Infiltrate the Cobra Unit

[Izzarra]

Burr No conditions

After initially hiding from the fantastical means of digging a hole Burr begins to understand the premise and happily joins in on the hole digging wondering what they are digging after. If they are digging there must be something tasty to dig up.

[DaOldeWolf]

Frankford decides to wait since it seemed like the plan had been decided. And it was better this way since they seemed confident on taking the foes down quickly.

[RossN]

Madam Clock

"Oh jolly good show Mr. Stevens," Madam Clock said in enthusiasm, smiling at the half elf. She turned to the cat demon and politely, if perhaps less enthusiastically (for the creature was rather beastly.) "And thank you too Miss Katharathasion."

The pretty British woman patiently waited, idly twirling her still folded parasol.

[dangelo]

The party makes their way through the rich soil, the magic structures holding the dirt together. They find out that the walls of the base actually reach a few meters below ground surface, but Lunari's spell cuts through concrete with ease.

As they follow Lunaris, the muffled voices of the soldiers echoes through the tunnel.

"You heard it?"
"Yeah..."
"Shouldn't we go and help them?"
"No way. Our orders are to stay here."
"What if somebody dies?"
"Well, we're soldiers, aren't we?"
"..."
"What?"
"You're cold, man."
"Well, I'm honest, that I am."
"Still. We shouldn't be treated like cannon fodder. That's wrong."
"Climb your ranks, then. You got a lighter?"
"Here. But I mean it. We're people."
"Where are you going with it?"
"What?"
"What's your point?
"Nah. I'm just wondering. Forget about it."
"Uh?"
silence
"You're weird."

Lunaris eventually finds another concrete wall. When it crumbles into moonshine particles, they see a long room that's apparently one of the dorms.

"The recruits' dorm is the F-17." Mister Locke's voice can be heard in everyone's minds through the telepathy network. "You must find the place, then find somewhere to hide until you can capture them. According to my map, right now you're at A-42. You need to go up five floors. I'd recommend that you hurry."

"Up. Fast, but quiet. Hunting." The mage adds to Burr. Then he offers the lizard-woman a mental image of the letter "F", hoping that that would be enough.

Outside the dorm, they'll find an empty hallway with many doors that lead to similar rooms. Everyone's gathering at the main gate to defend the base, so the barracks are clear. Four hallways (about 15 rooms each) lead to a main common room with comfortable chairs, a TV and a pool table. There is an elevator and two different stairwells, one that goes up and one that goes even deeper below the ground.

Spoiler

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Insight DC 20 to notice that one of the soldiers meant to talk about defecting. He is not one of your targets, though.

Spoiler: Ref

Show

(but it's underground)

[Izzarra]

Burr No conditions

Hunt ... up? Burr takes the concept a little too literally and immediately jumps onto the ceiling of the room sticking there like some kind of giant gecko, scales changing color to blend in. Scampering around silent as a cat she looks for something to to eat on the ceiling. After a few seconds she has thoroughly inspected every aspect of the ceiling of the room and is disappointed at the lack of things to hunt.

[Volthawk]

Huh. Someone's not happy with the decisions they made. Good to know, although Richard didn't see an immediate use for it. In any case, there were more immediate concerns. Pausing for a moment in the tunnel, he pulls back one of his coat's sleeves, revealing the Aegis, and puts his hand on it, speaking a single word. "Awaken." Hazy smoke envelops him, and the man that emerges is rather different. Jumping out of the tunnel, the warrior in black and gold starts walking towards the elevators.

"Let's go."

[dangelo]

The elevator opens with an audible "ding". Designed to carry numerous soldiers and their gear, it's big enough for the whole group.

[Izzarra]

Burr No conditions

The elevator looks too much like the cage that Burr was placed in when she was captured. She does not want to go into it.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

We do not know what will be on the other side of the elevator doors when it gets to the other floor. Stairs are a better choice, at least you can peak around corners.

[Batcathat]

Despite fitting more comfortably into Lunaris' tunnel than anyone else, Kat had walked next to it, phasing through the earth. It was a matter of principle, even if she couldn't quite explain what principle or how it applied.

An elevator would do nicely though, being carried to a destination while sitting gracefully appealing to her nature as both demon and pseudo-cat. She stepped into the elevator – closely followed by Billy – but moments later the elevator once again looked empty, its passengers hidden behind an illusion of the elevator.

[RossN]

Madam Clock

Madam Clock coughed politely. "I fear Miss Burr may be at an emotional disadvantage in the elevator. Shall we perhaps consider the stairs?"

The Englishwoman reached out a lace gloved hand and petted Burr on the arm. "Never fear Miss Burr, remember you are among friends."

[DaOldeWolf]

Frankford nods. He followed through withut much complining, being used to harsh and unpleasent conditions for moving. He would have preferred to just follow through the elevator but he knew he should help those going through the stairs "In that case, why dont we divide our forces? Half of us go through the elevator and the other half goes using the stairs. those capable of moving fast can go through the stairs and those without can use the elevator." He makes the suggestion thinking about continuing the infiltration going.

[Seandiggersby]

”That isn’t too bad of an idea. I’ll take the stairs then, I can conceal myself to quickly scout ahead without being seen”

[Batcathat]

"Very well", said Kat as she stepped through the illusion and walked over to the elevator controls. "Shall we postpone the group hugs until later and get going?" She reached out with her tail and pushed the button for the correct floor before going back behind the image of emptiness.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Even though Kat just pushed the button, lets assume the elevator door closes right after everyone who wants to have gotten in.

[Izzarra]

Burr No conditions

Burr's tail happily swishes back and forth in response to being petted.

