Jonis hears the commotion and starts powering up her Glitter Girl.
[b]"<<Stay back for now, and then follow me when they take me. You all might not be immune to their mental control.>>"{/b]
One of the vampires strides forward towards Auriel, taking note of the powering up Glitter Girl with a smirk. The others spread out, surrounding the area. Burgurk and Shakti are still outside their circle.
"You really think it so simple Hunter? You come into town and we take you to our 'master'? How do you know that I am not the master? That I do not rule this village?" He spreads his arms to indicate encompassing the entire collection of longhouses. "We have come down for our tax for protecting this town from the likes of you, that want to come in and disrupt what is a harmonious existence for them. Who are you to want to do that? I don't believe your Tomorrow Legion has any jurisdiction here."
"Do as you are told whelp. I don't speak to the help."
While the vampires are deciding what to do, Auriel summons his armor tattoo, with it's distinctive crest. It's clear he's looking for some sort of recognition from them.
The lead vampire smiles a fanged grin, his eyes seeming to fixate on Auriel. "Perhaps you misheard, Atlantean. We don't want you here. Take your people and leave, or your lives will be forfeit."
In response to the Vampire's taunt, Auriel summons his blade and attacks the creature.
As the creature collapses in front of him, Auriel turns to the next closest Vampire and says "Take me to your master."
The talkative vampire is taken by surprise as Auriel makes his assault. The magical weapon slices through his chest as if it were butter. He clutches it with his claws as he collapses to the ground, but you start to see the wound heal almost immediately. The other vampires back away but them start to collect themselves for a fight...
Burgurk says into comms "Um, exactly how do you kill a vampire?" and hurls a mental bolt at the downed vampire :
Doing
= 42
"Try not to hurt the humans! They are being controlled by these demons!"
Shakti answers Burgurk's question over the coms, "Supernatural weapons are a must. Plain iron and steel will no more than stun them at best, even the Boom Gun. They will regenerate quickly unless wounded by silver, wood, or running water. Once downed, sever their heads from their shoulders to keep them from coming back."
"<<Shakti speaks the truth, and that was eloquently put.>>" says Auriel over the radio.
On either side of Auriel's shoulders, liquid beings swirl and spin into being. On his right, two creatures like translucent overflowing glass take shape, while another does the same on his right. Water surges up from their lower mass, gathering around where the arms of a humanoid would be. With explosive force, a wave of rapid flowing water lashes out from each, drenching the entire party of creatures.
She emerges from her hiding spot, moving forward, but keeping the line of Auriel and the water elementals between her and the Vampires. Drawing her TK Revolver in one hand she levels it at the enemy creatures, and keeps he staff held ready in two hands should any of them make a break towards her.
The vampire on the ground writhes as Burgurk's mental assault crushes his will. The actions distracts the other enough for them not to notice the sudden appearance of three water elementals before it was too late. A deluge of water engulfs the lot of them, sending them sprawling to the ground. When the water subsides, only the six humans remain, their bodies drenched and shivering. They are all unconscious. Auriel is soaking as well, but he did not suffer any consequences from the attack.
Burgurk says over comms "Shakti, very well done! And I'm not easily impressed..."
The Glitter Girl makes a "thumbs up" pose.
"Excellent Shakti!"
"Moving water. good choice." says Auriel approvingly. He then turns to the remaining vampire, the one laying on the ground, and waits for it to waken. When it stirs, Auriel is standing over it, completely calm, and says "Take me to your master."
"These creatures are odd; to be regarded so powerful and yet have such a crippling and exploitable weakness. They cannot even move by daylight... My apologies, Auriel, for not leaving one for questioning."
She turns her gaze to the humans on the ground, "As for their Thralls, should we destroy them, or think you they are free of those aberant's control?"
As she speaks, she dismisses the elementals with a wave of one hand, and steps amongst the bodies, looking for weapons and resources as usual (sounds better than 'loots the bodies').
Jonis gasps!
"We can't kill them! They are innocent victims! We have to free them. Let's bound them and see if they are free..."
"While they're not ultimately responsible for their actions, these poor souls are a danger. Enough of them can overpower even your suit."
You can't see Jonis worried face, but you can hear her voice.
"But... but... we can't just kill innocents!"
Shakti doesn't even bother to conceal her eyeroll this time as the armour pilot Carrie's on her hysterics. She turns her third eye upon the unconscious forms, and again looks at them, to see if they still bear that sense of animation instead of true life; that sense of otherness.
