Chapter 1: Testing her mettle (Araleen 'Alta' Narcia)

The pair had passed a number of windows on their way up the staircase, but they had shown little beyond the blank tall walls of the surrounding buildings. A couple had faced out to the street but by that point they were up too many floors for Alta to get an impression of anything that was on it.

His breath finally back, Stannislas looked back at the Astropath, his mouth twisted in a half smile, and his eyebrows slightly raised.
"No offence taken écureuil. I imagine its a lot worse for you, being that I at least know the terrain."

He took a moment to glance around the hallway, before taking out his tobacco and papers and starting to roll.
"Normally I'd be perfectly confident about the security of this place, but that's only for trifling little things like a friendly bit of smuggling or forgery. I've an in with the local gang here which protects this place from the others. Once the Inquisition gets involved though... or some group who'd dare to put that mark on someone, I'm not quite as relaxed. But.."

He shrugged, lifting the rolled lho to his lips and licking it.
"He's free range, but the condition he was in, I wouldn't expect much movement. Other than getting his bandages changed, he hasn't left the bed. The minder is an old and loyal associate of mine. She normally helps me reappropriate important items out of the factories in Lileath. Not a bad person to have in a tight squeeze. Right."

He stuck placed the lho behind his ear, where it disappeared quickly behind his hair. Suddenly grinning broadly, he made a half bow, one hand tucked by his chest.
"Havn't I been a bad host? Please be welcomed into ma maison sûre."

Straightening his back, Stannislas then moved carefully forward. As Alta cast her senses into each of the rooms, she didn't sense any live organisms and was able to close all the doors. They finally came to a stop in front of the black door. Stannislas raised a hand to knock, but paused and looked at Alta to check if she was ready.

[If you want to make any tests now is the time. Awareness will be at +10]

ooc:

Alta reached out her senses, both psychic and 'vision' as they walked, trying to really get a feel for the area and if she felt this was a trap of any sort, either with Stannislas's involvement or without.
If things were clear from what she could tell, or even if they werent, Alta eventually gave her guide the go ahead to open the door, fingering the amulet around her neck and tightening her grip on her staff as he did so. She either had to be ready for a fight, or a test. Either was worth preparing for.

On the other side of this door was a rest, perhaps the first of many depending on her new boss. Alta had every intention of passing that test with flying colors, as was her right.

"The barren hallways and friendly doorman were all the welcome I needed, I assure you! Truly there is no trouble with the lack of proper introduction... We are both on edge, and busy people from what I gather. Now... Let's get in there and resolve this mess, shall we?"

She clicked her tongue and tilted her head. "Do you care what happens to this man? If so, after we are sure the room is clear it may be best for you to leave. Your minder as well, if she is inside. Though I would like to meet her - more contacts are always a positive, I'm sure you understand that."

As Alta concentrated and sent out her senses, she got an impression of the room beyond the door. The details were indistinct. It was  small and compact. There was a short corridor with a doorway on the right side, before the walls opened out further. A bed was up against the right wall and someone was in it. Opposite it was a table, covered in different small items, under a window. Against the left wall was a chair and someone else was sitting here. Behind this was another closed door.

"As you say, a mess left alone will only breed and make further issues."
As she spoke her next sentence, Stannislas's faced showed his surprise momentarily before returning to his tense approximation of easy humour.
"Do I care? Not particularly. If I hadn't assumed importance with him I'd have left him where he was lying. I'm naturally curious but I have an idea how you question people. Seraphina and I can wait out here."

With that, Stannislas gave the door a quick five beat knock, a combination of both slow and fast. He waited for a second, and then opened the door and moved into the room. Inside, the impression on your senses stayed the same, just becoming clearer. The woman sitting on the chair had turned to face the door as you both came through the door. Her face was tanned, eyes small and dark, and straight black hair that came as far as her shoulders. It was a sharp face, reasonably attractive but with the impression that if you viewed it at the wrong angle it might cut you. She was wearing well worn dark brown armour underneath a black overcoat. Her legs were crossed, a handcannon leaning on her thigh and a chainsword against the wall.
Her expression lightened as she saw who it was and she rose to her feet.
"Stannis."
He moved easily into the room and greeted her with a kiss on each cheek.
"Seraphina. And how is our patient?"
The woman shrugged, before turning to give you a long examining look.
"The same mostly. He wakes occasionally and I try to feed him then. He shifts between being terrified of me, screaming and yelling and then suddenly becoming more lucid and understanding where he is."

The patient was lying in the bed, covers halfway down his chest. He was somewhere in his fifties, his chin covered in a tangled bush of white beard and a deeply receded hairline which was thin and wispy. His face was a mess, the faded pale marks of burns over his sunken cheeks and forehead. There was an eyepatch over his left eye, a squashed flat sludge that had formally been a nose and a chunk missing from his ear. From what you could see, all of these seemed fairly recent. His right eye was currently closed. From what you could see of his chest, his flesh was receded, seemingly stretched over too big a frame. As well as his torture, it looked like he'd been starved.

