spirit is sent crashing back into the metaplanes.

A few moments following the disruption of the spirit, Gwyn notices the flash of a spell coming into existence around the corner in the hallway where the opposition lays in wait for the opportune moment to strike.

NOTE: There is no visible effect of the spell on the physical.
Editted for clarity and correctness.

Combat Phase Two

Tapping Lex on the shoulder for his attention and gesturing to himself and then over the bench, Akuma pushes over the bench and keeps to the inside wall moving cautiously toward the door. Thinking to help the visibility problem out, Lex rises, takes a bead on the windows and fires a few rounds through one and then the other to help clear the smoke out of the hallway. As Akuma moves forward, he has just a moment to notice the motion of a person leaning out of the doorway and pulling a bead on him before a shot rings out in the hallway. Rowan pulls up her SMG, searching for a shot for for this moment, Akuma is in her way.

On the Astral plane, Gwyn swings around and enters the hallway with the opposition. There, she analyzes the spell that she could see from the other hallway (where the team is) and determins that it is a detection spell. Unsure of what this indicates, she pauses for a moment and trying to decide what to do.

Combat Phase Two Wrapup

Akuma staggers a moment as a round from the shooter's pistol strikes him in the center of mass. However, his armor soaks the round and distibutes the force throughout, reducing the inflicted damage to nill.

Combat Phase Three

Akuma brings his katana to bear and spins adding momentum to his own strength as he slashes at the pistol weilding goon. With a grunt of surprise, the goon begins to lift his pistol arm in self defense. With a grin, Akuma slashes at his opponent and feels the satisfying resistence as the katana slices through the goon's forearm, removing his hand and his gun, and bits into his shoulder at the collar bone. Expertly removing his katana from the wound, Akuma sees that his opponent is not dead, but certainly seriously injured. His cry of pain echoes in the hallway.

Gwyn slides back into her body, and glances around for a moment, disoriented. She nods at Rowan, silently thanking her for moving her body out of the line of fire before looking down the hallway and re-acclimating her self the environment on the physical plane.

The windows have broken and a cool night breeze is wafting through the hallway. It's pulling quite a bit of the smoke outside bit visibility is still slightly impared.

@Akuma
On thermographics, you can make out the signatures of two or three more people in the hallway, not including the pistol goon that you just maimed.

Combat Phase Four

Passing the bleeding figure of the pistol wielder, Akuma moves into the hallway and engages the first person he sees. Moving for an overhand chop, he is surprised to find a well placed block before him as the opposition's swordsman brings his weapon to bear.

Turn Two : Phase One : Part One

Akuma swings his blade around and attempts to attack below his oponents block. Startled by the quick reaction, the his opponent's parry is slow in coming Akuma scores a hit on his opponents side. The damage doesn't seem to slow him, however and he returns with a flurry of blows that put Akuma on the defensive.

Seeing Gwyndlyn rise and look around, Rowan takes this moment to advance next to Lex and crouch by the bench. On the way there, she tries to maneuver to shoot Akuma's opponent, but the shifting, swirling pattern of melee doesn't provide her a shot.

Turn Two : Phase One : Part Two

Gwyn huries behind Rowan and meets her and Lex at the bench for cover. She gives them both a nod and then closes her eyes for a moment. She shudders slightly, and then shakes her head as if she has a headache, but smiles at her team mates, ready for what happens next.

2:1:3

Seeing that Rowan and Gwyn have good cover and can back him up, Lex gives them a thumbs up and hops over the bench, his Ares Alpha leading the way. He moves slowly, against the wall remaining out of sight of Akuma's opponent and anyone else who might be in that hallway. As he approaches the now sobbing "disarmed" man, he kicks the hand and gun away from the injured individual.

Then, the silence, before only broken by the grunts and sounds of Akuma's fight, is ripped apart by the barking sound of an automatic weapon. Akuma staggers back under the burst and his motion disperses the last of the smoke giving the others a view of what happens next. As a man with a katana, the one who dashed into the hallway earlier and then dove back for cover under fire from Rowan's SMG, cautiously looks into the room, Akuma slumps to the floor unconscious. The katanaphile grins evilly at you all before ducking back into the hallway for the moment.

Gwyn rips out her Savalette and whispers to Lex, "Can you reach him and pull him back behind the bench, Lex? Rowan and I will cover you."

Then louder she yells, "I want to talk to who's in charge! No weapons and no back up...just you and me!" She stands up and sets her Savalette on the floor behind the bench and waits for a response.

@All
There is no response to Gwyn's yell, but the shooting and stabbing seems to have stopped. Akuma violently wakes up as Lex drags him away from the door, and his katana-weilding opponent ducks back into the room as Rowan raise her SMG to cover the team in front of the bench.

As you wait a few moments, a woman's voice calls out from the hallway, "We're listening. Talk fast."

"I have a deal to offer," Gwyn starts. "We're here for the woman and her daughter. We take them and walk and we let all of you walk. No one will know or care where you go. We take them back to their lives and you all go back to yours. This way everyone ends up happy; he get his family back, we did our job, and you don't get arrested or hunted down by the mafia."

Gwyn waits for their response.

@All
A new voice -- a man -- calls out, "It's our life if we let them go. It costs nuyen to disappear, if you get my drift."

@Gwyn
In conjunction with the man's voice (above) you also see the astral form of a mage float silently around the corner and investigate the hallway.

