Devils Night Meyhem

[Shadowstalker]

First off I hope nobody minds the the subject header was the first thing that came to mind that didn't make even me groan. Allright base recap when we entered Bert very neatly took down two of the blood suckers and also cleared away a fairbit of the bloodsigils but unfortunatly somebodycut his vampire wash short by cutting the power. Not acttualy surprised just had hoped it would have taken longer for them to think of it, then we had Adama shatter the barrier holding the souls, I could try to second guess his efforts but truth is I had been thinking along the same lines It seemed like a good idea at the time. Allright at the time we entered my team and I were starting the show with shotguns using anti-ghoul shells. Basicly the plan was that Bert should be able to deal with the vamps and we would take care of the ghouls and the plan worked for about oh maybe a soild 60 seconds, then things kinda went sideways it went from a onesided gunfight to a C.Q.B. not my idea of fun to say the least but you just have to roll with the punches sometimes, in my case that translates as most of the time. So there I am with a ghoul and a vamp moving to catch me between them the vamp wrestled for the shotgun and the ghoul was about to try and flay me from the back, Hammer also had his hands full with one of the zombies and a ghoul, and Seraph was dealing with trying to help Bert out. It was at this point the badguys found out that we had some nasty tricks of our own for myself I pulled my blade and sliced it across the vamps neck almost Decapitating it annoyingly the vamp still had a grip on my gun so I had to use a Major Psi bolt to deal with the ghoul it droped thankfully, Hammer used a power kick with some mojo behind it to launch his ghoul into a wall and then did a takedown on the zombie and it promtly started to dessicate, and then Seraph did a flurry of flame stikes to the ghoul going after Bert It got crispied. I think I need a break so more later

[Bert_the_Turtle]

Unfortuneately that thing didn't stop attacking me til after I took a header into the wall. I checked after the fight, another inch to the right and I would've hit a stud.

I must've been out for a couple minutes at least because the battle had shifted when I came to. So I regain my feet and stagger a little and I hear someone calling for Celeste and that's when a guy in a Tux shows up. But I'll post more about that later.

[Celeste Darken]

When they left you shoulda come out and said hello.

I was too angry at myself for letting the vampire escape to even think about trying to “mix and mingle.” I’m smart enough not to take complete responsibility for the loss, but I can’t help but feeling if I had controlled my anger better, I might have just found a wooden post and stabbed it then and there in the heart. I was stronger, faster, and more skilled than it; if I had controlled myself better, than there would have been one less monster roaming free.

Although, in my defense, I did say “hi” in my own way. Remember Frog complaining before going back into the house about the cold freezing his . . . ahem, balls off? That was me passing by. Beyond that, I wouldn’t have been very good company.

Worst part about winter: It gets dark way too damned fast.

That’s the only reason I was able to have as much freedom of movement as I did. To be able to move about from six in the evening to almost nine in the morning is an asset . . .

I initially wanted to use the back of the house, but as Bert pointed out, they wouldn’t suspect of the vampire taking the direct route. So I did the front. The distraction consisted of a twofold plan: bring all the attention to the front, and keep that attention strong enough something is sent out. It was a simple enough matter by slamming on the door with enough force it would have broken it had the entry barrier to uninvited vampires existed. But I had that covered, too.
When the door opened, I waited for the ghouls to walk out. Half a dozen of them came out to see to the disturbance. I sprinkled a line of powdered bone in between the ghouls and the door, and then I pushed the PLAY button to the tape recorder and gently tossed it through the door into the house. For a few moments, there was silence. The ghouls turned about and shuffled toward me. But the barrier held them at bay.

Then the message was spoken very clearly.

"You-ca-n come-into my house-vampire."

The uneven voice was obviously an edited recording of a man talking to his girlfriend at night. I wanted to have the same speaker recite the sentence, as I wasn’t sure if it would sate the laws the Undead demanded to have it spoken by many voice. It would have been easier the latter way, but I wanted no mistakes. It had taken me many hours to complete, much of that time being wasted because the couple was so intoxicated they mostly . . . well. Needless to say, it had been an evening of galling impatience. I can have the long suffering of a stone if needed, but to think that I could have wasted an evening for nothing, that if this proved fruitless, if Konthaak and his wife had been attacked while I had been away. . . .

But it is useless to speculate. The recording had done its job.

