Dark Heresy - Wisdom is the beginning of fear.

[Besyanteo]

Gunner silently marvelled. Could each candle represent a person who had been taken and altered? That would almost make an army of the damn things. Well, no, that was an overstatement in a place as large as the Imperium was, but that didn't change that the threat to the hive was now a considerable one. He could only hope that the 'surgeon' altering these people was just that: A single individual, working alone over a long period of time. However, on reflection, that didn't seem likely. Gunner shuddered to think that the whole district could be overrun before very long at all. That kind of infection wouldn't stay in a single district for long, either.

His thoughts turned to Cryvus. Hopefully the fellow was having some luck on his end of things... He tried to keep the wry grin off his face as he went to pray for the man. Two days saw him more than twice the religious man he'd ever been at home.

[Jak Snide]

The Worker's Union

The barmaid mutters "Your funeral." and points him over to the stairs up. Cryvus moves over there, stepping out of the crowd of people and into the area in front of the stairs. The two men, almost as physically imposing as Mikolas, shot him looks that suggest that he best speak quickly or leave.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. I should like to speak with Mister Luntz regarding the use of your vox terminal."

One of the men looked like he didn't quite know what to make of the short, aged man politely asking to use their vox. The other made a vulgar gesture and spat on the floor. Cryvus fixed the latter with a look and, speaking carefully, said "As matters stand, you have three days before you join the ranks of the Lost." This seemed to have some effect, the former goon now ill at ease while his aggressive friend seemed irritated by being confronted by someone he could able to snap like a twig, and yet stood there unafraid.

"Make sense, gramps. What the fuck are you doing here?"

As I said. I have need of your vox terminal. I understand Luntz is the person to speak to about this."

The man took a step forward, fists balling, but stopped suddenly as Cryvus felt a hand grip his shoulder.

"Easy, easy!" a masculine voice cood. "Word has it that this one might be of interest to the boss. His mates ain't about, he won't be no trouble." Without another word, Cryvus was lead upstairs, the two thugs standing aside to let them pass.


Some time later...

Cryvus walked in through the doors of the Templum, finding the rest of the acolytes sprawled out over the floors and pews. Gunner was still feeling the pain of his injury, but it was duller now and less distracting. Crisis and Mikolas, meanwhile, had found themselves subjected to a number of fearful and hostile glances from other residents of the holy place, their unusual appearance distinctly marking them as outsiders.

[Kelne]

Cryvus wasted no time making his way over to join the others. He looked almost cheerful. A frightening thought, really.

"Excellent news, gentlemen," he said, keeping his voice soft so as not to involve the other residents any more than they already were, "We have secured allies for a strike against the Alms House."

[Besyanteo]

Gunner smiled, but kept quiet and made no fanfare at this announcement. He'd just gotten to feeling half alive instead of half dead, and didn't want to exacerbate things any more than absolutely necessary.

[NamagomiMk0]

Crisis, the entire time, had barely made a noise. Even with the now irritating bullet graze, he hadn't said anything, instead focusing on his newfound armament, as well as his trusted mainstay of a gun and even the dinky little holdout weapon that never got used...

It may have been so that the Adeptus Mechanicus had some influence on him when he grew up, or it may have been a tragedy in the past, but the whole meanwhile, he was sitting down, coat laid out upon the floor open
in front of him. He had first given the las-pistol a thorough wipedown, removing as much detritus, oil, and smudging as he could, tracing patterns across the weapon immediately afterward, as if it had meaning...

He had then disassembled his rifle--his trusty mainstay of a weapon had been quickly taken apart in this temporary haven, and he had meticulously cleaned out the residual powder from the shells--while they had indeed done their work, he had learned early in life that a dirty gun will rebel against all early and often in response to its neglect, and that regular cleaning would appease the weapon itself, alongside the proper rituals...

