12.21.3013: Said The Spider To The Fly II
Summary: Havenite military forces go to the Black Sapphire Hotel and Resort for recon and rescue.
Date: 26 October, 2013
Related: Said the Spider to the Fly I
Brienne Advent Thalo Cedric Darious Sammel Jarek Hostiles 


Black Sapphire Hotel and Resort, Lazarus Island, Isles of Terran
The Black Sapphire Resort and Hotel was a collection of four main buildings, laid out in an 'L' shape, and ten or so vacation homes owned by rich Houses or Citizens, nestled into a small harbor between the steep slopes of two extinct volcanos. It takes up an expanse of land between bright sand beaches with a boardwalk and marina and a palm forest that starts out thin and open and gets thicker and darker the further one goes inland. All told, the resort's clearing covers about four square miles.

The main buildings were fifteen to twenty stories tall, clustered around an area of faux-natural pools, greenery, and a restaurant topped with imitation palm fronds. Two buildings ran along the long side of the 'L', hosting rooms, restaurants, art galleries, and part of a mall. The majority of the mall stood in the ten-story glass-walled building at the crook of the 'L', which also hosted the Waygate on its fifth floor. The third main building formed the base of the 'L' and was filled with more rooms, restaurants, and the like, leading down to a short path to the marin and the boardwalk. The boardwalk sported a ferris wheel at the end of one of its jetties, with the public beach on the far side of it. Between the far end of the public beach and the top of the 'L' were a soccer field and several volleyball courts.

All of this was rather than is because alongside the lashing walls of rain and whipping gusts of wind came a force of Hostiles, and they evidently brought with them at least one siege blaster, which they have used liberally on what was once a gorgeous resort. If it weren't for the pouring rain, there would be numerous fires burning — as it is, smouldering plumes of smoke are whipped away by the wind as they gutter from inside most of the buildings.

IC date of RP

If it weren't for the storm, the sun would have just risen over the palm forest behind the resort, as it is, the entire area is dark and half-hidden, nothing more than flickering or sporadic lighting coming from inside. The Hostiles have been there since at least around sunset, and the recon/rescue/clean-up crew is just now arriving via a motley collection of boats. As they transition from the open ocean to the sheltered water behind the stone breakwater, the small craft stop rocking quite so outrageously, calming down as they coast up to the beach, boardwalk, and marina. The boat containing the knights of this particular team is a thirty-foot pleasure yacht, and it bellies up to the dock of the marina under the hand of the owner, who stands white-faced in a skinsuit, with a spear leaning against the control panel beside him, "Good luck."

Dressed in her aggressor armor tinted green like her beloved home in the trees, Brienne is one of those on the pleasure yacht. If the situation hadn't been so dire, she may have taken the time to actually enjoy being on a boat.. or even be scared of it. She did manage to not get seasick on the churning waters. As she departs the boat, she offers a solemn nod to the owner. "Stay safe out here." Waiting on the dock for the rest of the folks.

The Sauveur is in his aggressor armor and has never usually had issues with water. He steps off the boat onto the dock with his pole arm in his hand. The humor is gone from his face and Advent's blue eyes are on the building. He takes a step up beside Brienne but doesn't speak. His whole demeanor is quite different. It's far less playful and quite a bit more cold calm. He lifts his hand and drops his visor. "Jeeves… do you see anything?" He speaks to the AI.

Dispatched to a nearby island by House Ibrahm when work came of the attack on the Black Sapphire resort and Hotel, Sir Thalo Khorax as quick to respond, bringing nothing more than his armor, hammer and a spare axe just in case. One never knows when a blade might be handle. And so the Wall arrives now at the site of the attack, moving off the boat with all due haste, perhaps more haste than necessary, and lands on the dock with a thud. His defender armor is heavy and daunting even by the standards of heavy armor given the wearers size. His helmet is already on, red eyelights glowing as he surveys the area for a moment. Currently his hammer is in the craddle on the small of the back of his armor. For the moment, the Knight Lieutenant remains silent, aside from his footsteps as he moves away from the boat, which thud resoundingly with each step.

Cedric isn't known to take part in ground side operations, but this is a particular different issue. An issue that has left the usual naval ship Captain on a very different boat than what he's used to. Somewhere in that resort is his wife, three months pregnant with twins. Were it not for her, he wouldn't be here, letting the groundside troops handle groundside matter, as this has taken him away from naval conflict, likely much to the Admiralty's displeasure. But, even if had been told no, he would've thrown down his pips and gone anyways. Because if he isn't the one to make sure his wife's alive, then what good is he as a husband. So, it's left him in a particular foul mood. The man in black Aggressor armor tinted with a wide red stripe down the sides, is rather quiet, impatiently tapping the hilt of his falchion.

Darious has joined the team that's sent to rescue the hostages, and remove the Hostile threat. Darious Dons his Scout armor, as it's been recently painted to match the conditions. Paintd black with highlighs of blue to blend in as well as possible due to the rainy and dark conditions. Darious snaps the helm on and activates the H.U.D and makes sure all systems are in perfect order. He stuffs into his pouces a set of extra bow strings as he never knows how the weather or situation will affect them and its never fun to be without. He also slides a wicked looking short blad into his back scabbard, just in case things get abit dicey and he has to go melee. Sitting on the boat until they land and waits orders he looks at all those in thicker armor and is thankful they'll most likely be taking the brunt of the melee attacks while he provides ranged support.

Wearing his own aggressor armor, Sammel has his poleaxe in his hands, as he spent some of the time aboard the boat wishing for the craft to go much faster. As he gets off the boat, he notices Cedric's impatient tapping of the hilt, nodding to the man, as he's feeling quite a bit of the same impatience now. After all, his own wife is in there somewhere as well. Letting out a bit of a breath as he waits for the orders to come now.

"Thank you." Jarek replies to the owner before heading down to the gangway and from there to the dock. His new suit of armor is plain and only once decorated with the symbol of house Saimhann. Well fitted to him, it is of modern styling with post-reversion bend. That said, it is highly designed on the functional side versus show side. His new AI takes stock of building layouts and grounds while he looks over the team he was placed in charge of. "First goal of this mission is the Waygate, without it we won't be much use to survivors. I'm sure some one you might know someone who's been here, was or is here, or perhaps wanted to come here. Don't let personal emotions and goals distract from doing what's most important for their safety. We need that gate to be in our hands if it still stands. Eyes and ears open folks, mind your step. And may They guide us."

<FS3> Brienne rolls Alertness: Great Success.
<FS3> Sammel rolls Alertness: Failure.
<FS3> Thalo rolls Alertness: Success.
<FS3> Cedric rolls Alertness: Success.
<FS3> Jarek rolls Alertness: Good Success.
<FS3> Darious rolls Alertness: Good Success.
<FS3> Advent rolls Alertness: Failure.

The white-faced owner keeps the boat running, staying inside the shelter of the bridge for now. He nods to the Knight Lieutenant's thanks, "Just hurry back before they come down here." His voice quavers a little, but he picks up his spear and moves to the entrance to the bridge, scanning the dock his boat has magnetically 'tied up' to.

As the Havenites arrive at the marina and elsewhere across the broad swathe of the bay, another sheet of rain sweeping across the resort, nearly blanking out all view of the expansive grounds.

Being the first one off, Brienne looks towards the collapsed building and the surrounding rubble through the grim rain. At first she doesn't see it, but then she realizes it wasn't all rubble there. "There are a /lot/ of shapes there, at the front of the building and a few over there by where the pool is." Was. With no lights in the nearest major building it was impossible to see if anything was moving there. "Yeah, it looks like blasterfire took out the entire resort."

