Jul 10 107 PA - The End of the Slug

From Chronicles

When she sees the exodus, Vixen will be quick to get word out to Cel, Ash and Jack. With the final note to bring trusted muscle for the struggle. She'll pick out a place to gather, one with some trees or the cover of buildings to settle into and wait where she can keep tabs on the place visually. She has a bag of grenades in hand, all of them city safe and she keeps a close eye on the environs, including her augmented hearing.

Ash will have contacted Bridget and gave her the very skinny, surprise attack on the nibbler brain slug. Met up with her and arrived with her most likely, or at least told her the location of where to meet. He'll do his best to stay out of clear view of the mansion itself, and the reason will become clear when everyone finally gathers and he comments to them, "Remember, there is security camera's and motion detectors in -every- room once inside as far as I could tell. Tracking us will be amazingly easy what with the foot traffic all being removed to the park." He otherwise, seems ready to go like always, dressed in his light armor, having only his pistols, and only one of those being overly destructive in power compared to the old style .45 caliber bullets his secondary pistol fires.

Bridget didn't need a whole lot of convincing, or even time to get ready. A slug-killing party? She'd bring the beer... right along with her armor and pistol. She even put up with Ash for this, walking in with him. "So... they'll know we're there as soon as we go in. Guess we'll have to move pretty quick, then."

Celaeno will actually be in her body armour, this time around - a suit of modified NG scout armour - though her sword complement has been reduced to two, though she has what appears to be a pry-bar slung across her back as well. Upon her arrival she'll begin lingering near Vixen, seated idly against a gravestone whenever she isn't sidling from place to place. She doesn't seem particular talkative.

Vixen looks towards Ash as he comes, picking out a quartet of grenades. They get lined up on top of a gravestone. The flashbang, smoke and tear gas are all discreetly marked, easy to identify. The blinder is a bit more odd. A sphere pitted with recessed lenses all around it. "Party favors," she murmurs. "Careful with the blinder." She points it out. "So bright even armor won't save your eyes." She'll put out a fresh line of them for Bridget as well, then another for Cel. "The others we don't have to worry about so much. If you see some common folk, drive them off with the tear gas. Need cover, the smoke. The flash bangs you can toss around a little more wildly when you need to distract." She glances back towards the place and says, "Since we can't get in quiet, we just go in straight. Cel and me out front. I've got Jack watching from another spot. He'll make sure we know if any crowds come up behind us. We'll sweep rooms, First floor, then second, then basement if that's where we have to go. The rest of you can watch the back and sides.. keep everyone covered and stay together."

Gathering up his portion of grenades and new nifty bang-bang toys, Ash notes, "When I was in the basement, didn't seem used and didn't see anyone on the way out of there either." He shrugs a bit, "Doesn't mean they didn't move it down there but... I get the feeling this thing wants to be the Lady of the Manor as it were, and not locked up in the basement." Each grenade finds an easily accessibly place on his belt, yay for utility belts. Sunglasses get placed over his wide dark eyes, just in case, never know when he might need the shades along with the protective nature of multi-optic eyes after all.

"Straight in sounds good to me. Lot simpler than tiptoeing around." Bridget looks over the the grenades before sticking them onto her belt. "Thanks for the party favors, too. Better than just putting holes in everybody. Sounds like you got everything all planned out. I'm ready." Celaeno takes the grenades without complaint, sequestering them about herself. Rising to her feet, she cocks her head at Ash's statement before giving a generic shrug. Her head turns to follow Vixen, thumb hooking idly around a sword-hilt.

"Good," Vixen murmurs to Ash. "It'll probably be on the second floor, then. But I want to make sure the first floor is clear of threats before we go up so we won't get trapped." Her eyes flit to Bridget and she says, "Do what you can to disable them, but keep in mind.. we're going in there to take this thing down. And some people might be left and might get in our way. Whatever gets in our way has to be moved. One way or another." She straightens, the bag shifted to her hip. "I'll take care of the grenades up front, since I have the surplus. Any questions?" She looks around at the others slowly.

Ash just flashes a grin at Vixen in answer, no questions from him. With everything new settled about his person he seems to bounce up and down on his tip-toes every now and again, as if ready to be off and moving.

Bridget shakes her head and picks up a grin. Ash's must be contagious. "Nope. Just don't forget to duck when we find her royal sliminess. I -will- start shooting then." She really didn't like things messing with her head, but figures everybody else probably agrees. "Let's go."

Her head bobbing up and down, Celaeno moves in closer to Vixen as things seem to get ready to be underway. The helmet shakes a 'negative' to the question about questions, though she does break her silence briefly for an overly chipper, "Just remember not to get bit." Vixen glances around at them all one more time, then puts her helmet on, sealing it. She picks out one of the grenades with her left hand, a blinder, and her right pulls her pistol. "Alright, lets do this shit," she states, turning to start stalking towards the mansion. For general purposes, she's going to for the back entrance. Less street coverage, less directions to look on the way in.

Ash will follow, if slowly by his normal standards of what 'moving in' is. His armor doesn't seal unfortunately, which means one unlucky explosion or grenade and there'd be bits and pieces of Ash all over, if he was unable to get clear the blast that is. Pistol comes out and is switched to his left hand, making sure it's got the fully charged long e-clip slotted into it's port. He moves at whatever pace it is Vixen sets but still does his best (within that pace) to avoid any camera's that he might have been able to spot on his previous trip.

Bridget plays follow the leader as they head for the mansion. She's not really sneaky even if her armor isn't -that- heavy, but they're not really going for sneaky. Her pistol's there, but she keeps her hands free to use her nifty party favors for right now. "Watch out for the trees this time, Ash." Now that she's got her helmet on, he can't see her wink, but he can probably figure it out.

