Gato Community College. (game thread)

[IFS]

So Karis was back, released from his vessel and all that. No doubt her employers would want to know right away, if they didn't already. Then again they seemed to have lost interest in Sierra for the most part so who even knew at this point. She would certainly have to be careful with Karis around she supposed, though she didn't feel terribly impressed with him so far. She supposed she ought to be, his reputation preceded him and all that, but thus far he'd done nothing but drone on and be quite a bore.

"My my, the great White Wolf of the South himself; it is an honour to finally put name to a face. If I may be so bold as to enquire, if you were inside Sierra, and judging from sharing some similar facial features you were, how did you get out?"

"Hehe, inside Sierra," Juliet snickered to herself. She hadn't expected Daniel to turn into such a kiss-ass for an abyssal demon.

Still she supposed she ought to be paying more attention, apparently Lucifer might be brought back, Viktor's clan had lost some powerful relics, and they had some new location to go check out. Soon enough they headed back out, not even pausing to establish much of a plan.

The site they arrived at wasn't much to look at, a gate, some strange devices. None of this held her interest for long. I suppose since we're back in the field I should try to handle Viktor. Will have to keep my eye out for an opportunity to take him aside and speak with him, and his bigotry will only make things more and more difficult for me in the long run.

 

[Athol]

Viktor bit his tongue when Karis mentioned the possibility of a lesser vampire using Lady Bathory?s ring; the demons obviously hadn?t fully grasped what he?d meant when he?d said the power would destroy anything less than a First One. The poor bastard would be dust before he or she could from a subconscious thought. As for drawing the power from Lord Tepe?s blade? One tiny fuck up and there would be no way to cover up a significant part of Japan being destroyed.

The other thing that got under his skin was that, once again they were charging off without anything more than ?in field? planning. We can?t keep doing things so rushed?if the marker gets called we?re going to lose badly.

As they made ready to move out, Viktor excused himself for a few minutes to send a message back home directly, telling them what he?d learned?and what he?d done.

Later

"What was it again? 'With rusty spiked cudgel wrapped in Blade Wire'?"

Eavesdropping slightly on the two demons, he couldn?t help but chuckle a bit. Always figured Mammon?s dislike was a bit more than just a ?professional? dislike. As they moved forwards and down, Viktor edged his way through, putting himself between potential threats and the ?softer? members of the team.

Upon spotting the six armoured demons, he waved for the others behind him to stop. Slipping his weapon from its holster he was glad he?d managed to convince Sierra to work her talents on a couple of boxes of shell each for himself and Solomon?though he figured he?d have had a harder time convincing her if he hadn?t brought up the hunter?s name. To bad Karis didn?t take some of the ?bitchiness? with him when he left.

 

[Outcast107]

Tomas

Tomas waited behind Viktor as he held up his hand. Looking ahead to see the armored demons, seeming much better prepare then the ones Viktor and Juliet killed. He would offer his help, but with Seth, Karis, Viktor, and Sol. He didn't know if his help would matter much. Keeping his mouth shut for now unless he was called. Though he did prepare his half dragon form just incase shit went south.

William

William gluped as they headed downstairs in the dark. Not sure what horrors they are going to see since this will be a demon domain coming up soon. He wonder if he would be any help here, or just be in the way. Walking behind the others as he kept close to Juliet. Viktor telling him to stay in the back and he was following those orders.

"J-Juliet..do." he was about to ask when Viktor held up his hand. Keeping quiet as he saw the armored up demons up ahead. Gulping a bit though he wasn't going to panic with all the powerful beings they had on their side.

 

[figment of mind]

Listening to the mission debreifing, Mirabelle couldn't help but be confused, especially since it seemed that Seth and Karis knew each other (or at least of each other). Still, the news that Lucifer himself may be coming back was something she understood easily...but why it fell to them personally to stop it didn't Shecome as quickly. She supposed that it could have just been that they couldn't mobilize anyone else in time and have them ready, and besides, they apparently had some super powerful demon on their side...but she had to wonder if that was enough.