Advent doesn't see anything really but Brienne talking gets him to focus where she is looking. He is not having the best of times. Cedric is here and that means Lyri would kill him if anything happened to her hubby so he takes a small breathe and doesn't move just yet.

"We're not raw sailors here." Cedric tries to not snarl at Jarek. "We know the Waygate is top priority." That doesn't mean he has to -like- knowing that. Everything else he might enjoy saying isn't, rather he's picking shapes and trying to determine wether or not they're moving, or optical trick by all the rain that's coming down. "Would've loved to of known how they got a seige cannon planetside. Apparently the blockade isn't doing as good a job as I had hoped." Build better, larger ships, he's said before. No, says the Admiralty. They'll change their tune once moons start being lost en masse.

Darious cycles his helmets systems thru both lowlight as well as Infrared to deteremine what works best during this storm as he's picked up shapes by the base of the 'L' but no where else. He hears brienne's comment and grins as he too has seen such as he readies his bow, Noching an arrow but doesn't draw back yet, just holdig it steady as he creeps up to get a better peek without being seen himself. "Noticed.. going in for a better look." as he uses what ever is availible for now to help mask his approach.

Moving over to place one hand on Cedric's shoulder as he hears the man's reply to Jarek, Sammel takes a few breaths. "Easy… We'll get them out," the Cindravale offers, words kept quiet for now. He doesn't see the shapes mentioned, but looks in that direction as they're pointed out. Hand back on his poleaxe now.

The Wall slows as he he sees the building in rubble and his eyelights dim, and then flicker through a few shades of red before going back to normal, "Can't see shit through all this rain." he mutters idly, coming up next to Cedric and then looking to Jarek, "You got command. How about we get some orders beyond 'take the Waygate'. There some sort of plan here?"

New suits always have quirks, and this one's zoom and low-light vision with enhanced optical seems to be something Jarek will have to fiddle with later on. He nods slightly to Brienne, "I can see some of that, can't tell if there's anything in the building itself though. Blasterfire could pose a big threat to us and civilians. Were it me, I'd position it at the most prized conquest, the gate. Keep a good look out for it, if you think you spot it let all of us know."

At Thalo's words Jarek nods slightly, "Brienne seems to be our eagle eyes, and we have Darious for scouting. Arborens take point and keeps us aware. Standard II lines, we take the back side of the closest building at high caution. Courtyard is suicide, when you've taken what moment you need, roll out."

"Were it me, I'd take out the Gate from orbit." Cedric grunts. "Sadly, we're fresh out of naval assistance here." Since Jarek is in change and he's well aware of how the chain of command works in situations like these, the Captain isn't going to bother voicing his opinion, he just moves out with everyone else. When Advent passes, he stops him. "Lyri's here." he mutters lowly to his brother-in-law. "We take care of the Gate one way or another and we find Lyri." That said, he moves forward.

<FS3> Darious rolls Stealth+1: Good Success.

Advent stops to look at Cedric and his demeanor seems to get much colder at the news. He nods to his brother in law. "I'll make sure you both get home…" He speaks quietly to him. He takes a few longer strides to almost block anything that might hit Cedric, now that the knight has his sub mission he's more determined than ever.

<FS3> Hostile2 rolls Alertness: Failure.

When directed to take the lead with Darious, Brienne moves up side by side with him, if he comes as well. "So, looks like we're the scouts." Looking ahead, she draws her sword as they lead the way towards those moving figures. Only once does she look back and make sure that everyone else was coming as well.

Darious cocks his head at brienne and grins, "really.. wouldn't have guessed. " his tone light as he teases his cousin. His eyes falling back on the forms he's seen by the 'L' shaped building. He scans the area spots some rubble to move up to and lets Brienne know his plans, "I'll move when clear will signal. " as he then moves up to the next point so that he can get a better look at the situation, maybe spot hostiles he previously missed.

Sammel just nods a little bit as he hears what's being said now, moving to find his place within the group now. He's quiet at the moment, readying his weapon for whatever comes now.

Thalo eyes Jarek for a moment, then looks at the others around, "Two line formation then?" There's a bit of a huff and Thalo moves to head up one line and flips up a cover on his bracer, "Spike, check for power levels and local network signals coming from the Black Sapphire Resort and Hotel." There's a beat pause as he looks to Jarek, "We might be able to link up with the Hospitality AI from the hotel, get information before we send scouts in."

"Don't worry about me. Focus on the Gate, then getting Lyri and the other survivors out of here." Cedric states cleanly to Advent. That is, of course, if his wife alive, and the Orelle refuses the idea of anything otherwise. But, the order is given he moves along in line, pssive scans on his HUD filtering through his vision.

<FS3> Darious rolls Alertness: Success.

Advent turns his face to Cedric. "If my sister is dead those children need a parent so yes, I will worry about you and defend you, sir." He almost growls that out from behind his mask. He glances around with his HUD and nods at the motions. He's walking beside Cedric, his pole arm poised.

When Spike checks for the connection, a cheerful voice, young and female, pops up on Thalo's comm, "Welcome *crackle*-tors, to the Black Sapphire *crackle* and Resort. I am the Hospitality Organizer for Leisure, *crackle*-ry, Excursions, and Ent-*crackle*. But you can call me H.O.L.L.E.E. Please note that we are experiencing an *crackle*-cy, and all guests are advised to remain where they are if *crackle* is safe to do so."

"And this is why they gave me a Knight Lieutenant as a second. Knows his stuff and doesn't need any coddling, thank Them for that." Jarek states, before he brings up the rear of the group. Greatsword drawn, the symbols of the Six going up the blood groove no longer flash or flair, the only adornment to the fireblackened monoblade is that deformed drake claw hilt and the fake scratches running the length of the steel.

The helmeted face of Thalo is masked, but the scoff that comes through his comm isn't, "We're the same rank. And if you'd bothered to learn anything about modern AI systems, you'd have known how to connect to the Hotel AI too." he intones and then Spike reports something back to him, "I've connected to it. It's aware of the emergency…" he pauses a moment as they move, falling back a few steps, "Spike, redirect message to Hollee: Please advise on status of the Waygate on Level 5."

Darious replies to his cousin, but includes the rest on the report as well. "Movement pool side, number of hostiles unknown, around building there are at least a dozen maybe more Hostiles."
"from what I can see of the lobby, the glass has been shattered on the first floor but Im not reading or seeing any enemy forces so lobby looks clear. " he then swaps back to brienne and says. "come on up the view's great." a touch of humor in his tone.

"That's pleasant." Cedric mutters. "So a dozen maybe more against…the six of us. That's, going to take a bit of doing." He goes silent, considering options, deciding to just move along. He doesn't like ground tactics. A bit too messy for him.

Without waiting for further invitation, Brienne quietly moves over where Darious is, "I'm all about you doing your scouting thing, but I'm not one to hang back. When they go in, I'm going with them, but you stay back and use your bow. We wait to hear what the boss wants us to do."

Advent clears his throat. "Perhaps we can … split them up? Take two away at a time and ambush them. Or set traps to lead them. We have enough of us to do this." He watches Brienne move closer to Darious and harm and his body tenses but he doesn't stop his fellow knight.

<FS3> Brienne rolls Alertness: Good Success.