Alta stepped inside behind Stannislas, giving a short nod of the head to the woman inside as she took a more close up look around. She listened passively to the two of them speaking, focused mostly on her poking through the room and her observation of her target laid out on the bed.
After staring at him for a few moments she spun around to address the room.
"Good to meet you, Seraphina. Thank you for watching over this man for Stannislas, and by extension myself. I am glad to see that he's still alive and ticking, even if he is missing a few gears... There is no small chance that we were followed, or that people are going to come to kill him or otherwise steal him from our grasp. I would be on the alert, if I were you."

She tightened her grip on her staff and tapped it against the ground with a dull thud. "The two of you can stay in here if you want, but I do intend to delve into his mind if the emperor allows me to do so, it may be more comfortable for you if you're in the hallway keeping watch, yeah? I should be fine in here, he isn't a threat to me."

Alta would wait for them to decide what they wanted to do, leave or stay, and then approach her target. She used the more mundane tools available to her first, simply looking over his body and then waking him up with a brief push to his shoulder.
"What is your name. Were you a member of the inquisition?" Two simple questions to start, said firmly directly in front of the man's face. She gave him a moment to respond, if he even did, and judged his answer as best she could for lies or anything else of note.

Regardless of that, she attempted to delve into his mind as well. This was her main skill as a Psyker and she fully intended to make every use of it she could. There were few better places to be able to read minds than in the investigation of a man who could quite possibly be entirely insane and unable to string together a proper sentence.
So with a hand on her staff she focused her mind and reached out, probing at the surface of his and trying to dig inside and extract what she needed to know.

ooc:

As you finished speaking Seraphina, looked quickly over at Stannislas, who grinned.
"Our young friend here is a bit of an expert and a representative of an outside party. If he's important enough, she'll be able to take him out of our hands."
"And if he isn't?"
Stannislas shrugged his shoulders, looking a little more uncomfortable.
"We'll find someone else who will. Considering the amount of interest in this person, there has to be someone who isn't those who had him before."
There wasn't as much conviction in his words this time though.

Seraphina turned and gave Alta a long considering look.
"You seem to know your business. None of his assets in this city are really high security, so its more a case of just how badly the other side they want this guy. Fact we havn't been disturbed so far is either good or really bad news. Either they are still searching, or...."

She smiled for the first time.
"I'll not be much help just standing outside this door. If they manage to get this high we are already dead. I'll see what it smells like street level."

Lifting her chainsword and clipping it into her belt she strode out of the room. Stannislas was looking down at the figure on the bed and then back at Alta, his eyes glittering and eyebrows raised.
"I'm all manner of curious as to what this is all about. Just in case though, I'm going to smoke a long lho out in the hall. Give a shout if you need me."

A moment or two after the door closed, quiet returned to the room, such that Alta was able to hear the shallow breaths of the other living occupant. Using her senses to examine him more carefully Alta was quickly able to ascertain that the torture this man had been put through was both genuine and long term. Only a few of the injuries were about a week old, the black bruising starting to fade. The rest were much older, perhaps up to three months old. While being no particular expert in torture, Alta knew enough to know that it would be extremely unlikely that this had been voluntarily accepted as a way to trick somebody.

As her hand pushed into his shoulder he woke with a sudden start, a blue eye staring in panicked fear up at her, mouth open but soundless, and his thin hands emerging from beneath the blanket to clutch it tight to his chest. For a long breath he simply just shook as his body was held rigid and tense. And then finally the blue eye flicked to examine the rest of the room and he let loose a ragged coughing breath, and let his legs slowly straighten out along the bed.

"Name... mhmnm" his voice dull and croaky. Coughing, the sound thick and wet, he tried again.
"Iofur Grumman. Who... who are you? How can... how can I trust you?" His blue eye was flicking from one side of the room to the other.

[OOC- I'll let you push so there will be no phenomena. Scrutiny wise she can tell that he seems very nervous, but doesn't appear to be lying.]

The emperor was being stingy with what Alta was able to do with her psychic abilities recently. It was likely a test from him, something to make her prove she was able to excel on her own and not just with his direct assistance. She muttered a quiet, fast prayer to the emperor in thanks for this chance and then finally turned her attention to the man and his answers.

"My name is Alta. I am an astropath in the service of the emperor of mankind and an inquisitor under the command of The Twitcher." She paused to see his reaction to that name, either positive or negative.

"We got sent word of you being found, and heard you may have been a member of the philosophers team, is that the case? If so, you can still help the inquisition despite your time in captivity, the emperor protects and forgives his loyal servants."

