Sammad sees Ordyt's opponent stagger and decides to capitalize, sending a pair of shots their way.
Mari takes careful aim at green and then shoots twice in quick succession.
-
Inside, the blue azer tosses her rifle aside and rushes for Ordyt, drawing a heavy maul as she approaches. Taking the weapon in two hands, she throws herself into a powerful overhand swing. Her foot catches on a dent in the catwalk and she almost stumbles directly into Ordyt. While she's able to catch herself, her swing is entirely ruined. The green ifrit squeezes off another laser beam at Mari, this time scoring a direct hit , before backing off toward the door that leads further into the building. Mari easily powers through the minor injury thanks to her fire resistance.
In the lookout tower, the sniper lower his rifle and draws a ridged baton in another. You see the weapon begin to vibrate. He takes on a defensive stance, looking to extend the fight. Meanwhile, Flint continues to bleed.
|||| INIT ||||
Mari (4 dmg)
Flint (32 dmg, bleeding 9pts)
Sammad
Ordyt (60 dmg)
Bel
Green Ifrit Soldier (33 dmg)
Blue Azer Soldier
White Azer Sniper
Still bleeding, Flint floats into the sniper’s tower defensively and takes a pair of fast swings at the sniper. He is hoping to give Belmarniss a clear shot as he does so. As his eyes glow brighter, he says to the azer, ”Not wearing a collar, are you?”
…but his hasty swings connect with nothing but air…
Silently thanking Sarenrae for his good fortune as the azer warrior stumbles, Ordyt pivots and counterattacks viciously with a pair of well-aimed stabs towards her throat.
Flint slashes twice, but finds the sniper agile enough to evade both of his hasty attacks. Inside, Ordyt capitalizes on the azer's fumble, with his second stab slamming through her throat. She's left to clutch at the fatal wound as she staggers backward and collapses.
|||| INIT ||||
Mari (4 dmg)
Flint (32 dmg, bleeding 9pts)
Sammad
Ordyt (60 dmg)
Bel
Green Ifrit Soldier (33 dmg)
White Azer Sniper
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Taking the hit in stride, Mari fires off two more shots at the only enemy left standing in the room with them.
With the defeat of the ifrit, there aren't any more guards inside, though the alarm continues to blare and the door leading deeper into the complex seems to be unlocked. Outside, a pulse from Bel strikes the side of the sniper's arm.
Ignoring the minor wound, the sniper twirls his incapacitator baton, then leaps up into the air with astounding agility. He kicks off a ceiling beam and drives the baton down into Flint's shoulder. Flint is left reeling and also continues to bleed.
|||| INIT ||||
Mari (4 dmg)
Flint (74 dmg, bleeding 9pts, off-target 1 rd)
Sammad
Ordyt (60 dmg)
Bel
White Azer Sniper (17 dmg)
Shocked by how powerful the melee attack is from the sniper, Flint floats over the tiny room’s staircase down to block the azer’s escape and swings twice again!
As the last enemy standing topples over with an icy crunch, Ordyt opens his commline to Flint and Bel. "First room cleared, securing the door. What's your status?" Even as he asks, the oread is moving towards the door to head off any potential counterattack.
"Define 'challenge,'" Mari says, taking a moment to activate her energy shield, then reaching out to open the door to the base of the tower. "I'm coming up!"
Inside, you find the ground floor of the tower is a well-stocked office littered with tchotchkes and keepsakes. Several austere stools, a desk, a few crates, and a small booth with a portable sonic latrine and shower stand on a browning lawn of what looks to be real grass. Light panels on the wall illuminate the ground area but not the ceiling high overhead. On the eastern wall, a ladder leads up into shadow.
Standing next to the desk is a nuar with two sets of fiery horns atop his head. He wears a small pair of glasses on his nose and is dressed in light armor in a typical Castrovelian style, rather than the military get-ups of the other soldiers you've fought. He holds a bulky, overcomplicated dueling sword in one hand and holds a grenade in the other. He speaks up in common "Now, look see here, you're not supposed to be back in these parts. In fact, I'd hazard you're not supposed to be this far inside the sun! If it's all the same to you, I'd appreciate if you could leave."
