AMEN L: [Insert Ideas]

[Zefir]

Necromancer Recruit

Zefir looks confused.
"Living Base?" he says "Oh no, this is just thing living in the wall. Just don't bother it and you will be fine."

[Rescue - Somewhere]

Zefir is getting more and more reports in from the henchman. It appears they can't make contact with any other enemies.For now he just leaves them alerted, but orders the new henchman 8not sre what we call them) to get to the heroes position. Then he also calls Omiko about their location, too. This all happens directly so the heroes won't hear anything.

Then Zefir heads of to grab a special suit. Not a fighting one, more some who allows him to hide futher. Like a stealth suit.

[Rescue - Maze]

The groupe will be met by a few henchman shooting immediatly at the glamoure when they think someone is coming. maybe now will the other henchman arrive and some members?

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Rescue - Maze]

A few moments after girl runs past, the group can hear minions moving up from the direction Anika chose not to follow. Strangely, though, they don't seem to be firing as often at the phantom noises and images the glamour is providing. Perhaps some of them have found a weakness in the fae's magic?

[Murkus]

[Rescue - Maze]

Adir probably slows it down, both wary of the new henchmen and realizing that he's getting a call. But the only person whose calls should be getting through is...

"Sakura?" He answers, trying to keep his voice low. "What's wrong?" Because something had to be.

[Gullara]

[Rescue - Maze]

Sakura's voice does indeed come over the line, a little frantic and a lot confused. "Sorry, I didn't know what to do. I just got a call, and I'm pretty sure it was from Ilpholin. She was asking for you and she definitely wasn't calling from Amen."

[Murkus]

[Rescue - Maze]

"I... what? Ah, ****. I mean-- sorry," the stag scrambles in reply. Adir has an intense urge to pinch his nose and take a few deep breaths, but his ballistic mask gets in the way of that.

"Okay, we gotta stop! Wenomir, Anika, hold on," he tells them, resisting the urge to hold up a fist as a sign to halt. Of course the bear girl and the anachronistic ex-demon-hunter wouldn't understand that sign. "There's something strange going on. Ilpholin apparently just gave my wife a call, and it's not like it was from here. Hold the freaks off," And back to Sakura, "Text me her number. I'm gonna figure out what the hell's going on. Need to go."

[Shadowcaller]

[Rescue - Maze]

The bear gives Adir an confused look, staring at him with its amber eyes.
His wife, flower-gal?
Why would Ilpholin be calling her of all people, and why right now? Seemed awfully convenient for her to call in the middle of the rescue operation. Maybe it was just some weird distraction created by AMEN?

Of course, Anika can't voice these suspicions due to her being a bear and all but she attempts to look as skeptical as a bear can be. Which is to say, confused.

[Morty]

[Rescue - Maze]

"They're closing in on us, better make it fast," Wenomir says, holding his sword in front of him and getting ready for the henchmen to attack. "Especially if this has been a setup all along."

[Gullara]

[Rescue - Maze]

"Be safe, honey..." It takes a minute for the reply to come in, however. Sakura might be a hard time navigating the phone, but given a little bit of time a text will come in. Adir won't recognize the number at all.

[5a Violista]

[Rescue - Maze]

Ash starts blowing in from multiple directions towards the VIGIL invaders.

At first, you'd be forgiven for mistaking it for something normal - volcanoes have ash, after all.
But...
The way the ash is blowing doesn't seem to match any air movement in the hallways.

Not far in front of Wenomir, between the group and the newly-arrived henchmen, the ash is coalescing in a spot above the ground. It starts to shape itself into the form of a woman, the color of ash. Everything about her is that color - her skin, her hair, her clothes...
Cracks appear in her skin, and there appears to be a dim glow of fire under the surface of the skin.

As she forms, she begins to say: "The three little kittens lost their way, and they began to cry."

The moment she is whole, she reaches up and plucks her left eye out. She looks at it in her hand, and it starts to glow and burn. "Their mother dear, when she grew near, told them to burn and die."

She tosses the eye like a skipping stone towards the group.
As it sails through the air, it splits into dozens of small fireballs, each of them going after the hands of different images and copies of the group created by the King in Rags. Unfortunately, this also means that three of the small fireballs are going after each of the three actual members: one straight towards Wenomir's hands holding the sword, one at the bear's front left paw, and one towards Adir's hand, but luckily not the one holding the cell phone.

[Zefir]

[Rescue - Maze]

Witch - Henchman

The henchman are still not used to her sudden appearence and shrug as they hear her rime. They stop shooting when the witch throws her eye first to avoid hitting instead they move some boxes to have more cover against the attackers. Thought it's strange they didn't fire back. Must be because the only one with firearms is on the phone. When the fireballs hit and maybe release the right targets the henchman start to surpress them with a salve of their guns.