Celaeno follows along as well - humming behind her helmet with the occasional chuckle. A group of heavily armed and armoured people slipping into the upper class neighborhoods? That doesn't sound suspicious in the least. Her weapons remain away for the moment, focusing her attention on the surroundings, looking for any sudden shift in the situation.

The back entrance of the Mansion consists of an expansive deck and two frech doors. One leating to the kitchen and the other leading to a living room. Before the one to the kitchen a massive brick barbeque sits unused as an impressive feature to the deck. Infront of the door to the living room are a half doxen deck tables with chairs and umbrellas. The is a cevilian among them, blond hair, slim build, hairy legs. He's only wearing a pair of shorts though with the arrival of the group he immediately stands.

Bridget is quick to spot the man, and quick to act... but she doesn't. Twitchy isn't always the best thing when you're not in front, so she hesitates, on purpose. Bouncing a flash-bang off the back of Celaeno's head and into the middle of them wouldn't be so hot.

Vixen doesn't hesitate a tick on this guy. "On the fucking floor," she snaps, moving right at him with her gun leveled. Whether the faceless countenance of her helmet helps or not with her sharp demand is left for the ages, but he's flesh and her handgun is big. "One twitch and you're mist." Her voice a snarl.

Ash simply moves forwards with Vixen, keeping an eye out for others who might raise the alarm. He doesn't pre-empt Vixen's words with any actions of his own however, instead holding back on doing anything untowards until there is cause to. Like Mr. Shorts deciding to start shouting or something. Then he might do something, until then though he's following Vixen's lead like a good little soldier.

Celaeno's eyebrows go up behind her helmet as Vixen charges in expecting the man to respond rationally. Sweeping up to keep close to her, she flashes out a short sword, but little else apparent.

The man does not speak, nor does he get down on the ground as the aggressive woman orders. He's unphased by Celaeno's intense stare too. His next course may not be wise but he shows no signs of fear or intimidation as her takes a deck chair and throws it at Vixen's gun in one fluid motion.

"Fuck this... we can't slow down..." Bridget growls and pushes ahead, pulling her... glove? She slaps at Mr. Shorts with the bared hand. It won't kill him, but the jolt she plans to give him should ruin his day.

"New plan, don't ask next time," Vixen growls as she snaps up her handgun after having the chair knock it loose of her grip. She nods to Bridget, approval of her method of handling the guy. "Ash, scope it." SHe points at the door that leads into the kitchen. "Cover him." Noted to Bridget. She then looks to Cel and nods towards the other door. "Let us know if anyone is in there," she murmurs to Ash as she eases close to the kitchen door to peek in a window carefully.

Ash flicks his vision to thermal, yay for bionic eyes, and see's if he can get a bead on anything on the off chance, latent recent footprints, marks on door handles, or anything of the sort. Heck if he's lucky maybe he'd even pick something up through thin interior walls. He also activates his augmented hearing and zips up quietly towards the indicated door to check and get a feel as best he can to see if there's anything or anyone on the other side that would be a worry. He obviously doesn't answer verbally, instead simply acting.

With the man dropping cold in a twitching mass of unpleasantness, Celaeno grunts in agreement with Vixen's decision before stiffening slightly. "On your toes," she says, producing her other sword in a trained motion before moving to her door, moving to open it a crack with one hand while the other sword remains raised.

The thermal doesnt so a lot of activity but it does show some. Foot print leat to the large stone fireplace that dominates the room and the to a low shelf at the side where a sole candle burns brightly. They then leave the room. In the kitchen where Cel is investigating little looks to be out of place.

• BZZT* *THUD* Bridget wasn't expecting to totally short out Shorts, but that works. "Got it." She nods back to Vixen and tucks the glove into her belt. Just in case she needs to bitchslap another poor schmuck. It's still nicer than vaping. She moves with Ash, hanging just back from the living room door while he peeks and listens. She keeps alert for things, too, since he's not the only one with good eyes and ears. "How's it look?" Sure, he'll probably tell her eventually, but it can't hurt to ask quietly.

The kitchen is very well decked out with a full gass range and grill. Bigger than most apartments, several cooks could prepare meals there comfortably.

After inspecting the kitchen briefly, Vixen looks towards Ash and Bridget. "We'll move through the kitchen to the living room, be ready." She then looks to Cel and nods her head before nudging the door to be opened further, she slipping in first, gun leading and the grenade precisely held in hand. Her augmented hearing is primed, the young woman listening for voices.. footsteps as she moves through the kitchen, heading for the obvious second exit.

"Someone's been through here recently, went to the fireplace, lit a candle and placed it on the bookshelf, then left the room heading deeper inside." Ash says quietly over their secure channel, or just in a whisper really if need be and they aren't using their radio's. "Nobody in there right this second, but there is still trace heat on the floor from the walker. Couldn't have been that long ago. If anyone's in the living room now, they're invisible and not conducting heat." Seems he gave it a pretty thorough once over once the guy was down and twitching.

And just as soon as Ash says that he is suddenly zipping for the candle as fast as he can, might not be the wisest course of action but off he goes, tearing through the door to the living room and into the living room as quick as he can to try and snuff the candle with one armored hand. As he starts to run those who can hear real well might have heard him say 'Gas!' in a startled whisper.

As Ash goes tearing through the door opposite, Celaeno hesitates, moving to stop Vixen from getting too far into the kitchen. She calls back to Bridget, "What's happening?" Her hearing apparently isn't anything special, she remains on edge - poised to slam the kitchen door should the need arise.

Be it the haste or trying to snuff the candle out as opposed to blowing it simply was not to be. The narrow candle tumbles to the floor with the attempt and in its wake blue orange flames erupt.

The explosion is massive, but lacks the concusion of true explosives. Rather the gas ignites with a large foom that engulfs the living room and kitchen in less than a second.