And then there was his most newly acquired weapon. The one that was being misused by its previous owner, at that. A carbine was a carbine, not a club, and should be treated accordingly, he mentally noted with a slight look of irritation on his face. He had disassembled it at the time being--to clean what remnants of that enforcer were present, for one, and to perform his own maintenance--primarily cleaning and checks. He was doing this all the while he had received stares, and was still in the process of doing so as Cryvus came back. He had looked up as the fellow Voidborn had spoken of the recent details, before turned to the writing tools he had obtained from him, scratching down on the paper before holding it up...

'Are they competent allies that we can ultimately trust when the time comes?'

[Kelne]

"I believe so, yes," Cryvus said, "I would not call them particularly... righteous allies; they are protecting their own interests here, and I would be thoroughly amazed to learn those interests were entirely legal. But yes, I think they can be trusted to do their part."

[Justice Augustus]

"While we need help, anyone will do. We'll assess their crimes for later. Did ya get ta the vox?"

[NamagomiMk0]

Crisis wrote something new on the paper--quite obviously in response

'As long as they do something beneficial for our cause, I am indifferent to their presence. The minute they abandon or turn on us, however, I shall ensure they die for their treason'

...before turning back to his apparently meticulous work on the scavenged auto-carbine, cleaning and making adjustments as necessary.

[Kelne]

"Alas, no," Cryvus said, "I am to be given access to the vox upon our return. I believe Luntz wished to hedge against my sending the message and then vanishing, never to be seen again."

[Justice Augustus]

Xavier began to check his shotgun as he got ready to depart, feeling a small bit of increased flexibility in his arm thanks to the short respite. "Well, if all goes well in the alms house, we aint even gonna need a vox. If thangs go down the way I think they're gonna play out, then the whole damn hive will know where we been."

[Jak Snide]

Crisis finished reassembling his new acquisition. Such weapons had been uncommon back on his ship, but the scant few secrets taught to him by the technographer he'd known covered the workings of such technology. He stowed it along with the rest of his tools and put his long coat back on, feeling the full weight of his weaponry once again. Mikolas grabbed his own guns, rising to his full height as Julius murmured a quick prayer to the Aquila. Gunner, feeling some strength returning to his limbs, planted both feet on the ground and stood up as Xerxes checked the splint the novice cleric had fashioned for him. Cryvus, meanwhile, couldn't help but have a terrible sense of foreboding as he retrieved his staff and autocarbine. The girl who'd done her best to aid them offered up a prayer for their safety as they left the templum, Cryvus leading them back towards the Worker's Union.

Making their way over they noted the presence of two false enforcers at the rail station across the square, easily distinguishable due to the colour of their uniforms. They saw no trace of any other mercenaries of the as they moved through the market, though they drew several looks from the populace, some laden with suspicion, some with fear. As they approached the Worker's Union they sighted a pack of five men who wore a mixture of worn leather clothing and makeshift armour marked with dashes of paint. The closest one, a shotgun resting in his hands, signaled them over.

"You the lot, then? Word is that most of the lawmen are investigatin' the Alms 'Ouse. Figured there's trouble comin', more like. Anyway," he looked to Cryvus, "boss says you can use the tech upstairs. Rest of you lot best hold 'ere for now."

(Those with solid projectile weapons may have taken this time to reload them. I've assumed Mik has replaced the spent shells in his shotgun, while Cryvus will have to specify if he's putting a fresh clip into his autocarbine. Those with las weaponry may swap charge packs if they wish to, but be sure to mention so. Xerxes has regained 1 wound after nagging the novice for a splint.)

[Kelne]

"Thank you," Cryvus said, making his way inside and upstairs once more. With the Emperor's grace, they would triumph. But given the consequences of failure, it would be an act of sheerest folly not to pass on the information they had gained.

The machine itself seemed old, and certainly the keyboard was seldom used, given the amount of dust beneath its protective cover. Activating the vox terminal, Cryvus settled in to compose his message.

