Feb 22 109 PA - Blood club finale

From Chronicles

OUTSIDE OF YAKOV'S DELI

The sun is going to be rising very soon, and a pleasant winter storm has whipped up. Flakes falling enough to gather, but not so much as to obfuscate. In the shadows of the doors of Yakov's Deli, a short set of Crusader armor is standing silently and nearly without motion. Of course, anyone who might note it might see that it appears loaded to assault Chi-Town. Rifles, pistols, crosses of tape, even what appear to be flashlights affixed to its forearms by good old-fashioned duct tape. Gabriel awaits his fellow crusaders.

The streets are frozen and crunchy, snow blowing around in light flaky swirls rather than accumulating. Last night it was balmy and rainy, promising a frigid morning. Seven o'clock brings a rider down Main Street, horse snorting and shaking head head in the grey light. The Clydesdale mare, shaggy booted in white, has her chestnut colorings striped by overlapping steel plates that run along her flanks, wrap about her powerful back, and run down her muzzle. Atop her head rests a horn, twisted and gleaming. On her own, Sara would not be out of place, though her rider does stand out. The bulky suit of body armor is ultra-modern, broad shoulders crowned by jet intakes with a helmet bisected by a cross. Stakes hang from his belt, and a pistol is secured in a large holster on his chest, while a sword dangles to his right. There's even a pair of large saddlebags hang to either side of him, tied down snugly. On one hand, Sebastien looks the sort of fellow who's likely to get stopped by the police in short order. On the other, he's headed towards the 'Dregs.

In a white jumpsuit that is quite ninja like Rubidia arrives at the deli shortly after the knighted horse. There she gives a glance over both of them and cant help but feel under dressed. "How many vampires did you say we were fighting Gabriel?" She asks, having second thoughts at the display of arms.

"Morning, Rubidia. Hello, Sebastien," Gabriel offers before getting into details. "Interesting horse, as always. Now. If my information is correct, Ruby, one master vampire, Donna, and three secondary guards. During the day, of course. If we were attacking at night, she could call hundreds. Which is why we're using the day." A smile is give to both. "Eleven armed zombies, one 'Borg. That's the best information that I have."

"Right, so you're dressed to fight 'hundreds' just in case. Ok then, makes sense." Rubidia concedes and moves towards the door into the deli to leave the pair to themselves for a moment.

Sebastien stares down at Rubidia, the impassive mask dominated by the cross that's been installed from his chin, up to brand into a cross below the goggles of his 'eyes,' and extending across his cheekbones and to the middle of his forehead. "You have found someone to sing tales of our conquest," he remarks, sounding unhappy about it. "Gabriel. You feed delicate flowers shit and they bloom. You do not take them into a firefight. Your 'information' is also optimistic. Each vampire might have a human servant, and body armor. Which would require both conventional and unconventional weapons to defeat."

Gabriel's own mask doesn't give any hint of his actual facial features as Rubidia makes her jab. Neither as it turns to Sebastien. "Inside of the club, unless numerous sources have been completely incorrect, we will only find an empty main floor, then as I've said, a basement filled with eleven zombes and four sleeping vampires. Could I be wrong? Of course. Do I personally believe that information to be wrong? No. Could they have human servants outside? Yes. Have we seen evidence? No. If such servants are called, do we outnumber them? Yes. Are they likely to be as strong as you were when you were owned? No." He waggles a finger at the knight. "You whine a lot, Sebastien. People who go into battle looking for obstacles are the ones who take their eyes off of victory. Do I expect to come out of this alive? Possibly. Has anyone else suggested a better plan? Or any plan?" He allows a pregnant moment. "No. There are some slight changes in fact, that I believe will help, but by all means, both of you please poke holes in it. If there's a hole, it needs to be fixed." He looks around. "Wonder where the others are."

Rubidia returns with a large cup of coffee in her hand and her hood down. "What were you saying? Delicate? If anyone survives this, I will." She quips back at Sebastien with a shrug. Then she looks at Gabriel again and beside him, and behind him.. "If it's just us three that adds credit to your arsenals."

Sebastien points at Gabriel. "I am here. I am going in. I am just saying; I am prepared for more than what you have said we will find." He wraps a gauntleted hand over the pommel stone of his overgrown sword, and looks out over the street. "Monique will be here momentarily. She needed to be alone, to summon her Gods to her side. Evidently they have not heard before of vampires, and needed explaining."

Gabriel allows both to say their peace without retort, moving on to more important subjects. "Bartholemew and Tek should be here soon. Because they were supposed to be here a few minutes ago. Technically, as long as we're in before eight, that's fine. I just don't want to have civilians in the way." As there's nothing else to do for the time being, he tosses up to Sebastian a small box the size of a deck of playing cards. "Put it on your belt, then come down here and have a look at the change."

Rubidia nods slightly at the explanation and precaution before raising a question. "You couldn’t just tell the civilians to get out? I mean if they aren’t on their side I don’t see them sticking around as your renovate the place."

Sebastien drops the reins and bobbles a moment at the small block, a clacking noise before he cradles the box to his chest. Sebastien holds it up before his visor, peering at it, and then carefully eases it onto his belt before kicking a leg over Sara and falling to the earth below.

"We will if it comes to that, yes," Gabriel responds to Rubidia. "I would just rather avoid any possible unnecessary entanglements." He watches then as Sebastien approaches, unfolding a map of the club while he waits. Same map as before, but with a new indicator upon which his finger is placed. It's right inside the doors to the club, off to the left. "I had an epiphany. Since we're not using the stairs anyway, why even bother with cutting through the vault to cut a hole next to them? We'll cut in here, which ought to be directly over the bleeding area, which I believe is partitioned. Even if it's not, it's faster not just for the cut, but for the overall strike. I'm sure they'll have us on surveillance before Tek takes it out, so any second that we can squeeze out will be crucial." He jerks a thumb behind him, into the shadows once more. "Bought a genuine ladder." Clearly there's more to be said, but he's been working really hard on not making speeches.

Sebastien chuckles softly at that, and nods without comment. "I like this plan," he says simply, a thick gauntleted finger brushing the map. His hands fidget faintly at his sides, tapping on his thighs as he looks left, and right, clearly impatient.

Gabriel smiles at the compliment, though of course no one can see it. Perhaps he could install an expressive faceplate. He, Sebastien and Rubidia are standing under the eaves of Yakov's Deli. The sun has been up for a few minutes as the clock approaches seven. The knight's magnificent horse is nearby, doing magnificent robotic horse things. As for the weather, it is neither here nor there. Snowing yes, but not badly. At the moment, Gabriel is pointing at an unfolded map. "So like I told Monique, Tornaq goes in first."

"I can follow whenever, not really important when I descend in the order. Just don’t look directly at the light." Rubidia notes with a nod to the plan so far.

Bartholemew pulls up in his hovertruck, some crates strapped down on the back bed. Climbing out of the vehicle he heads over to where the others have gathered outside the deli. "Howdy all." comes from the speaker in his EBA.

Sebastien nods. "This makes sense. For the cyborg, I imagine I will ride towards him at full speed, get his attention, as the rest of you open fire. I will try to draw his counterattacks as I am best suited to take them."