I had been pressing against the invisible barrier the moment the static silence of the tape recorder played. When the “permission” had been given, I instantly fell through. Grabbing the recorder and shutting it off, I took stock of my surroundings.

The description of the rooms has been given by Konthaak; it looked just the same to me. And having expertise of both a druid and a magic-savvy Adama, I decided I best leave the magic to those who knew how to counter it. I didn’t want to upset anything by disturbing the bodies. And I had fed just a few short nights ago, so licking the blood painted along the ground was both beneath my dignity and unnecessary. I simply layered myself in a cocoon of mental energy that would alter my aura and went forth.

The scents in the house were those odors found in an open air morgue. Ghouls’ flesh smells exactly like a week old corpse that has been rotting in the sun for all that time. A vampire’s scent is . . . sweet. They have the smell of death, only somehow more pungent and hypnotic. It is no wonder dogs can fall under a vampire’s spell so suddenly. And speaking of dogs, I scented the hounds almost instantly, commingling with that of my brethren. But I sensed the vampires themselves in the bat-infested and spider-infested attic of the house.

Dogs in basement, vampires in attic; there was no choice.

I expected to meet resistance of some sort while going up the stairs, they were so perfect for an ambush. I expected to meet more on the twisting banisters and narrow steps. Ghouls, zombies, security guards . . . something.
Nothing.

There were four of the bloodsuckers all told, huddled in the middle of the room like conspirators. The roof was A-framed and massing with circling bats. The attic itself was caked in dust and cobwebs more than a decade old and littered with the skeletons of furniture, animals, and humans. Large, black spiders scuttled about. The cloud of dust I stirred was silent, but vampires can hear silence.

I should know. They spun about with a pirouette grace, staring at me and smiling widely, making no effort to hide their fangs or their inhuman habits. Blood dribbled along their lips and chins as though they had fed recently. Three were males, one the vampire that had attacked Konthaak’s home.

“I see you were lucky in retaining your looks, sister,” the female grinned vilely; her visage had been horribly scarred with the mark of undeath, far more than the rest of us. “I can change that for you.”

I merely hissed. We circled each other warily, and the bats stirred even faster in alarm. There was a pair of windows along each wall, but I was careful not to let anything but the wall against my back.

But the wall itself contained enemies.

“Bad manners, sister, to turn your back on a suitor,” the voice sneered behind me. Before I could wheel around, another vampiric presence manifested, and a powerful palm strike smashed against my temple.

[KonThaak]

Thanks for moving the thread for me, guys. I was real busy last night, so I didn't get the chance to... Babies are high-maintenance mass creators of toxic waste and weaponry. Then they become toddlers, and turn into one of the two most destructive forces known to mankind, along with puppies. And gods help us, we're gonna have both of those in our house in a year or so, if that...

Not gonna post much, right this moment. One of those days where I hate my job. It's freezing outside, and I'm out in it.

Anyway, enough griping from me; lemme at least continue the story for a little while...

I had been staying near Adama, attacking anything within range with Claw... We got swarmed, and I lost sight of Adama. I did notice that the ghouls seemed to be coming from the basement, and that alone gave me a real bad feeling, not to mention that I had no idea how many of those damned things there were. I did see the Frankenfugly moving towards one of Shadow's teammates, and despite getting an arm blown off, didn't even flinch.

That's when I saw the druid making for the staircase... He hesitated, turning towards me for a moment, as if inviting me, and he runs upstairs...

There was a vampire blocking the way to the attic, and she sneered, pointing at a room on the second floor. "He's waiting for you there... 'Course, you could stay with me..."

I ignored her and went. If she was lucky, everyone else would have her dead before we left. If she wasn't, it'd be Celeste that got the honors...

I expected a trap. I expected a fire bolt to the face, or an arrow or a gunshot or an explosion... Even for the bastard to jump out from behind the door and say "Boo!" Instead, he was just waiting for me...

I've gotta stop, now. Getting hard to feel my fingertips.

[Celeste Darken]

Stupid of me, I thought as I rolled with the incredible blow, feeling my temple start to bleed sparks. There had been five vampires. Four had willingly let their presence be known. The fifth, however, had used the same method of trickery I myself used: altering his aura with a simple psionic cloak, making me think he was an ordinary spider. I had fallen into the trap like a third grade sap.