My Lady,

We have entered the district and located the source of the corruption. An as yet unidentified woman commanding a number of previously human abominations. The local enforcer garrison has been replaced by mercenaries loyal to this woman, who have sealed off the sector and are acting to suppress dissent from the populace while the people are preyed upon by night.

We have acquired allies for an immediate strike on the woman's stronghold, a building known as the Alms House (coordinates x238 y613 z81). Unfortunately, our presence has been revealed, and we expect stiff resistance.

In the event that you do not hear from us within 12 hours, I recommend an immediate assault on the Alms House and upon Enforcer Headquarters, with whatever resources you can bring to bear used to prevent the ringleader's escape. Her work cannot be allowed to continue.

I remain your servant,
Cryvus Valnik Rastin

Thought for the day:
There is nothing so wretched in all the universe as a traitor.

[Jak Snide]

The man whose cooperation Cryvus had acquired watched him throughout the operation of the machine, seemingly interested in the operation of it. Once the message was completed and sent, the machine grinding terrible as it dispatched the information, the aged man turned to leave only to be stopped by his ally. The man handed him a stub revolver of sturdy make and a handful of bullets, telling him that he'd need them when he faced her, his face betraying a hint of fear.

Once he emerged from the Worker's Union the acolytes and their backup departed, the latter leading them South West until they stood before their destination. The Alms House loomed over them, fronted with green marble and was decorated and over-sculpted, prominently displaying a crest of a gilded scarab before a crossed pair of torches. A testament to Coscarla's better days, apparently having remained untouched by the fire that had engulfed a portion of the division. While it's three stories were dwarfed by the towering hab-stacks behind them it remained an imposing sight. The front doors were shut and little noise came from within. A trio of people stood off to the side, talking amongst themselves and casting glances towards the group. The rest of the populace were keeping clear, it seemed.

"So," the lead thug asked, fingering the trigger of his shotgun, "how we gonna do this?"

(The map of the Alm's House, or at least the outside for now. We're not working on combat time, but I've put the map up to give you an idea of the layout of the place. Kelne should check his PM for details about the weapon he was given.)

[Capntastic]

Mik followed suit and got his own shotgun out. He looked the building up and down, and let a wicked smile spread across his face, nodding.

"Fast'n'hard, like a truck with no brakes."

[Jak Snide]

The man grinned, remarking "That's my kinda thinkin'!" before whistling sharply and moving forward, the rest of the thugs following him as they checked their weapons; a mixture of shotguns and stub revolvers.

(Map updated as the thugs scurry forward, seemingly intent on kicking in the door and storming the place.)

[Capntastic]

Mik turned to his acolyte associates.

"Some'a you may wanna stay back- cover us 'n all."

And then he jogged up to get a good look at this door situation.

[Jak Snide]

Some of the thugs moved back from the door, letting Mikolas move up to the wall next to it, the others noting the civilians moving away swiftly as they caught wind of what was coming. The lead thug tried the handle cautiously, but it refused to budge. "Locked." he said, raising his shotgun to point at the pass-key reader and, presumably, the mechanism keeping the door shut. He cast a glance back to the others, waiting for them to get ready. Julius jogged up behind the man, looking to him and Mik.

"Blow the door, get inside and find cover." he stated, checking over his lasgun quickly.

(Map updated again, the lead thug will blow the lock and storm in when everyone appears ready.)

[Besyanteo]

... Well, so much for subtlety. Or even just keeping their presence secret until they'd entered the damn building. He could only hope that destroying the machine lock interface would cause it to cease to function. This was a fancier looking place, though, and sometimes those things caused a door to seal when the machine spirit was released, rather than opening up.

Come to think of it, that was an awfully big risk on a door that their hired muscle had already established it couldn't open.

"Wait, wait wait. Don't do that yet. ... Crisis, Cryvus, Xerxes... Any of you any good with a lock? If we can get in without getting their attention, we can spend more time killin' before they know we're here to kill us back."

He could have explained his real thinking on the matter, but he didn't fancy taking an extra ten minutes to do it.