"The taint remains; when they awake, their minds and wills will still be other than their own. If they are innocent, then a quick and merciful end is likely the kindest thing we could do. They would leave this life, unburdened of whatever darkness this controller of wills has had them do. They will begin their next lives without guilt, and free of the karma their directed actions might bring. If we treat them as victims to be saved, then they become hostages. They can be commanded to harm each other, or even themselves. If they reawaken, we expose ourselves to that form of manipulation, as well as for the master to gather information about us through his proxies. And so again, the most prudent course is again a swift and merciful end."
"We could try and free them from the control of the Vampire Intelligence, but we would have to find the master vampire first, which can be exceptionally difficult. Allow me to explain how this curse spreads and can be cured."
As they appear to have some time, Auriel begins explaining about Vampires, as well as his own race, the Atlanteans. Pertinent facts include:
*The true vampire is a massive alien intelligence, usually incredibly powerful.
*A Vampire Intelligence usually has one or more Master Vampires, which in turn create secondary vampires (like the one that decided to commit suicide by adventurer) and vampire spawn (which are the common, feral sort of vampires that most people know about).
*His people, the Atlanteans, have been engaged in a war with the Vampires for countless centuries.
*Atlanteans originally lived on Earth, where they built a empire that spanned the globe, until they tried, in their hubris, to perform magic beyond even their ability; this resulted in the near destruction of the Earth. The Atlanteans have been trying to atone ever since.
*Auriel is a member of an organization known as the Undead Slayers. They wage war against supernatural threats such as Vampires.
*Auriel is not from Earth, but was instead born in the Three Galaxies, which exists far from here.
*If there is a master vampire nearby, it's a possibility that the Intelligence that powers it is also nearby, as Vampires can not cross running water.
"Can we restrain these innocents so they can't harm others or themselves until we free them?"
"Jonis, your compassion is admirable, but I'm afraid I agree with Shakti - they need to be killed. While alive and awake, they could attack us or anyone around them, and it sounds like whatever they see and hear is relayed back to their supreme master. Permanent imprisonment would be cruel to them, and waste valuable Legion resources. And perhaps their master could track their presence to locate the Legion's headquarters. And who knows how long it might be, if ever, that we find and dispatch their supreme master? No, I think they must be killed."
If no one tries to physically stop him, he walks up to one of the forms on the ground, points his gun to their head, and pulls the trigger.
Shakti walks over and puts a hand on Jonis' shoulder.
"They are still insensible to the world. They will know no pain. Perhaps you would like to go for a walk?"
Whether she goes or not, Shakti will move to assist Burgurk with her revolver.
As Burgurk and Shakti go about their grisly business, a lone man comes walking towards your group from the road. He is dressed in a dark brown robe and appears to be carrying no weapons or armor. His hood is down so you can see his shaven face and snarled dark hair. He doesn't say anything until you finish what you are doing, then a smile forms on his face.
"Well done, Legionnaires. Though the menace is far from over, you hurt him. You will be on his watchlist. I'd watch your step in these parts. Not everyone here is friendly to the good guys." With that he starts to turn away..
Joni's nods at Shakti's suggestion, and walks away a tear on her cheek.
She ignores the man, still shocked.
"What's your stake in all this?"
The man turns back, slowly, and smiles. "Only that you succeed, nothing more. Once you finish with him, you will find Grayspear, and she will want to kill you, slowly."
"That man seemed to be implying that Greyspear would be upset by our destruction of the Vampires. Do you think she has been taken by by their infection? It might serve to explain things of these Cyber-Knights are usually as virtuous as you say."
"There are very few beings in the universe that are inherently immune to being made into vampire spawn."
Jonis waits for the stranger to leave, and then uses her Glitter Girl to make a funeral pyre and cremate the humans, without saying a word.
The large fire that Jonis makes burns for about an hour before someone dares to come out and investigate. A couple of the townsfolk, armed with cheap pre-Rifts weapons, come out slowly from one of the longhouses. Soon they are joined by others. The bravest one steps forward. "Are they gone? All of them?"
Ruperta smiles sadly.
"Just the ones that came here, and just for tonight. But we plan to go looking for the source of this evil. Can you help us? Do you know were they came from?"
Shakti stands by listening and waiting to hear what develops. She concealed a grimace at the waste of all that good meat, the Armoured woman burning it without even checking to see if anyone might make better use of it than a pyre. Human funerary rights were so wasteful. The burning flesh did not smell nearly as enticing as it might of raw or properly cooked, but thinking about food made her stomach grumble loudly all the same.