His blue eye continued to flick from Alta's face and then away again, clearly agitated. However when she spoke the words, 'twitcher' and 'philosopher' his eye remained on her face for a couple of extra seconds. The names obviously meant something to him.

"You know... You already know.... Inquisition too... I don't have to hide."

His body suddenly went rigid and he shuck violently for a few seconds before his body relaxed again, his breath loud and shuddering. He was silent for quite a while, almost a minute before he had his breath under control again.

"I was part of a team.... The philosop... he gathered us to investigate the cult.... We got close but then....." His body shuck again, though it wasn't as violent. His eye was now staring, wide eyed into your face.

"You must grant me absolution... I ... I have failed. I have been weak.... I failed."

"Absolution must be earned, it can't be freely given. But a devoted servant of the inquisition would already know that of course, yeah?" Alta leaned down a bit closer, examining his face with her psychic sight as she spoke.

"You can still assist the inquisition and the Twitcher, you only need to explain to me what you found out - what you got close to - and who it was that captured and tortured you this way. I need all the information you can provide about what happened. All of it. And then, once you have proven your worth, I will grant you absolution as you request. You have not failed yet, only withholding information would be a true failure."

The man's blue eye flicked to stare out the window for a few seconds and then to the opposite corner of the room. A choked giggle escaped from his lips
"A betrayal! Can... Can a betrayer ever be granted peace!? Smite,... punishm... 'ain.. A snake.... poised and ready to strike... A betrayal is coming..."

His body suddenly bent painfully into a rigid C, shaking and gasping. After a couple of long breaths his body eventually relaxed and his eye returned to you.

"I'll try to help... what I can. You... you need to be careful. Enemies... at every level."

Closing his eye, he took a deep breath, before returning it attention to you.
"We were told by the Philosopher to... investigate the Cult. They started in the underhive, hiding as a penitent church aiming to improve its members. We.. We..."

His voice suddenly increased suddenly in pitch as he said the phrase, before returning to normal.
"WE ARE THE CHANGE WE SEEK... That is what they they called themselves. Their leader... a... former priest Father Raz el Tin... THE CLENZER... promised to provide forgiveness... wash away worries. Instead.... he... He... wants to tear it all down. Everything to become chaos..."

Sweat had broken out on his forehead and the veins in his neck were visible and rigid.
"We heard.... he was operating from... station 6... Club...Griglandra... We arrived... cover... but he knew... He knew.... HE KNEW!!!"

His body was shaking again but the thin hollow man appeared to be fighting it. His blue eye stared desperately up at yours.
"And then..... I betrayed...."

Iofur's mouth opened again but before any further sound could escape it, his head suddenly rocked back. Fresh blood started to oose out of a roughly circular hole in the middle of his head. A second later there was a cracking sound, and a lightning shaped crack split across the window opposite, its starting point a perfectly circular hole.

Alta had been taking slight steps back as the man spoke, he was clearly more corrupt than she had imagined with what it sounded like he had seen. Chaos had touched him, and she prayed for his soul wordlessly as she took mental notes of his testimony.
She had learned quite a bit. A location, a leader, an explanation for what occurred. All extremely useful information. Perhaps he could be passed on to the ecclesiarchy to be cleansed -

And then he was dead. Someone had shot him, and Alta's psychic senses quickly noticed the matching shapes of the hole in the window and the hole in his forehead. They were being watched. She wasn't sure if they could also hear her or if it had just been a shot made the moment the sniper was in position but it wasn't a risk Alta wanted to take.

She moved quickly back to the door and opened it. If Stannislas and Seraphina were still in the hallway she made a loud tap against the floor with her staff as she shut the door.
"We were being watched, someone shot him through the window. We need to leave, now. Keep watch on other windows we pass, and when we get outside I need you to guide me to the nearest place with cover from sightlines above us. They may be on the street too, but we KNOW they are up high so we can mitigate that." Another hit of her staff against the floor.
"Now! Let's go. We can discuss a plan when we're in the clear, yeah?"

Alta would begin to move down the hall behind the two, assuming they did as she asked, and would follow them all the way outside. They knew the terrain, she didn't And frankly she hadn't been in real combat before, so they were the best to lead for now.

As Alta opened the door and stepped out of the room she found Stannislas leaning up against the wall, taking a long drag from a lho stick. Purple, grey smoke was twirling around the ceiling. He turned to look at you, at first inquisitive but as her words continued, his expression went suddenly blank. Moving quickly he dropped the stick and moved to walk alongside you.

"He was shot?! Marde.... From above? They must be in either the other apartment, or the Chokprod building. Seraphina is keeping a lookout below, if she's still alive she'll give us an exit. Let me think of where we can bunk too..."

The two of you come to end of the corridor. To your right are the stairs that you came up and on your left are the closed doors of the lift.
"Which should we use?"