[NamagomiMk0]

Crisis shook his head. While he had known the basics of the maintenance of guns, he sadly didn't know how to properly crash locks of the sort--he was not one of the Adeptus Mechanicus, after all... While Gunner had shown some major promise before and just now, it felt like his plea for rational thinking at this point would fall on deaf (or in his own case, mute) ears...as such, he had opted to instead prepare for the worst--if they were going on this suicide run of a mission, he at least wanted some insurance that he wouldn't be gunned down first solely due to his impact on the Enforcers' numbers the earlier battle...

After shaking a hanged head to the rest of his immediate allies, he threw some simple motions to those near him, pointing from them to positions not quite in the line of fire, before readying his rifle and switching on his stummers. He was then seen quickly heading toward the side of the building. He currently had little faith in some gangers that seemed to regard that imbecile as a bastion of intelligence...they might be good with guns, but that would be just about -all- they would be good for in this, perhaps aside from taking autocarbine shells for him and the real acolytes...

...Bravery was worth something, but it only had a major effect when it was tempered with intelligence. Lots of it, at that. And he saw a distinct lack of it amongst the newly-acquired help.

[Readying rifle, activating stummers, moving to B-19]

[Justice Augustus]

"I was trained to enter buildings with mah boots, not some flimsy lockpick." Xerxes checked his shotgun was fully loaded, and started to follow Crisis forward. "All I'm gonna advise is if we encounter any more of those creatures, concentrate fire on each in turn. Nobody be a hero and try to take one on solo now, y'hear? Drop 'em one at a time, and avoid a brawl wit' 'em unless ya really want to go before his glory today."

(Moving to E18)

[Jak Snide]

The thug lowered his shotgun at Gunner's words, looking a touch less eager to kick in the door. He glanced to the rest of the acolytes, but all he saw were them moving into position. The mention of "creatures" sent a wave of hesitation through the thugs. They kept their mouths shut and stayed where they were, though it was clear they had some idea of what dwelt within and weren't too cheerful about facing off with them.

"Eh, er...what if they's waitin' fer us?" asked the thug between Mikolas and Crisis, a short and lanky man with a twitch that suggested years of substance abuse.

"You heard him." the lead man said, jerking his thumb towards Julius. "Bust in, find cover, get shootin'. Easy."

The twitchy man looked like he was about to say something else but was silenced by a glare from the lead thug before he could. Mikolas and Crisis heard him mutter "Mights be a better ways in, s'all I'm sayin'..."

(Map updated, and the thugs are no longer on the verge of blasting in the door without being given the word.)

[Kelne]

"A safe and empty fortress with perhaps a tiny tunnel in the floor," Cryvus said, "Only this and nothing more."

He shook his head absently, "You should probably ignore the 'safe and empty' part," he said, "If anybody knows of an alternate entrance, I suggest we use it. If not, we kick in the door, kill everything and take its stuff. Waiting gains us nothing."

He swept his gaze across the face of the building, eyes scanning for movement at the windows. The longer they stood around out here, the better the odds somebody would spot them, which would make all this talk of sneakiness moot.

Cryvus had, naturally, already told the others that they should contact their employer (he'd avoided using the 'I' word, so as not to further alarm their new colleagues) within twelve hours or she would assume they had failed. More not-quite-worst-case-scenario planning there.

He had also taken the time to load his new weapon (although putting a fresh clip in the autogun had thus far slipped his mind). He had a feeling it might come in handy.

[Jak Snide]

Cryvus looked up at the front of the building; the windows were slender and tall, high up and filled with opaque glass. Their presence seemed decorative, rather than serving any illuminative purpose. The interior of Alms House appeared to be well lit, or at least better than the streets were, and there was no tell tale shadows being cast against them.

[Justice Augustus]

Xerxes nudges the thug standing next to him. "What mah ally there is trying to say is if there's 'nother door? Or vent access? Hells, even a sewage maintenance point could get us the drop on them."