Bridget is after Ash quickly, just not as quick. It's still quick enough that it's reflex, or duty, or just moving faster than her brain can figure out what he was doing and said... and then the room goes from burning to exploding. She dives for Ash and the floor, and probably gets some help getting to one or the other from the foom.

Vixen pauses at Cel's touch, easing back again, outside the door. "Gas?" She turns her head, augmented hearing catching the whisper. Mind clicking to the potential a moment before the blast. She goes down in a dive towards the deck, the flames that burst through the kitchen door rolling harmlessly over her. Likely helps to have that armor on, turning back the incidental heat. After a shocked moment she starts to get up. "Motherfucker!" she swears with gusto.

Ash doesn't realize Bridget is following him, when he fumbles in smushing the candle flat and instead knocks it down to where it ignites the flammable gas that's been building up for however long... which is odd in and of itself... regardless when there's the burst of flame Ash is already moving, instinct and speed making him fly right for the nearest door -out- of the living room and through it as the rooms explode into fiery explosive inferno type thing. Rolling as he hits the ground Ash already starts to come up ready, just sure he's gone from out of the fire and straight into hell. "Motherfucker is right." He says to nobody in particular, reaching to pull out a bandana and fashion it into a crude sort of air-filter/gas-mask type thing.

As the fire shoots its way past her, Celaeno quickly leaps through the door, pushing back on it either in a vain attempt to hold back the force, or for the extra leverage to leap out of the way. With a rather graceful pirouette, she lands just in time to trip into one of the chairs, turning to Vixen, "There goes any surprise we may have had. We need to try and find this thing before the place burns down - if it's going to. Upstairs?"

In the wake of the explosion the Living room and kitchen lie gutted and charred. The gas lines from the fireplace and stove spew gouts of flame into each room and the residual heat from the explosion nulls any thermal readings for the next little bit. But hey, could have been worse.

Bridget was just a -little- slow, and picks her smoking butt off the floor. Now she can catch up with Ash, at least. Her armor's singed and her bare hand is a little ...charred, but she's up and moving. "If it's this way, you'd better run quick!" She yells back to Vixen and Celaeno across the room that's sort of on fire.

"Let's move," Vixen growls, confirming as she gains her feet. She shoulders into the kitchen. Might as well sweep through it on the way. With her armor sealed, she can cut through the place unaffected. She'll make her way through, around to to the living room. Scoping out any doors that might be present. She's not too worried about the fire, given the strength of modern armor. But she won't walk through what she doesn't have to.

Ash isn't sure what door he went through, but it wasn't the kitchen door for sure, so he's surely further into the mansion than he was prior to trying to snuff that candle out. Taking a look around Ash looks over at Bridget briefly and raises an eyebrow, "Might want to put your glove back on hon." He says softly to Bridget, noting with a head nod towards the sounds of their companions coming to catch up.

The room Ash and Bridget are now in is a long side study with one other exit at the other end and exterior windows to the sides. Xander enters from the far end, armored with his mace crackling. "Back again so soon?" He asks, sounding utterly pleased to see Ash again.

Celaeno falls into step behind Vixen, keeping close while she puts away the larger of her two swords. Looking over the damage to the kitchen, she shakes her head slightly - what a waste of valuable property - while she goes, trying to avoid the fire.

As soon as Xander comes in, even though he sounds so pleased Ash is already moving, and fast towards the crackling Mace wielder. Since his pistol is already out he intends to use it. "Yep, and for keeps this time." Ash says, his grin audible even if it's hidden behind his bandana. His first order of business is to close on Xander so as to not be trapped in another bubble and not to remain in one place so that he isn't caught by that same trick again, and even if Xander should try it, he'll at least be up close and personal with Ash. Two quick rapid fire laser pulses burst out from Ash's pistol, the lasers somehow (heh) managing to outdistance even the quick-flex in their race towards the target.

Making sure that Vixen remains in close proximity, Celaeno makes her way to the sounds of scuffling, though once she's joined the action, her head cocks to the side for a moment before her second sword makes its appearance. She seems content to simply stand and wait, and watch, if only for the moment.

"Yeah..." Leaving the glove off seemed a good idea before, but not now. Bridget tugs it back on, ignoring the crispy, crackling sounds. "So now wha- nevermind." Xander just answered her question. If it didn't, Ash running in again did. She could throw a party favor, or shoot, but Ash is in close and kind of in the way. Instead, she rushes in right after, around Ash. Her hands are still empty, so she'll just use her body to try and check and toss him. All they really have to do is get him out of their way, anyways. Out one of those handy side windows would be even better, but just out of the way works, too.

Vixen does keep close to, but not crowding in against Cel, the sound of a new voice and shooting making that direction her choice as well. Once inside, she pauses as Cel does and asks no questions nor banters. She starts preparing to shoot, but as Bridget gets in close and personal, she holds up the attack and the bubble rises. "God damn it, we don't have time for this shit," she growls, thinking.

Xander chuckles as Ash rushes him and the shots taken are harmlessly absorbed by his armor's shielding. "How does one so foolish manage to live so long?" He asks before Bridget takes him down to the ground. He was expecting a lot of things, being takled by Brdiget was not one of them.. Recovers quickly though with a slight shrug of annoyance before focussing on Ash to shut down his body.

Ash shrugs off the mental attack by the mind melter, "And you still don't get it do you, still just an egotistical asshole." Ash moves at speed, one hand on the force field he traces it to the wall and then fires a single burst into the wall at about head height and another at the roof straight above it where the roof meets the wall as he goes about making himself a foothold in the wall and an access point to the second floor, or trying to anyways.