Zefir in Stealth

Zefir walks to the fighting scene rather normal. While walking he grabs into his bag of endless booms taking a different set of explosives and placing them into his pockets. Some of those might come in Handy. Thought he can't use high explosives here. The halls might be tougth but major damage will cause them to colapse.
He will arrive at the scene right when Maria shoots her fireballs. He activates the suit which makes him disapear for the bare eye.

While standing the suit will make him invisible for normal sight and when he moves its hard to see and focus on him. Magical sight won't help revealing him due to his nature, but other things like scent or heatsign will work.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Rescue - Maze]

The henchmen following the group are moving quickly, but haven't arrived just yet, instead becoming more cautious the closer they get to the group. It will be another minute or two before they actually arrive.

[Murkus]

[Rescue - Maze]

Adir probably manages to dial the strange number before he's attacked. The hand holding his weapon is engulfed, and he drops it with a clang, recoiling from the flame with a curse. He slaps it against his armored thigh to try and put it out, glancing around to seek cover from the roving projectile. All the while his phone is buzzing.

He eventually just has the bright idea to doff his gauntlet, swiveling into a kneel beside his fallen weapon as he faces the new threat. No time this round to attack her, but that certainly seems to be his intent. His free, uninjured hand tucks his phone away and lets it transfer to his earpiece. "Come on, guys!" Adir shouts to his companions. "I just need a second! Get rid of the creepy chick!"

And underneath it all... he smells a strangely familiar smell. He remembers it from Riverside... But where else?

[CosmicHobbit]

Necromancer Recruit

Now it's Skamos's turn to look confused. This doesn't last very long though, and he walks out of the room.

[Reinholdt]

[Rescue - Maze]

Getting a call in here was pretty amazing. Can it happen twice?

No. Not really.

But not because of the valcano. Rather, something even more insidious. The cell service they have between threads is simply godsawful. Sure in threads, service is amazing. But they had to cut corners somewhere. Well they didn't have to, but they did so because money is involved and who spends time traveling between threads anyways? Hasn't everyone heard of fast travel? It's popular among the North and with dragons.

Adir reaches an unknown standardized voice mailbox.

[Morty]

[Rescue - Maze]

Wenomir ducks and weaves to avoid the gunfire, but strangely enough, doesn't seem to be doing anything about the fireball. That's because Anika, after dodging the one meant for her, leaps in front of him. Then she charges forward, seemingly providing Wenomir cover from the bullets. Of course, Anika can't survive all this gunfire... but then Wenomir jumps out from behind her and uses her back as a springboard, combining their momentum to sail through the air and land behind the henchmen. He immediately turns into a whirlwind of steel, trying to cut through them or at least tie them up so they can't keep shooting.

((Godmod of Anika approved.))

[5a Violista]

[Rescue - Maze]

The witch notices that nobody has tried to stop her yet. Or even tried talking with her.

...
That's new.
...Not the talking part, the other part.

She reaches into her dress pockets with both hands, and retrieves a couple of different objects. First, a handful of rocks. Second, a pair of rusty scissors.

With her eye, she looks down at the hand holding the rocks, and carves some shapes in it so poorly that you'd think a preschooler drew them.

With a wide toss and nothing else stopping her, she scatters the rocks along the hallway, everywhere from back towards the henchmen to in Adir's direction.
...some of them look a little sharp, so watch out! She grabs another handful of rocks, as she begins speaking. "In silent night when rest I took, for sorrow near I did not look, I was wakened with thundering noise and piteous shrieks of dreadful voice."

The shapes carved into her hand begin to glow with a white light, but nothing else appears to happen.

[Recaiden]

Position update received. They're at the decoy point.
"Listen to those explosions. Shouldn't we go out there to help? C'mon, it'll be fun."

Omiko scoffs at the suggestion.
"And leave our prisoner guarded only by henchmen? Absolutely not."
"And end up fighting near Maria? I don't recommend it.

[Zefir]

[Rescue - Maze]

The henchman try to stop the bear from getting closer by shooting at her, but it doesn't stop what comes. Wenomier will make his jump and slice one up befor they can even act. As he tries to hit another one, something else will happen. People with keen eyes (and maybe a more peacefull moment) will see a stone get loose in the wall and shooting straight at Wenomirs back. The stone will be around fist size and shape aiming for the swordsmans back. It's not sharp or spiky and it just tries to get him off balance to give the henchman a chance to escape. Which they will try.

Zefir, who is the one controlling the stone, is still hidden. He isn't even close to the part where the stone came from which should allow him to stay hidden for now.