[Jak Snide]

The twitcher thought for a moment as one of the other thugs asked his friend "Whas 'sew-ahge'?" He received a bemused shrug in return.

"Yeah, there a ba-there gotta be a back door, right? Fer bringin' food and stuff in. You see how packed this place get at lunch?" The questions were directed at the lead thug, who fixed him with a stare for a moment before replying.

"Well, go check already." He growled, probably having been happiest with the idea of running in and shooting everything that moved. The twitchy guy turned and head off around the right hand side of the building, moving fast and trying to keep quiet. He didn't have much success at the latter.

A minute passed, the lead thug muttering about a wasting time all the while, before the twitcher returned. "Yeah, er...there's a door. Small an' round back. Locked too, though. I, er...I heard some cryin' behind it."

"Well that's a fakin' waste of time, ain't it?" the lead thug snarled, looking to the acolytes. "We gonna do this or what?"

(Map expanded greatly and updated, now encompassing the full perimeter of the Alms House. The back door is at the top right of it.)

[Capntastic]

"Well two doors gives us all sorts of options for strategy. We can sneak or distract or surround... I can already think of a few ways to ruin some days."

He made sure at least some people were listening to him.

"We can smash up this front door, while sendin' some to the back door to sneak in; or we can try 'n be all quiet through the back, or...well, you can decide, I s'pose. But let's hurry; they've got windows an' all that."

[NamagomiMk0]

Crisis, upon hearing about the back door and the crying from it, puts his rifle away for a second, instead taking out his writing tools and apparently going to town on the paper while pinning it to the wall. Upon finishing, he took the sheet, stowing the rest away and getting his rifle back out, walking over to and handing Cryvus the sheet in the process. Afterwards, with two sharp strikes of his boots' toes on the pavement, he motioned to the entire lot present, before holding a hand out forward in front of him, and once again curling his fingers inward in a 'come here' gesture, before starting quickly on the long path around to the back door...


That head thug and Mikolas were an irritating match made in whatever afterlife there was for imbecilic, tactically-deficient numbskulls. Besides both being absolutely irritating to no end, both seemed to be suicidally lacking in common sense...thankfully, he saw a use for them nonetheless in this scenario. And it had nothing to do with a direct assault.


As for the note?

It read: 'Come to the back door. Prepare your shotguns and await directions upon arrival. This is a vital chance for an advantageous entrance; let us not waste our opportunity contemplating a direct assault upon an obviously guarded entryway'

[Jak Snide]

Some of the thugs gave Crisis curious glances as he wrote the note, handed it over and began walking off. Julius, meanwhile, responded to Mikolas.

"Reckon you got an idea there, boy. Bust open door, they think we're all comin' through and wham! Few people who slipped in the back take 'em by surprise."

"Yeah well whatever, soldier boy." The lead thug muttered. "This waitin' is killin' me."

(Minor update on the map.)

[Kelne]

Cryvus moved up and fell to muttering once more, a look of concentration on his face. At length, his fingers stabbed out, "Three to the left, four to the right, six to the rear, volleyed and thundered. Guard well the flanks, beware the reserves. Others look down, down on six hundred."

[Jak Snide]

The lead thug glanced nervously around at Cryvus, fingering the trigger of his weapon as he did. A sharp knock to the head from Julius helped him focus, the guardsman scowling and ordering him to "Listen to the man."

Crisis, Gunner and two of the shotgun wielding thugs hurried around the back, getting into position. The others took their places out front, shotgun ready to blast off the lock. Gunner activated his vox, waiting a moment for the static to clear before informing the others they were ready.

The roar of simultaneous shotgun fire broke the silent. The thug out front unloaded a chamber's worth of buckshot into the pass-key lock, the machine spirit wailing in pain as it granted them passage. The doors were kicked open and men stormed inside into what appeared to be a large reception chamber, Julius yelling at people to check their corners. Columns rose up to the left and right, a gold scarab mosaic took up most of the floor and stairs were visible to the rear, a desk positioned in between them. A number of enforcers were waiting there, weapons readied but apparently caught off guard. An older looking man stood behind the desk, clad in green robes, a pistol in one hand...and a child in the other. He swiftly placed the barrel of the gun to her head.