At the site

Walking down the path that Seth revealed, the group had only walked a little bit before encountering another group of demons. They seemed different to the last group in the fact that they were wearing armor, though how effective it was against what they had remained to be seen, but the same in that they didn't seem to notice her friends (and Seth) as they stopped and stayed back in the tunnel. Still, she managed to get a look at the gate from where she stopped. It seemed that Seth and Karis had been right in their hunch about the gate...but what were the crystals for? Awakening it probably...either way though, she figured that it would probably be best to destroy them as soon as possible.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Lost Gate

Seth had the group back up a bit. "Viktor, Sol, Take the two by the Crystal pile, Karis and I will handle the ones at the back by the gate." Seth started, looking at the groups lack of range. "William, we'll need you to turn into a gun if you can, Juliet, you take one of the two closest to us. This should leave the last one off kilter enough for Mirabelle and Tomas to subdue, and I want him alive to interrogate, I'm rather tired of being one step behind this asshole." Seth said before adding one more thing. "Avoid hitting the Crystals is you can, I don't think they'll explode, but I'd rather not test it, also, Juliet. Do try to not make the boy 'go off' early."

After Seth got confirmation every one got the plan, and got ready. Seth and Karis got ready, with Seth counting down from three once every one looked ready to go. On one, Seth, with his hand on Karis, 'fell' into a Shadow that jetted across the floor to the back where the two demons popped out. Seth burying two daggers in his target, one in the neck, the other in a gap in the armor and up into the torso, presumably going for the throat and heart at the same time. While Karis just grabbed his target by the shoulder, spun him around and punched the demon in the face hard enough to take the demons head 'clean' off, before just shoving the now headless corpse away from him like a sack of trash.

 

[Athol]

"Viktor, Sol, Take the two by the Crystal pile, Karis and I will handle the ones at the back by the gate. William, we'll need you to turn into a gun if you can, Juliet, you take one of the two closest to us. This should leave the last one off kilter enough for Mirabelle and Tomas to subdue, and I want him alive to interrogate, I'm rather tired of being one step behind this asshole."

Viktor nodded. ?Good luck with that.? He muttered softly, remembering how well his own attempts at interrogation went.

Letting loose with both barrels as soon as Karis and Seth began their attacks, the boom of a thunderclap indoors shattered the silence. A blast that would be more at home on an artillery piece blossomed from the twin muzzles; the twin slugs buzzed downrange to his target, catching the demonic warrior in the center of his back, a few centimetres apart. Other frustrations aside, the girl does have a knack for this. He thought briefly.

The enchanted slugs tore through the back plate like it was a pop can, causing both rounds to shatter and try and exit the demon?s front in one dinner plate-sized hole; the slugs however, having been broken up by the initial impact, thus negating their enchantments, lacked the penetration to exit the armour itself, thus containing the mess...to a degree. The unlucky bastard was dead before he even realized he was under attack.

Thumbing the release, Viktor flicked his gun open, the ejector flinging the spent shells into the air, and reloaded with practiced ease. A quite voice in the back of his head weighted the odds of how effective these 'enhanced' shells would be against Seth...Baahh, probably poorly, but something to consider later.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Viktor, Sol, Take the two by the Crystal pile, Karis and I will handle the ones at the back by the gate."

Sol wasn't exactly a prude. He was very different from many of the other hunters, and fair more open-minded about... well, just about anything, be it basic human society, or monsters. However, he had a certain pride in his craft, and in what a "mere" human could do. He preferred his weaponry to be made by fellow hunters or priests, and he preferred his spells be from old hunter traditions.

This time, he had settled on not giving a fuck regarding that. Sol was very much aware of that his limitations and lack of experience when it came to dealing with demons in locations in which they thrived. He felt as unprepared as he had the first time he had to deal with something supernatural, which was pretty much. The enchanted bullets created by Sierra gave him an edge, if nothing else. And what an edge that was.