[Murkus]

[Rescue - Maze]

Well, Adir can't be having more nonsense out of this spooky ash woman. He regains his primary weapon and heaves it up, aiming to put a couple metal bolts through the stranger. If only just to see what it does. His bolt-thrower whirs and clangs.

He'll aim to put one through the center-mass of the lady... or construct, or whatever she is, and the second through her glowing hand.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Rescue - Maze]

The pursuing henchmen catch up to the group at this point, but with so many in the hall, they hold their fire for the time being. All of them appear to be the new style of goons, their black helmets and bodies blending in with whatever fog the King in Rags is still producing. Their weapons are up and ready, but with Maria in the hall, they're reluctant to shoot towards her in hopes of hitting one of the group of VIGILantes, let alone the phantoms some of them are still picking up. One of them also seems to be equipped with slightly different optics; its helmet seems to be a slightly different shape, with a notable bulge around where its eyes would be. This specific hench is equipped with thermal vision, and as such, has noted Zefir's presence, which it has silently relayed to the others. They take up a blocking formation in the passage, staying close to the walls, to facilitate covering a retreat, should any of the present AMEN members require it.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rescue - Maze]

Anika will follow up Wenomir's jump into the fray with a charge as she attempts to trample the henchmen that are attacking Wenomir from behind. She isn't looking to finish off any of them, just to throw her massive bear weight around and injure as many as she can by knocking them down on the floor and maiming them with her claws.

As she does that, she suddenly let's out a massive roar which carries an supernatural mental influence on anyone in her immediate vicinity (an area extending a couple of meters all around her). They will be gripped by fear so deep that they their only priority will be to get away from the giant bear as fast as they can. Deafness and various magical/technological protection shields from this effect.

[Morty]

[Rescue - Maze]

Wenomir twists his body to avoid the stone, having to way to predict how dangerous it is, which gives the henchmen an opening to slip away. Though Anika might make it difficult. Wenomir throws a dagger in the direction the stone came from, which of course simply hits the wall. He throws another dagger at Maria, more to keep the pressure on than anything, and takes a moment to reorient himself. More enemies have appeared, even if they're not attacking yet, but the team has to keep moving. AMEN is trying to keep them pinned down in this corridor. He won't attack yet, instead focusing on staying ready to either move on or react to the next attacks.

[5a Violista]

[Rescue - Maze]

A bolt tears through Maria's chest. It shatters the sternum and tears straight through. Blood drips down, but the blood starts boiling as soon as it hits the air. And then, before she can react, a second one does the same to her glowing hand, causing the remaining rocks in that hand to fall right below her.

Fear is, in fact, one of the many emotions that Maria is physiologically incapable of comprehending. "The fearful sound..." In her past, it would have worked but now...now, the witch can only interpret that supernatural influence as confusion and the feeling that something's not quite right. "Let no man know..." There's something that she has to do, but...she can't remember what it is. It's important. She can't...she can't...

The dagger that lands in her side reminds her what's going on. She looks down at it, and then with her scissors stabs herself right above the dagger. "And to my god my heart did cry," she says to the dagger and scissors. Both of them start to heat up to the point where they even start melting; when the molten metal drips on the rocks she dropped (thanks to the bolts), the rocks start to go off.

Underneath Maria, there's a huge plume of smoke, followed by thin flames and then small shockwaves. Starting at her feet and slowly moving upwards, parts of her begin turning to ash.
However, the smoke and flames and shockwaves that happened to the rocks she dropped are just a premonition of what's going to happen with the other rocks she scattered around the hall. Some of them start releasing plumes of smoke. Some of them heat up and catch on fire. And other ones dissolve and blow up in a shockwave. This includes where the regular henchmen formerly were; since they were retreating already they hopefully get away in time. (It wouldn't be the first time Maria injured a henchman.)
Now, even if Wenomir and the bear don't notice the pattern of the rocks burning and smoking, they ought to be able to tank a bunch of the blasts and flames and maybe even the smoke inhalation, but it would definitely be safer for their lungs if they take advantage of the opportunity and get moving away from the smoke.

Adir, Zefir, and the tech-henchmen are far enough away from where she initially scattered the rocks that they're definitely going to be more okay.

[Zefir]

[Rescue - Maze]

Henchman

The henchman can be count as out of order. Those that have survived the sword-bear combo couldn't even make a counter attack as the fear drives them immediatly away. Some dropp their weapon and others aren't even able to do that.

Zefir

Zefir heads on to move futher away, but he stops as the fear reaches him. He looks at the bear who shouldn't see him , but might feel the deat stare on her. Witch a swipe of his hand some dust forms around the first knife Wenomir threw grapping it and throwing it at the bear. Simulat Zefir makes a fist with the other hand and pushes it down like grabbing some kind of lever. Above the bear the hall seems to create a drop of stone which will then fall down aimed at the bear. This one should be quiet dangerouse if hit.