Darious grins, "oh dont you worry cuz, I know my role in this, I let you all do the hand to hand stuff while I provide covering fire. This isn't my frist … time out ya know. " he glaces back and the rest and thinks 'what a thrill' as he flips to main channels. "Okay boss whats the plan..?"

H.O.L.L.E.E. responds promptly within Thalo's helmet, "I'm sorry, honored guest. There have been malfunctions across the resort. Techn-*crackle* are working on them right now. I do not have *crackle*-mation as to wait times at the Waygate Plaza at this time." As the group nears the resort, the connection seems to be firming up a little more, with fewer dropped spots in the transmission.

"I'd be offended if it weren't true." Jarek replies to Thalo, then "Don't bring attention to us. Two's and three's are good ideas, if we have a good defensive position. We need to get clear of the docks, so we don't bring attention to the boats." a pause, "If they realize knights have boots on the the island, they could just kill any hostages right away and then swarm like roaches. Lets try to get inside first and get as much information as we can. Backside of the building, Darious, check for hostiles and see about an entrance inside."

Keeping quiet as he listens, Sammel frowns as he looks over at Cedric and Advent for a few moments, but keeps silent for now. Aside from something said only to himself at the moment. "I'm coming…" It's just a mutter, kept more or less under his breath.

Thalo hmmms quietly, "Nothing good on the Waygate, their internal AI doesn't know what's wrong with it." He pauses now to look over towards the others, unslinging his hammer and the cradle automatically collapses into his armor, "You call out the plan, I'll smash the baddies." he offers up in a slightly mechanized voice, "I wonder if we could trigger something inside…Fire alarms or something. Draw away anything inside to a specific area…"

Brienne speaks into ehr own com. "Looks like we got a clearer shot from here to the inside, where the lobby is. The bulk of the Hostiles are towards the bottom of the L side of the building.. Your call, Sir Jarek. But we've got to get to our own and get them out."

Darious look to his cousin and her armor.., and with private channel he tells her give me a lead hmm, as your not that stealthy in that bulky stuff. " he then flips to team frequency and says, "Roger that, moving to scout lobby. will hollar if need backup. " as he starts forward towards the lobby to make sure its clear of hostiles and to assertain its defensibility.

When the group reaches the lobby, it is sizeable, with several collections of chairs, couches, and small tables for people to wait at. There are, however, definite signs of struggle (beyond the shattered glass doors). Furniture has been knocked over, and in the darkness, it can be seen that there are significant smears and sprays of blood. There are a couple of corpses in the room, resort staff by the looks of them. One has been flayed and vivisected, his hands and feet pinned to the floor with heavy steel spikes. By the blood spray around him, he was alive when he was taken apart. The others appear to have been cut down and killed immediately or near-immediately, as they have not been… attended to. There is a small door behind the reception desk, and a larger one leads back to a bank of dark elevators and an emergency stairwell, as well as a restaurant behind that.

Advent walks in and looks to the man whose all over the place. He steps over his body without a seeming care at this time. He stands by the doors and listens silently, hoping to hear something that might tell him which door to take.

Brienne looks back at the boss and nods, "All clear, let's go." Taking the lead and following Daroious inside, ducking down. She glances back towards the others, recognizing Thalo's sizeable self, then Advent's armor. "Hard to believe this place had just hosted the repopening."

"This is why I don't go to resorts." Cedric grunts, glancing at a couple of the bodies, but not really paying them any heed. "It's service is terrible." Enough of them have bounced off his main viewscreen floating silently by more times than he cares to recall. He's holding his pistol-crossbow out for the moment, taking each room in a sweep-like fashion, clearing each one before moving on.

As the group enters the lobby, a holoprojector springs to life alongside the reception desk, the silhouette of a girl-child appearing in pale shadow, "Greetings, guests, to the Black Sapphire Hotel and Resort. I am the Hospitality Organizer for Leisure, Luxury, Excursions, and Entertainment. But you can call be H.O.L.L.E.E. Please note that we are experiencing an emergency, and all guests are advised to remain where they are if it is safe to do so." The holoprojector flickers, then returns to full strength. "The safety of our guests is our primary concern. Due to your arms and armor, please submit a valid security code, or Resort Security will be called."

Darious spots the stairs and slips past Advent as he slowly checks them out, his bow still in hand as he takes the stairs one at a time, his bow aimed in the direction he looks just in case something pops out. He tries to keep a sizeable lead on the others as they aren't as stealthy and as such could alert attention to /him/ as he scouts ahead. He shifts a glance back to the others as the hologram is activated. "ahh dont you think that thing will draw attention. " as he takes a few more steps up..

Stepping into the lobby with the others, Sammel looks around for a few moments. "Would have been a nice…" he begins, going silent, both as he sees the room itself and the corpses present. Taking a few deep breaths, before he hears the holoprojector thing. "Right… *Now* you want to call security…" he mutters, fists clenching for a few moments.

<FS3> Darious rolls Stealth+1: Success.
<FS3> Darious rolls Alertness: Great Success.

Thalo taps a few points on his bracer, "Spike, relay stored passcode 312." He then looks around to the others, "It should shut off in a moment, best to leave it be for now. Everyone be ready…We might have already drawn attention to ourselves."

Advent glances around and frowns. He talks quietly to his AI. "Can you locate Lyrienne Orelle?" He knows it's unlikely but he's asking at least. He hears Hollee turn on and crouches down instantly, back to a wall and polearm out. He quickly looks around.

"Thalo, any information from that AI about survivors-" Jarek's cut off by that very AI flickering to life, "H.O.L.L.E.E. are there any recognizeable signatures coming from the fifth floor? As well, can you tell me the number of living immediately after the emergency started?" He waits after Thalo's given the code, then repeat his questions.

It's as if Cedric actually looks angry that Advent asked about Lyrienne before he was able to. The hidden face behind his helmet looks at the man, but he doesn't say anything. Far too much is on his mind at the moment. Or he's too busy checking one of the hallways to make sure nothing is coming down it. At least it's covered for now. "If the Gate is on the Fifth floor, that's likely where the majority of Hostiles are."

Darious pauses at the door as he catches something, movement or something on the other side. *Comm's* "Got movement on other side of stairwell door. Contact unknown. be on alert. " as he raises his bow up a bit higher, while he backs up and stands near Advent even though he's pointed the opposite direction with his weapon. He waits for someone to reply to his statement. His eyes moving around to keep from getting tunnel vision due to the door but mostly he focus's on that door.

Brienne takes up her stance near Advent, Thalo and Darious, her sword was already drawn but now she lifts it and takes hold with two hands as she awaits the answer of the Holo Hollee. If she senses any of the tensions in the air between the group, she chooses to ignore them and instead concentrate on sounds around them.

H.O.L.L.E.E. turns toward those asking the questions, starting to shake her head — and then the code is relayed, and she freezes, her voice losing some of its childlike tone, becoming a bit flatter, "Security code accepted. Lady Lyrienne Orelle was at the Rubine Art Gallery at the time of the emergency. I can attempt to find her, but my processing power and sensor net are limited due to damage to the building. It may take some time, and I am currently being accessed in twenty-two separate locations." There's a pause, "Twenty-three." The outline of the girl turns toward Jarek then, "There were two-thousand, four-hundred, and sixteen visitors prior to the emergency, as well as two hundred and thirty-seven staff. I have four instances of my program being run from the fifth floor of this building, two instances from the Rubine building, one in the Emeraldine, and my sensors in the fifth floor of the Sapphirene building are entirely off-line." The Rubine building is the top of the 'L,' the Emeraldine the body of it, the Sapphirene the curve, and the building they are in now is the Diamondine.