"Wow, that's really neat," he grinned as he saw the effects of Viktor's bullets. "Well, neat is probably the wrong word. Very efficient."

While Sol didn't exactly have a shotgun, he still figured the bullets he had would have a similar, if less grisly, effect. Stepping forward, he started shooting the second he had the chance to do so, aiming for the vital parts of the demon guard. Would be sort of sadistic to aim for anything else, after all, it looked as if it was fairly painful. Sol never did go for the flashy kind of moves, and, in an effort to save some of the bullets -they could be very useful soon, if they ran into one of the targets-, and so Sol went ahead and finished the job with his knife.

"There, done," he said, making sure both he and Viktor had dealt with their guards. Stepping back a little, he watched to ensure that none of the others needed any help.

 

[IFS]

Juliet rolled her eyes before turning to Will. Guns again? Why must things always be so loud? She patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright Will," she said "let's get going, don't worry I won't squeeze too hard."

That said all she could do was wait for him to change into his rifle form. Personally she would have found it much more interesting if he turned into armor, armor that could change shape with her had a great deal of potential and she preferred to handle her enemies up close if she had to deal with them personally at all.

"Any advice for handling your gun?" she said.

 

[Outcast107]

William

Will gluped as he felt Juliet's hands on his shoulders. Looking at her as he shook his head. "Um..n-no..it just like a normal gun.." He said as he focus back on his gun form and change. Transforming and appearing in the air briefly before he felt himself getting grabbed by Juliet.

Tomas

Tomas looked over to Mira as as he said "Get ready to attack whoever they don't get.." Watching everyone get their guns ready and open fire at the demons. Tomas watch as the bullet flies downward, hitting their targets dead on. He was surprise at how well Viktor's bullet did, he would need give Sierra some good words for making a deadly bullet like that. Picking out a target that didn't get hit as he charge forward. "Lets go" he told Mira.

 

[figment of mind]

"William, we'll need you to turn into a gun if you can, Juliet, you take one of the two closest to us. This should leave the last one off kilter enough for Mirabelle and Tomas to subdue, and I want him alive to interrogate, I'm rather tired of being one step behind this asshole."

She nodded at the instructions and prepared herself mentally for the task, wondering just how the both of them would take the demon alive. After all, dead was easy (though regretable) but taking him alive and stopping him from having any chance to retaliate was a challenge. Perhaps they could get away with crippling him? Maybe but that raised the question of how much they should cripple him...after all, She didn't know the type of questions that Seth wanted to ask him or how many limbs it would take to answer...

In the end, she just decided that she would break as many limbs as nessesary to subdue him. She was sure that they would understand if she had to break something they didn't want broken if it was for that reason.

"Avoid hitting the Crystals is you can, I don't think they'll explode, but I'd rather not test it."

She nodded again at this, paying close attention to that one. Aafter all, as a practicing alchemist, even if it doesn't happen too often, it was still reflex to immediately focus on idea of an explosion and avoid the possibility of it happening...now that she thought about it, perhaps that was why the explosions didn't happen too often? No matter. It would be best to focus on the current objective.

"Get ready to attack whoever they don't get.."

"Right." she said, readying herself to go. Once the opportunity presented itself Tomas charged forwards, saying, "Lets go", with Mirabelle quickly following. Of course, Tomas still arrived first, taking the demon from behind and slicing into the demon's legs, through the small gaps in the demons armor, rending tendon and flesh. As the demon began to collapse, Mira passed by Tomas and slammed into the demon, knocking him onto his stomach. While he was stunned and pained from Tomas's sounds, she placed her foot on his arm, near the elbow, grabbed his hand, and pulled hard, breaking his arm at the elbow, before doing the same to his other arm in quick succession.

 

[IFS]

"Right then," Juliet said, taking the gun and turning it over in her hands briefly before setting her sights on the nearest demon. Will's choice of form, if it was entirely his own choice, was a rather unusual rifle with an almost organic looking appearance.

So long as it shoots bullets. Or magic. Or something.