Gwyn waves at the astral mage and replies to the man, "Your lives won't be in danger and you won't have to spend nuyen to disappear or change identity...there's no threat to you right now except us and we'll remove ourselves once we have the hostages and then there'll be no threat at all to any of you and you can go on your way."

@All
There's silence for a few seconds before an anguished wail sounds from the hallway around the corner, "You bitch!" cries a young woman as she turns the corner, "You killed her! You killed her!"

1:1:1

Reacting the fastest, as is his normal penchant, Akuma swings his Predator to bear and squeezes off two shots at the woman. She may be enraged, but it seems that her wits are still about her. Seeing the gun come up, the first shot goes wide abover as she rolls prone. Adjusting his aim, Akuma pulls off a second shot that strikes her in the lower back as she rolls to her feet. With a grunt of pain, her cries of anger cease, but her eyes grow dark as she glares balefully at you all.

Behind her, the man that Akuma fought hand-to-hand a moment ago comes out of the hallway. He remains behind the woman, but his katana is still held in his hand, point down at the floor. He doesn't look ready to engage yet, but he is watching the action unfold.

At about the same time Gwyndlyn drops to her knees behind the over turned bench to reach for her gun, the woman's hand rises and she balefully utters a single word: "Burn." From her outstretched fingers, a small glowing orb of orange and red light bursts into existence and flies toward the bench, toward the group.

1:1:2

The small glowing orb floats innocently towards the benchbefore errupting into a ball of flaming fury. Lex, Akuma, and Gwyn dive for cover behind the bench, hoping that the meager cover will protect them from the worst of the fire's blast. Rowan, a few meters back from the explosion point, dives to the floor back by the staircase, but rolls with the impact and seems un-hurt.

Pulling her SMG up, Rowan takes aim and utilizing the fact that the others are still down behind the bench, she fires at the mage before the the fireball is even completely out. Two bursts rip their way down the hallway and strike the mage in the center of mass. The first burst forces her to stand with the momentum of the bullets, the second knocks her onto her back as she cries out in pain, and then begins to choke on her own blood.

1:1:3


Lex peaks up from over the bench and sees the mage lying in a pool of blood. Quickly assessing the situation, he brings up his Ares Alpha and aims at the katanman. He looks up for a moment and his face looks collected just before Lex's first burst rips into his chest. The Ex-Ex ammo sounds incredibly loud as it exits the gambler's assault rifle. The second burst rips into the sword man and he drops, bleeding, to the floor.

In the silence that follows, a clatter is heard. Looking towards the door you see two SMGs come sliding out of the hallway and into your field of view, "Don't shoot me. I'm coming out," you hear from around the corner.

Not rising from behind the bench, Lex shouts towards the mystery voice. "Hands first, and slowly."

@All
From around the corner, a tall man wearing a secure vest and what might be FFBA underneath enters your hallway with his hands up, "Don't get jumpy, I'm just getting you the keys to the other room," he says reaching into his pocket. He removes his hand and is indeed holding a set of keys. He tosses them to the floor and they slide to the front of the bench. "Head down this hallway, make a right and go to the second door. The key with the red nail polish on it opens that door. Inside you'll find the mother and her kid. You get them, I get to run away. Sound good?"

"Sounds good. Lead the way. You don't get to run until we have them with us."

Akuma shealths his Katana, but keeps his pistol out. Gesturing with it, he says, "Move it!"

Gwyn grabs the keys as they pass and follows the lead of the gunman and Akuma. Once they reach the door in question she finds the key with the red nailpolish on it and unlocks the door. Before opening it she calls through the door, "Identify yourselves," just to make sure that there are no more badguys waiting in ambush.

@All

Muffled cries come from beyond the door and the gunman rolls his eyes. "They're gagged. And they're the only people in the room."

Opening the door you see before you a woman in her 40's and her young daughter bound to chairs and ball-gaged. They're eyes are wide with fear as they see you open the door, after probably having heard the gunfire through the wall.

Slinging his Ares over his shoulder, Lex moves towards the two slowly in the least threatening way possible (that is, for a man with a huge AR slung across his back). Keeping his hands in front of him, palms facing out, "It's alright, we're going to get you out of here," he says as he tries to calm the two down while untying them. Pulling out his Medkit, he gives the two a once-over just to make sure nothing's seriously wrong with them.

@All
Neither mother nor daughter seem to be mistreated by their four day ordeal. They're both tired and hungry, but should suffer no lasting physical harm.

"Can I go now?" the gunman asks.

"You are with us till we leave the building and drive away. Then you can go."

@All
He sighs, but nods.

Gwyn breaks out her cell as they leave the building and dials Geoff.

"It's Gwyn," she says, "We're on our way to Ana Mia's. Yes we have them and they're fine. We'll meet you there."

She opens her car door for the two of them to get in the back seat. She goes around to the driver's seat and waits for the others to get to their respective vehicles and then heads for the restraunt.

Gwyn breaks out her cell as they leave the building. She dials Geoff.

"It's Gwyn," she says, "We're on our way to Ana Mia's. Yes, we have them and they're fine. We'll see you there."

SHe opens the back door of her car for the mother and daughter to get in. She waits for the rest of the team and then heads to the restraunt.

Once down at the street, Akuma lets go of the captive. "Get lost."

He then looks to Lex, "Lets get our car and get the hell outta here. We'll meet you ladies back at Mia's."