Nix , take your Action

Nix summons and release a wave of mana in the form of a mana bolt at the fox. Time is of the essence, so Nix summons everything he can, risking additional physical damage to try and subdue this creature.

Force 11 Stun Bolt: 1,2,6,3,1,5,2,1,6 = 3 hits + Edge 5,2,3,3,1,5 + 2 hits = 5 hits
Resist Drain DV4: 5,4,6,5,5,3,3,6,3,5 = 6 hits, No Drain
MAN! I would have taken the physical drain to throw all those hit at that fox!!

Counterspelling Test 8 hits, 3 net

The dazzling bolt of mana blasts out at the shapechanger. A quickly thrown up spell defense counters the spell neatly, and is followed by a blast of mana from the fox back in Nix's direction.
Manabolt 5 Hits

Caliph - Perception test to regocnize spell casting from the Fox

Nix is utterly amazed to see his own spell fade and another spell coming back at him. This is gonna hurt...

OOC: [1,3,1,6,6,6,1,6,4,2] = 4 hits + Edge re-roll dp6; buy one success = 5 hits; Spell Countered.

The cost to counter the spell was high and Nix felt the effects of the cost... But the large fire elemental next to him was spurred into action by the attack. Nix could literally see the mana was out as the elemental generated an wave of magical fear. Take that ass wipe...

OOC: [6 [->2],3,6 [->6->6->5],4,1, 6 [->3],1,3,1,1,5,6 [->6->3],4,4,3,4,6 [->5],4] = 11 hits

With a jolt and a foxy-shriek, the fox turns tail and bolts through the tall grass, literally High-tailing it.

Tired of dealing with the fox, Nix move in behind it (not closer, but insures that he is not in its line of sight.). He then lets loose another stun bolt, overcasting as far as he dares.

OOC: F11 Stun Bolt: 1,2,6,2,1,2,5,5,3,6,3 = 4 hits
Drain [DV4]: 4,2,2,1,4,1,4,4,1,5 = 1 hit; 3 physical drain

He literally screams in pain as the mana burns through his body..

EDIT: Total physical Damage = 7 boxes. Total Stun = 5 boxes.

Willpower Resistance 3 Hits. Damage 12 Stun

The blue-white stun bolt slams into the fox, bowling it over, sending it sprawling into the grass, blasted into unconciousness.

Nix turns and releases the fire elemental, his thanks beyond recognition. He turns back towards the unconscious and calls an earth elemental. His wounds and fatigue every increasing, he calls a small spirit. The spirit resists the calling, fighting the summons. Nix, firm in his resolve, repeats the summons and the spirit does in fact come... but at a high price in fatigue.

Gesturing to the fox, Manifest and take that to Caliph

OOC: F3 Earth Elemental 5,1,2,2,2,6 = 2 hits; Spirit resistance: 6,2,5 = 2 hits; Resist DV4 Drain: 6,3,6,2,2,1,5,6,1,4 = 4 hits

F3 Earth Elemental 6,3,5,1,2,5 = 3 hits; Spirit Resistance: 6,1,5 = 2 hits; Resist DV4 Drain: 6,2,4,3,1,4,1,5,4,2 = 2 hits

Total Physical 7 boxes; Total Stun 7 boxes.

The ground swells around the fallen form, conveying it to the waiting Caliph. A moment later, Caliph finds himself looking down at the form of a naked native man in his middle years.

Knowledge test for anything that might pertain to shape shifters. Varying threshold depending on how applicable the skill is (i.e. magical theory vs paracritters)

Nix follows the spirit in the astral, back to his body. As the weight of the physical world bears down on him, so does the egregious wounds and fatigue. He looks over at the middle-aged man, then to Caliph. "A tranq patch would go a long way right about now.... This little bastard knows some powerful metamagic..."

OOC: Logic(5) + Magic Theory(6) + Wounds (-2) + Stun(-2) = dp7 [1,2,3,4,1,1,4] = 0 hits (but no glitch either)

Looks like the people are satisfied with the truck - don't seem to be getting any closer to it, at least. Inshallah, it will remain that way. Keep the machinegun looking at them as I walk back to the hide spot - note the earth thingy that starts moving towards the hide spot, carrying something...