Gabriel waves a hand as Bartholemew pulls up. "Good morning, Bart. Fine day to have a battle, isn't it?" He reaches into a small pouch and tosses across a metallic box the size of a deck of cards. "Sonic repulsor. Tuck it into your belt, if you don't already have one, then come take a look at this. slight but important change."

"Hello again." Rubidia returns to Bart casually before nodding to Sebastien. "I could blind it if you want, but am not otherwise suited for such a fight." She offers lightly. Then eyes the second small box handed out. "Whats a sonic repulsor do?"

Bartholemew catches the device clipping it to his belt and pops off his helmet giving everyone a breif nod before taking a look at what Gabriel has to show him. "Whatcha got there?"

First likely to be noticed is the great white polar bear, his stride calm and self-assured. Protective. He holds his head up, his dark eyes bright and attentive, and he's watchful of the surroundings. Next to him walks the small Inuit woman who is always in his company. Her dark hair has been braided to keep it out of her face, and her over-sized winter parka serves well to hide anything underneath it, including her. Monique seems as calm as the great white bear, her dark gaze easily picking out Sebastien, which causes her footsteps to head in his direction. Quiet, for the time being.

Sebastien glances over his shoulder, and ducks his head. Reaching for his helmet, he unfastens the bindings at his neck and gently eases the helmet free, taking a great whuff of the cold morning air from beneath the stocking cap that protects his head from chafing inside the mask. One of his gauntlets reaches to his face, tugging that open oval a little lower, and when Monique draws near he leans down to wrap armored arms around her, helmet still clutched in one of his hands, and plant a kiss on her lips. It's a moment then, just between the two of them, before he reaches up to muss at her hair with his free hand and laugh, before glancing back at Gabriel. "Alright," he agrees. "Let's get moving."

Gabriel looks to his variety of odd soldiers, waiting for Monique and her cuddly bear to arrive, then addressing them with finality, though Rubidia's question is glossed over for the sake of one last briefing. "My foot soldiers will attack with you, Sebastien. Ruby, if you can help, then please by all means do so. The 'Borg dies and he stays where he drops, don't waste time with moving the corpse. The door will be opened by my guys. Sara will remain outside, and three of the grunts as well to protect our rear. Looks like Tek won't be here, so try not to worry about cameras. Now, *HERE* is a change," he says, which to a few gathered is a repeat. "I had an epiphany. If we're cutting through the floor, no reason to waste time with the vault. We'll cut in here, over the partitioned bleeding area." He hands out maps with the new area indicated, just to the left of the club's entry. "Tornaq sits on the floor, Ruby, the tech and myself cut around him, he falls into the basement and charges the zombies, the intent being to simply knock them over and keep them that way. Ladder goes down." He pats the rungs next to him. "Rubidia is down the hole next, to catch any vampires as soon as possible. Then Sebastien to protect her flank. I'm next, to clear a path for Monique, who will follow. Bart comes last, with ammunition et cetera." A small lamp resembling a miner's light or doctor's examination lamp is held out to Monique, as is a small object the size of a deck of playing cards. "Put this lamp on. Point your head, it'll hurt vampires when you face them. Other thing keeps bugs out of your face." He smiles the grin of a military fellow ready put a plan into action. "We can't know everything, but Donna will die. Do *not* pillage the place when we're finished. There's a commanding interest which will distribute the plunder, and they are not a group that we want to piss off." Gabriel continues his soliloquy for a few more sentences, his hands clasped at his waist, head lowered, obviously about to pray. "The Lord gives... oh fuck it, let's go."

Bartholemew takes note of the change on the map and readies himself to get moving once Gabe gives the signal to head out, moving back towards his truck. "Anybody wanting a lift, hop on the back," then pops on his helmet once again and climbs up into the cockpit and fires up the engines, giving time for those who need the lift to climb aboard.

A smile touches at the corners of her lips as Sebastien's arm settles around her, and she gives a small nod to him before meeting the kiss he offers. Monique ducks her head as he musses her hair, looking up at him through her lashes and giving him another smile. As the maps are brought out, she takes a look to them, tilting her head slightly to one side. She accepts the small lamp, peering curiously at it, and she gives a small nod before following the instruction given and putting it on. "Thank you," she says softly to him, then turns her attention to Sebastien for a moment. "The cameras, if I am able to spot them... or the surveillance system itself, I will be able to disrupt," she points out, in case the information may be wanted.

Considering robotic horses, speeding polar bears and shooting starlight, Gabriel is likely the only person who needs a lift, and he gladly accepts one on the back of Bartholemew's truck. "Monique, if you can screw with the cameras from a distance, please do so!" Once on board and safely tucked so as not to fall off, he gives the go-ahead signal to move out. He pulls his shiny, as-yet-unused Wilk's rifle from his back, checks his various ammunition bandoleers and pouches, then urges speed. An assault on a fortified vampire compound begins.

'Dregs - IVORY LADY BLOCK

The sun is barely up, not that anyone could tell through the dull grey overcast. It goes well with the dull grey rubble of the 'Dregs. Ahead the Ivory Lady is plain to see maybe 100 yards away. Doesn’t take long for the take of a 'Borg patrolling it to be spotted either walking its circuit, oblivious to its fate today. Shortly after the groups arrival seven gang thug come out of the rubble flanking the group, their weapons holstered. The one in the lead nods to Gabriel, showing clear implication of a deal signed.

Gabriel hops off the hovertruck, but tries to keep it between himself and the 'Borg, hoping to remain concealed. Walking up to the lead man, he says, "Take four of your men up the road and past the 'Borg. You'll probably get his attention. My friend on the horse will charge, assuming he hasn't already taken an interest. When he starts galloping, open fire, go for his head. The rest of us will follow up on the heels and hooves. You guys," he says, pointing to the remaining three men, "Hop in the back with me. Rubidia? See if you can zip up and blind it now, save everyone a whole lot of trouble. Monique, as soon as you can hit the cameras, if you can hit the cameras, please do so. That's it, let's go." He gives his clip one last slap, and hops back into the truck's bed.

A small object the size of a hockey pock is tossed to Rubidia. "Keep this near him, it'll jam his radios."

Sebastien falls still, hand on the pommel of his sword as the group slows. He doesn't go around the corner, however, instead favoring several moments of rest. "Monique, mademoiselle, if you would," he murmurs as he concentrates.

Rubidia catches the puck and nods as she pulls out a silvery cylinder. "Ok, one sec to let me focus." She asks, concentrating a moment.

Bartholemew pulls up to where directed, climbing out ready to begin, keeping behind the vehicle for cover until the moment to move is upon them. He waits for the Knight's charge before making his move, giving him time to survey the area the 'Borg is patrolling.

The small Eskimo woman looks to Gabriel for a brief moment, and she gives a nod to his instructions. She'll do what she can. Her dark gaze shifts over to Sebastien, and she gives him a small nod, a little smile touching her features. "Of course, Sebastien," she says softly, a note of seriousness to her voice. She lifts her left hand, bringing it to rest upon his leg nearest to her. Her expression clears, reflecting concentration, and she speaks in her guttural native tongue as she gifts to Sebastien what she can.

The thugs nod and head out in a circular route to flank the 'Borg and let the knight lead the charge. Their weapons are drawn as they move, but as they are already in range the attack can being any time.