That at least it delivered on as it quickly dropped some of the demonic opposition, the crack of the rifle sending jets of dark blood through the air. The demons hardly stood a chance against them, though they were of course the small fry. I doubt Will's gun form would even put a dent in some of the stronger demons out there.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Daniel wasn't surprised that neither Seth or Karis had given him a particular target with regards to attack; it made sense, despite having spent the last few days alongside these people, he was still a largely unknown factor, and no one, besides Sierra to an extent, knew what he was capable of. So he took some solace in standing back and watching the fight unfold before him, reminded him a little bit of the old days.

Once he could see the last of the probable threats dealt with one way or the other, Daniel decided to rejoin the others at the Lost Gate, where his attention was immediately drawn towards the crystal pile, with the way the shone in the light was what caught his eye.

"Hmm, judging from the material composition and architecture of these Crystals, they're certainly of an older generation of Crystal compared to what is being used nowadays; and finding them in such clarity and quality is a rarity in of itself given their age." He remarked to everyone as he carefully examined a Soul Crystal that was situated on top of the pile. Holding it up to the light more closely for a second, Daniel noticed that it glowed brighter than before.

That is worrying.

"Well this is unusual, but the emotional energy that I'm feeling from these, they appear to be content, suggesting that their soul was taken willingly; rather than forcibly stolen. I have to assume that his is the case with the others. What is more worrisome than that though, is that these Crystals are at full capacity, meaning that, combined with the nature of the soul inside, is going to make the charge inside much more potent." Daniel added with a concerned tone in his voice.

"One more thing, something about these Crystals seems familiar to me. The way in which they catch the light, and the slight glow they give off; I think I know who made these. However, I would need to analyse them further before drawing any conclusions as to their exact origin, wouldn't want us pursuing false leads and the like."

 

[Lunar Templar]

Lost Gate

With the guard dealt with, Seth walked over to the one we had kept alive, pulling out his phone and tapping a message into into it with his thumb before putting it back in his jacket. "Brutal, I hadn't figured you to be the 'break the limbs we don't need' type Mirabelle." Seth said with an approving smirk, and pull the helm off the guards head, to confirm whether or not this guard was 'rigged to blow' like the people at the temple had been, naturally he was. "Sol, come here for a moment would you?" Seth said. Once Sol had come over Seth turned to the Demon, who was, oddly calm. No threats, not even so much as a glare. He just sat there, smirking. "Well, aren't you in a chipper mood from some one with two broken arms and a potentially short life expectancy." Seth comment. "I'll get to the point, This is Sol. He will be asking you questions. You have the choice of answering them, or ..." As if on que, the 'or' was followed by a teleportation spell rune appearing on the ground, followed by a Mindflayer rising from it.

"Setheros, I know you favor these human toys, but I would prefer you not use they to contact me. They sully my communication enchantments, and I'd rather not have to recast them to purge them of the 'human' stink they tend to leave behind." The creature said soon as he saw Seth. "Sorry, left my Mirror of Seeing in my other pants." Seth snarked back as the creature walked up to Seth. "As I was saying, you can be a good boy and answer Sols questions, OR, Joachim here, will tear the answers I want from your memory's." Seth said as the Mindflayer, Joachim, examined the rune on the Demons head, moving his head from one side to the other with one of his tentacles "I assure Guardsmen, this rune on your head will not keep your secrets safe from me, and it will be most unpleasant for you should I need to pry them from your mind." Notably, as Joachim spoke, Seth put him self between Sol and the Mindflayer, hinting that he didn't really trust the creature he summoned.

Karis, on the other hand had moved over to Daniel, motioning every one else over as well. "Lovely, one of those things are here. Really need to have a talk to Seth about the company he keeps." Karis said before turning to Viktor "Keep your finger on the trigger kid, if Seth doesn't trust this guy, you can certain it might try something." he then turned to address what Daniel had said. "Not sure I see the issue with the souls in side being 'willing', isn't that kinda par for the course with these type of cults?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the Mindflayer. "and do you think the maker is going to be an issue or could these just be stolen?"