Advent jaw tightens and he looks towards the map and without a care heads silently towards the Rubine Art Gallery. His staff in his hand and his body is stiff. He will find his sister with or without help, he doesn't care.

"What is the state of the Rubine Art Gallery, H.O.L.L.E.E.?" Brienne spouts out, trying to put a restraining hand on Advent. "We have to find out where they are."

Darious glances back to the others and shakes his head. "I uh.. understand you wish to find your sister Sir.. but might be better to handle the local problem as we have movement behind the door leading to the stairwell. " as he might be a jr on the team but facts are facts.

Advent is stopped by Brienne and turns to her. "She's out there." His voice is very quiet. His arm is shaking but he doesn't continue since Brienne seems to be grounding him. His polearm is held more tightly in his hand and he's breathing carefully. He hears Darious and nods. "Roger, that."

<FS3> Opposed Roll — Hostile200=Stealth+2 Vs Darious=Alertness
< Hostile200: Good Success Darious: Success
< Net Result: Hostile200 wins - Marginal Victory

"We have a mission, people. The longer we spend sitting around here asking a half working AI questions, the longer it takes us to get to the waygate. There are possible thousands of people to save. Get some fucking perspective and let's move." Thalo finally growls out after a moment.

H.O.L.L.E.E. responds to the inquiry from Brienne, "The Rubine Art Gallery suffered severe structural damage. Most of its contents fell into the floor below it." Rain continues to trickle in through the shattered doors, a lightning strike lashing from the dark clouds above and illuminating the harbor outside the lobby for a heartbeat. Thunder rumbles a few seconds later.

"Before you all just hobble off to this art gallery and contemplate the meaning of life as told by Gregor." Jarek states sharply, "Lets try to assess how many civilians we have to deal with. Family is important, I get it. If Agnes or any one of mine were here I'd feel the same, but we can't let personal pride or goals get in the way." a pause as he turns back to the AI, "H.O.L.L.E.E. How many visitors arrived after the emergancy began, minus us?" A look around, "Information is important Thalo, rushing into this headlong will get us killed, or worse it will get the civilians killed."

Darious is momentarily distracted by the actions of the others, so his eyes leave the door to the stairs for amoment, and his bow lowered just a fraction of an inch. "Yes sir I agree, but we should deal with whats here and now!" as he nods to the curently closed door leading to the stairs " as if there are hostiles behind it and they've heard us they could gather while we bicker." … " sir…" as he starts to turn his head to keep and eye on the door again.

Briefly, Brie lifts her visor and looks at Advent. "She's smart, you know that. Resourceful." As HOLLEE responds, she nods, "Thank you." Though the information is bad.. "With a Hostile threat, what would you do if you suddenly found yourself one floor down. What would you do? Try and think like her." Glancing at Cedric, to include him in that. "What would she do?"

Advent eyes narrow at Jarek and tenses but Brienne brings him back. He thinks it over and turns to her. "Lyri would try to get as many out of the rubble and hiding as she could. She's a mother to everyone. She'd save as many as she could and not leave a living soul behind. She'd fight if she needed too. After that…" He shakes his head and bows it.

There is a slight delay before H.O.L.L.E.E. responds to Jarek's inquiry, "I do not have full details on that information. My sensors began to be damaged before any such count could be taken. At an estimate, there are some 600 new visitors who arrived immediately following the emergency, plus or minus 300." So… not a very useful estimate. "More recently, 175 new visitors have arrived, plus or minus 50."

"Advent, don't become a damn liability to the mission." Cedric's voice is a bit clipped. "My pregnant wife is out there and nobody wants her back as much as I do right now, but we can't go running off all willy-nilly. Lyri isn't dumb, she's going to lay low as best as she can. She came out of that D-4 incident okay, she can come out of this too." He listens further to Hollee. "Fantastic, if that's the case we need to get more bodies here, and soon. Because we're sure as hell not going to be able to hold either of those numbers off."

Another moment when his left hand clenches as Sammel listens, nodding a little bit as he hears Darious, looking over to the man. "You're sure there's something behind there?" he asks, a bit quietly. That done, he mutters something under his breath, once more readying his weapon, just in case.

Thalo shakes his head a bit and starts to look around the room, "Spike, grid overlay, let's get sweeps going at regular intervals." And then he looks back to Jarek, "I never said we should dive into an army of hostiles unprepared. I said let's keep on point. I already told you the AI was damaged, and isn't running at full capacity. So how about you listen to someone who actually knows how these systems work. Our first objective is the waygate, you said that yourself. We can sit around asking the AI to give us a history of the hotel if you want after we deal with the primary goal."

"Right, we need that Waygate on our side. Lets get up there, stairwells are good bottlenecks we can hold them just fine if we have to. Lets move up, but mind your step." Jarek makes a decision finally, and lifts his sword to the ready, motioning towards that door Darious is watching. "Brienne, Advent give the scout some added manpower. He's squirley with that door for a good reason I'm sure." a look to Thalo and Cedric, "Thalo and Cedric hold the fort, Sammel you're with me we're checking on the stairs up."

Darious looks to sammel. "I wouldn't have said something otherwise. As Im not overly fond of opening doors to go face to face with a hostile while wielding a bow. " as he's a touch irked at the delay. He glances at Jarek and sighs. "so who's going to be the door opener?" as he levels his bow at the door and is as far back as he needs to be without being outside (preferably behind an Armored wall)

"Sure thing." Looking back to Cedric, she offers a smile before lowering her visor again and heads for the door with Darious and hopefully Advent. "Let's get this done, we're getting nothing done by talking about it I guess."

Advent nods to his orders and lets his hand fall to hold Brienne's hand as he moves towards where Darious is. He ignores the others that talk at him. "Sir Thalo, come with me. With numbers in the six hundreds, I'd appreciate you watching my six." He shakes his head. "Yes.. six hundred possible hostiles, please stay back alone and let us all die before you die. Smart." He releases Brienne's hand and comes up near Darious.

As Jarek starts to lay out his orders, contact reports start to come in from a few of the teams, telling of clashes with Hostiles along the boardwalk, patrolling the sports fields, in the pool area, and among the vacation homes to the right of the landing point.

A hallway leads from the lobby back to a bank of elevators, then a closed door that is labeled 'stairs' and then on to the glassed-in entrance to a restaurant beyond.

Darious shakes his head, as it seems he's the one to open door. He moves up to the door as Quietly as he can and takes a deep breath befor he slowly turns the nob. His touch light, just incase something pulls he'll not be jerked into the room as well. When the latch is cleared he Throws the door open as he backs up as fast as he can so that /if/ there is something waiting, he'll try to not be in the way.

There's a moments pause as the order is given and the eyelights on Thalo's helmet glow a deeper red, "You are sidelining me? You better know what the fuck your doing, mama's boy." And so Thalo stands right there, where he is, in the middle of the room. A glance to Advent and he shakes his head, "No can do, I was given direct orders not to move from this spot." Someone isn't letting this insult go.

Sammel nods as he hears Jarek's words now. Readying his weapon and preparing to move with the Knight Lieutenant now. Looking between the others for a few moments as he takes another few breaths. There's a look back towards Thalo as well, but he doesn't say anything now.

The door bangs open when pushed by Darious, revealing… an empty stairwell. It is constructed so that there is a landing halfway up each floor, but there is a floor beneath each flight of stairs so that one cannot look up the fifteen stories except directly through the middle, where a gap of two or three feet lets in an emergency light from somewhere above… and a drip of water.