The back door, meanwhile, was blown out of it's frame by the trio of shogun blasts, the remains clattering to the ground to reveal a middle aged couple and what was presumably their son. They stood in a small store room, wooden door behind them. The child and woman shrieked in terror, while the man spun around, clearly shocked as well.

(Surprise round! Players have a full round to move in. Declare your moves and then declare your actions for the first round of combat. For example, Mik could use his surprise turn to move to AB 13, and then use his next turn to half-action aim and shoot at En10. Map has been significantly updated. The bold M is the hostage taker, and Civ markers are civilians.)

[Kelne]

Where was Crisis when you needed him? Cryvus was certain he could have made the shot at the cowardly scum hiding behind the hostage. As it was, he knew he could never make the shot himself, and that were he to try, it would mean her death. Nor could they negotiate, for to do so would be to lose momentum and potentially condemn all, child included, to a fate far worse than death. He would just have to trust somebody else to take the shot.

... Any yet, he didn't see it happening. The others would be concentrating on bringing down more threatening foes, and he wouldn't trust any of the hired help to take the shot. Paradoxically, despite being one of the least suited to making the attempt, Cryvus was the most free to do so.

Decision made, he let his autocarbine drop, bringing out his trusty laspistol in a smooth motion, "Imperator Dei, guide my aim," he murmured, and fired. Pausing only briefly to assess the results of the shot, he fired again.

((Aim and fire with laspistol at mister hostage taker, spending a fate point for a reroll in the event of a miss. If he's still standing at the end of it, the second shot will be directed at him. If not, it will be taken at EN10))

[NamagomiMk0]

Crisis motioned with his rifle, pointing to each one of the thugs in front, before releasing a hand and pointing into the building in question. He thought there was something amiss when there was crying heard, and while he didn't have the time to move out, he opted to wait until the thugs had moved in to make another set of hand motions, pointing at the three civilians before swiftly swinging his hand back in a motion to try to tell them to get the hell out of there...


...at least he wasn't dealing with any heavy defenses at the time being. Emperor knows the odds of 12 or more Enforcers aiming at him would lead to at least one hitting him...

[Justice Augustus]

As the locks blow, Xerxes shouts out to those running forward. "Today we do the Emperor's work! When you act in the name of the Emperor you can do no wrong!" And with that he steps out in full view of the double doors, looking over the entire scene. He aims and snaps off a round over the heads of his comrades as they scurry forward, reloads the chamber, and then fires a second shot before returning to cover on the other side of the door.

(Partial move to AH16, Fire at En6, Fire at En5, partial move to AF14, and reload if there's still time - rapid reload ability.)

[Capntastic]

Mik charged in, surveying the scene with quick darting glances, before dashing next to a pillar. He then levelled his shotgun at the first fella he saw, before ducking behind said pillar before the favor could be returned.

( Full move to AB16, standard shot at En8, half move to AA17)

[Besyanteo]

Gunner only spared the family a passing glance as he said:

"This place is gonna get ugly. Get the hell out, and Emperor watch over you."

He began to quickly and efficiently change out his spent shell for a new one. No sense in wasting the time that had to be spent letting the civilians flee.

(reload!)

[Jak Snide]

Mikolas moved in, his allies' shots whizzing past his shoulder. Xerxes shotgun blast went wide, but Cryvus planted a las-bolt into the right shoulder of the hostage taker, spinning him around. He roared in pain, the girl in his grasp shrieking and scampering away from him, disappearing from sight. Around the back Gunner and the thugs moved in as the family ran outside, the man stopping to look at Crisis.

"Please, they've got my girl! Save my girl!" he pleaded.