Gabriel has a perfect shot, an excellent shot, in fact. But he holds his fire, waiting for the plan to play out rather than jumping the gun and just getting into a blunt-force firefight. If one could see his face, they might see how much it pains him. It's the perfect sniper shot. But no. He remains behind the cover of the hovertruck, urging Bartholemew to get ready to move out when things start to play out properly.

Sebastien eases his swords loose, one gleaming with a hundred silver teeth and another springing forth in blazing laser light. As Sara's hooves tear into the pavement, whatever words he might say are lost in the high-pitched electric scream of the chainsword swung in his left hand. Twin beams of light arc from Sara's eyes in a 'snap!' of lightning the moment before a ton of flesh and steel collide with the cyborg, swords brought to bear.

Bartholemew climbs up into the cockpit of the truck firing up the engines when the Knight makes his charge, readying the truck for its turn to move out to bring the others to the front quick once the knight has done his job in shredding the metallic guard. Once the engines are fired up he grabs his rifle from inside the cab so he can add to the firepower laying into the vampire's 'Borg guard if not cut down immediately.

The 'Borg is not so enamored in its patrol to be completely oblivious to someone charging it on horseback from a hundred yards. Not at all, but it sill only gets aware of the attack just in time to defend one of the flurry of attacks leveled at it. From one combatant.. with more on the way.. Time to ask for a raise if it survives. To that end it unleashes a blast from its forearm at the prominent attacker."

Rubidia is off after Sebastien in a quick sprint that almost closes the gap between her and the 'Borg. As she does she suddenly bursts into intensely bright light, becoming difficult to look at directly. Her gaze focuses on the 'Borg during the sprint, culminating in a powerful blast of light at its head.

Monique remains behind with the others, waiting and watching as Sebastien charges into battle. A fierce knight, she knows him to be. She can only hope that her gifts will serve him well. Her left hand settles on the fur of Tornaq's leg, and the great white bear lowers his nose to lightly touch her shoulder. Her attention turns towards the Ivory Lady's walls, to see if any of the security cameras might be spied.

The assault underway, Gabriel stays up, his rifle trained on the 'Borg's head. Sometimes it takes a while, but the special shots are worth it, particularly as he expects his soldiers to be firing momentarily. The sights are lined up, and he nurses the trigger gently between breaths.

If Sebastien saw the blast, he makes no indication. His blades swipe and spin as Sara rears and circles, steel following light at much the same speed.

Bartholemew stands up on the edge of the driver's opening bracing himself against the door to find a line of fire and takes aim on the 'Borg, but ready to jump inside and take off at a moments notice. Taking time to line its head up in the sights of his weapon.

Built like a tank check. But it seems the opposition has brought anti-tank weapons. The 'Borg was only showing some dents and scratches of paint before Sebastien's second onslaught. Now it is thoroughly dented and battered, unable to keep up with everything attacking it.

Rubidia finishes closing on the 'Borg to stop about twenty feet away as she emits another blast of light at her opponent's head.

On the flank the thugs open fire with their shots, all directed at the head of the creation.

The Eskimo woman keeps a hand on Tornaq's furry leg, the pair of them remaining calm, or so it would seem. A glance is given towards the battle raging with the cyborg, but then her dark gaze returns to the building. Studying the various vantage points it might have for any of the security cameras. Both Monique and the great white bear start to approach the building, merely to get a closer look.

Behind his plastic-ceramic mask that for some reason looks like a medieval knight, Gabriel is smiling. Even offers a quiet, "Good job everyone, keep it up," over the radio. During the time that it took for Sebastien to wheel around for another pass, and for even the shooting-star Rubidia to strike out again, he lined up another shot on the creature's head. The body seems to be crumbling well enough. Might as well focus on the brain. The new rifle rests to near motionlessness before a practically invisible laser lances out.

The flashbulb backlights Sebastien, and he draws back away from the cyborg, for a moment appearing a touch disoriented himself. His right arm lifts, laser sword still burning in the air, as he lines up his arm for a shot at the cyborg's head as well.

Bartholemew takes his shot at the guard's head hoping to add another dent with all the others. Well maybe not a dent, but a nasty scorch mark if nothing else and then slides into the driver's seat ready to make his charge.

The 'Borg didn’t stand a chance at first. Now that its optics are showing nothing but white noise it is clearly doomed. This would explain the very audible "Fuck this!" Before a very large explosion erupts from the cyborg to engulf a ten foot radius around it in high energy plasma.

When the smoke clears all that remains of the construct is charred slag insufficient to construct a shopping cart.. Good thing no one was caught in that. Makes one wonder if he volunteered for that feature. But all that aside the coast appears to be clear for the group to advance into the Ivory Lady.

Rubidia smirks and takes a moment to check out the smoldering crater. "Well, that was easy enough. Next?"

The battle with the cyborg earns Monique's attention once again, this time when the construct destroys itself. Despite finding that strange, she returns her attention to the building, still hunting the elusive security cameras.

The thugs all cheer as the 'Borg goes out with bang, clapping hands and congratulating each other before they move to rejoin the group assumed to soon advance on the targeted nightclub.

"Next phase," Gabriel calls over the radio succinctly, congratulations and kudos being left for later. "Doors. Let us in, guys." The last is obviously directed at his anonymous comrades. "I want two to open it, then stand aside. Next two enter at speed, armed, do what you can to stay quiet. Sebastien, Ruby, you next, Bart and I will follow. Ruby, give everyone some light if they aren't on. Monique if you haven't found anything, you're next, they'll probably have seen everything by now anyway." His head turns to the gang. "Whoever has the cutting torch, you're in. The rest of you stay with the door until we see what we're dealing with inside." His rifle is briefly slung over his shoulder and he lifts the ladder that he'd bought to bring to a strip club. What're the chances he would ever have thought he'd be doing that? "C'mon people, time is of the essence."

Sara backs up, Sebastien grabbing her head and tugging hard to turn moments before the blast hits, flattening him against Sara as she staggers several steps and tips. The young knight comes free, crashing to the earth with his chainsword clattering to the earth and the laser sword winking out. "Son of a bitch," he utters, climbing slowly to his feet as Sara bounds up next to him, like an inflatable punching bag. "Watch the door," he utters at Sara, shaking his head as he watches his chainsword run at top speed, spinning slowly as it kicks small bits of pavement around the road. He holds still, still, and reaches down to snatch up that sword and click it off. Then he jogs into position, shaking his head again to clear his ears.

Bartholemew pulls right up to the front of the Ivory Lady once the 'Borg goes boom. Once stopped and shut down he grabs his rifle and hops out of the vehicle moving to a guard position as those here to open the front door do their work. He scans for security first thing as he takes up position.

Rubidia is still lit, so she give people a wide berth as she closes on the doors of the club. She's fast enough that the consideration is no impediment to Gabriel's wishes.

Monique turns to look over to Gabriel, and she gives a small nod. Her gaze comes back to the building, studying it for one last moment just in case there's anything that she can do there. She has a bit of time to wait while the door is opened, after all. She frowns a little, stopping and keeping a hand on his leg. She stays quiet, though.

THE IVORY LADY

The thugs all nod to Gabriel and rush the door. A few bursts at the locks and entry is gained, opening into the empty club ahead. So far all is as was expected. The club is completely empty at this vantage point.

Gabriel grabs the ladder and hops off the back of the truck, moving toward the door. Still, he follows established protocol. Improvising unnecessarily can lead to bad things happening. Holding at the edge of the portal, he nods the next people inside. "Seb, Ruby. Light it up. See if you can clear it while the rest of us get inside."