I wheeled to my feet and warded the others away with a sweep of my arm, catching the female across the throat. “Leave her to me!” the fifth vampire demanded.

I jerked to face him, to study him. He was a vampire, and yet he was unlike the other four. Unlike the others, who were tattered and mangy, he appeared neat and comely, dressed in a tuxedo usually reserved for weddings. With his presence unmasked, I took careful scrutiny of what he was. Again, I felt the unmistakable signature of an undead vampire, and yet . . . he was somehow darker, more sinister. And his words, mannerisms, and dress hardly aided in the first impression. What was he up to?

He grinned as though guessing at my thoughts. “So, Celeste,” he purred, tasting my name delicately, “you who claim to have abandoned the dark . . . why? You know that is a false premise; we cannot abandon the dark! Come, sister. Return to the brotherhood of blood . . . come back to us.”

In answer, I leaped for his throat.

He sidestepped my attack and slapped me across the face, sending me skidding across the floor. The other vampires hissed with glee, but did not interfere. They even backed up so my antagonist and I were the only ones in close combat range. I paused for a moment, gauging my enemy.

Then I charged.

The clash of our impact would have shattered stone. But he had knocked aside my momentum. I struck and kicked, punched and swung, twisted and spun. But he was quick and skilled, relentless in his concentration. I couldn’t overcome his superb defenses. For every strike I landed, he grounded his own.

“Caliburn is right about us, you know,” he taunted. “Vampires cannot be tamed, we cannot be good. We are evil! We are monsters! Why fight it, sister? Come! Do you think you can deny your existence forever? Sooner or later, you will succumb! Sooner or later, you will murder an innocent for no other reason than you can! Perhaps it will be a boy, perhaps a girl . . . a child . . . a baby!”

Rage and passion coursed through whatever matter it is that flows through my veins. I wanted to scream my denial of his words; I wanted to tear out his tongue. But my anger didn’t help in my fighting. Rather, it incapacitated me. With an arrogant laugh, he parried my thrust and grabbed the back of my head, slamming me against the floor so hard I heard the planks splinter and felt myself falling. The vampire followed right after me, and when I landed hard against my face and chest, he landed on my back. I clicked to my feet as quick as I could, but it was far too late. He quickly bought the upper hand, locking my wrists behind me and pulling me against his chest.

“Sooner or later, Celeste,” he repeated, glaring into my eyes. “Spare yourself the hell you subject yourself to. Make it instead your heaven. Make it sooner.”

I broke free of his grasp; he warded off my blows and dove past my own defenses, his hand coming in for a quick jab. For a split second, I saw his palm flying toward my chest. Then a spear-like tube thrust out of his flesh, and it struck my heart like a sword point.

[Willie Long]

Remember Frog complaining...

Yup. *shakes head* I'd never have thought the tape-recorder trick could work.

But my anger didn’t help in my fighting. Rather, it incapacitated me.

That keeps happening. If you don't learn control, that temper will get you killed.

For a split second, I saw his palm flying toward my chest. Then a spear-like tube thrust out of his flesh, and it struck my heart like a sword point.

... get over here.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

" “Caliburn is right about us, you know,” he taunted. "


This line here indicates that thing read the boards prior to that fight.

[Willie Long]

Yeah. I didn't notice that. Did you guys ice Tuxedo Scorpion?

[AdamaGeist]

Ugh... I swear, that night was chaos... As everyone reading can tell, things started falling apart quickly at the point the crystal broke. Everyone split up during the melee, splitting up as the threats rained down on us. Shadow's guys were handling the Ghouls bit by bit, I could tell that much. But everyone else was lost to me in all of that, and I was doing my best to keep from being pegged by the ghouls and zombies in my area long enough to get my one combat spell up and ready.

I'm not going to tell you what it is, or how to cast it. It cost me a hell of alot to get that one damn spell, and the favors so that I could cast it freely. Besides which, it's dangerous enough in my hands. I got enough complaints from the rest of the team when misfires blasted through the house, apparently a bolt nearly hit KT in the floor above during the fight...

Anyway, I was pissed and outnumbered, so I cast the one thing I had, and let the ghouls have it, just in time. That damn Golem was getting up fast, and by the time I got myself some breathing room, it was coming right for me.

[Willie Long]

Ugh... I swear, that night was chaos... As everyone reading can tell, things started falling apart quickly at the point the crystal broke. Everyone split up during the melee, splitting up as the threats rained down on us.