 

[Athol]

With the situation in hand, Viktor was more than happy to let Seth handle the interrogation?two random head explosions were more than enough for him. Following Karis? motions, he was content to listen to Seth and their captive bicker, until he saw the summoning circle and the Mind Flayer rising out of it. That sulphur sucking shit stain! I knew he was a scumbag, but I thought he had at least a few morals. He wanted to call Solomon away from that ?thing?, but it was never good to show anything less than a unified front with one them around.

"Keep your finger on the trigger kid, if Seth doesn't trust this guy, you can certain it might try something."

Karis pulled his attention away from the new arrival. Viktor looked at the armour plated demon and raised any eyebrow. ?Of course I will.? He stated flatly, in a low voice. ?I always keep on the bounce with demons about?never know when one you lot will go squirrely.? With the bottom two fingers of his right hand, wrapped around the grip, his top two finger drummed softly on the side of the gun. Need to find a way to convince Lord Tepes to kill that asshole?

 

[Outcast107]

Tomas

Tomas backed away once Karis and Seth took over. Not wanting to get in their way at all. Minding his own business as they do what they want with the demon they capture. Looking over their handy work as he would then look over at Mira and said, "You know..I'm with Seth. Didn't expect you to go all out on the demon. Though gotta say, good job on it nonetheless."

William

William transform back into his normal form once the shooting was done. Smiling a little at a job well done. "Um..good shooting Juliet." He look back and smile up at her. Glad that he is still able to obtain his rifle form after two uses. Something he was worried about for a while now. While he felt a bit worn out from firing two shots, it wasn't nothing that he couldn't handle at the moment.

He was just worried that he wouldn't able to keep up if they ran into trouble. He wasn't sure how many shots he would have if they run into something bigger then these small fries.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Karis
"Of course I will. I always keep on the bounce with demons about...never know when one you lot will go squirrely."

Karis scoffed at Viktor's comment, as he pulled his sheathed sword off his back in his own preparation in case the Mind Flayer did turn on them. "That's rich coming from one of you. Your kind is the single least trust worthy species I have ever had the displeasure of working for." Karis retorted in a similarly low tone. "I wouldn't and won't be surprised if and when you turn on every one here to save your own hide after getting what your here for." he added, taking up a 'ready stance' that looked more relaxed and non hostile then it really was.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Not sure I see the issue with the souls in side being 'willing', isn't that kinda par for the course with these type of cults?" Asked Karis as he approached whilst maintaining eye contact with the freshly summoned Mindflayer that Seth had called to his side. Whilst Daniel loathed those accursed Illithids, they were certainly skilled in the acquisition of information, primarily through the use of psionic torture. "And do you think the maker is going to be an issue or could these just be stolen?"

"Not entirely. Whilst some cults here on Earth will use willing victims, usually drawn from their own members who have been promised immortality, tremendous power or some other bollocks like that; many will have kidnapped innocent civilians and sacrificed them in some profane ritual and drawn their souls out.

A willing soul, whilst harder to acquire, is more beneficial in the long run, as such an emotional state creates a more stable atmosphere inside a Soul Crystal, meaning that, if used for energy, the charge inside a Soul Crystal is more efficient, that is to say, it can be used for a longer period of time. Whilst something like an enraged soul provides more power, the Soul Crystal is more likely to become fractured and rupture, causing an explosion.

As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said; The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long." Daniel said as he stood up, the Soul Crystal he was examining still in his hand as he turned to face Karis.

"To answer your second question, I am not sure. If these were simply stolen then we shouldn't need to worry, aside from having to empty the contents of the Crystals and dispose of them. However, if these were given to them, and if my hunch is correct; might have a major issue on our hands. Actually, now that I think about it-" He added before turning towards Solomon.

"Sol! Mind asking your friend over there where he got these crystals?" Of course, by friend, he was referring to the capture demon.