Sebastien reaches to his brow, tapping a button that causes his visor to flare to light. The cross on his helmet blazes, throwing a cone of light with a dark shadow cleverly fashioned in the center. The would-be knight plunges inside, ducking his head and walking through the showroom, before waiting for Ruby at the door to the Washroom. With her help he'll poke through the stalls, and then make for the private rooms.

Once all looks clear to Bart, he slings his rifle over his shoulder and climbs up onto the bed of the truck and to the crates to unstrap them to grab a water rifle, loaded with a medium tank with attached water grenade launcher fully loaded, from inside and his backpack of lanterns following in behind the rest. "Gabe, once your techs are free might want to have em grab the rest of these rifles to feed down to us."

In a matter of seconds Rubidia dashes to the center dance pole, taking the central position to provide light to the whole club and she does. "All light spectrums are clear, Twelve stationary thermals under the floor in that corner." She reports, pointing to the private rooms, and what is under them. She reports before catching up with Sebastien to clear the side rooms.

With the door opened, Monique and Tornaq wait for others to filter in first. Then they make their way inside as well, both of them showing a bit of wariness. The great white bear takes a moment to draw in the scents of the place, and he whuffs a breath as he looks around. While taking a look around the empty inside of the building, Monique lifts a hand to turn on the headlamp that she was given.

The thugs linger at the door as everyone filters in, waiting for their next order.

Gabriel moves inside, carrying his ladder and asking, "Human thermals, Ruby? Stationary like sleeping in ordered cots? Might just be the waitresses. You don't sense any zombies or vampires? Does that mean they aren't there, or does it mean that they never show up to your eyes?" Still, even while adjusting to new incoming information, he points Tornaq wordlessly to where he's supposed to sit and get ready to pounce when the floor's cut from beneath him. A quick order to the tech comes as, "Fire up the torch, but don't cut yet." He gestures toward the door with a motion of his head. "Three of you, keep the door secure, watch for anything that takes interest. If it's armed and takes a significant movement toward us, fire a warning shot. If it keeps coming, shoot it. The rest of you, unload the gear from the truck."

Sebastien makes no effort at being sneaky, really. He's kicking aside bath stall doors, looking under tables, and then upending beds in the private rooms, and finally returning to the group. "Looks empty," he admits, giving Gabriel a little shrug as he walks towards Monique. The young man's eyes follow hers up, and he takes a moment to look for that security system while waiting for the techs.

Bartholemew helps to unload the vampire killing gear as he's heard no combat from inside, and it will make the process so much quicker. Just sliding the crates off to the men helping, two men should be able to carry the weapon crates easily enough. Only two, one containing the four other rifle grenade launcher combos loaded up and ready to go, the other with five portable water cannons for heavy vampire killing power, also loaded and ready to go.

"I can only see heat through armor and reinforcements, other forms of radiation that penetrate are too ambiguous." Rubidia answers with a nod. "So those are warm prone things downstairs. Can't see anything else yet."

The great white bear looks to Gabriel, and he gives a nod. Then he touches Monique's shoulder, whuffing a breath. Monique looks to Sebastien, giving him a small smile. Her and Tornaq then move to the appointed spot, and the small Eskimo woman lifts a hand to touch his leg. She speaks quietly in her native tongue again, her features showing concentration as she works magic upon her companion. It's what little she can offer to help him in what he needs to do. And much like with Sebastien, she can only hope it will be enough.

The thugs quickly divide as ordered. One has the torch ready in a second, two guard the door. The other four get lively and unload the truck without question.

Gabriel pauses as he waits for everyone to get to their places. Then his right hand makes a subtle gesture to an area above the bar. Indeed, above the vault door. "Camera in the center. Gotta be more but I don't want to wait. Someone zap it, then we'll start cutting." His mask turns to the bear. "They'll probably know you're coming and in this spot. Move fast, move hard, just knock over anything you hit and keep stomping. Rubidia! Over here, break out the sword. You -" he points to the tech with the torch "- we all start cutting when the camera goes down." He pulls his own Wilk's sword from its position where a belt buckle might be, giving Rubidia an acknowledging nod. "Between the three of us, this should take seconds. Seb, get ready to jump in. We all know the plan." Orders, crisp and clean.

Sebastien jogs back to the door, disappearing outside a brief moment with Bartholemew, and when he returns there's a large-bore 'rifle' slung over his shoulder with a large drum attached. On his belt are a pair of other drums, though for the moment his hands are on his swords. He concentrates a moment longer, murmuring, "Monique, if you would please refresh the protections..?"

Bartholemew follows the other men carrying the crates in and once they are set down he doles out the lanterns to the four men carrying the gear, "You guy might find these handy, should keep any bloodsuckers at bay." If they take em they take em, if not, he tucks them back away and situates his personal gear, getting his CP-50 at the ready, the water rifle slung over his shoulder, a lantern of eternal flame hooked over the barrel of his rifle to hang freely to shine its cross bearing light. With no one answering the call to take out the camera, he draws a pistol and takes a shot to kill its observations.

Rubidia glances to the pointed out camera and a blast of light shoots at it from her eyes. She dashes back to the 'entry area' and draws her own laser sword. She's in position and ready to cut the bear-sized hole.

Monique turns to Sebastien as he calls her name, and then she gives a nod to him. Reaching out her right hand, she touches him and speaks in her native tongue, working the protections back onto him, to refresh them. Once finished with the magic, she reaches to the crossbow that he had given her, readying it. Her dark gaze turns to Gabriel, studying him where he stands near to the bear. "Gabriel... this is my small gift to you. It does not last for very long. A few minutes is all you will have for the armor to last. Use them well, my friend," Monique says softly, tilting her head faintly to one side. She steps to him, lifting a hand to touch his shoulder, and she concentrates as she speaks in her native tongue to gift him with Armor of Ithan as well.

The torch holding thug is also ready to cut, the other four take the lamps and hang them on their belts.

Gabriel's body jerks to look at the tech who's just staring back at him. "Start cutting, damn you, the camera's down," he hisses quietly across the radio. Monique's words and touch surprise him, and his helmet moves as if he's looking around to see what just happened. As nothing seems to have changed, he still offers her a quick thanks, knowing that mages can do odd things. There's no further time for longer gratitude. To punctuate his command to cut, he gets down on a knee, lights up his blade, and digs it into the floor, waiting to see what exactly it's going to bite into. Possibly finding this image as amusing as the cartoons where they do this to cause trouble. He does make one quick change, motioning to one of the four luggage carriers with his free hand. "As soon as the bear's down, you drop in the ladder. Faster than me getting up to do it." Hopefully, the floor's sizzling by now.

It takes about 30 seconds for the trio to cut the bear-sized hole in the floor. The blades cut smoothly and quickly, only really limited by their wielder's speed and the awkward positioning of a coordinated cut that doesn’t collapse lopsidedly. It culminates in a resounding crash as the floor and bear fall into the basement below. Crushing a stainless steel gurney beneath them.

And completely powered up, Sebastien turns on his chainsword and saws, hulk-like strength tearing the blade through the layers of wood and rebar, before the ground gives way. He leaps into the void, trying to clear Tornaq to thud into the ground below in that pile of dust and debris, trying to turn on his swords while clearing the hole for the next person.