A slight buzzing - which is shortly followed by a decidedly familiar crackling - seems to fill the room as Celaeno nods to herself, moving to put herself in the thick of it all. In true comic form, she bounces off the invisible wall, blinking at Ash's zipping with a new appreciation, but it doesn't make her job particularly easier. Up go her swords, and down they crash.

"Don't wait! I got Mr. Chuckles..." Bridget's between a wall and a head case, and doesn't worry about the wall. Xander seems a little busy doing... whatever it is he's doing, so she keeps in his face. And arms, chest, or anything else she can grab hold of to toss him back, keep him off balance, and closer to a window. Shit floats, but can assholes fly?

Xander is a decent sized man. Granted many beings are deceptively strong but he just wasnt tinking of Bridget as one of them. That is until she picked him up and sent him crashing through the bar in the next room. Rising he's beginning to realise this bold female may be enough for him to worry about.

Vixen seems willing to let Bridget take the guy if she thinks she can do it herself. "Cel, c'mon. Let's get up there." She stows the blinder in her bag before she moves after Ash, going to follow him up the foot hold he made to drag herself up to the second floor. Xander is a decent sized man. Granted many beings are deceptively strong but he just wasnt tinking of Bridget as one of them. That is until she picked him up and sent him crashing through the bar in the next room. Rising he's beginning to realise this bold female may be enough for him to worry about.

There are times like this, when every D&D nerd in the world that was would yell about not having rope. Unfortunately, Ash doesn't have rope. What he does have is 900 lb test line nylon cord though and it doesn't take him long to make his ascent. With a leap he plants a foot in the hole he shot in the wall and then springing straight up Ash plunges his arms up through the whole in the roof to grab hold and pull himself through as well. Assuming he's not instantly attacked up there, he'll uncoil the nylon rope down and start pulling the other two women up without a word, and yes, he's quite strong enough to handily do so, both at the same time if need be. There's a reason it's 900 lbs worth of test after all... Or such is his intention.

Celaeno only sheathes one of her swords as she eyes the rope, checking the door quickly before moving to shamble up it. "Follow up close," she mumbles to Vixen, before calling to Ash to leave the rope hanging until Vixen grabs on.

Bridget's not a threat. She's sweet and cuddly. All those were just really big hugs. "You know, you can stop getting up any time..." Now that no one's in the way, and Xander isn't blocking anyone, she draws her pistol to put a burst of slugs at him. Maybe that'll make him want to stay down.

Stop getting up? Just as the foolish woman stops her advantage? Not likely. First Xander sends a wave of mental will at her in payback for her block and throw. Then he follows up with a blow from his mace.

Vixen will let Cel go up first, then get on the rope. She's not trained for it, so she's slow. Strong, but slow. "Pulling would be faster," she suggests. And should the rope be pulled up, she'll hang on until she gets high enough to get a hand on the edge and get herself up into the hole. Ash Celaeno and Vixen emerge into a bedroom of lavish tastes thats currently unoccupied. There is on door to the left, and a balcony door to the right.

Pulling is definately faster, and so Ash does so, pulling the cord up with ease, then supporting it with one hand to use the other to help get Celaeno and Vixen up through the hole in the floor/roof, it is a tight fit after all. Once all three are up he looks around, "We've got to hurry, I don't know how long she can hold him and if he kills her..." There is a growl in Ash's voice as he looks at the two door options and then levels his gaze on Vixen and Celaeno, "Which way, or do you want me to run through the place as fast as possible to figure out which door they're guarding?"

Once up and through the hole, Celaeno also moves to help Vixen up, turning to take in the room at large, moving to check the balcony, first. "A quick sweep should work," she says as she cautiously checks the door, switching her sword to her other hand. "Doesn't have to be too exhaustive, I wouldn't think."

Vixen grunts as she's pulled up and into the room. Glancing around warily as she produces her grenade. "Check the balcony," she directs Ash. She doubts it will be out there, but he can eyeball it fast. Then she motions for Cel to head out of the room, going with her to start checking the hall and see how many doors they have to work with.

As soon as the interier door is opened frigid gas is blasted through as too Faire extinguishes are aimed at Celaeno. Lickily shell have her psychic intuition to warn her of the danger and give her a chance to evade.

The balcony door is completely clear, a narrow leged leads to another window.

Vixen snaps her gun up as Cel darts away from extinguisher spray, her pistol employed with a simple and focused intent. She'll take a shot at each of the sprayers through the lingering haze of their attempts at covering the woman. As she said before, not the time for this.

Every shoot a fire extiguisher? its pretty neat and clowdy. But as the group is in the room they're not adversely affected by the boom, The wielders of the crude implements are blown away though. One more thoroughly that the other.

The spray of frosty freeze at the other doorway draws Ash's attention back away from the balcony and the neighboring window ledge he was eyeing the distance of. The sound of gunfire makes his attention focus all the quicker. Seeing Vixen firing into the cloud Ash frowns and shakes his head, "There's a ledge, want me to go around and let you..." He stops as there is poofy boom of frosty not so goodness this time and just frowns, making a decision he moves to retrieve his pistol once more and head forwards to back up Vixen and Celaeno. After all, one can never tell when Vixen is going to start chucking grenades...

Leaping out of the way of the sudden burst, Celaeno rolls back to her feet to be met with... the sound of an exploding fire extinguisher. Moving to kick the door back closed, she starts walking toward the other door, "Forget about that way. Let's just go into the rest of the mansion," she mutters, drawing her second sword.

Vixen moves out into the hall after the boom. And if anything is still twitching out there, she'll stomp it as she moves through. No time. She'll survey the corridor and, assuming no more trouble arrives, she'll start with the nearest doors on the shorter side of the hallway. Ready to pop in a blinder and slam the door if anything twitches wrong.