Mikolas leveled his shotgun and fired at an enforcer hiding behind the desk. The shot was low, blasting a chunk of marble out of the merc's cover. The hulk of a man slid into cover as Xerxes fired off another shot, failing to score any hits but keeping some heads down. He too moved into cover, scowling with annoyance.

Suddenly, there was gunfire on the left flank, a man in green robes leaning around the door frame and firing a stub gun at Julius. The shot went wide, taking a chunk out of the pillar. The guardsman and the thug nearby turned to watch an enforcer step out, autocarbine leveled. He pulled the trigger...and nothing happened. The man looked down at the gun that jammed on him. Julius and the thug exchanging bemused glances before they shot him in the chest, pitching the man off his feet and dropping him to the hard floor where he lay unmoving.

Mik retreated into cover, avoiding a hail of bullets. As he leaned out to take a look a shot caught him in the left arm; a grazing hit, but good enough to punch through his armour and evoke a roar of pain from him. Cryvus, meanwhile, leveled another shot at the hostage taker, missing this time. What came next was possibly the second worst experience in his life.

The man opened up with his autopistol, the hail of bullets accompanied by a burst of fire from another enforcer. He took two rounds to the chest and one to his left leg, the impact blowing him off his feet and dumping him onto the ground. He groaned, still alive but critically injured.

The thugs with Crisis and Gunner kicked in the door in front of them, one scurrying into cover (an example which Gunner followed), while the other sighted a merc lurking in the corner across from him. His shot went wide, but the returning fire the man snapped off also missed.

(Mik takes 3 damage, Cryvus takes a total of 12, dropping him to -2. He is prone and suffering from one level of fatigue. He didn't need to spend his fate point on the first shot, though. Map updated, the enemy marked Ad1 is the green robed man with a stub automatic. Declare actions for turn 2.)

[Justice Augustus]

"Shee-it," Xerxes says, reloading his weapon from cover. "Still with us?" he asks Cryvus, glancing through the doorway and trying to get a bead on the next shot.

(Reload, followed by aim action on En6)

[NamagomiMk0]

Crisis nodded to the civilian fleeing...thankfully, it could be said that the Emperor smiled upon them. However, he now had a predicament--where was this 'they', and where were they ever-so-cowardly keeping hostages? However, reality snapped back as he heard the ricochet of carbine-fire upon the walls, and the return-fire that followed...

He needed to get in there and make sure these bastards died.

And silently as always, Crisis made a quick dash, gun readied, as he moved to get into some sort of cover. Let the thugs dive into combat if need be, but one thing was for sure--if they and the majority of his fellow Acolytes were the broadsword and hammer...he was the stiletto...

[Full-round move. Depending on status of cover and path, either moving to I-26 (preferable if possible) or behind the vat at G-28]

[Kelne]

"I don't want to go on the cart," Cryvus responded, a somewhat plaintive note audible in his voice even through the pain. That probably counted as still being with them. It was always difficult to tell with Cryvus.

He'd been very stupid, he knew. Not in saving the girl from that scum - he'd do it again in a heartbeat - but in not taking cover immediately afterwards. This was the Emperor's way of telling him to exercise a bit of common sense in future.

Cryvus set about dragging himself behind the wall, well out of anybody's line of fire. Let the others handle things for a few minutes; he didn't have to do everything.

Just some of the important things.

[Capntastic]

Those stupid enforcers were really asking to get themselves fried like wamblers, Mik felt. He winced, taking a fraction of a second to think. A quick zip from a bullet was nothing new to him; but a firefight in such an expansive indoor area was. Give him a cramped mudshack or boilerroom any day; or a vast field of naught but dust and sparse plantlife. With the former, you could kick down a door, fire some shots, and be done. With the later, it was all about lying in wait and getting in a good shot. But this sort of place, with its fancy pillars and stairs and doorways leading into big rooms... it didn't suit him at all. But he felt he could adapt; by making the scenario adapt to him.

He ducked back, and made a quick dash to the next pillar.

(Tactical Advance to X-19)