"Do you not have any way to contact her from here? Stairs. Less likely to be sabotaged, unless you disagree. But yes, shot from above. Or directly across. It came through the window. I will follow you down the stairs."

Alta gestured for him to take the lead down the stairs, or if he suggested the elevator then she would go that way with him. Either way, her main goal was just getting out of the building as quickly as possible right now.

Stannislas was pulling a hand cannon from his pocket, and was quickly checking it to see if it was loaded.
"Personal communication devices are banned here I'm afraid. Caught with one and you get a couple of years. Not to say I couldn't get my hands and some but that doesn't help us now."

He shrugged his shoulders as he quickly looked between the elevator and the stairs.
"Perhaps someone might have tampered with it but on the other side, the elevator is a damn sight faster. Take us 5-10 mins getting down the stairs and less than one to use the lift. I'll follow whatever you choose."

Kya really didn't like the idea of trusting the elevator but Stannislas had a point. By the time they got down the stairs whoever had been on the rooftop may have been able to reposition to shoot them as they got outside. With a frustrated sigh, she went to call the lift to their floor.

"You're not wrong. Speed is important, let us hope the Emperor will protect us from any sabotage that may have been prepared, yeah?" If the elevator arrived without issue, she'd step in only after Stannislas did and then send the two of them down to the ground floor. As they descended she tucked a hand inside of her robes and thumbed the activation rune on her compact laspistol, ensuring it was ready to fire and in her hand if things came to that. She kept a firm hold on her staff as well, of course.

From below came a whirr indicating that machinery was acting. The elevator was clearly climbing up towards them. Stannislas was lost in thought while they waited, his right hand still holding his hand cannon low by his side, and chewing his bottom lip. After a couple more seconds silence he opened his mouth but the noise from the elevator intensified and he closed it and instead raised his weapon to point at the doors. They slid open relatively smoothly, though you could hear a low quiet shriek that spoke of metal grinding against metal. The interior was dim and lined with a cheap looking blue carpet which ran from walls to floor. The ceiling was made up of flimsy looking alloy.
After scanning the inside for any enemies, Stannislas looked to Alta to see what she would do. After she stood still he proceeded inside and leaned up against the far corner and started rooting through his thick coat with his free left hand.

"I've been busy tip tapping my mind over our various options, and at least écureuil we have some to take. As you saw or sensed I suppose, there is a main road in front of this building. From there we have five basic routes out of here. First is back the way we came, South East towards Olafur's Axe through the various gang territory."

He gave Alta a considered look as she pressed the ground floor button.
"I don't know who this mans, or indeed who might be your enemies in this city but I'm going to guess its not a simple gang matter. So if we were going to be chased, it might be safer travelling through dangerous territory.  Second is North East from here, towards the Run Down. Its basically a shanty slum, people there are pretty desperate and dangerous.

Third is South West and goes pretty straight to Station 3 and all along main roads. Its the quickest, but also the most obvious escape route from here. Once at the station there should be some U-Paets at the very least.

Speaking of, North West is the main road to the U-Paets barracks. I'd never normally put myself in their rough grasp, they tend to suspect everyone and try beat a truth out of anyone they think is suspicious. It would take quite a force to assault their barracks though.

And finally there is due north to the river. I've a rotted old riverboat tied up. It smells awful but its my most secure bolt hole. I've not mentioned or taken a single soul back there."

As the machinery around them whirred, he finally pulled his left hand from his coat, with a dirty square of paper. Gripping it between his mouth for the moment, he retrieved a red pencil from another pocket, and squating down, he laid the sheet across his knee and started to mark it with the pencil. After a few seconds he passed it to you.

[Red Dotted route is the way you came here]



He pointed with a grubby finger at the two buildings opposite marked 60 and 72.
"I've marked roughly the number of floors these buildings have. And the red square is us. These two opposite though is where I suspect the shot came from."

As he finished speaking, there was a juddering sound from the elevator again and then it stopped moving. The doors slid open revealing the same lobby you had seen earlier. At the far end, just outside the entrance doors, Seraphina and the guard were both standing looking to their left.

Finally, a map. Alta could do something with this, now that she knew what the surrounding area looked like and what their options were. Each had their own risks, all of which were made worse by the fact that they didn't know how many people were in the area, or whether they only wanted to kill her conversation partner or everyone involved.

"I think we see if your protectors have discovered anything obvious first, that may color what option is best to take. I am leaning towards going to the barracks, I should be able to convince them of the danger and ensure your safety, in theory, and I believe that would be the safest spot to go.. It's either that or the same way we got here. But like I said, that may change if they've seen anything."