That's something to consider for the future, that I noticed in the initial fight at KT's house. When the Society gathers, before we go into action we need to practice working like one collective sphincter instead of a bunch of individual assholes.

It's the only way we'll be able to handle this shit.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

So I stagger to my feet after getting pitched into a wall...

I hear someone yell for Celeste, and there was a shouted warning about something behind me. Now, I've seen all the movies. Someone stops and looks behind them and gets blindsided. Well I dove forward into a roll and I come up with my backup piece in my hand and spin around and see a guy in a tuxedo. Now, that shocked me. My brain did not want to process that bit of information. Ghouls, magic, zombies, Frankenstein's Monster, Vampires. No sweat. A guy in a tux in that situation made no sense. He might as well have been wearing a pink bunny suit.

So, he's not with us and they're not attacking him. So I open fire.

Some days the bear gets you and some days you get the bear. Guess what kind of day this shaped up to be after my blessed silver ammunition bounced off.

I aimed higher and sent a round between his eyes. He evidently wasn't immune to silver or if he was he wasn't immune to blessed ammunition. His body armor was though.

And after a bullet to the head he just kept coming.

[Shadowstalker]

Allrighty then when I left off had my team and I had dealt with our imediate thearts I finished off the vamp with some holywater pellets to the head and neck then took back my shotgun and took a moment to reload,Hammer was doing the same,and Seraph was busy removing one very crispied ghoul from on top of Bert .At this point we heard a crash from upstairs, Hammer and I still had our hands full but Seraph was able to check it out she saw Celeste and at least two more vamps one being the Dracula wanabe she fired off a few holywater rounds at him and hit him at least twice thankfully missing Celeste but ended up getting charged by the other vamp and some friends.

[KonThaak]

We could both hear the fighting going on all around us. Neither of us look too pleased by it. He'd not only already cast an armor spell on himself, but he was holding a blade made of red energy...

"You know," he said, "I asked my cards, and they said that one of us was going to die..."

"Be my guest," I said, frowning.

He smiled, weakly. "I don't even wish you death... We're cousins, by belief. Why would you wish something like that on me?"

"You threatened my family, and you've now put my friends in danger."

He smirked. "It got you here, didn't it? Your little force is going to be disappointed and bored, tonight... I'm surprised I got to split your forces this far."

I scowled. I didn't buy it, and Claw was aching to start fighting. I obliged, charging forward, slashing with more force than my body would normally be capable of... He tried to dodge, but Claw was too fast, and bit into his armor. The attack left me open, though, and he gladly returned the favor...

We fought like that, very back-and-forth, and after a while, we both stepped back to maintain our armor spells. It wasn't long after that that his energy blade vanished, and if he wanted to cast a new one, he would leave himself open to attack.

He wasn't out of tricks, though... He pulled out a wooden mask in the likeness of a bear's face and put it on, and started to shapeshift into a bear...

Let me explain a little something about druidic shapeshifting. There are several variations; the one he was using involves using masks, gloves, or other similar costume pieces (ones you make yourself work best) and channeling your energy through that piece to get your body to take that form. You transform physically, but in no other way, and the end result is that you have to get used to that form.

The method I use has its own set of advantages and drawbacks, but I'll take them over the other method. The first drawback is that you need something from an actual animal; it's why I almost always go into battle wearing the tail of a fox, and with falcon's feathers tied into my hair (I know, I know, they're illegal to own almost everywhere, but so long as I don't *tell* anyone that's what they are...aside from you guys)... This method helps you to shapeshift both physically and mentally, making the entire time you're in a different form rather surreal, but you can instinctively use your body for whatever it's good for, and still remember everything that happened to you once you change back.

Of course, becoming a fox or a falcon when I was facing a bear was about as useful as pouring a glass of water on a nuclear bomb.

The magic armor protects me from damage, but as I'm sure most of you already know, armor won't protect you from getting hurt in every situation. When he hit me with that bearclaw, I was saved from being slashed open; I wasn't saved from being sent halfway across the room, hitting the wall, and feeling a lot of pain... For the first time ever, Claw swore.

I was trying to recover enough to slice at him, when he hit me again. This time, as I was sailing through the air, time suddenly decided to take a vacation, I think... Everything was suddenly moving in super-slow motion, and I was aware of a spirit nearby...