Ash is doubly glad he has the bandana wrapped around his face even still as Vixen decides to head out into the hall rather than go to the balcony and jump to the ledge. "We could always just cut through the walls Vix. Cel could make us some doorways rather easily." He notes as he tries to follow and still pay attention, "Got to get this done before Xander catches back up."

Celaeno follows Vixen, moving quickly to catch up to her as she goes, grunting at Ash's suggestion. "Nice to have a door to hide behind if we throw in a grenade," she says flatly. Annoyed at nothing in particular, she simply hefts her swords as she moves.

The hall outside the room is actually a balcony as well overlooking the main foyer below. Ahead it leads the the grand staircase where it leads to the library. There are three room on this side of the mansion, the groub exciting from the second.

"Check that door," Vixen suggests to Ash, pointing at the one furthest from the path across to the other side of the second floor. "More than one at a time works good. Just keep the blinder ready." Her voice is low as she says as much, moving toward the room closer the path between. Since Ash is faster. She'll crack the door and peek in, not opening it too much at first.

Ash does as requested, readying a blinder he was given, but to no avail as it is empty it seems. "When I came through here before, most of the frowners were taken that way." He points over towards the grand staircase leading to what presumably is the library. "I went looking around, didn't want to follow them in as getting bitten was not my idea of successful recon. If it's not in there, there might be a secret passage or something to another room."

On the clearing of the rooms, Celaeno twitches slightly under her helmet, moving back to the balcony, shaking her head. "Have to say, that's where I ran into the bastard. Bunch of books. Hell, maybe it's still there," turning to follow Vixen.

Vixen scans the room and frowns, listening to the other two speak. "Alright, lets check it," she agrees as she pulls back from her own room. She'll make sure both are with her before she turns and advances on the library with a determined stride. "I'll flash it, then we go in."

Ash follows along, good little soldier that he is, mostly because he thinks that's where it is likely to be, and he's determined to take the slug out before Xander can kill Bridget, but he doesn't think he can take on supernatural brain slug with nibbler bite all on his lonesome.

Celaeno takes a moment's lingering to do something with one of her swords, nodding as she jogs to join the others. "Whenever you're ready," she comments, leaning her back against the wall.

And there she is, right in the middle of the library. like she was patiently waiting for her guests to arrive and all the diversions where to make her look vulnerable in some fashion.. One usually cant help but recoil in horror at her, 11 inch teeth on a seven foot slug and all.

Immediately the slug considers its victims with the considerable knowledge its gathered on them over the last few weeks. Ash would be the first to feel the mental assualt as it try to paralyze him.

Meeting Celaeno's infamous rsistance the Slug tries again versus Celaeno, putting more effort into it.

As the door opens to reveal the slug... sitting there all grossly, Celaeno freezes for a moment, her shudder building to a decisive twitch. And then she takes a step forward, and her red-edged sword begins crackling as lightning starts arcing across it. "I'd recommend staying just behind me," she says brightly as she forgets about the grenades and charges in, bringing both swords around in a whirlwind of metal.

To say that Ash is caught off guard would be an understatement of the year. If he didn't have a bandana over his face his jaw would be easily seen dropping in horror. He obviously was thinking, slug... not... big ass slug with legs and horrid visage and such. If he weren't wearing his sunglasses his wide dark eyes would be seen widening even further, but as it stands there is just the tremble that halts the quick-flex as his body tries to decide between fight or flight. Needless to say if he was by himself, he'd be gone. If Bridget wasn't fighting for her life. He'd be gone maybe anyways even with companions. Thankfully he doesn't feel the psychic assault as Celaeno blocks it from reaching him but when she charges in, he decides it's probably a good idea to listen and so he moves into the fray behind her, staying close as he does the only thing he can, since he doesn't have swords. He simply pulls the trigger on his pistols, sending bursts of laser fire at the giant slug, "Wish I'd have brought some salt..." He manages to get out a little weakly.

Vixen's face twists in a mask of disgust as she gets a load of the thing. "Ugh, fucking sick," she spits, even as she is given pause by the thing's appearance. Then Cel bursts past her and the young woman growls, moving forward to keep behind and to the side. Maneuvering for a clear shot, her pistol raised to snap off a particle beams at the thing.

The slug hisses vehemently as the attacks bite into it abut is only scratched up a bit. Instantly it lashes out at Cel again trying even harder to break though her resistance.

With the slug continuing its mental assault, Celaeno can't help but sneer at it through her faceplate as her swords do their work, "Keep your fucking mind..." they come around once, "to yourself..." and again in a series of gleaming arcs.

As Celaeno presses the assault with swords, Ash continues the assault with laser fire. He's got a practically fresh long clip in this pistol, and it can unleash a lot of hell before he has to swap to the other one. Even still he keeps expecting it to do... something. As far as he can tell it's not doing much other than hiss, be ugly, and thrash around a bit. He doesn't know what Celaeno's doing to protect them all, or herself for that matter. At least not until Celaeno tells it to keep it's mind to itself. With a clenching of his jaw Ash follows with another pair of double burst blasts, sending more laser fire at the slug, "It's got to fall eventually... can tell we're hurting it." He says mostly to himself as he continues to blast away.

Vixen keeps carefully at the opposite flank of Cel as Ash, dipping into a low crouch as she snaps off a fresh pair of shots at the slug. Seeing Cel carve deep into the thing, she feels a little hope at least, not aiming save for popping the center mass.

The slug emits a peircing squeel as Celaeno cuts deeply into it, the slash bloody and stomach turning. The other attack pale in comparison and it no wonder that the slug is trying to bring Celaeno down.

Celaeno's teeth are gritted as she gashes her way into the slug's body, its suddenly vicious bite tearing into her armour as she grunts, squaring back off at the thing, feet straining against the weight. She takes a few steps to the side, a break in the action as she rounds slightly, her swords coming back up with avengeance.