When Darious throws open the door, Brienne is there, putting herself in between him and the door, sword raised, prepared to take a swipe at anything… when it's empty, her shoulders slump in relief and she calls the others. "All clear here."

Advent turns and looks at Thalo and then to Jarek. "You will get us all killed." He hisses at Jarek. "Sir Thalo is needed with us, you fool." He turns back around and nods when the door opens. His pole arm is out and he moves forward. He looks around again. Trying to see anything that might be there.

Cedric just shakes at head at being told that he and Thalo get to stay back for now. "Either we all die now or later. With that kind of numbers it's not a matter of tactics, it's a matter of your best place of choosing." Optimist he might be, but even he can't outthink that many Hostiles on a place with little to no tactical knowlege, equipment, or really, plan. He gives a Thalo a look, one that's suggesting he's dearly thinking about wether or not a naval Captain outranks a Knight Lieutenant.

"You rather the scout watch all our asses Thalo?" Jarek returns before he eyes the empty stairwell. When Advent hisses at him he tilts his head toward the Sauveur, "Oh, alright then. Let us all go into the amazingly empty stairwell and not have a single person watching our retreat path. Fucking brilliant you two seem to be today, and here I thought I didn't need to coddle a damn one of you." he shakes his head, "Shut the fuck up, all of you. Get your heads out of your asses and think about the fucking moment." He moves towards the stairwell, and presses his blade against the floor plating up and down.

Advent stops and turns to Jarek. "Leaving them here will ensure their deaths. They won't be watching our backs when we go into the stairwell." He shakes his head and stays on point. "Perhaps, Lord Jarek you need to shut the fuck up and get your head out of your ass and think for a fucking moment. We are out numbered, out gunned, and easily out manned. We need to remain quiet and stealth like while staying together. If we split up it will be easier for them to take us out. How you became Lord Commander is a mystery which when we all make it out of here, I will investigate to full measure but right now I'm going to say this simply, we find and access the Waygate. We work together. Let's go." He speaks into the comm on his headset.

"Scouts scout the front, they then retreat to the rear when sighting a contact so that the main body can deal with the enemy. You keep your mediocre buy fresh soldiers in reserve to bolster ranks in the event you are overwhelmed. I should have to explain basic fucking tactics to a Knight, let alone a Knight Lieutenant." Thalo grumbles a bit after that and then looks to Advent as he speaks and nods, "That works too." he looks to Cedric, "Let's move to cover them as they walk up some stairs."

The flight of stairs and what can be seen of the flight doubling back over the heads of the Havenites toward the second floor remains empty. Drip… drip… water drips down the center space of the stairwell. It probably shouldn't be doing that inside a luxury hotel… or could it be that it's not water at all?

Darious moves up the stairs bow at the ready, Where he looks is where the bows's aimed as he doesn't wait as he knows his role, and does so with skilled percision, checking each landing carefuly before moving on to the next. He does have his AI keep an active tracking to keep an ear out for his name being called but unless that happens he really doesn't need to hear the bickering over the comm's as its a massive distraction.

Dissension in the ranks. Surprised at the outburst from Jarek, Brienne looks back at him, just steadily behind her visor. When he tells them to all shut the fuck up, she steps out of his way further into the stairwell so he can get in the stairwell where she was actually standing already. At Advent's words, she gives a nod and moves on with Darious. Level up.

<FS3> Hostile200 rolls Athletics: Success.

As Darious ascends that first flight of stairs, there is a blur of motion, as a Hostile Soldier leaps from the landing above. It lands immediately in front of the scout, sweeping a sword across its body in an attempt to slash across the Arborenin's stomach from the Havenite's right to left. Behind the first attacker, another pair of Hostiles can be seen, one with a hand-axe and another with a long spear. Both are hustling down the stairs to meet the Havenites, although they are not so… dramatic as their fellow.

<COMBAT> Hostile200 attacks Darious with Sword - Critical wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Darious attacks Hostile200 with Bow and MISSES!

<COMBAT> Darious has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Darious spends a luck point to keep fighting!

Darious sigh as he rounds the corner as the others bicker and due to such a distraction he does the one thing he had hoped to avoid. He loks up at he comes Visor to Navel of a sword wielding hostile. "Oh Gods!!! not good, not good. " as he back pedals down the half flight as he hastily lifts his bow and fires an arrow, trying to hit it in his paniced state. Its as he watches a blur of movement that he feels a sharp pain in his gut. He blinks as he staggers back a few steps, and its only then he realizes he's been cut.. HE works his way past Brienne and Advent. While calling out "hostile.. hostile…" his back slams against the wall as his legs feel weak as he forces himself to try and keep standing.

"Advent Brienne up those stairs, get Darious out of there. Sammel, cover the door and retreat, Cedric and Thalo move up and replace Advent and Brienne." Jarek orders soon as combat starts.

Next in line behind Darious, Brienne was watching, but when the Hostile takes him by surprise, it surprises her too. She lifts up her blade and is already focusing on the Hostile when the order from Jarek comes in. Wait.. what? Get Darious out? "Are you able to move, cousin? Get out of here, you go to the back of the pack." But she's there right, can't she attack? With Darious gone, she goes for the Hostile.

Advent growls when he sees the hostiles and he rushes up the stairs. He pushes near Brienne "Back up! Fighting in stairs is stupid." He snaps. He pushes his polearm out and he's ready for an attack as he tries to stop them all from advancing.

With Brienne and Advent moving to the front, Thalo waits for Sammel and Jarek to get out of the way so he can move to the middle rank. Hammer in hand, he takes up a stance, waiting for an enemy to get in range. Holding his hammer in his off hand he grumbles, "Spike, sidearm." His armor on the outside of his right thigh opens up and a hand crossbow slides out. He grabs it and takes aim, "This is ridiculous…" he grumbles and takes a shot at one of the hostiles.

Frowning as he sees the hostile attack their scout, Sammel at first seems ready to rush forward, but stops as he hears Jarek's words, moving to the side to let Thalo and Cedric past now. Muttering something else under his breath, as he remains where he is, holding his poleaxe carefully in his hand.

At least Cedric knows how to fight in confined quarters, given that's what he usually does anyways. Like Thalo, they both had the same idea, and his own sidearm appears in his hand. "Send six against over a hundred…" he mutters. "Fantastic scanning abilities our race has." He pulls the trigger.

The Hostile with the sword gives one of those rasping, squealing calls as its blade draws blood, sounding vaguely triumphant even though the actual message being passed along may be utterly lost in lack of translation. Gathering itself from its landing, it tries to chase after the wounded Havenite, only to find itself coming face to face with two more charging up the stairs. He takes a half-step back, letting the axe-wielding Hostile catch up, and then pushes forward again alongside its fellow, the two swinging their weapons in at the new front rank of Havenites. The spear-wielder from behind brings its weapon up in both hands, aiming to thrust past the heads of his fellows toward Brienne.

<COMBAT> Jarek passes.
<COMBAT> Hostile201 attacks Advent with Bludgeon - ARMOR on Chest stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Sammel passes.
<COMBAT> Hostile203 passes.
<COMBAT> Hostile202 attacks Brienne with Spear but Brienne DODGES!
<COMBAT> Darious passes.
<COMBAT> Cedric attacks Hostile200 with Hand Crossbow - Moderate wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Cedric's weapon clicks empty.
<COMBAT> Brienne attacks Hostile200 with Sword but Hostile200 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Advent attacks Hostile200 with Polearm but Hostile200 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Thalo attacks Hostile202 with Hand Crossbow and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Thalo's weapon clicks empty.
<COMBAT> Hostile200 attacks Brienne with Sword but Brienne DODGES!