In the basement the dust is settling to reveal eleven armed and armored opponents. All of which have rifles, neural maces and vibro-swords, but what they actually wield looks more arranged. Five have neural maces ready, five have vibro-swords ready. Only one wields an L-20 energy rifle.

Bartholemew moves hurriedly to Gabriel and hands him two Frag grenades from his belt, "You might find these handy boss." keeping two others for himself should they be needed and then readies his CP-50 for action.

The divide for the taping area is just a plastic curtain.

Immediately all five sword wielding undead rush to attack the intruding bear with no qualm or regard.

Rubidia simply jumps down, seeing no need to wait for a ladder for such a short drop. The fact she can hover as high might be part of that. This puts her in immediate range to strike at one of the fiends attacking the bear.

Despite that she knew that they would be falling, when it finally happens it comes as a bit of a surprise. On the landing, she lets her knees absorb the bit of momentum gained, then straightens. The two of them take steps out of the way of the hole that the piece of floor made. As the undead start to attack the great white bear, he roars in what could be a defiant manner. He swats aside two of the attacks, and the magical armor on him takes the damage of the third attack. His attention goes to the zombie that hit him, and he attacks there first, with his claws. Monique lifts the crossbow and takes aim at one of the others that attacked, firing off a bolt.

Frowning as his underling failed to drop the ladder as he was supposed to, Gabriel needs to get up, grab it, and drop it in. He quickly climbs down, but is otherwise unable to do anything but give the command, "Tornaq, dammit, just run into them! Hit the guy with the rifle and keep running like you're smacking seals! Monique, daylight outside the vampire hatches, now. Bart, grenades at the zombies *IF* you can do it without hitting the bear. Someone take out the bastard with the rifle. I'm right behind you." Indeed, he is. But climbing down took time.

The thugs were about to put the ladder down the whole, really. But Gabriel beat them to it with his impatience, this leaves them to jump down and open fire at the one with the rifle.

The shots are quite devastating, quickly taking out the armor of the creation. They are far less effective on its flesh though.

The five undead wielding neural maces also rush the bear and add to the fray. Clearly these things are not smart or organized. Swarm the first intruder and beat to death, repeat. luckily none of them can affect the bear through the magic armor.

On the ground, Sebastien's got a mission. The flash of lasers through dust make a pointer straight at Mr. L-20, the lamp atop his head points his attention directly at the wounded zombie. Sebastien charges him in the melee. His laser sword flicks through the air, followed by his chainsword as Sebastien does his best to cut the man in two without stopping.

Bartholemew finally takes his turn to drop down into combat, sliding down the ladder in order to get down quickly firing a burst at one of the zombies, forgoing the grenade in such tight quarters among friendlies. Being the last down the hole he doesn't have to move for anyone else.

The sword-wielding zombies continue to assault the bear single-mindedly. Despite their numerous shortcomings there is enough of them to overwhelm any opponent if they are not dispatched quickly.

Rubidia takes one more swing at her chosen blade-wielding opponent. Before dropping a Blinder grenade. "Shield your eyes!" she cries just before the drop, adequate to protect her teammates. And surely the undead will be two stupid to follow her advice.

The undead Rubidia is attacking is barely in any armor now, just tatters the show bandages wrapping the body underneath.

The small Eskimo woman doesn't look to Gabriel at the issuing of commands. Instead, she turns her attention to each of the hatches in turn, merely to get a feel for where they are. Concentration comes to her features, and she speaks in her native tongue, casting globes of daylight which she directs over to the hatches. Her attention is there, and so it's Tornaq's duty to protect her whilst she works her magic. The energy comes from Tornaq, and the bear doesn't seem to notice or mind. He just keeps doing what he's supposed to be doing -- which is trying to swat the zombies with his claws and get them to fall down and stay down. With that part of her job done, Monique's attention comes again to the great white, the concentration lingering on her features. Monique needs to get in closer to the bear, and so she finds an opening and wriggles through it to be able to reach the bear's side. There, she reaches out to touch him, to refresh his Armor of Ithan, speaking in her native language to do it.

Inside his armored helmet, Gabriel is surprised. When he tried a Blinder on a group of zombies, it went quite poorly. Nevertheless, he doesn't dwell on the issue. His first call is to the men he'd brought in out of nowhere. "Take out their armor one by one, scatter their weapons if you can. At the door! Anything happening out there? In the interest of cutting things down while they have a little time, he suggests what he only knows. "Sebastien, Tim was part of Donna's group, he didn't die 'till his head came off. Check 'em, would you? Bart, lend some fire, then head toward the hatches." He moves outside of the curtain just far enough to get a clear shot at one of the zombies, nursing the trigger of his Wilk's rifle twice, two pulses at the same creature. Even blind, they're moving around and flailing weapons. "Tornaq - try to knock them down, please."

The thugs nod to the orders and open fire at another sword holding armored zombie.

In the wake of the Blinder the undead are floundering like fish out of water. If they weren’t already clustered around the giant bear half of them would surely be attacking a section of wall somewhere. That is not the case though, luckily the bear is still protected and impervious to any mace swings that manage to hit.

"Fire!" Sebastien yells. "Get a fire going! Burn the remains!" The light of his helmet lamp swings wildly, revealing a knight assessing the pile of enemies around Tornaq, and he dives in after with blades overhead. The laser sword tells the tale as Sebastien opens his arms wide, chainsword cleaving into Gabriel's last target and laser sword carving into a new one. He splits his attentions a second time, swiping low left to bottom right, and then drives both blades into his 'new' target for good measure.

Bartholemew shields his eyes from the Blinder before it goes off and then turns his rifle on another armored zombie, firing another couple bursts of laser fire to get that armor off one of the zombies.

Even as the armor is being blasted and cut from their animated corpses the undead are relentless. There is no such thing as surrender except from the opponent should they relent and join them in lifelessness.

As her opponent is unprotected yet invulnerable to her attack Rubidia changes to another opponent still armored, preferably somewhat damaged already so she can finish the job. "Set up some wood and I can light it!" She calls out to her comrades as the need for fire is voiced.

After taking a moment of looking over the undead, she glances briefly towards Sebastien, giving a nod to agree to his words. "They will... assemble themselves again, reattach themselves otherwise," she affirms, looking towards Gabriel. She stays close to the great white bear, to protect him and be protected by him as well. He attacks again, taking a pair of swipes at the undead creatures in the hopes of knocking them down. Looking for another space in the undead, Monique wriggles her way back out in order to gather up some firewood for the fire that will be needed.

"Fire? I don't even have a cigarette lighter," Gabriel says over the radio as he watches and listens to Sebastien go about his work. Instead he simply picks the next zombie who remains armored. "Monique, Rubidia, watch the hatches. Bart, head over there so that the water's on hand as soon as we can use it." He also repeats his previous call. "Topside! How's it look?" Then, at Rubidia's request, he releases one hand from his rifle and grabs six of his wooden stakes - leaving one each, assuming his count is correct. They're tossed as a bundle. "Light that?" Still, he does have time to get that first shot off.

"No one's taking any interest. Kinda expected, the patrols aren’t letting anyone into this block alive." The thugs guarding the door reply. Down in the basement the other five thugs go about stripping armor from more opponents.