I was so shocked, I almost missed what it was trying to tell me. All I got from it was a single word: "Coat".

I dumbly watched the tails of my coat flutter around my ankles as I flew through the air, as I hit the ground, and as I rolled to a stop next to the door. I desperately tried to figure what the spirit wanted with my coat. I'm almost never separate from it... It's black... It's long...

It hit me.

My trench is made of leather.

[Shadowstalker]

You are of course right Willie the biggest Frag up that night was that we got seperated far to easily. Hammer and I were Basicly trying to maintain and secure our entry/exit control the area, well I don't have to tell you that didn't work out as well as I would have liked. Seraph was trying to help where she could, oh the vamps that charged her got a warm reception she first peppered them with more holywater rounds witch caused them to falter in their would be charge then she reached out and grabbed the vamp in the lead and lit her up then tossed her back to her friends who were not happy to see her then. Hammer and I were not running out of ghouls or zombies and as someone dubbed it FrankenUgly didn't care about being shot it kept moving. At this point we hear another couple of crashes upstairsfrom something big, it was not long after this that Adama let loose some sort of spell it cleared the room mostly including nearly a few of us, next time tell people you'r gone do something like that please.

[Ron Caliburn]

I was worried about the LA op going like that, so many people who hadn't worked together before, multiple objectives, so many chances for us to foul each other up with sloppy team work. Fortunately, excepting for some mind contol, things went pretty smooth.

[AdamaGeist]

Ya know, I already appologised for that... Besides, not a one of your crew got hit by even one of those plasma bolts. Granted, they tore up the room somthing terrible as I threw them around, but I can honestly say that nothing alive got hit by one while I was clearing the room around myself.

Personaly, I'm glad that my aim was that good, and that I'm that quick on my feet. Point-blank shots were good, but I tore threw a few walls when the ghouls I was hitting blew apart too soon.

[Shadowstalker]

Sorry about that wasn' t a complaint or a critisim more a advisement that if your dealing with a team it's a good idea to give them a heads up when you pull something that heavy duty, you don't have to announce what you'r doing just that you'r doing something.As a example if any of my team had used an exposive devise we would try to give a call of" FIRE IN THE HOLE" I'm just saying let your team kwow something is about to happen. At the time we didn't know what the hell was going on so it kinda threw us there for a few seconds,ok no recriminations just thanks it worked.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

I wasn't too concerned with keeping our exit secure since I was more than capable of making my own. And yes a "Fire in the Hole!" or "Heads in Asses Out!" or something would've been nice right before Adama's trick went off.

[Celeste Darken]

That keeps happening. If you don't learn control, that temper will get you killed.

Don't I know it. Luckily, it seems to limited against vampires.

Seraph was able to check it out she saw Celeste

I suppose I should relate how I got back, after leaving my side with being stabbed through the heart . . .

Pain and dizziness washed over, a cascade of alarm and agony I had never felt before. His eyes widened in surprise, and then he grinned. He roared out in ecstasy, I felt the tube draining at my heart like a straw. I couldn’t move!

“The power,” he raved, his eyes gleaming red. “I have never fed off anything like it! I am no longer a mere vampire! I am a master among churls! I am a King!”

He continued to drain me . . . to feed off me. I tried grappling him, tried to attack back. But he merely hugged me to his chest, and all I could do was stare up in shock as he slowly drank my life force away. I felt my strength leave my body and enter his, adding to an already formidable opponent. I tried not to, but I slowly sank to my knees, helpless and weakened against his feeding.

“What . . . are you?” I managed to gasp.

“Once, Strigoi,” he answered. “Now . . . whatever I wish to be!”

Strigoi, whether that was a name or a species, just smiled. I would have fallen from weakness, but he caught me. “You shall be my lover,” he crooned softly. “Until I find out whether this new power I feel is now mine or merely temporary.”

I was swimming in and out of consciousness . . . a first for me, since becoming a vampire. He ordered the other vampires about, and they hastened to obey.

“Get the zombies. Bind Celeste in silver and holies. She is mine. Touch her, and die.”

Then all went black.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

When I awoke, I felt weak, battered, and hollow, as though sunlight had been sent to burn away my innards. Disorientation and nausea reeled through me like heat.