When Celaeno gets chomped on Ash suddenly looks worried, after all he remembers what Leonard said about the bite, if you get bit, you can't resist it's control... He flashes a look over towards Vixen, "Vix..." He starts to say but then Celaeno is back and swinging her swords again to tear into the slug and he blinks, "Guess he was wrong." Ash says and then quickly fires off two more double pulses of laser fire into the slug, hoping they can take it down before something final happens elsewhere...

Vixen notices the bite, but at Ash's words, she tells him, "Keep shooting.." Not that she thinks he'll stop, but she keeps at it herself. Shifting slightly as Cel takes her sidestep to keep the same distance as she unloads another particle beam into the critter. A good thing she can't smell what's coming off that thing, seeing it's internals start to spill is bad enough.

The slug is certainly hurting now, and continuing its efforts against Celaeno for what choice does it have? If it can break her things will change significantly.

Since the fight is still going on, Ash doesn't stop firing, it's a war of attrition in it's own way and he does what he can to help. Maybe -now- he'll be able to get some help with getting better weapons from someone... then again, probably not. In any case he only has what he has, and as such he pulls the trigger twice more. Four more lances of laser fire scorching through the air towards the she-slugbitch from hell. Every bit of firepower helps...

Vixen scowls as the thing stubbornly refuses to be dead. "Goddamn it, would you just. Fucking. Die!" The last two words each punctuated by another shot from her handgun. Her irritation and tension rising, contributing to make her flinty voice even more bitchy than when she's only mildly annoyed. Slight glances towards Cel make sure she sticks just so away from the woman in their odd little coordinated formation fight.

Celaeno's attacks are getting increasingly less intricate as she continues trying to repulse the creature's mental onslaught. Taking a half-step back in the sludge that's beginning to coat the ground, she digs in, one arm going up while the other goes low, moving to bring her swords together in a scissoring motion before recovering into a double-overhanded blow.

The slug is about half dead, gaping wounds all about its body as it writyhes in aguish and continue to try and break down Celaeno's defences.

As long as Celaeno keeps fighting, Ash keeps shooting. It's really the only possible course of action he could take at this point. After all, it all rides on this set of events, if they don't succeed, then all is lost to the will of some dominatrix supah-slug from outer space... or whichever you want to call it. It's not really difficult to keep squeezing the trigger, but the idea that they might be running out of time... that makes it all the more pressing and insistent... worse, that Bridget is running out of time...

"Maybe if I could ahave brought in some of those beehives.. how about a few dozen lasers roasting your slimy fucking guts after it gets stuffed down your pug ugly sucker hole," Vixen spits, snapping off shots with her gun and her lips as she gets more and more frustrated with the uncanny longevity of the thing. "Should ahve snuck one in just for you , you bastard. Screw salt, roast it from the inside out."

The slug actually is starting to look like someone added a great deal of salt to the poor creature. Green slime oozing from wounds all over accompanied by the chared pockmarks of blaster fire. Two more assualts are made on Cel's mind, she much be nearing the end by now.

As Celaeno continues hacking away at the slug, puss and goo going everywhere, she stumbles - her red sword clattering to the ground with a soft thunder-crack. As she attempts to return to her feet, her hands go to her head with one final agonizing grunt before she collapses unceremoniously.

When Celaeno stiffens and falls, dropping her swords in such fashion Ash thinks about it for a moment, well a quick-flex moment. For a half a quick-flex moment Ash considers grabbing those swords and taking them to town on the slug, but then he thinks the better of it and uses what he has at hand. The things looking quite torn up as it is and as such the quick-flex simply blasts out another series of laser pulses, shouting, "DIE DAMNIT! DIE!" as he pours more and more e-clip battery into the things already sliced, diced, and blistering hide.

Vixen glances towards Cel as she stops moving. "God damn.. hit it hard!" She does just that, still keeping near to Cel as she plugs at the hopefully dying creature. "Give it up.. more of is will be coming for you, fucker.. we ain't even the worst of 'em. You're done!" Bravado, but it sustains her and keeps her firing hard at the thing.

Vixen pulls back a few steps, starting to put some distance between her and the creature. But not too quickly as she keeps her gun up and keeps unloading into it's slowly ruined bulk. "This thing might make halfway decent armor if it wasn't so fucking gross," she growls as she pops another shot into it.

Bridget shoves a door open and finds the library. All the yelling and screaming made it pretty easy. She's wearing what's left of her overalls and armor in a crazy pattern of metal, melted slag, burnt clothing, all covered in a nice splattering of blood. Walking there was the only easy part. "Oh, shit!" She just got there and the first thing she sees is her slugliness, and blasts flying at her.

Alas, the slug still isn't dead, but it's definately a battlefield. Celaeno is down and helpless. Vixen is slipping in gore and who knows what else, and Ash is firing his laser pistol so much even the testing at Wilk's might not have been this exhausting. When the door opens Ash half expects it to be Xander stalking in and they'd be under a two front battle now, trying to finish off the slug while not getting hammered to pieces. When it's Bridget, at least in one piece, Ash can't help but laugh, it's a crazy laugh, "Warrior Goddes!" He shouts then starts to laugh, facing the slug he practically rants, "You're done for now... spent all your energy trying to stop us and it got you nowhere!" He fires off two more quick double-tap pulses of laser fire at the gigantoslug with renewed mirth now, it's like the heavens opened up with the return of Bridget.

The slug is most certainly on its last legs and one may wonder if it could actually heal the damage taken so far. But it is not yet helpless as its mental attacks turn on Ash in an attempt to run gim into a rag doll.

Vixen does indeed slip a bit in the much on the floor, her arm going wide as she pivots to keep her balance. Finger pulling on the trigger due to the motion of her arm. "Fuck.." she pauses and dips to her knee as she gets her gun set again, not even looking back as she keeps firing at the thing. One way or another, it's coming down to the line.