Up in the tower, the sniper uses the momentum from his spin to launch into an unpredictable series of feints that end in an uppercut against Flint. Flint is able to just barely pull back and out of the attack.
|||| INIT ||||
Mari (4 dmg, 14 thp)
Flint (83 dmg, bleeding 9pts)
Sammad x2
Ordyt (60 dmg)
Bel
White Azer Sniper (54 dmg)
Nuar "Clerk"
His eyes continuing to blaze with holy fire, Flint calls upon his Solar manifestation to heal the damage done by the bleeding flechette (1 RP heals 27 hp as a move action, Glow of Life). Recovering a bit from being off balance last round, he slashes the sniper twice more!
With coordinated attacks, Bel delivers a sudden jolt while Flint slashes the sniper's side. The fellow staggers back but stays standing. With a glow, Flint's wounds seal back up, ending his bleeding in the process.
|||| INIT ||||
Mari (4 dmg, 14 thp)
Flint (56 dmg)
Sammad x2
Ordyt (60 dmg)
Bel
White Azer Sniper (97 dmg)
Nuar "Clerk"
Turning back from the door as he hears the nuar speaking, Ordyt vaults the railing and drops to the ground with a burst from the jetpacks easing his fall.
"Since you're talking, I hope that's a sign you're willing to be reasonable. We'll accept your surrender if you would rather not die for the cause," he calls to the nuar, without lowering his rifle. "You know what? I could have phrased that better, forget I said anything. My associate will handle the negotiations."
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Sammad cocks his head towards the door as he hears someone speaking to Mari. "Oh? Is someone finally willing to listen to reason? I'll be right there!"
He moves into the room, lowering and holstering his pistol as he sees the nuar. "Greetings! Would you believe you're the first Legionnaire we've encountered who hasn't tried to shoot us on sight? I find that very promising, personally." He gives his biggest most beaming smile, careful not to show his predatory teeth. "I'm Sammad Al-Fayir, Emissary of the Al-Fayir Cooperative. Could I have your name?"
"Anyway, I've got a job to do here, right now, and that job's technically killing you all, but I'd settle for a bit of peaceable partin' of ways. How about it? Especially if you turn around and leave. That way I'll also get to keep the job. Maybe get a bonus?" He grins, realizes its not the time for a joke, and swallows.
Up in the tower, the sniper feigns being off-balance for a moment before lunging at Flint. His weapon strikes with an immense vibrating impact against the same wound that Flint just healed up, opening it right back up again.
|||| INIT ||||
Mari (4 dmg, 14 thp)
Flint (103 dmg, bleed 9 pts)
Sammad
Ordyt (60 dmg)
Bel
White Azer Sniper (97 dmg)
Grunph
Staggering from the brutal assault, Flint uses his jetpack to circle carefully behind the deadly sniper (Guarded Step) and flank it with Belmarniss. Bruised and bleeding, he realizes that another assault like that one will likely kill him…But he fights on resolutely, simply declaring to Belmarniss, “For Victory!” as he slashes twice more!
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"Your "job", Grunph, is keeping people in slavery. And harnessing the suffering of those slaves to power a weapon of mass destruction pointed at the Archipelago." He pinches the bridge of his nose, then composes himself.
"Now you seem like a reasonable sort, so if being an accomplice to fascists and murderers doesn't appeal to you, it's not too late to join the righteous side. Hells, if money's what you want, we could work out a deal for salvage rights on the Legion's tech. It'll fetch a pretty penny, of that you can be sure."
He extends a hand towards the nuar, his expression earnest.
"Not to mention--the Archipelago is part of the Pact Worlds, if the Legion attacks it they'll draw a response from the entire Pact. Do you really want to be in the middle of that? Sammad's right, there's plenty of opportunity to make some money without that sort of risk."
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Staggering from the brutal assault, Flint uses his jetpack to circle carefully behind the deadly sniper (Guarded Step) and flank it with Belmarniss. Bruised and bleeding, he realizes that another assault like that one will likely kill him…But he fights on resolutely, simply declaring to Belmarniss, “For Victory!” as he slashes twice more!
"For the Heart," Belmarniss replies with a grim smile as she hacks at the sniper to try and finish him!
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Up in the tower, Bel distracts the sniper for just long enough to create an opening for Flint. Two slashes later, and the sniper is down and out.
Inside the building, Grunph shrugs "Well I don't know about any weapons pointed at the Archipelgo, but you could say I'm not too squeamish about the rest of it. When you're for hire, you can't let some kinda morals get in the way of making money, right?" He looks between you, clearly expecting you to agree "Anyway, if you're paying better than they are, that's a different story. How's 10,000 credits and a ride out of here later suit you? Paid up front, of course. That's just about the amount left on my contract."