With so many on them, Brienne begins backing down the stairs, not turning her back on the Hostiles, she swings her blade wide as she attepts to attack one of the two attacking her.. but she does hurry back down, "Hostiles incoming!" Warning the others, like.. they can't see anyway, right?

Darious having recoverd as best he can while the rest engage in melee. Darious brings up his bow as he sights in on the spear weilding hostile in an attempt to try and hit him. Though right now he's praying to luck more than anything as drawing that bow back hurts.

Advent makes sure Brienne is backing up before he too quickly takes the stairs backwards. "Everyone out of the stairwell." He grumbles. "Bottleneck them at the door." His polearm pushes out towards the hostile attacking Brienne but he misses by very little. The bludgeon on his chest bounces off and he turns to stare at the Hostile attacking him.

Thalo's shot doesn't hit the mark and he starts to reload, "For fucks sake Jarek, get Sammel in the second line so he can actually use that fucking Poleaxe of his!" He looks to Sammel, then continues to reload his sidearm.

The process of reloading the crossbow is rather easy, it does it for you since there isn't actually a bowstring to it. Though Cedric does have to pull back on the action while it cools down. Hurry up, is what he's thinking, even if he's slightly detatched about the motion itself. Thalo gets his point across that he was mirroring to say anyways, so no need to say it twice.

<FS3> Balius rolls Alertness: Failure.

The sword-wielding Hostile parries Brienne's sword up and away from itself, thrusting out its sword at the knight in concert with the spear of the Hostile behind it. The impact of Cedric's bolt between its ribs, however, sends the blow awry. The axe-wielder, on the other hand, manages to get a hand on the haft of Advent's polearm, slapping the thrust aside, and it steps forward, slamming his axe down toward where Advent's neck meets his left shoulder. And a fourth Hostile comes down the second flight of stairs as the first three follow close behind the retreating Havenites. This fourth hefts a crossbow, aiming it at the biggest available target — Thalo.

"Darious and Cedric, push back further into the hallway and harry the hostiles, Sammel cover the retreat and move forward a bit to help." Jarek, stepping out of the way as he would have normally done, is still inside the stairwell but pressed against the wall to make space.

Sammel nods a little, moving to take up a position where he can use the spike on the poleaxe to stab at the Hostiles closest to their own people. "Crossbow…" he calls out as he sees the enemy with that weapon aiming for Thalo.

<COMBAT> Hostile201 attacks Advent with Bludgeon - ARMOR on Chest stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Hostile200 attacks Brienne with Sword - ARMOR on Chest stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Darious attacks Hostile202 with Bow but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Thalo finishes reloading.
<COMBAT> Sammel attacks Hostile201 with Polearm but Hostile201 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Jarek passes.
<COMBAT> Hostile203 attacks Thalo with Crossbow - Moderate wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Hostile203's weapon clicks empty.
<COMBAT> Hostile202 attacks Brienne with Spear but Brienne DODGES!
<COMBAT> Cedric finishes reloading.
<COMBAT> Brienne attacks Hostile200 with Sword and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Advent attacks Hostile200 with Polearm - Moderate wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).

The Sauveur sees the axe head to his chest and he leans back enough for the axe to slide over his chest and off himself. His little view comm blinks when Thalo gets hit and last combat he learned that's bad. He pushes his own polearm forward while remaining in his defensive stance. He aims it to the closest hostile and holds on hard. Advent still steps back making it to the landing.

Darious continues to back out slowly giving as much covering fire as he can, Trying his best to still shoot the spear weilding hostile but the pain he's under has made such shots harder. He replies to Jarek with a pained reply. "Working on it sir.. " as he loos's another arrow in the hostiles direction and wishing for some pain killers at the same time.

Nearing the landing now, Brienne continues to back down the stairs while still parrying the blows of the Hostile hopefully, trying to avoid any damaging hits. Her aim is bad right now, but she's more concentrating on avoiding the hit to herself than making sure hers strikes the Hostile even as she finally makes the landing.

Getting pushed back isn't fun, but they haven't started at the best possible way. Not with being tore apart how they are. Which, is kinda sad if Cedric gives himself a minute to think about it. Four on six and they're being pushed back. A mildly annoying thought, but the Captain can't help but slowly start to move backward, in part because he was ordered to. Recharging finished, he shoots once again.

The crossbow bolt slams into Thalo's chest just as his hand crossbow is ready to use again. He grunts and is forced back a step from the impact. He growls and regains that step, taking aim with his hand crossbow again. He may have been placed in a tactically untennable position, but the Wall doesn't give up. He takes a shot at the hostile with the crossbow this time.

"We need to get them back into the hall, head into the hall and get your hammer ready Thalo. After him, I get out, then Sammel, then Advent, then Brienne in that order. Cedric and Darious keep harrassing them." Jarek remains pressed up against that back wall under the assenting side of the stairs.

Stepping back with the others, Sammel still tries to stab at one of the Hostiles. He glances over at Thalo as he notices the man getting hit, before he nods a little to the others now. Still focused on the enemies in front of them, even while advancing backwards.

The spear-armed Hostile ducks as Darious' shot whistles past its head, thrusting out a spear at Brienne haphazardly. The sword-wielding Hostile launches itself toward Brienne, coming in hard with an overhead slash. What it didn't expect was to be facing a braced polearm, and the point of Advent's weapon slips off its breastplate to bury itself in the Hostile's armpit. The crossbow-wielding Hostile fires center-mass at Thalo, then shuffles forward a little bit to keep a bead on the retreating Havenites while its weapon recharges, keeping pace with the retreating Havenites.

<COMBAT> Brienne attacks Hostile200 with Sword - ARMOR on Neck stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Thalo attacks Hostile203 with Hand Crossbow but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Thalo's weapon clicks empty.
<COMBAT> Jarek passes.
<COMBAT> Hostile203 finishes reloading.
<COMBAT> Hostile200 attacks Brienne with Sword but Brienne DODGES!
<COMBAT> Cedric attacks Hostile200 with Hand Crossbow and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Cedric's weapon clicks empty.
<COMBAT> Advent attacks Hostile200 with Polearm - Moderate wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Sammel attacks Hostile201 with Polearm - Light wound to Right Leg (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Hostile202 attacks Brienne with Spear but Brienne DODGES!
<COMBAT> Hostile201 attacks Advent with Bludgeon - ARMOR on Chest stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Darious attacks Hostile202 with Bow and MISSES!

Darious growls as his shot was dodged as he keeps moving back and draws another arrow. He sights in and lets loose again. "come on you bastard die already.. " as he prays that this time he gets lucky and actauly hits his target. He's at the door and knows if he steps thru it he'll lose sight of his target but in a bit it wont matter as he'll have his team in his face if he doesn't move soon.

Now that Brienne and Advent have moved out of the way and back into the lobby, this gives Cedric the chance to go back to his rountine of dual weaponry that has been his personal style. While his hand crossbow recharges, he flickers out the falchion that he had been holding all the while, as if ready incase one were to get too close. And especially now that the bodies that were infront of him are now moving backward, that would be about that time. So that's when he slashes with it.