She moved towards the front door, allowing Stannislas to head outside first once again and then following. She quickly looked in the direction that Seraphina and the guard were looking, and assuming nothing immediately needed to be addressed she continued. "Our friend was shot. We need to get out of here, right now, you two have any preference on where we go?"

Stannislas nodded his head at your suggestion.
"Definitely the most important thing to discover is what the situation is like on the ground. Otherwise everything we discuss will be moot. If there is real trouble out there, the Barrack's is going to safe from them. They have proper firepower there. Just a warning though, I'd make sure you have a pretty solid cover story ready for the U-Paets if you present yourself to them. Anything suspicious, or something they don't like about your story they'll just lock you up before shifting you out the labour camps for a couple years."

This time he didn't wait, and stepped out through the door to take a position beside Seraphina, looking first to the left and then the right. As you joined you found the street was largely similar to how it had been before, only that the food cart which had been directly opposite was now being pushed up the street by the overweight woman. She was just past the alley that you had come from.
The only other person was a middle aged man in a blue boiler suit walking towards you. (Just by the bottom left corner of the building marked 64.)
Seraphina turned her sharp featured face to look at your briefly before staring back to her left.
"He was? I thought that was what that sound was. Sounded like it came from the opposite side of the road. I came straight out here. It's suddenly very quiet here, but there is something odd over down at the corner (by the building marked 84). A couple of heads have poked out as if to look for something and then go back. Preference wise?"

She took a moment, looking down the street again.
"Preference would be away from the Run-down and the official forces. We are good to move whenever you are."
The guard suddenly spoke up.
"Yeah those U-Paet mu-dak's can get gaked."

"Fine, we go back the way we came then. Avoids this area, and the authorities and gets us back on familiar ground that they hopefully don't have staked out already. I'd appreciate a closer watch this time around, got mugged last time we went through while you went ahead."
Alta looked around, she couldn't see overly far with her psychic senses but she had enough to know that things were concerningly quiet and empty, barring the one person walking towards them.

"Let's get going. Keep an eye on that guy in the blue over there, and move quick, yeah?"

Once the others got moving, Alta would follow. Her hand stayed on her pistol beneath her cloak, and the other gripped her staff tightly as they moved out of the compromised location and towards somewhere that was hopefully safer.
She muttered soft prayers to the emperor as they went, praying for deliverance from danger and the power needed to succeed in her task for the Inquisitors.

Stannislas turned his head to look at you briefly, surprise marking his face.
"You got mugged when you were following me through the alleys? They musn't have realized that you were with me. This time we should probably all stick together as a group, at least till we get out of this area."
Seraphina took a moment to open up her hand cannon and double check the ammunition before closing it with an audible click.
"Back towards the gang territory right? Stannis if you keep an eye on the guy behind us in blue. I'm more concerned with the disturbance on the corner (by the building marked 84). I'm guessing something is coming down from the run-down. Also Myev, if you keep a watch on the woman with the food cart. She's got her back to us now but you can't be too careful."

She led the way, followed by the guard Myev, and then Stannislas who had his head turned around to keep an eye on the man in blue behind. The footsteps of your group seemed unnaturally loud, slapping off the rockcrete, as you moved forward quickly. The only other sounds were the occasional squeek of the wheeled cart in front of you.

After about thirty seconds of quick movement, you had almost progressed about halfway toward the alley, and were in the middle of the road, when you noticed Seraphina's head suddenly jerk to the left.
"Gakk, two incoming from the Run-down!"
As these words left her mouth a sharp whistle suddenly sounded from the distance in front of you.



[The four in the centre is your group, marked by text colour. The two red dots are what Seraphina has made you aware of- I don't think you can see them right? Each square represents 9 meters, so you are 36 meters from the alley. The purple dot is the woman with the cart, and the blue dot the man behind you.

And with that, as stuff is going to get time dependant, we are going to move into combat (though you don't necessarily have to fight). Could you please roll initiative? As it is just going to be you in this conflict, I'm not going to close the IC but we can go turn by turn. I'll also let you get a quick post in just before this starts, if you want to say anything to the others (you won't have time to move though.) ]

Round 1
Hooded man #2 13
Myev 12
Hooded man #1 7
Stannislas 6
Seraphina 5

"I can't see them from here, won't be much use to you if we get into a fight. Just run! Get to the alley and we can bottleneck them there if they chase!" Alta gave some quick directions to her team and got ready to run.

rolls:

[She can only 'see' within four meters, past that is only hearing and other normal senses. So she can't see SHIT right now. She's also very, very slow so this is going to be rough. Feel free to do my turn for me while you go through the npcs, Alta is just going to be running unless something major happens like another group of dudes, or her friends ditching her.]