[Murkus]

[Rescue - Maze]

So much happening at once. Adir is mostly left alone for this round, though, and hopefully he can capitalize on that. Kashung, kashung, he takes careful aim and tries to put a pair of bolts through Maria's eyes. She certainly didn't seem to be going down, so he hopes to inhibit her ability to aim more harmful magic.

He can't do much to help his friends escape the hazards of the falling blocks and exploding rocks, but he can try to retaliate on their behalf. Before the magical 'bombs' go off and blind him for a second, before he's forced to raise his arm to shield himself, Adir senses Zefir's movement. The stag can't quite locate him this round, but his powerful ears and nose begin to pinpoint the invisible source of this extra havoc.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Rescue - Maze]

The tech-henchmen move just a bit closer, to make retreat all the easier for the AMEN members present, but none open fire just yet.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rescue - Maze]

As soon as she have roared, Anika is already on the move again. Charging straight into the henchmen group.
If the henchmen had attacked her she would have likely stayed at the same place and get hit by the stone Zefir dropped but as they are moving, so is she. She wasn't going to let them regroup.

The bear once again attempts to use its sheer size to its advantage by attempting to ram into the closest henchmen of the group and maul and bite them. It didn't matter how effective said attacks were as long as they remained focused on her instead of the others.

[Morty]

[Rescue - Maze]

Wenomir backs away from the smoke and the explosions... but that's not quite all he does. His eyes track the trajectory of the rocks that go flying with great care. He actually moves in the direction of one of them, then bounds away in a quick dance-like move, holding his sword by the blade and striking the rock with the hilt to send it flying towards the henchmen that are holding the line. He then seems to simply appear in the path of another rock, as if he didn't cross the intervening space, to do it again, before simply running away to get clear of the smoke.

[5a Violista]

[Rescue - Maze]

Maria's remaining eye gets a bolt put through it.
The same thing happens to the empty socket next to it, because the eye that she originally threw hasn't come back yet.

There are now holes in her face.
Hot cinders and boiling blood are visible through them.

More and more of her body turns to plain ash and blows away, but before she vanishes, she tries to get one last stanza in. "A thousand suns will burn for thee, a thousand moons will quiver; she says, reaching into her pocket one last time before it disappears. She grabs out a handful of gunpowder and throws it like someone who is sowing seeds. Unfortunately, because she currently lacks her last remaining eye, it doesn't entirely go in the direction of the VIGIL people but instead goes in a random direction.

The turning-to-ash accelerates. "But not by thee my steps shall be, for ever and f-"

Her mouth disappears and she can no longer talk.
The ash that she turned into blows away down one of the hallways.


Meanwhile
Front Entrance

The teenage girl known as Requiem arrives at the front entrance.
She could hear a lot of noises back there so she's glad she didn't stick with them. That could have been dangerous.

She looks around at all the bullet holes around the room.
Dang it.
Why did they have to shoot up the couch?

She waits, trying to figure out her next steps.


Meanwhile
Cloning Tank Room

Up until the point that teenager left the VIGIL members, the redheaded woman in the the cloning tank had been keeping Zenon informed on what she was seeing.

Now,
The redhead, Requiem, speaks up again. "Hey. You have henchmen you can tell to do things, right?"

She waits a moment for the answer, before continuing: "I want to convince the intruders that the teenager is an enemy to AMEN and capable enough to survive here for a while. So I'm thinking either, on their way out, they have to see evidence of her fighting to get out, or she has to lead them out a back door. Either way, I think if you send some minions there to fire at her a couple times, it would probably help."

"What do you think?"

[Zefir]

[Rescue - Maze]

The tech-henchmen are free to go already. Zefir won't really be able to head over to them since he would need to pass the Vigil team for that. Especially since the bear is right in front of him. Using the distraction of the explosions and smoke Zefir makes a slow retreat. But there is still the bear. Good thing the stone is a big one that comes in handy. The stone that which was aimed at the bear and now lays on the ground collects itself and the rubble around to form a ball. This ball, likely hidden in smoke, will then pick up speed as it follows the bear. Befor it reaches the bear it will jump up and try to hit the creature in the back or head. This time it's not just a falling stone, someone is controlling it and this will make it a lot harder to dodge.

One of the henchman got caught by the bear in that time while the others escape her range. They are proficiend runners in a way. The poor henchman can't do nothing other then leaving a gross picture of what Vigil does to their enemies.

[Another time, Another Office]

Zefir is waiting here. Someone has asked for membership. Thought this is only a hologramm since Zefir thought it's better that way. It's hard to see with your own eyes so if you got any way to feel livings around you or touch it you will know hes fake.