Even though all the armor has been blasted or cut from the undead they show no sign of caring. It would seem it was merely a cosmetic feature to make them more bearable to look upon. Lacking that they are utterly disgusting, and still trying to take down a bear still impervious to neural maces.

Rubidia nods and beelines to the small wood pile that the others are contributing. There she settles down and focuses her light on that spot. Soon enough smoke starts to rise.

Bartholemew looks for another armored zombie, seeing none he draws his Falchion, letting his rifle fall to the side and moves in to take some heads off the now unarmored zombies while trying not to get caught in the bear's fury. The closest one getting first chance to taste his blade.

The head is lopped off cleanly, rolling onto the floor. The body seems just as capable without it. Sebastien's laser blade winks out, and he stuffs the chainsword messily back in its sheath. The would-be knight jogs back several steps, reaching to his belt to free a grenade, and he looks up to illuminate it and wave it high over his head. "Get out!" he yells. "Get away from them! Everyone back!"

Two of the sword wielding undead are knocked down and take a moment to recover. The other three keep attacking the bear, even if one is now headless.

Gabriel takes Sebastien's advice, as if he needed it when someone was preparing to use a grenade. Just to be on the safe side, he makes it largely back to the base of the ladder, putting his Wilk's rifle on his back and drawing an old .44 as he goes. The magazine is popped to check - yup, silver - then slammed home. Ass to the blast.

The thugs take the advice to heart and fall back towards Sebastien. Fellow ain’t gonna throw the grenade at himself right?

The mace-wielding undead continue to pummel the bear's impenetrable shield to no effect.

Being already a short distance away from the undead, Monique blinks and looks to Sebastien. Then her attention turns to Tornaq, worry in her dark eyes. The great white bear roars, then tries to shoulder aside any of the undead in his way so that he can lumber as quick as possible to get out of the way. And to get back to Monique. If any of the undead try to follow Tornaq, Monique will work a bit of different magic -- in the form of turn undead, to try to get them to stay clumped where they are.

Rubidia now has a nice little campfire going, easily a dozen torches if all the bits of wood are taken as weapons. For now she works on getting closer to a bonfire, she's gonna need more wood.

Bartholemew doesn't need a second warning and moves as far and as fast as he can away from the vile guards, grabbing his rifle as he runs past for cover.

Cover? Cover would be a good idea. Then again, Sebastien has magic armor encasing him, and distance. He tugs the pin and gives the grenade the gentlest of underhand throws, before diving low and throwing his hands over his head.

The grenade's descent is noiseless amongst the myriad sounds of battle, muffled by carpet as it gently rolls to a stop. The room's lit then in hellish green light as a concussion wave deafens those inside and blows those back who stood too close to the hole above. It's as if God reached down to slap the earth around them, as objects fall from walls and the air is thick with soot, plaster, and burning mummies. Fire burns the carpet under the hole, flames licking up in a chimney, and anyone not wearing a respirator will find breathing hard -- and when oxygen does come, it's half soot anyway.

Gabriel takes the blast surprisingly well; people would be amazed at how close he's been to large explosions. After turning to stand and look, all he asks is, "Theromaric?" Then it's back on task. "That probably woke 'em up. Tornaq, get ready to pop the leftmost hatch, we'll work from there. Monique, keep the globes lit. Bart, Seb get the water ready, I've got the silver." He stops to engage the two flashlights strapped to his forearms. "And shadow. Rubidia, hit whatever you find as fast as you can hit it, just try to note if it's Donna or not so we know when we're done." He rattles of a quick description for everyone, then moves into position to fire on the hatch with silver and photons.

"What about that last one boss?" One of the thugs asks with a gesture to the sole surviving undead creation. The others start slinging their rifles in exchange for the wooden bats.

Yes one mace-wielding undead did manage to escape the holocaust that consumed its brethren, it is still trying to stun an immune polar bear.

As the grenade's explosion rings out, Monique ducks down a bit. Tornaq turns away from the blast as well, shielding the small woman with his body. They both have a hard time breathing once the explosion has passed. Monique gets caught up in a fit of coughing, resorting to leaning against Tornaq to essentially try to breathe through the bear's fur. These two take the explosion less well than others, having not been through anything similar before. The globes of daylight are still in place, since they last a good while per casting, thankfully. Tornaq shakes his head a bit, grumbles, then shakes it a bit more.

Rubidia might be able to handle the last cretin. With a lightning quick dash the brightly let heroine rushes the fiend to grab it then drag it back to her fire.

Bartholemew, thankful for EBA armor right now, sheaths his sword moving into position getting to one knee back from the first vault to have a clean shot inside once open, setting his CP-50 on the ground next to him while unshouldering the water rifle.

Sebastien slowly lifts his head, shaking it as the bells begin to settle. His eyes fix on the burning bodies liberally strewn about -- in pieces, more often than not -- and is vaguely grateful for his air filter. Scraping himself from the ground, the would-be knight reaches back for his shotgun, yelling, "Who's taking out their armor?"

Gabriel watches the slight delay as Monique and Tornaq shelter, and Rubidia does an odd dash past the remaining zombie. As the neural mace-armed creature continues to take whacks at his people, the old colonel uses a hooked finger to indicate the solitary undead. He speaks first to the men who were recruited to fight with him. "You. Disarm that thing, throw it on the fire, make sure it burns." He moves along, as Sebastien brings up an interesting question. His .44 is holstered, the Wilk's unslung. "I'll cover the armor as best I can, if it becomes an issue. Otherwise, same plan. Tornaq pops, vampire identification, light, water applied. Let's go." He moves himself into a position to fire on the leftmost hatch, assuming that the worker ants will have the brains to disarm and burn one zombie all by themselves.

The thugs can certainly try to do that, all four rush the thing bats in hand and try to first know the mace away then drag it to the fire.

Monique buries her face in Tornaq's fur for a long moment, breathing in the scent of bear. It's a familiar scent, and oddly reassuring to her. Lifting her head away, she peers over to Gabriel, then over to Sebastien, eyeing him for a moment longer. Then she lifts her left hand to lightly pat the great bear, and then the two of them start to make their way towards the hatch that Gabriel seems to have lined himself up with. Tornaq rumbles softly, moving with Monique to the hatch. With the great white bear towering over her, Monique reaches out to the lever to do the obvious -- and see if the door happens to be unlocked, trying to open it.

The lever pulls easily to open the hatch, signaling that it is indeed unlocked. Just before jets of pitch black smoke start being blasted from every corner of the basement. It will only be a few seconds before the entire area is subsumed in utter blackness.

Sebastien shoulders the rifle, reaching forward to grab the bolt and rack it smartly. "What the..?" he yells, hand twitching without reaching for his helmet. "They're not hot! Thermo won't work!" Sebastien pulls his left hand off the rifle, reaching it towards the opening door and yelling aloud, "Bang bang!" There's a soft 'thoomp!' And then a softer 'bang!' as a grenade goes off inside the newly opened room.

Black smoke was definitely not something that either of them had been expecting. Tornaq rumbles and gives his head a shake. Then as Sebastien comes forward to fire a grenade in the hole, the great white bear snatches up Monique by the back of her clothes. Lifting her off her feet, he lumbers to the side and does what he can to shelter her from the imminent bang.