[Ah yeah, I thought that was the case, though I didn't realize quite how limited your vision was. Hopefully the NPC's should be able to keep you updated on what's going on. Right, lets jump into Round 1]

Round 1
As the last echo of the whistle pealed through the streets, Alta could hear the thud of running feet off the rockcrete surface. She wasn't completely certain, but it sounded like it was one person moving.
Beside her Myev took his stub revolver from inside his coat.

"It's just the two of 'em? Huh huh, what they think they are going to do? I'd take 'em down myself."
He set off from beside you and disappeared beyond the range of your vision.

[Alta is up.]

Hooded man #2 13
Myev 12
Araleen 'Alta' Narcia 11
Hooded man #1 7
Stannislas 6
Seraphina 5

[Yeah it's real limited. It'll extend if I ever get any mutations or anything that also give the unnatural senses trait at least, so we'll see if it stays short forever.]

Alta knew the rough direction back towards the alley, so she ran down until she hit the wall of the building there and then would use that as a guide to get her towards the entrance of the alley itself!

[Running, so I think she can move 12 meters]

There was the sound of more pounding footsteps ahead.
Stannislas turned his head to look at.
"Hopefully Myev might be able to hold them up for a bit, but I'm guessing there will be others behind. They don't look like gangers."
He set off into the darkness beyond your vision.
"As fast as you can, get to alley." Serephina moved forward too, her greatcoat flapping as he ran, revealing for a second the chainsword strapped to her waist.

End of Round 1

Round 2



Ahead of her Alta, could hear first the high pitched sizzle that she knew meant a las shot of some kind. Seconds later it was answered by the loud explosion, that she guessed probably came from Myev's revolver. There were no further sounds. She had yet to reach the wall on the far side, but she was still in the middle of the road.


Hooded man #2 13
Myev 12
Araleen 'Alta' Narcia 11
Hooded man #1 7
Stannislas 6
Seraphina 5

[Running again for another 12 meters!]

Shots weren't good. Alta continued her prayers to the emperor as she ran, hoping that this time she would reach the wall and be able to follow it towards where she needed to go. It turned out mostly blind people were rather slow, but she was doing her best to keep up with her companions.

After a couple of seconds continued running Alta just caught sight of the wall and was able to use it to angle her run straight again. Ahead of her there was the sound of another high pitched sizzle, but Alta didn't think it had come in her direction. At least if it did it was very far off the mark.
More footsteps sounded ahead and then Stannislas's voice called back.

"Keep coming! We're covering the alley entrance!"

Round 3



As she continued to move Alta heard the sound of two more shots, followed by two different screams of pain. Blood had obviously been spilled.


Hooded man #2 13 (1/9)
Myev 12 (4/9)
Araleen 'Alta' Narcia 11
Hooded man #1 7
Stannislas 6
Seraphina 5
Hooded man #3 5
Hooded man #4 5

"Was that one of ours or theirs?" Alta continued her run, hopefully a little bit more easily now that she had the wall as a guide to get to the alleyway.

[And again! Another 12 meters.]

As Alta continued her run with the wall alongside her, she caught the slightest blurry glimpse of a figure in front of her. From this shadow she heard Stannislas reply.
"Both I'm afriad. Zek. Myev and one of them were hit. Keep coming, you are almost at the alley."

There was the sound of another shot, and another cry which faded out seconds after it came and Seraphina's clipped voice spoke out of the darkness.
"One of them is down now, but another two have come around the corner."

Round 4


Behind her Alta heard the sound of a dull cough followed by a number of curses which clearly belonged to Myev
"Damn thing has jammed."

Hooded man #2 13 (0/9)
Myev 12 (4/9)
Araleen 'Alta' Narcia 11
Hooded man #1 7
Stannislas 6
Seraphina 5
Hooded man #3 5
Hooded man #4 5

"Tell him to pull back once I get in the alley, we can make a break for it or at least use the buildings for cover."

Alta kept running with her hand tracing along the wall as she went so she knew when to turn, the moment she felt the wall make a corner she would too.

[More running! Same distance]

As Alta hurried forward she slid between the brown coated figure of Stannislas and the wall, and then suddenly saw the corner and the alley up which they'd come before stretching away into the darkness. On the edge of her vision she saw the blurry image of Seraphina, aiming her hand cannon into the darkness. There were two explosions, the sound which she thought were of Stannislas and Seraphina and then the high pitched whine of the returning las bolts.

One scream and one yell echoed through the street.
"Pustin! They got Myev! Serephina!"
"You go and I'll cover. There's two more coming around the corner."

Round 5


(Alta now tops the round with the other two previous leaders now bleeding out on the street. Hope its not an omen....)