“Make certain the straps holding her are tight,” I heard Strigoi command. “I don’t want her escaping.”

I felt a searing, dull agony cinch at my wrists, then at my ankles. Directly in front of me, a dead body knelt upside . . . no. I was upside down. My wrists were being pulled tight above my head by the ghoul, as were my feet. I was tied to some sort of pole, my body pulled taut very similar to the medieval torture rack, only my wrists and ankles were bound together instead of separate. I could feel the indentation of holy symbols all along the straps that bound me, burning into my skin. The pole was made of silver, also scathing against my flesh with the raw intensity of poison.

The vampires had retreated to let me heal. They would be advancing again in a few minutes.

Minutes I would not give them. Minutes I would use to my advantage. Gritting my teeth against the agony, I lunged forward with my wrists. The hissing sound was palatable as I bent the silver, I felt the pole giving way, the wooden floor crack and splinter as my strength forced the two apart. Surprised at my level of resistance to both holy symbol and silver, the female vampire raced for me. But the pole was already over my shoulder. I slid my arms out of the loop and grabbed her ankles, swinging her into her companion. Quickly lifting up until I could reach my ankles, I gave a mighty heave and rent the other end out of the wall, dropping hard to the floor.

I was free of the silver pole, but the leather was a different matter entirely. I pushed to my knees and faced the vampires coming back to their feet. Sneering maliciously, they charged. But even on knees, I was unbeaten. I pushed off my ankles and lunged for the male, slamming him on his back. Lifting off his chest by my wrists, I kicked the female across the room and dropped my elbows heavily into the male’s stomach before climbing up higher and burning a line of holy symbols along his forehead by ramming my pinioned wrists at his eyes. He screeched in agony, flailing angrily. Shoving off him, I brought the leather to my teeth and snapped down as hard as I could. My mouth burned with the efforts, but the straps were severed. I grabbed a thrashing leg of the male and tore a piece of cloth from his grungy pants, using this as a shield to tear the straps off my legs.

It was a simple matter to tear a plank of wood from the floor and ramming it through his heart and back. I was rushing the female when she leaped past me and hurtled down the stairs. I could only lean against the wall near the stairs and wait, letting the nausea of the holy symbols tattooed into my wrists and ankles pass. But I couldn’t wait too long.

Then, still feeling like hell and ready to wreak it, I stumbled slowly down the stairs, the small trek giving me a few precious seconds to heal and locate my companions.

[KonThaak]

The sight of a bear (forgive the pun) bearing down on me was enough to snap my mind back into full awareness. I rolled and leapt out of the way, and started running around the room, slashing at him whenever he got too close. Each of my attacks was repelled by his magic armor, as if I were striking a stone with my blade.

I called out over the radio, asking for details from the fight downstairs. I had the uneasy feeling that things weren't going well, and I was going to be out of radio contact for a while... After hearing the very brief description of what wasn't working against the tuxedoed vamp, I hesitated for just a brief moment, trying to think. If it weren't for Claw being able to swing itself, I probably could've been put through a wall right then...

"I think it's a Dead Moon!" I said over the radio. "Fire! And salt, if you can find a damned shaker. I'm leaving radio contact, now. For gods' sakes, don't shoot any animals while I'm out. Over and out."

I turned to face my enemy, grasping Claw in one hand, and the sleeve of my coat in another. "Let's find out what a bull in a China shop can do," I muttered, as I felt my body start to change in ways it never had before.

In retrospect, I don't think bears' faces are really meant to be able to twist in shock, and the result really was quite amusing. At the time, I just was aware that the bear needed to die, and that the floorboards were now creaking dangerously under the combined weight of a black bear and a bull.

I don't remember a lot of how the fight went. Our armors and thick hides were enough to seriously irritate us both, I remember that much. There were a lot of bites, slashes, kicks, and stabs going on, I remember that, too, but I don't remember what order any of that was in, just that my several attempts to gore him on my horns were proving painful.

***

Ugh... Had a long, painful day at work today. I need food and sleep, in that order, before I continue... Sorry, don't mean to drag this out longer and longer...

[KonThaak]

When the Society gathers, before we go into action we need to practice working like one collective sphincter instead of a bunch of individual assholes.

It's the only way we'll be able to handle this shit.

Yeah... Celeste went and did her own thing, I went and did mine... Shadow's team was doing their own thing... Bert nearly got killed because noone was there to back him up when he needed it most... Adama got griped at for not giving enough of a warning to his spell...