Despite Sebastien's advice, Gabriel flips his thermals on, as at worst, it can't hurt if something warm does enter the clouded room. While it may be too late, he calls to the great bear. "Tornaq! Lean your fat ass against the other hatches, hold 'em closed! Ruby, gimme some sunlight, Bart, just shoot into the hole!" After a slight pause, "Someone tell me how to get rid of this fucking smoke." Since he has no better target right now, he maintains his rifle's position where it had been on the hatch, and fires off two pulses.

The thugs have been told to cook the undead until extra crispy. Ain't no other order smoke or not, so they keep doing that, the fire providing some effect against the black smog.

Even Rubidia is starting to dim in the encroaching clouds. Her normal light only offering vision within 10 feet of her once subsumed. Till then though she can certainly answer Gabriel's call and blast door number one with light.

Bartholemew is ready as soon as that door opens to unleash his watery fury on the creature suspected inside, however, the smoke takes him by surprise causing him to hesitate in his firing only launching a single water grenade into the open hatchway when he gets back to his senses. "VENT THE CEILING!" he shouts over the radio.

Like a moth to a flame, Sebastien follows the light. He can see Rubidia blasting light into a dark hole, so he follows that light until it's lost, and then turns back for the fire in the center of the room. When he can see the burning hole in the ceiling, he points his forearm weapon up to blast up at an angle, hoping to puncture the ceiling two floors up.

The small Inuit woman is placed back to her feet, the great white bear doing so carefully. He rumbles softly, keeping his nose to her shoulder. With the darkness of the smog, Monique speaks again in her native language, doing so quietly as she casts her magic upon herself. This time, it's eyes of the bear, and much like before, she's drawing the energy for it from the great white bear next to her. Falling quiet, she takes a look around, trying to get her bearings on where Tornaq took her to in the room. The two of them start to move towards one of the other hatches, at least, for the bear to do as Gabriel had asked.

Man in charge can't think of everything. That's possibly a good way to get rid of the fucking smoke. Gabriel mentally smacks himself for not having thought of opening up the ceiling. Just as he's about to give the order, Sebastien takes the initiative, and he's allowed to move on to other issues. "Ruby, move toward the hatches. Monique, if the hatches are already open, fall back on Rubidia. If not, just stay there and keep them closed. Bart, Sebastien, regroup on Rubidia. If anyone can create magic wind, now would be the time," comes his final grunted order. Then, rather than remaining in the smoke any longer than necessary, he simply makes a quick beeline to where the hatches and his light-bright soldier were only a few seconds before, using the butt of his rifle as a sweeping bat and blind-man's cane as he moves with haste.

The thugs keep cooking on their fire, keeping calm despite the chaos about them.

Rubidia moves closer to the hatches as instructed, her hands up to blast anything that might come at her out of the smoke.

Bartholemew didn't consider this issue before coming down so he is definitely shooting blind. But hell can't hurt to spray the place down. He fires two blasts of water from the rifle in the same direction the grenade went, not moving from position just yet, this might be his last shot with a chance to hit something.

Success! Sort of. Sebastien turns back into the soupy gloom, his head lamp showing a great deal of nothing. In the mean time, Sebastien sits and waits. "Calm down!" he yells. "We can wait! They cannot. Outside is sunlight. The smoke will clear."

Something tumbles a cross the floor past Gabriel, and a explosion goes off behind him. Clear miss.

The blind leading the blind, it is. But with not being able to see, it's difficult to locate any of the other hatches. And Sebastien raises a very good point. A point which prompts Tornaq to reach out with a paw to pull Monique closer to him so that he can hopefully protect her better that way. With another explosion going off, Tornaq again does what he can to shield her from it.

"They shouldn't be able to move quickly either, Sebastien, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be in a good position to hit them..." Gabriel is in the middle of saying as an explosion goes off behind him. He calmly issues the information, "Either grenades are falling from the sky, or something's already in the smoke." After a quick moment of silent contemplation, he offers, "Maybe it's the waitresses. Ruby, head right as we face the hatches, keep going until we hit the dormitory. I'll stay with you. Bart, feel along and catch up. Sebastien, use your speakers. Monique, Tornaq, follow the sound, find Sebastien. Go. Sound off if there are better ideas."

The thugs are still burning mum. Take a long time to cook a dead person over an open fire you know.

Another object is thrown past Bart followed by another explosion. Another miss, but closer this time.

And another, this time at the thugs and their cook fire. All try to get clear, abandoning their task.

The explosion catches three of them and obliterates the undead. All survive though.

"It's not the waitresses, I can still see there thermals in the room. All huddled together, cowering." Rubidia informs Gabriel, and holds her position since the order is on faulty info. Rather she takes out her bow to shoot some more holes in the ceiling.

Bartholemew decides waiting is just what he is going to do, not letting the explosions deter him. While he waits he fires two more blasts of water towards the open vault in hopes they hit something that don't like getting wet.

The basement is still thick with smoke, and probably will be for a few more minutes yet. On the south end bits of the fire still burn, though scattered by the last grenade. Out from it are the scattered thugs, now lost in the turmoil. On the north of the south half is Rubidia, keeping close to the 4 hatches as others close in on her light through the smoke. Above the southernmost hatch a hole in the ceiling lets daylight down to a 5 foot area. Doesn’t help visibility, but the vampires can't like it.

Sebastien is ... doing a whole heck of a lot of not a lot. He can't see any enemies, nor any friends. He has a good command of the one place vampires don't want to be. He sits sentry and waits to see Monique and Tornaq again.

Gabriel returns to his old tactic, not taking the time to thank Rubidia for her information. "Sebastien, Monique, stay at where you are at the hatches. Rubidia, keep me company, we're going to meet them at a run. The vampires shouldn't be able to come out in strength, because it's daytime if nothing else. Bart, keeping pumping unless you think you've killed something. We're going to use Ruby as a traveling torch once we've met, Seb. Move quick, stay in her light, find what's chucking bombs at us." As he issues orders, he swaps out his Wilk's rifle for the NTI, possibly banking on the chance that a hard enough hit would knock something over.

Rubidia doesn’t exactly understand what Gabriel has in mind, but she can follow instructions easy enough, in a second she's beside him, shooting the ceiling again.

Bartholemew continues firing his weapon. Unless something stops him he is going to keep the water flowing and soak everything.

The thugs are separated and lost in the smoke, no one telling them what to do they clutch their bats and swing at shadows.

Tornaq gives a quiet rumble, an inquisitive sort of sound as he touches his nose to Monique's shoulder. With Sebastien standing under the hole in the roof, it does at least make him more visible. And it gives a spot to head towards, which is what the pair start to do -- slowly, and carefully. Since they weren't by one of the hatches in particular, they don't feel a particularly pressing need to stay where they'd been. She'd rather be in at least partial daylight where she can see something rather than nothing.

Sebastien approaches the dynamic duo, using that pause to turn his blazing cross-for-a-face down at Monique and reach for her shoulder, to give it a squeeze. He then turns his face back into the murk, head sweeping left and right, waiting ... and then jogging as he catches a glimpse of Rubidia, shouldering his shotgun and keeping it pointed low.

Gabriel maintains calm, but it can be heard in his voice, "Why'd you shoot the ceiling, Ruby?" Sebastien and the other two receive a wave, glad to see them alive. "Seems to have been a lull in grenade tossing, Seb. Ruby. Let's take a run around and see if we can't find anything. I'll heft for any armor," he says, raising the big pulse rifle. "Monique, you stay there. If you see anything - tear it to pieces." He gives Ruby and Sebastien a look through his visor. "Let's do it at a good pace, I don't want to be outrun. Go for it, Ruby."