Hooded man #2 13 (0/9)
Myev 12 (0/9)
Araleen 'Alta' Narcia 11
Hooded woman #5 10 (9/9)
Hooded man #1 7 (0/9)
Stannislas 6 (10/10)
Seraphina 5 (11/12)
Hooded man #3 5 (9/9)
Hooded man #4 5 (9/9)
Hooded woman #6 5 (9/9)

"There isn't any reason to stay back! Join us in the alley, get some cover at least. If we get far enough the gangers can distract them, yeah?" Alta called back to Seraphina, she had no desire to lose all of her contacts in one firefight - not so soon after getting here at least. She needed them.

Regardless of what they did though, her own survival was the most important so she continued a ways down the alley. Alta only went far enough that Stannislas was on the edge of her vision, and then waited for them to follow.

The alley she was moving down was much narrower than the road Alta had been on previously, so much so that she could see both the rough walls on either side. The corner of a building loomed up ahead, and as she saw it, she heard a response from behind her.

"Grot's sake, listen to her Seré!"
"Tamimi!"
There was the sound of running footsteps behind her. Turning the corner and finally free from the street above, Alta turned and saw both Stannislas and Serephina take a position on the edge of the corner, Serephina on the edge covering her companion. There was the sound of further footsteps and then the sizzle of a las shot which exploded into the womans chest. Serephina stepped back involuntarily and then with a grimace, spat out blood and moved her gun up to cover the darkness beyond.

Round 6


Hooded man #2 13 (0/9)
Myev 12 (0/9)
Araleen 'Alta' Narcia 11
Hooded woman #5 10 (9/9)
Hooded man #1 7 (0/9)
Stannislas 6 (10/10)
Seraphina 5 (8/12)
Hooded man #3 5 (9/9)
Hooded man #4 5 (9/9)
Hooded woman #6 5 (9/9)

"I can't help, they're too far away for me to see... We need to keep running! Stay behind cover."

Alta did as she said, and ran off down the alley. She would stop if she lost sight of Stannislas or Seraphina, opting to once again stay within sight of them for her own safety. And to know what happened to them if they were shot.

"If we get into closer quarters I have weapons, I just need to be able to /see/.

As Alta set off the two others exchanged a look, before a las shot came around the corner burning into the wooden shutter of a window next to Serephina. They immediately turned and followed after the Astropath, Stannislas cutting in just behind and Serephina easily catching up with Alta.

"Problem is, they are all faster than you. If we keep up like this, they'll be on us before we get to the ganger territory."
She scowled over her shoulder as the echoed sounds of running feet indicated that their pursuers would soon be around the corner.
"There's at least four of them back there. Maybe if we keep running they might try to just shoot at us, which would give us a chance of getting away if we don't get hit again. Or Stannis and I could lay down fire, pin them and then catch you up. Both of us are faster than you. What do you think?"

[As these two are NPC's I'm giving you a bit more control of what they do in this fight scenario. I feel it keeps it interesting/gives you some options with how you proceed.]

Round 7


Hooded man #2 13 (0/9)
Myev 12 (0/9)
Araleen 'Alta' Narcia 11
Hooded woman #7 11 (9/9)
Hooded man #8 11 (9/9)
Hooded woman #5 10 (9/9)
Hooded man #1 7 (0/9)
Stannislas 6 (10/10)
Seraphina 5 (8/12)
Hooded man #3 5 (9/9)
Hooded man #4 5 (9/9)
Hooded woman #6 5 (9/9)

"You're right. What if.. What if we turn back, There's the fork in the alley just behind us. If we stand around that corner and wait for them to turn it, I'll be able to see them and help fight. Do you think us three can kill those four? If so, let's do it that way."

If they agreed, Alta moved towards the corner she had pointed out and laid her staff on the wall so that she had free hands for her lasgun, which she pulled out and aimed at the corner that their foes would come from!

Seraphina gave Alta a measured look, her lips pressed tight together before nodding her head.
"You've picked a good one this time Stannis. No shortage of nerve. I think its our best bet. Otherwise we could be shot to death before we get to the next bend. Hit them hard and with no mercy."
"Emporor save us. I'd put on fresh pants today too. Once we put these down lets then run? I don't want to fight the whole rundown."

The two followed Alta, and took up positions beside her on the corner. Seconds later there was the pounding of echoed feet and two men and one woman came up the street at speed, all wearing dark red hoods. They were only a few feet away from you.

Round 8


Hooded man #2 13 (0/9)
Myev 12 (0/9)
Araleen 'Alta' Narcia 11
Hooded woman #7 11 (9/9)
Hooded man #8 11 (9/9)
Hooded woman #5 10 (9/9)
Hooded man #1 7 (0/9)
Stannislas 6 (10/10)
Seraphina 5 (8/12)
Hooded man #3 5 (9/9)
Hooded man #4 5 (9/9)
Hooded woman #6 5 (9/9)

Alta took aim down the sights of her Lasgun at the corner. The moment she saw someone turn, she took a moment to draw a bead on them and then took her shot.
She wasn't a marksman, she hardly had any real skill with firearms in the first place honestly, but more las fire in the air could never be a bad thing.