 

[Athol]

"That's rich coming from one of you. Your kind is the single least trust worthy species I have ever had the displeasure of working for. I wouldn't, and won't, be surprised if and when you turn on everyone here to save your own hide after getting what you?re here for."

Victor never took his eyes off the mind flayer, as he made a small scoffing noise to Karis? assumptions. ?I?ve never killed anyone who didn?t have it coming.? He replied, with a sneer. ?On the other hand I?ve lost good friends, because some horn-headed goat fucker decided he couldn?t not be a total bastard and try and stake me and mine. Nine men and women in five incidents.? His free hand clenched and unclenched as he tried to keep the anger from those memories in check.

 

[Lunar Templar]

"I've never killed anyone who didn't have it coming. On the other hand I've lost good friends, because some horn-headed goat fucker decided he couldn't not be a total bastard and try and stake me and mine. Nine men and women in five incidents."

Karis gave only a slight glance at the Vampire. "52" Karis Replied. "That is the number of brothers and sisters in arms I've had to bury because your parasitic brethren decided they would rather ambush and kill the ones they hired to do the job they could not." Karis' tone still low, but now traces of rage in his voice, pausing for a few moments before composing him self. "I had to black list your whole race because they proved they could keep their traitorous, back stabbing, ways in check long enough to complete a simple contract."

 

[DarkRawen]

"Sol, come here for a moment would you?"

"Sure?" Sol said, and went over. He assumed this would be just another attempt of getting information. However, that was very much wrong.

"Well, aren't you in a chipper mood from some one with two broken arms and a potentially short life expectancy. I'll get to the point, This is Sol. He will be asking you questions. You have the choice of answering them, or ..."

Suddenly, Seth summoned someone, or rather, something, who, from the looks of it, found this to be unnecessary. Sol was more worried about what he was supposed to do. A mindflayer didn't exactly sound like the guy to take a no for an answer, after all.


"As I was saying, you can be a good boy and answer Sols questions, OR, Joachim here, will tear the answers I want from your memory's."

Right, why on earth would this guy succumb to my good looks and charm when he could choose to get his mind torn open and ravaged by baby Cthulhu over here? Next to him I'm as threatening as a butter-knife.

He supposed though, he was required to give it a -however half-assed it would end up being- try. Noting the way Seth had positioned himself between Joachim -wait, wasn't that a sorta common European name, as well as the name of Mary's father?- and Sol, Sol made sure to be careful of where he walked. He sat down, close -but not too close- to the crippled demon.

"So, do you want to talk about this? I know you're probably already set on what route you want. Be as defiant as possible, and all that. But I'd just like you to know; I don't judge you based on who you serve or why, I have no real relation to this conflict at all. I'm just here because they said they'll pay me for it. That said, I would advice you to talk to me rather than the guy with the tentacles. For starters..." He removed his hat, pushing some of his hair back before putting it on again, all while he thought. He started speaking more quietly, almost whispering.

"I'm more likely to reward you. If it's up to me, I'll gladly help bringing you back to help you out with those broken limbs of yours, as long as you give us the information we need. I'm also less likely to drain your mind and leaving you an empty, drooling shell. If it's an honourable death you want, that is too something I can give you. And..."

He rubbed his neck. "Well, look. I suppose I'm just saying that I'd respect your wishes if you want to have your mind destroyed and your body probably used for terrible experiments by trying to keep the information to yourself. Really. You'd be all tough. However, there's a better way. An easier way. Tell me what they want to know, and I'll do my outmost to ensure that you get what you need. I promise it." He smiled a trustworthy smile.

"And, believe me, you won't be able to keep your information from that guy. I've seen how that rune on your head works, and it's nothing against what they have. Nada. If you're lucky, it'll end your life after tentacles have your precious information. It might be a stupid thing to say, but trust me. Even if I'm the only person you can trust. I have nothing against you, and I'd like for the best outcome, for both of us."

Then he waited. It probably wouldn't work, but hey. He had tried.