Rubidia starts moving at a pace everyone can keep up with, slow but it works, making for a wall then starting a circuiting perimeter. She's got an idea of what Gabriel is up to now. Just takes some luck. And she can keep shooting when there aren’t vamp targets. "Need more skylights." She answers to explain that.

And a vampire is shown seconds later, a male one.

Another grenade is thrown, going off in the circuiting group's wake.

Bartholemew doesn't seem to be hitting anything but walls, but he wouldn't know if he hit something regardless. Squirt Squirt. Two more blasts of water to douse the area.

The thugs continue to wander and swing blindly.

Boom! One thug is toast with an anguished scream

The vampire that was revealed blinks as the light comes his way and shows his location, armed with several explosives. But he can't stand the light and immediately makes to flee.

Monique gives a small nod at the squeeze her shoulder earns, a little smile coming to her features. She watches him then head to join Rubidia and Gabriel, and she stays where she is. There isn't really much that she can do at this point anyways. Though she does still have the globes of daylight that she can move. And so she watches, and waits to see if there might be any use for doing so. When the vampire starts to flee, Monique moves the globe of daylight from the open hatch that had been fired into, putting it into the vampire's path to try to stop him.

There's a figure? There's a figure! Sebastien squints into the darkness, but failing to recognize him he shoulders that shotgun and empties it towards the vampire, before raising an arm and lobbing a stun grenade at him with a somewhat high-pitched yell off 'bang bang!'

As the creature appears in his face, Gabriel calls, "Monique, they're out! Give yourself another globe!" After steadying himself against the flash-bang, he is rather shocked at the apparent ease with which Sebastien blows the thing away. This isn't technically his first vampire, but it is the first one trying to kill him. His rifle is allowed to fall against his shoulder, and he grabs one of his remaining stakes, ready to pound it into the creature's heart using the butt of his pistol, if necessary.

Rubidia smirks as Sebastien nearly blasts the vampire in half. "That works," She says encouragingly, keeping the pace to continue the circuit.

Another explosion signals the end of another member of the hired help. Good help is so hard to find.

Bartholemew continues firing, moving to spread the water blasts around the room, looking to nab that one trying to flee that happened to get blown to bits. He may hit his friends, but hey, it's just water.

Three thugs remain still lost, and blissfully aware of their dwindling number. Well they can tell someone died..

Another grenade goes off, missing a thug and everyone else.

Rather than cast herself another globe, Monique merely moves the one that she had put into the path of the vampire which now has a very large hole in it. Once it's positioned closer to her, she keeps it there since it'll at least give herself and Tornaq some manner of protection -- or so she hopes. Tornaq remains near to her, watchful and wary. At least standing under the hole in the ceiling should help the smog to be thinner where she is.

Rubidia keeps running around the basement at a normal person's pace. Just for fun she does so backwards...

And she reveals another male vampire!

A grenade flies past Sebastien to detonate harmlessly..

Bart takes aim at the revealed vampire, two shots from the water cannon.

Encountering this new vampire isn't nearly as exciting for Gabriel, nor is he nearly as dramatic. Without comment, he raises his twin forearm-lamps, hoping that the shadow of the cross does actually mean something. Also perhaps hoping that three pairs of eyes in the light among fading smoke will increase their chances of finding the remaining vampires in a room that isn't very large to begin with, when according to his information provided by experts, the beasts should be staggering around like a sorority girl with hangover anyway. He can hope. He does. The lamps focus on the vampire.

The vampire falls to the ground under the scolding attack from the flashlights.

Shifting her position a bit, Monique follows as the 'vampire battleship' of hits and misses continues. When another is revealed, she lifts the crossbow to take aim, but finds it unnecessary to use one of the bolts as the vampire is slaughtered by the others. Tornaq continues to keep watch over her.

Sebastien's jogging! On the plus side, his armor is taking up a lot of the slack. On the minus, he's coming to realize two facts. This hole is awful small to not be running into vampires very quickly. And there's enough wine in this cellar to have one hell of a victory celebration when they're done -- oh wait! Vampire! Sebastien stops his jogging and yanks a stake off his belt, kneeling at its side and placing the stake over the heart of the creature.

Sebastien uses the strength of his armor suit to drive the stake into the tough flesh, cursing and pounding it in at an angle when he bounces off a rib. As he stands, his hands are covered in the black blood stolen from a dozen men.

Another vampire dispatched. How many more to go now? only one per hatch? Hard to say in all. Rubidia just keeps her circuit going, its working after all.

Bart takes two shots at the fiend who threw the grenade at Rubidia.

Huh, it worked. Gabriel can't help but be happily surprised to see the vampire take a dive under something as simple as a pair of flashlights. He makes a mental note to write a glowing letter to the local paper, expounding the virtues of the good people at Duracell. As Rubidia takes off, he draws his .44 on the move, and can't help but be surprised by the explosion but glad that it missed him. "There should only be four, and this is the third male, I guess the last secondary," he says as he lines up his arms once more. "Next one should be Donna herself." Beams of light lance out, forgoing use of the handgun for now.

Monique and Tornaq continue to watch and, for the most part, find themselves with essentially little to do. With her magic rendered useless, that's seemed to leave her with the job of 'stay out of the way'. Though when the vampire doesn't go down from the attacks of the others, she lifts the crossbow to take aim at the creature's heart before taking the shot for it. Here's to a little bit of luck.

The last vampire is shot through the heart and the pace of the encounter changes. The smoke finally clears shortly after to show the three incapacitated vampires. One regenerating in the opened hatch still, and quickly staked. All four apparently were male, which is contrary to other reports. The basement is revealed in shambles, nearly a dozen craters scattered about. Half of the wine has been destroyed. It's not until the following evening when any change is noted shortly before the scheduled opening of the club. A portal opens just long enough for a sealed envelope to be sent through.

The morning certainly didn't go the way that Gabriel had intended. But, a battle that everyone can walk away from completely unharmed and pseudo-victorious is a good one. He has remained at the club all day, speaking with the cleaning crew who likely arrived, and possibly some friends of his from one of the more famous organizations of the 'Dregs. Difficult questions to answer, like, 'Why is my basement blown to shit and a dozen new skylights?' Still, he does his best, waiting to see what his comrades do. When the portal opens, he grabs for the letter, looks for an address, and opens it.

Sebastien's been nursing a bottle of wine. A glass here, a glass there, never enough to make him drunk but plenty enough to have toasted 'Fucking Donna' half a dozen times and their success at least as many. He seems to exist for getting unhappy looks from the cleaning crew, being the large fellow in armor with a really big gun and liquor in hand.

Rubidia is willing to see it all through, in no real hurry to leave the scene and its aftermath. She raises a brow as the letter arrives. "That’s ominous."

Gabriel doesn't bother to hand over the letter, just summarizes it for his friends. "Donna got away. After months and months of you suffering, after months and months of my planning, she got away without so much as showing her face. Pisses you off, doesn't it?" More of a statement really, than a question. "Claims that she was warned yesterday, and has shifted away with loads of cash to start somewhere new. I guess that load of cash that we might have been awarded went with her. Odd that the timing, but what can you do?"