Rolls:

(I think that should actually have been a +30- as well as the half action aim, you also get +10 for single shot and +10 for half distance. Doesn't help for this shot but hopefully for the next!)

Seconds after her shot, Alta could hear running footsteps. The fourth who had stayed back to cover, was evidently joining in as well. Standing next to Atla, Stannislas raises his auto pistol, and with the weapon being set to full auto fires a blast of explosive gunfire into the group in front of him. His aim wasn't precise but that wasn't his intention. All four figures immediately cowered, pistol holding arms moving in front to block their faces.

Her gun also raised Serephina takes a much more careful aim. Her target barely has time to look up before the shot rips through his chest, and he falls, las pistol skittering away across the surface of the road. Two of the other three drop their shoulders and move to take cover around the corner and momentarily out of sight. Only the late arrival is left, in a half crouch, but gun still in hand.

Round 9


Hooded man #2 13 (0/9)
Myev 12 (0/9)
Araleen 'Alta' Narcia 11
Hooded woman #7 11 (9/9)
Hooded man #8 11 (9/9)
Hooded woman #5 10 (9/9) Pinned
Hooded man #1 7 (0/9)
Stannislas 6 (10/10)
Seraphina 5 (8/12)
Hooded man #3 5 (0/9)
Hooded man #4 5 (9/9) Pinned
Hooded woman #6 5 (9/9) Pinned
Hooded woman #9 4 (9/9)
Hooded man #10 3 (9/9)

Rolls:

Alta was glad to see one of them go down. This was why she liked having others around, people who knew how to properly fight kept her safe and alive in situations where alone she would be very, very dead.
She took aim once again at the final person who hadn't turned the corner and loosed a las round at his crouched form. It missed, hitting the wall behind.
"Thank the emperor the two of you can aim. Keep it up! We've almost got them. In the emperors name!"

Alta gave a brief little inspirational shout, hoping to keep her allies pepped and fighting for just a bit longer.

Following the further gunfire, the hooded woman woman half crouched moves back the way she had game, trying to put the angle of the wall between herself and your group. Her companions also continued their retreat back. (All three failed their WP and remained pinned)

The woman was still in sight of Serephina and Stannislas and they both fired at her, but perhaps despite Alta's encouragement their shots cracked brick and wood, well wide of their target. In the silence that followed, there was the sound of further footsteps coming toward them.

Round 10


Hooded man #2 13 (0/9)
Myev 12 (0/9)
Araleen 'Alta' Narcia 11
Hooded woman #7 11 (9/9)
Hooded man #8 11 (9/9)
Hooded woman #5 10 (9/9) Pinned
Hooded man #1 7 (0/9)
Stannislas 6 (10/10)
Seraphina 5 (8/12)
Hooded man #3 5 (0/9)
Hooded man #4 5 (9/9) Pinned
Hooded woman #6 5 (9/9) Pinned
Hooded woman #9 4 (9/9)
Hooded man #10 3 (9/9)

"Shit, more coming. We can't make a run down the way we wanted, I'm not fast enough. You two think we can outgun this many? If not, we need to think of something else. Break into one of these buildings maybe? I don't know. Ideas?"

Alta clutched her lasgun and aimed at the corner, taking overwatch to fire on any that turned the corner and entered her line of sight. This was bad. Very very bad. She should have hired the mercs from earlier, had them come along for this trip too. Stupid mistakes get people killed, and this may have been one of them.

OOC:

Just as her lips had stopped moving, the running feet echoed up the alley, and a hooded man and woman came into view. The woman was the first to enter her zone of fire, and Alta was ready. This time her shot was true and blasted into her head. She screamed out, fell against the wall but regained her stance again.

There was a shot from back from around the corner toward Serephina but it just missed her shoulder.
Stannislas took a quick look around him.
"There's a warehouse directly behind us. Door is about 20 meters south of you. Its closed but it might be unlocked."
His autopistol was still pointed up the alley and he let off a full auto suppressive blast. He must have found his range though, because this time his fire was deadly accurate. As the explosive blasts rocked through the streets, the two figures that Alta could see fell.

Serephina had been eyeing the buildings behind her as well, but she turning back she whistled and slapped the man on the shoulder.
"Light shine on us, that's groting beautiful shooting Stannis. Three down Alta. My suggestion is you start running again. We're in their territory. Stannis and I can take turns pinning 'em. Just two in view now, but probs more coming."

She took a half step further around the corner and then fired her hand cannon.
"Make that one left."

A las bolt wizzed out and struck her in the chest. Serephina declined to show any reaction to this.

(What a shooting round. Everyone hit their target's except one of the Hooded figures, even with Stannis -20 full auto suppressive fire. Changed the situation a bit.)