Up in the tower, Flint continues to bleed.
|||| INIT ||||
Mari (4 dmg, 14 thp)
Flint (112 dmg, bleed 9 pts)
Sammad
Ordyt (60 dmg)
Bel
Grunph
Moving back into the tower, Flint draws and drinks a healing serum, saying, ”That was closer than I’d like. Thanks, Belmarniss.”
Mari frowns at Grunph's demand of up-front payment.
"The ride we can do, easily, but how up-front are we talking? We don't usually make a habit of assaulting Legion bases with huge piles of cash in our pockets, after all."
"Up front is up front. If you're not good for the whole sum now, we can talk about half-now, half-after some service is rendered. That's also pretty typical." Grunph's eyes are sharp, watching your faces, in his element negotiating rates.
Flint quickly strips the downed foe of easily accessed weapons and items while Belmarniss communicates with the others. As hard as they hit him, those weapons might be powerful enough to give them and edge in the ongoing fight.
"There's a nuar here. He hasn't surrendered, he wants us to pay him to switch sides instead." Ordyt speaks softly into his helmet in order to not interrupt the ongoing negotiation, but his annoyance is clear.
Sammad sighs at Grunph's continued haggling. "Listen, we're on a bit of a time crunch here, Grunph. Stand aside for now, and we'll extract you on the way out and make sure you get paid. If I'd known anybody here could be bribed, I'd have brought funds."
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"Huh, we got a potential turncoat," Belmarniss says to Flint. "Let's get down there."
She radios down to Ordyt.
"Tell him I can write him a reference with House Rycast or something...I don't like providing my family with assets, but they pay their mercs well...if only to avoid situations like the one he's providing us with."
After grabbing the equipment, Flint quaffs another med serum and follows Belmarniss down the steps.
Flint finds a very nice assortment of gear: a phantom-class assassin rifle, a refraction perforator pistol, an incapacitator, a set of d-suit III armor, a jetpack, an assortment of strange and inedibly spicy food, and a steel-plated key card.
Down below, Grunph frowns at Sammad "That doesn't leave me with any kind of assurance, does it? I'm going to need a nice tidy down payment or deposit or we don't have a deal." As he speaks, the alarm running through the facility silences. He looks up, makes a show of listening in. "Looks like they're ready for you. You could probably use the extra muscle, don't you think?"
Ordyt doesn't get the sense that Grunph is being disingenuous or deceptive. He seems to be forthright in his attempted negotiation.
"Assurance? You're an enemy combatant," Ordyt growls. "A merc who's offering to turn his coat, no less. I wouldn't trust you to have my back since you've shown what your word is worth, but I would rather not kill you if it can be avoided. On the ground, hands behind your head. No extra payday, but you live to spend the Legion's money."
When Bel appears, Grunph looks at her in surprise "Oh, the drow lady they mentioned. The name's Grunph. If you're connected to the Rycast business, then you know all about equal, decent business negotiation, right? Your friends are, uh, thinking they can get things for free." When Ordyt turns aggressive, he shies back "No can do, sir. It's clear as the everlasting daylight outside that my current employer won't be understanding of a little quiet surrendering. Or you know, I would have done that already." He nods "You sure we can't cut a deal here?"
Sammad snaps his finger to get Grunph's attention. "Eyes on me, the 'drow lady' isn't the diplomat of this outfit. Now I've outlined our terms and you don't seem interested. And my friend is right-I extended diplomacy assuming you were coerced in some way, but you're clearly just a mercenary. And not a very sensible one."
He casts a slow glance around the room towards his comrades. "Unless your secret plan is to turn this into a 5-on-1. In which case I bow to your obviously superior strategy, the workings of which I can't even begin to guess at," he says with dripping sarcasm and a nonchalant shrug, finally flashing his predator's grin.
Nodding at Sammad, the worn and bleeding captain emerges from the stairwell with some high-end sniper equipment. He looks at the mercenary with thinly disguised disgust and says, ”Finish this quickly, Ambassador,” as he holds out the equipment for the party to grab if they can use it.
Leaning against the wall and taking deep breaths, Flint says to Ordyt quietly on the comms, ”If they are set up for us to come at them this from here, perhaps we should disable their security monitoring and fake an assault from this directions, but enter with our true force from the side door…”
"Urk, fine, fine! I give up." Grunph eyes Sammad and Flint nervously. Then abruptly, he vanishes. Mari, whose visual processors let her see invisible creatures with ease, spots nothing where he was just moments ago.