[dangelo]

Madam Clock, Burr and Lunaris all go through the fire doors and into the poorly lit stairwell. The place is clear except for half a dozen rats gathering under the stairs, squeaking around and disputing some tasty piece of garbage.

When they finally reach the 4th floor, before opening the fire door, both Lunaris and Burr feel like something's wrong. She suddenly smells ten different people right on the other side of the door, even though no one was supposed to be there. At the same time, even spying through the crack of the door, Lunaris sees a bunch of soldiers hanging in the common room. They're all geared up, but never joined the fight.

Meanwhile, the elevator group enjoys a very boring jazz song that keeps playing in a loop.

[Izzarra]

Burr No conditions

Tongue flicking as she smells the air Burr detects that there are several hoomans on the other side of the door.

Are they hunting hoomans? Burr is confused, hoomans get angry when she tries to hunt hoomans.

While pacing back and forth in front of the door she anxiously looks back and forth between the door and her pack unsure of what she should do.

[RossN]

Madam Clock

"Is anything wrong?" Madam Clock whispers, her green eyes glancing from Miss Burr to Mr Lunaris. Seeing Miss Burr was particularly tense she gave her reptilian comrade a reassuring smile.

[DaOldeWolf]

Frankford decides its time to get ready for whatever they could find on their way to the top. "I think I will summon some assistance, please stay calm" he requests. A black aura starts to emerge from and surround Frankford. "Oh! My shadow. The one always behind me. Take shape and join me in battle. " The aura slowly centers on his right hand. He then lowers himself and touches his shadow with the black aura. "Shadolf, I ask you to appear before me!" From his shadow, a brown wolf emerges. Shadolf jumps once in surprise as he sees the rest on the elevator.

[dangelo]

"Maybe we should not be doing this."
"Shut up! We had enough. And we're not gonna kill ourselves in this stupid move."

[Seandiggersby]

"there are some soildiers in there. Calm down burr, it's alright we can take them if it comes down to a fight." Lunaris says in a hushed voice.

[dangelo]

Ding! The elevator opens up at the F floor.
"Did you call it?"
"No, did you?"
The soldiers look at each other. "Send it back to the first floor."

One of them calmly gets up and heads to the elevator.

[Volthawk]

As the soldier approaches the elevator, Richard makes his move, stepping out of the illusion and appearing in front of the man in all his armoured glory to grab the man's arm and survey the others before speaking. "You are outmatched. Surrender." As he speaks, he draws upon the Aegis, projecting an almost palpable aura of menace to back up his words.

Spoiler

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Using Intimidate to Coerce the group into not fighting, using Ultimate Skill to spend a VP to make the roll an instant 20 for a total of 35 (opposed by Will or Insight) before any applicable circumstance bonus or penalty.

[dangelo]

The soldiers all pick up their assault rifles, but get too frightened to fight. Their hands start shaking, their voices start cracking. All of them except one, who looks unaffected by the Aegis. He looks straight at Richard.

"Nice trick, Falkestone. But that illusion is not yours, is it? What are you doing here?"

The man is apparently a normal soldier.

[Volthawk]

That was an unexpected detail. Switching focus from the now deal with soldiers, Richard looks at the man confronting him. The face wasn't familiar, but that didn't mean much - Falkestone hunters had operated for long enough that this person may have just come across an old record of them, or could've clashed with one of his predecessors. The man may not be a demon himself, going off what his senses told him, but their followers were always a problem, and in a group like this it wouldn't surprise him to find those types festering in the ranks.

"Oh, isn't it? Who are you, then, who knows who I am and what I am capable of?

[dangelo]

"We were expecting your visit." He says with a sarcastic smile. "To be honest, we thought you were involved in the weird attack. I guess it was just a decoy?"

"I'm warning you, Falkestone." He grabs something inside the many pockets on his vest. "I don't expect you to end your crusade, but trust me: you don't have what it takes to take us down. Retreat is your best option right now."

[Batcathat]

After activating the Loving Embrace of Cananoz – its protective field creating ripples in the air around him – Billy stepped through the illusion. "You know, I'm kind of jealous about the big bad demon hunter getting such a warm welcome. I'll have to make sure you remember me for the future."

Kat remained behind, focusing her mind on the talkative soldier. Let's see who you are, shall we?

Spoiler: Roll

Show

Kat attempts to read the mind of the mysterious soldier. The power is Subtle, so he probably won't notice.

(1d20+8)[17]

[dangelo]

When Kat taps into the man's mind, she finds out that it's completely idle, as if he was sleeping or unconscious.
After studying the phenomenon for a moment, she realizes there's another "mind" projected inside his, as if someone was using him as a puppet.

Still, puppetmaster or not, no mortal could hide their desires from her. Kat manages to pick up a hint of insecurity in his emotions... "Too late, Falkenstone"? More like "You better be too late, Falkenstone, or my demon bosses are gonna punish me for this." Something really needs to go as planned.

[Batcathat]

Kat spoke through the team's mental link. There's even less going on in this guy's head than in Falkestone's. He's a puppet.

Then she turned her attention back to the puppet soldier and tried following the psychic track to his master.

Spoiler: Roll

Show

No idea if mind read can be used like this. If it can't, we'll just assume that Kat tried and failed.
(1d2+8)[10]

Whoops. That's a d2. New roll in new post.

[Batcathat]

Spoiler: Roll

Show

Let's hope I roll the right die this time...

(1d20+8)[28]

[Volthawk]

Richard nods to Billy as he appears, turning his attention back to the man when Kat's message gets to him. That explains why he looks like any other soldier, then. "I clearly intimidated you enough that you couldn't face me in person. Talk to me yourself, not through a puppet, and perhaps you'll have more luck."