Advent shakes his head and sighs. "That's what I said…" He grumbles at being repeated. He moves just near to Brienne and waits for everyone else to get out of the stairwell before he continues to back up attempting to bottleneck them.

Finally an order that make sense, "Took you long enough!" he bellows out to Jarek, "Alright you two, back down slowly, you'll get backup as soon as you get them to the hall." Thalo then slips his sidearm back into its retractable leg holder and hefts up his hammer, grunting a bit and favoring his off side away from the blow to the chest. And now he takes his turn down the stairs.

"Good…" Sammel mutters, pulling back the poleaxe, and bringing it in for another attempted stab, right before he turns to get out into the hall. "We'll get them now!" he says, voice raised a bit to try giving people hope as well.

Waiting for her turn, Brienne continues to try and hold off the Hostiles until she can get through the door in the right order, trying to watch both sides, the Hostiles and the doorway. It wasn't exactly easy, but she manages. When she sees one or a couple of them aiming at her, she swings her blade at one of them.

Out in the hall now, Jarek steps to one side of the doorway. "Sammel to one side, when Advent gets here he takes the other side, then Brienne to his side, Cedric to Sammel's side. Darious shoots from and angle, and Thalo and I keep them locked one at a time in the doorway. All of us form a half circle around, stab one at a time till dead."

Polearms continue to fend off the pushing Hostiles, drawing blood here and there as they pierce armor and draw hisses of outrage and pain from the Hostiles. Even Brienne's sword strikes the sword-wielding Hostile, denting its gorget and driving it back a half step. The crossbow wielding Hostile ducks down behind the banister as Thalo levels his hand-crossbow at it, rising up again and advancing behind the others. Spear, sword, and axe lash out at the Havenites, and as they reach the doorway, the axe-wielding Hostile holds out a hand to slow its sword-wielding compatriot, chittering something in its mechanical language. The sword-wielder, however, doesn't listen, continuing to push forward, and after a quick squeal from the spear-armed Hostile, the axe-wielder follows after the Havenite also, the Hostiles pushing out of the stairwell in the wake of the aggressive sword-wielder.

<COMBAT> Jarek attacks Hostile200 with Greatsword - Serious wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Hostile200 attacks Brienne with Sword - ARMOR on Chest stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Hostile201 attacks Advent with Bludgeon - ARMOR on Chest stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Darious attacks Hostile202 with Bow - Moderate wound to Head (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Thalo attacks Hostile201 with Great Bludgeon but Hostile201 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Sammel attacks Hostile201 with Polearm - Light wound to Right Hand (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Hostile203 attacks Jarek with Crossbow - Light wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Hostile203's weapon clicks empty.
<COMBAT> Hostile202 attacks Sammel with Spear - Serious wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Cedric attacks Hostile200 with Sword - ARMOR on Head stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Brienne attacks Hostile200 with Sword - Light wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Advent attacks Hostile200 with Polearm - Critical wound to Chest.

Darious see's that he needs to moves so slips thru the door into the hall way now as he backs up a ways to allow the others to slip thru and arrange as needed, figguing those with blades will take up the Vanguard up front, while those with polearms in the back rank while he continues to launch arrows at the hostiles and pray that he's able to score a hit.

Swinging her blade at one of the Hostiles, she aims as best she can while still on the move and as soon as she is able, Brienne slips throught he doorway, in the correct order of things, not letting up at all until she's through. Then she takes a breather and turns back, ready to attempt to cut down any hostiles that come through.

Advent feels another attack glance off his armor before he lifts his polearm goes to drive it into the hostiles chest. He's still backing up and he's not very happy about the thing still being up. His eyes narrow and he shakes his head.

When the enemy shows up, Jarek brings his sword downward at the creature's center. He feels a pain in his chest but it's trivial only, he's certainly had worse. Now that he's on the attack again, he moves to thrust his blade at the hostile. No need to alter his commands for now.

Swinging a bit harder now, with the actual axehead part of his weapon intending to hit the enemy, Sammel stumbles backwards a bit as he takes a solid hit to his abdomen. "I'm…" he begins, before he shakes his head. The one he was thinking about calling out to wasn't there, after all. Stepping forward again, he aims for another attack now.

Moving into position, the hostiles start to come for the doorway, and Thalo turns just as one of them comes near. His footing was off in his quick turn, and the pain in his chest still has him off by a hair on his reaction time. The combination of these factors causes his hammer swing to be too slow. "Fuck." he growls under his breaht and sets his footing.

Cedric brings down his sword, hard, across the Hostile's head, but it doesn't bite in anything past the armor. He only manages a glance backwards, before realizing what kind of trouble they're all getting into. They're being torn apart person by person and there doesn't seem to be anything that they can really do to stop them. And this is just -four- of them. If they can't stop four, many the human race doesn't deserve to survive. Whatever fight it might be, futile or otherwise, can't say that he didn't at least try, so he attacks again.

The sword-wielding Hostile comes at the Havenites hard, only to be near-spitted on Advent's polearm, and then hit by three swords. It slumps a little, then screams at the Havenites, throwing itself forward despite its wounds. The other three Hostiles attack more circumspectly, obviously pulled forward by their unwillingness to leave the swords-Hostile alone against the Havenites. One catches a more-than-glancing blow to the head from an arrow, the missile carroming off its helmet, but still leaving a wash of blood in its wake. The Hostiles fill the little semi-circle, fighting desperately as they are half-surrounded.

<COMBAT> Jarek attacks Hostile200 with Greatsword - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Hostile200 attacks Brienne with Sword and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Cedric attacks Hostile202 with Sword - Moderate wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Brienne attacks Hostile200 with Sword - Light wound to Left Arm (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Advent attacks Hostile201 with Polearm but Hostile201 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Thalo attacks Hostile201 with Great Bludgeon - Light wound to Left Arm.
<COMBAT> Sammel attacks Hostile201 with Polearm but Hostile201 DODGES!
<COMBAT> Hostile203 finishes reloading.
<COMBAT> Hostile202 attacks Sammel with Spear - ARMOR on Left Leg stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Hostile201 attacks Advent with Bludgeon - ARMOR on Chest stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Darious attacks Hostile202 with Bow - Light wound to Right Hand (Reduced by Armor).

<COMBAT> Hostile200 has been KO'd!

When the Hostile her and Jarek had been fighting finally manages to take whatever hit, Brienne breathes a sigh of relief and looks around to see where else she can be of assistance, going in with her sword swinging, careful of her tea,

Brienne continues fighting the Hostile that had been on her since the beginning, her sword swinging through the air only to lift again to block anything thrown at her.

Darious grunts as he continues to launch arrow after arrow at the spear wielding hostile. Darious looks behind him hoping that no more arrive from the shattered entrance or they'd be in trouble for sure. Darious's not sure how many of his shots have hit but right now just fires and prays.

Jarek thrusts up at the hostile's center where he'd struck once before, attempting to combine his strike with Brienne's who seems to be targeting the same he is. Not attacked just yet, Jarek is able to take a quick look at their situation and preplan for the next few steps.

DING! That attack from the Hostile bounces off Sammel's leg armor, just as the Cindravale swings for the head of the creature. "We can do it!" he calls out to the others now.

Still not the target of an attack Thalo thrusts forward, kicking out with a leg and then thrusting out his hammer like he was stabbing with a sword. The move is designed to create distance more than anything. "Focus your attacks people!" he bellows out.

Cedric finally gets the paydirt that he was looking for. Having drawn back, his next attack bites and digs in harder than the last, leaving a gash. Now he presses again, picking away on the one that's focusing on Sammel.