Everything came out alright in the end, but it was far too close in Bert's case, and if he were still around, I'd probably *still* be apologizing for leaving him to go after my own quarry... Between Celeste's timely re-arrival (I think; I wasn't there in that room, and I had the mind of an extremely pissed-off animal) and Adama's clearing the room, we might've lost one. And it would've been our fault...

[Willie Long]

He smirked. "It got you here, didn't it? Your little force is going to be disappointed and bored, tonight... I'm surprised I got to split your forces this far."

Disappointed and bored? I don't understand. What was he tryin' to accomplish?

Fortunately, excepting for some mind contol, things went pretty smooth.

OTOH, in L.A. we knew the layout, each task team was lead by a pro, and we had lighter opposition.

Don't I know it.

We'll work on it.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

Yeah, that was painful.

So I'm backing up into a firefight to avoid Mr. Tux and I heard KT yell across the mic something about salt and fire. Fire I can do but usually in the form of explosions.

And then I wondered, "Does this place have gas heat?"

[Ron Caliburn]

Fortunately, excepting for some mind contol, things went pretty smooth.

OTOH, in L.A. we knew the layout, each task team was lead by a pro, and we had lighter opposition.

True. But I still was worried about a major SNAFU catching us. Lou is lucky I carried a taser that day.

[KonThaak]

Disappointed and bored? I don't understand. What was he tryin' to accomplish?

It was a simple plan on his part... He figured I'd be coming soon, either by reading the board or listening to his cards. He'd already told me that one of us was going to die that night, so he knew I was on my way... Get me paranoid enough to leave some of my buddies behind, divide our forces, then defensively attack those of us that come after him and his buddies.

We would be divided, they wouldn't be. Bert, Shadow's team, and Adama all did a fantastic job against the zombies and ghouls, and as I'm sure you can guess, when Celeste showed back up on the scene on the main floor, the flesh golem and Mr. Tux were pretty much history. Dead Moon's can teleport short distances, but they can't turn to mist and hide in the clouds, so he was unable to escape as Mr. Fugly #1 had the night we were attacked at my townhouse.

So, in short, if I had left Bert, Shadow, Adama, or Celeste behind in addition to the three members of Shadow's team that were left behind, everything would have gone much worse for us; we would have been divided enough to be conquered there, and they probably would have moved in to finish off those of our force at my house.

Three guesses as to the welfare of my wife and child at that point in time...

[Bert_the_Turtle]

Well, I feel I can speak for everyone when I say we would've made damn sure, at *any* cost, that your family would've escaped had that eventuality come to pass.

[Shadowstalker]

My teamates at KTs house had things covered biggest issue was trying to not freakout his neighbors. There was an odd wrinkle I'm told that for some reson the local police were patroling the area more frequantly than normal and that they seemed to be dealing with alot of strange calls that night.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

So I'm rapidly giving ground before Mr. Tux...

I pull out my can of DW-40 and my cigarette lighter (I really love my multi-pocket vest, too bad there are never enough pockets) and I have my own miniature flamethrower. Unfortuneately the fire isn't intense enough to cause more than superficial damage to Mr. Tux. But it confirms KT's advice and that's all I was hoping it would do. Mr. My-Tux-is-on-Fire wasn't happy about this. He vanished from my sight and while I was putting my back to a wall appeared on my left and hurled me bodily into Shadow and his gang. Sorry about that again guys. At least landing on Shadow was softer than going through another wall. At this point I was out of blessed ammunition, silver ammunition, and blessed silver ammunition. So I reloaded my backup piece with regular 9mm ammo and fired a few more rounds at Tux's head which made a interesting thudding sound as they bounced off. But it did get his attention...

[Shadowstalker]

Thankfully I saw you and was able to try and catch you with minimal damage to both of us there Bert, no small feat considering. At this point Hammer and Seraph were moveing to flank Mr. Tux and cover us Bert was on his feet a little quicker than I was not to surpriseing considering I had the wind knocked out of me with that stunt.

[Bert_the_Turtle]

Yeah I really appreciate that.

So I go over my basic plan with Shadow while his team is stalling Mr. Tux; we need to set this guy on fire and in a big way. So the kitchen is near by and it just so happens that they had a gas range hooked up...