Bridget is going with Vixen on this one, and blinks away her shock. Time to start shooting, and that's what she does. Bunches of little slugs to play with the big slug.

And all of Ash's chutzpah dies a mere moment after he blasts big slimy, the quick-flex suddenly going still and falling over without a sense of grace or balance. It's like someone put an invisible tree in front of him or something. He slumps to the ground unmoving, his hands lax, pistol falling from his fingertips as he lays there, unable to move, oh but his thoughts, if it were reading his thoughts, he'd still be laughing at it, because Bridget and Vixen are still shooting.

But for how long? This is getting a bit too close for comfort as the slug turns its mental prowess on Vixen. Will it be too little to late?

Vixen scrambles to snag her weapon after losing it, though just as she's got her hands on it, she feels that tickle in her head. "No you fucking don't you god.. damn.. shit." She growls ineffectually as she slumps over.

"Shit! Shit!" Bridget is already beat to hell and back, and she gets there just in time to watch people fall over. She keeps squeezing off bursts and walks towards the thing. It's not going to be messing with her head, or anybody else's this time, damnit. Be nice if she had her rifle, or something else bigger.

The slug knows all about Bridget, they met before what seems like and age ago. This is doesnt bother with the mental attack on her, instead lurching to snap at her hard with its jaws. No nibbles this time

The snap clearly catchest Birdget off guard as she stumbles after narrowly evading it. Another immediately follows, and another.

Bridget gets eaten, or just about. A ginormous sluggy bite out into her is really going to ruin her day. More. There's grating and sparks, and her cursing stutters and warbles out of sync. "F-u-u-ck yeeEEW!" Getting closer wasn't a great idea and she tries to back up, fast, shooting as she goes.

Bridget may not be the slugs normal fare in meals but it looks intent on makeing her one anyway. Almost does too before she line up a perfect shot that guts it right down the center.

The moment the thing falls, Vixen animates and she comes out swearing. Somehow she finds her gun without a pause to even notice it before she's pointing it at an inert carcass. That seems to snap her out of it, but she still lays out a last, "Fuck!" One that embodies her frustration at the last few moments of tension. She breathes out lowly then, calming down some. "I need a bigger gun," she huffs. "And some sort of mind armor. Fucking psychics." She then turns towards Bridget, considering her carefully.

Ash bolts upright as well, once that last shot tears into the slug and downs it for good. He reaches to pick up and holster his gun before he too looks towards Bridget, but, he doesn't seem surprised by her state, instead he simply pulls off his bandana to reveal a wide smile. "You did it babe..." He says with nothing less than joy, "I thought... wow... I was just going to take his maces away and beat him with them. Barring that, pick him up and haul him out of the city at speed..." He winces though when he finally gets a good look at her and frowns, "This is going to be expensive..." but then he smiles again, "But you did it, you beat him." He's clearly as thrilled about her whipping Xander as he is about the slug being dead.

Bridget wasn't expecting that and skitters to a clumsy stop when the slug gets holed and flops down. "Shoot it again." She'd do it herself, but now her arm's twitching. The other one's trying to cover the shiny metal innards, or what's left of them after that last bite. Guess the slug was anemic or something. She turns back to trying to limp herself away. She'd rather run, but now her right knee decided to stop bending.

Celaeno is much slower in rising, though as she does she slowly moves to collect her swords, wiping them off as much as she can before strapping them down - unsheathed. Her gaze tracks to Vixen's statement for a few moments, though from her body movements, she doesn't seem like she's going to be especially talkative. She slowly pulls off her helmet, moving to pat Bridget lightly on the shoulder, deep creases lining her face, and deep bags under her eyes she shifts to the doorway before slowly siding back into a seated position.

"Hey, hold up," Vixen says as Bridget turns to start away. Something in the woman's voice softer, though her helmet covers her expression. "Last thing you need to do is go walking through the streets looking like that. We'll get you covered up with something first. Unless you want everyone getting a good look." A thread of understanding. "Plenty of clothes in this place. But we shouldn't hang around, I think. Did you kill that fucker downstairs?"

Bridget doesn't really look happy about her victory. There's Ash's reminder about bills, her armor's gone, her limbs are shutting down or shorting, and half her guts are hanging out for everybody and their monkey's uncle to see. Yay? "No. Just... sneeze ...on ...him... Thaaanks..." Like a dying disc player, her voice gets slow and deep before it cuts out, but her lips keep moving. They get into a little grin before they freeze and she starts to topple over.

Ash is quick to move when Bridget starts to topple, dashing over and catching her before she can spill over onto her side and go clattering down the stairs. Seems he can support her weight, even all robotic or whatever she is, without to much trouble. "Vix, help me get my jacket off, it'll cover her for the most part..." He says to her, now looking worried now since Bridget is so close to well... not being Bridget anymore and that seems to worry him a great deal. He's not a mechanic, he didn't know how bad it really was... maybe the whole 'looks worse than it is' thing he always tries to pull was trying to carry over into his thought processes. If he gets, well, bionic guts on him, so be it.

Celaeno watches Bridget fall over, but doesn't move from her little spot on the wall. She slowly begins patting her pockets for something, eventually producing a goo-covered cigar - completely unsmokable. She starts laughing as she lets it drop to the ground, shaking her head unto her hands, and doesn't quite stop as Ash rushes to the other woman's aid.

"Ahh fuck.." Vixen knows better than to try and stop something that's machine.. even if it looks human. She steps back and lets Bridget fall and Ash catch her. His request is answered wit ha shake of head. "We'll swipe some sheets, wrap her up and carry her out," she states. "Pack in some stuff to sop up any spillage.. don't need her to get bloody on the way. We'll take her to HQ. Can decide what else to do later." She frowns and glances back at the slug for a moment. Watching it carefully for a twitch. When she's satisfied that its not moving, she turns and darts out of the room. She'll be back soon with the goods for her plan.