Dude, unconscious, don't recognize, butt naked. Swivel the machinegun back but order it to hold fire, I start moving to flank the thing. It dumps the naked dude and doesn't seem to worry any more. Stop flanking it, move back towards the hide spot. Try to act like this is normal, for the bystanders benefit. Swivel the machinegun back to cover them.

Nix wakes up, says some shit. Guess this dude's a bad guy. "Don't got one. This should work. Does he have any internal injuries?" Grab a spare T-shirt from my ruck, tie it over his head. Bind his legs and arms.

We gotta get the fuck out of here. Breathe out, turn to nix - wince at the obvious toll that whatever he's been doing in the ghost world has taken on him. "We gotta move. You good to walk?"

Knowing stuff about shapeshifters - Intuition 5 + Southwestern Insurgents 3 = [4,5,4,2,3,3,6,1] 2 hits

Nix wipes the blood dripping from his nose. Damn over burn. I should have been do that...
"Lucky for him the spell wasn't lethal, just a hellaciously over cast stun bolt.. He'll wake in in far better shape than I am." He wipes another trickle of blood, before looking down at the burns on his hands. "I can walk. Let's get the hell outa here.."

Now that the combat is over, Nix takes a fresh look around them. Hillside... burned up truck... highway and off-ramp...

As they start moving away Nix's paranoia starts acting up. "We gotta get out of here and I think we don't have time to wait for an evac... How would you like to be a well endowed, eighteen year old, petite young woman busting out of your clothes and suffering an apparent head wound? I bet someone would stop to pick you up...."

"We got plenty of time, and they ain't gonna find us. We're in more danger if we move too far. Take this (point to the machinegun) down to the gas station there, along with sleepy here. I'll hole up in here and wait for a reply on the evac. If I don't get a word from them in between 5-10 minutes, I'll send a message to you and we should call a cab and take multiple routes out, to fuck up the tail. That van is my home, and worth more than my share of the pay from this job. Forgive me if I don't want it stolen. Keep a ghost watching my back and we'll be straight."

Hole up in the hide site, which doesn't look to be compromised all that badly. Set the AK in a spot where it has its camera on the truck. Whip out my medkit and treat the burns from the lightning. Keep the foliage around me, so an astral observer will mostly see grass.

Taking refuge in the abandoned petrol station is easy enough with a solid hit to the door. The station's front double glass doors are boarded with plywood, and easy to enter. Inside, the main area is 10 by 15 meters of open space, with an empty freezer area attached, and an L shaped ocunter that would make good cover. The tile is mostly covered by dirt that's seaped in through cracks over the years, and the whole place smells of dust an occassional animal use. The only sign of life inside however is spiders and the occassional meal.

<<<<<@[Caliph] That can be arranged, depending on the heat of your particular frying pan. 2Gs + another 1K for fuel if your plate is cold. Price goes up depending on heat. You get left if you lie about temp.>>>>

Nix takes a deep breath. Ok.. I've worked with Caliph long enough to expect that..

As the medkit comes out, "Don't suppose you could work that magic on me?"

"Sure. Don't know much about that blood trickling from your nose, though - you know what people do about that normally? I can stick some gauze up in there."

I really have no idea what kind of injuries his magic stuff causes - I'm more useful at sticking stuff on holes in people. But it's a good medkit, and when in doubt, you can always stick an IV in somebody. Grab some compression bandage and wrap the IV bag around his head, since I have no idea how long we'll be waiting.

Message from the smugglers comes in. Smile widely; this at least mitigates the immediate problem. <<@Anonymous [Caliph] - Price is good. Grid of pickup site: 17W FU 32935 52932; open terrain; need 4 tons of lift; 3 passengers, 2 ambulatory, 1 litter. PZ is amber, no immediate threat, possible enemy in area. Pickup site marked with smoke; confirm visual on the smoke when you get in range.>>

"Pick-up enroute. Leave a quiet ghost or some sort of surveillance thingy here to watch the site - They'll be back to figger out what happened. "