"She's not a robot, she's a fucking human being. We don't just take her to a fucking table and sit her there and then decide on what to do. I'll take her to the clinic where I got my ware put in and see what they can do for her, at least get her operational enough so she can tell us what she wants to do. It's her decision and I'll be damned if anyone is going to treat her like a frikken broken machine!" Ash isn't quite yelling, but the volume has increased, maybe to be heard over Celaeno's not quite hysterical laughing... or maybe just because the idea put forth offends him greatly. "Don't know if you can hear me Bridget, I'll make sure you get back on your feet as soon as I can." Still he's not quite flipping out or anything, or being angry with Vixen, it's just a very stressful situation. "Sheets, yeah, that part will be good..." He says inanely.

Celaeno doesn't move from her spot, but takes the moment to re-seat her helmet, her body still shaking slightly with the laughter, though the radio and speaker must have been turned off. She begins slowly trying to rise to her feet, though it takes a few tries for her to get there. Pulling out her sword again, she begins a slow trudge back over to the slug, producing her katana to try to cut out one of the teeth, and not being particularly gentle or precise about it.

Vixen pauses at the door and glances back to Ash with a furrowed brow. "Calm the hell down." She's one to talk. But she goes out and raids a few closets, coming back with a few expensive sheets. "We can take her there, but I know she won't want too many people knowing what's inside.. so we wrap her up and take her over there. Won't be real subtle, but no one on the streets will see her face. That's as good as it gets for now."

"Sorry..." Ash says when Vixen returns, "I'm just not a cyberdoc, I dunno what the hell to do, I just know how to rip the stuff out of people..." He says with a frown, "This has got to be hell for her... you're right in that she wouldn't want people to see." He goes about trying to shift Bridget's form so that she can be wrapped up enough to be fairly hidden from casual inspection at least. "Wish I knew who fixed her up in the first place, but that can't be helped now."

Hack, glorp, gloop, brraackt, goes the slug as Celaeno hack into it, ultimately producing one of the teeth. Off goes the sword, another half-assed wipe-down, and she walks over to the others, swaying slightly, but not moving to assist.

"This is going to cost some shit, that's for sure," Vixen says, peering at the rip in her gut a moment before she helps Ash get the woman wrapped. "I've thought about going partial, but that costs so much cred.. she looks like more than that. Usually takes millions to get suited up like this." She frowns and glances at Ash. "I wish I had the backing to help pay for something like this."

Ash nods, "Yeah, I've got about a hundred and fifty grand in me... nothing this extensive either..." Once Bridget is wrapped up, "Not anything that would slow me down though." He smiles a little wryly at that then shrugs, "Don't we all yeah?" He shifts Bridget a bit, "I don't know if she's running on life support or what, so we'd better hurry. Can't be good like this no matter how you shake it. Maybe she's got one of those nano-bot repair systems that'll at least get her fixed up enough so she can tell us what to do..." He frowns, looking at Vixen with one of those rare helpless looks on the city rats face.

"We'll get her there, see what's what," Vixen says simply, making no promises except for delivering. "I'll help carry her." She looks up to Cel. "Let Jack know we're good, so he can stop playing lookout now. MIght as well go low, once I'm done with this, I'll see what the word on the street is." She flicks her eyes towards both. "I'll get with you both later. Hell, maybe we can wrangle some funds out of the government for doing their job for them."

"Everybody, shut up," Celaeno says brightly, her voice shaking slightly. "You all know, you know Tirzah, right? Right? Well, she's got a thing. She'll do a thing," she waves her hands. "Maybe. Probably. Maybe." Her helmet bobs for a moment. "Right? Right," she says before moving back to lean in the doorway.

Vixen pauses and gives Cel a queer look as the woman babbles a bit. "What are you talking about, girl? Something still on you from that thing?" She eyes her carefully.

Ash looks at Celaeno and then back to Vixen, "I have no idea. I don't really know Tirzah that well. Don't know what she could do for this much damage to intricate bionics though... thought she was a warlock. Never heard of magic fixing up a borg..."

Celaeno gives a little spin back to the others, her lean on full, "You want somebody to fix her up? Last I heard, she had a thing that could maybe help. Don't know how much it'll cost you, or anything. You can take her to a clinic, get her stabilized, do whatever you want, fine, not my issue. But that's what I'm thinking, hey? After all, she kinda owes us. Right? Right." Her voice wanders through manic, to a soft warbling, to wholly deadpan.

Vixen eyes Cel. "Clinic first." She glances at Ash. "You can ask her. Me being there likely won't help, we're not really friendly outside of business." She shakes her head. "First we get out of here." She looks to Cel. "Get moving, I'll get you all when I get a sense for blow back." She then looks to Ash. "Come on, let's get her out of here." She gets the feet of the Bridget bundle, waiting for Ash to get set before she's lifted.

"Clinic, most definately. It's the safest bet." Ash says with a nod to Vixen and then moves to follow her out, apparently more than willing to carry the woman all the way to the clinic himself if need be. "Whole damned city owes us." He says in agreement with Celaeno, "Crazy thing we did today, didn't think it would be that tough... thought it was just a slug..." He then looks at Vixen, "Why didn't Leonard tell us it was going to be like -that-, I mean, he knew what it was right? A mindobarra or something..." He however, is indeed intent on carrying Bridget to the Kingsdale Clinic, first rate work is done there after all. Hopefully they can get Bridget up enough to at least talk and tell people what she wants to do.

Celaeno just shakes her head, laughing to herself as she lingers slightly behind the others, sliding the still-gooey tooth into a pocket. But go she does, slowly, slowly.