The spirited Hostile has obviously overstepped its capabilities. It continues to attack even as it takes blows to the arm and the chest, blood now flowing steadily from the rents in its armor. As Jarek cuts into its chest, it falters, dropping to its knees and grounding the point of its sword as it struggles to remain upright. The crossbow-armed Hostile hesitates, looking torn as its weapon recharges. The spear-armed one takes a sword to the head from the Captain who got in over its guard, as well as a glancing blow from an arrow to the front-most hand on its weapon. The axe-Hostile is shoved back by Thalo's brute force attack, his arm getting caught between the doorway and the hammer's head for a moment, wrenching a chitter of pain from its lips.

<COMBAT> Hostile201 attacks Advent with Bludgeon - ARMOR on Chest stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Thalo attacks Hostile201 with Great Bludgeon - Serious wound to Abdomen.
<COMBAT> Sammel attacks Hostile201 with Polearm and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Jarek attacks Hostile201 with Greatsword - Moderate wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Hostile202 attacks Sammel with Spear - Light wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Hostile200 passes.
<COMBAT> Cedric attacks Hostile202 with Sword - Critical wound to Abdomen.
<COMBAT> Hostile203 attacks Brienne with Crossbow - ARMOR on Chest stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Hostile203's weapon clicks empty.
<COMBAT> Darious attacks Hostile202 with Bow - Moderate wound to Left Arm (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Brienne attacks Hostile203 with Sword - Serious wound to Chest (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Advent attacks Hostile201 with Polearm - Critical wound to Head.

<COMBAT> Hostile201 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Hostile202 has been KO'd!

Cedric isn't fast enough to spare Sammel from getting clipped again by the Hostile. But Darious' shot looks like it faltered, giving the Orelle enough time to run it through, the end of his sword portruding out of the Hostile's back. With a vicious backward pull, he 'unsheathes' the sword from the foe. "About damn time we got some luck today." he mutters, then turning to face the one with the crossbow, sword already brought into an offensive posture before he lashes out with it.

Darious keeps up a steady barrage of arrows as over half his quiver is gone but he doesn't care as any and all support he can lend his team is valued he hopes When he can no longer see the spear toting Hostile he fires at the one who gutted him and hopes to return the favor.

Advent is tired of being bludgeoned by the hostile he moves around the one that's almost down and lunges straight into the head of one of the hostiles and pulls back quickly to avoid unnecessary damage. He just one hit ended the hostile bothering him. He brushes his hand over Brienne's arm to let her know that he's still at her side.

Swinging once more for the hostile he was going for now, Sammel also gets a minor hit to his stomach for his trouble. Wincing momentarily under his helmet, he looks around once more, going for the Hostile that fired that crossbow. Let's see how the Hostile will do with the pike through its chest, shall we?

Moving onto the next one, Jarek wastes little time in bringing his blade in a side cleave. "Press the attack, take the stairs. Darious you stay back, no slinking off unprotected like that again. Thalo on point, then polearms, darious, swords, and I cover our way back down if we need it. You want the ass end of the line, speak up now."

Darious shakes his head. "No thanks some where in the middle would be prefered just in case trouble comes up the backside " he comments, though his words are mostly done thru gritted teeth.

With a superhuman effort, the sword-wielding Hostile pushes itself back to its feet as the Havenites focus their attention on its fellows. "Noooooo….!" The word is in Anglic, and perfectly understandable for all the pain and hatred flowing through the word. Around it, numbers are telling against the other Hostiles, as the axe-wielder catches a polearm to the head, a greatsword to the side, and a hammer to the small of its back. Any of the blows would probably have been enough, leaving its skull cleft open, a deep gash in its side, and its back twisted to an angle impossible to a living human. The spear-Hostile lunges forward, trying to surprise Sammel by stabbing low, and then is caught by multiple attackers, sprouting an arrow in the left shoulder and starting to twist away from a thrust to the stomach — only to have the thrust cut across the front of its abdomen, sending red-grey ropes of intestine spilling free. Those two fall, one dead before it hits the floor, the other mewling painfully and scooping at its guts. Even the crossbow Hostile is attacked, taking a wicked slash across the chest that throws off its aim even as it triggers its crossbow at Brienne. Dropping the heavy weapon, it pulls free a mace, chittering at the sword-wielder and starting to slowly back toward the stairwell again.

There is a savage series of blows and Thalo half circles right and brings his hammer around in a high arc, ending in upward stroke that he shifts into off the backswing, sending his hammer head towards the hostile's abdomen. A grunt and a nod is given to Jarek, "Got it. Let's move." And pressing forward he moves on the sword wielding Hostile.

<COMBAT> Sammel attacks Hostile203 with Polearm - Light wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Darious attacks Hostile200 with Bow - Moderate wound to Left Arm (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Jarek attacks Hostile203 with Greatsword - Serious wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Cedric attacks Hostile203 with Sword - ARMOR on Left Hand stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Brienne attacks Hostile203 with Sword - Serious wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Advent attacks Hostile200 with Polearm - Light wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Thalo attacks Hostile200 with Great Bludgeon - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Hostile203 attacks Cedric with Bludgeon and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Hostile200 attacks Advent with Sword but Advent DODGES!

<COMBAT> Hostile203 has been KO'd!

Darious keeps launching arrows over the heads and or around the heads of his team mates as he tries to bury as many arrows into hostile bodies as he can. even as he watcehs his dwindling arrow supply.

Advent dodges the sword and he shakes his head. "Look at your fellows who you failed!" He snaps at the Hostile. "They came to protect YOU and now they are dead because of YOU!" He lunges again. The growls at the hostile in anger.

"-Yes-." Cedric snarls, the combined attacks taking the crossbow-turned-mace weilding Hostile down. He wheels on the last one. "-You- came here, you killed our own, and only -now- do you have the -audacity- to decry -no- when your fellows are slain? Where do you get the -right-. You brought it all on yourselves." Odd thing to set the Captain off, but he's been tense all damn day. "You came here, you killed these innocents, and you say 'no' when you compatriarts fall. You invade our moons, and we fall back. You kill our people and we fall back." The falchion is regripped, striding towards it. "The line must be drawn somewhere. This far, no farther! And we will make you pay for what you have done." The sword blitzes forward, searing forward. "When your world is naught but ash and melted glass will our people ever be safe from your tyranny."

With a grunt and a shove of his shoulder, Thalo attempts to help mmove them forward by causing the Hostile to lose ground. The numbers are horribly against it, but it isn't the end of it. He pivots and swings his hammer at the Hostile's chest.

Grimacing a little as he keeps on moving, Sammel nods a little as he hears Cedric's words. "He's… right…" he says, nodding to the naval captain. "The line is drawn, and you die here!" Once more, his attack is spike first.

Going in for the side cleave, Jarek turns at the sound of the 'No' from the hostile. He doesn't have words for it, as he focuses on his strike. He'll pull back enough to watch as they start to make their advance into the stairwell, keeping just to the side so he can still fight.

The formerly-crossbow-wielding-Hostile nearly comes apart under the concentrated attack of the Havenites, collapsing to the ground to leave just one of four remaining. That one should probably retreat, surrounded as it now is by Havenites, and having just been knocked about — and probably having had a rib cracked by the hammer — and another arrow sprouting from its shoulder, but it just keeps its sword in its right hand, turning to attack the man ranting at it, "You killed my family," comes the response, and the helmet nods down to the Hostile trying vainly to keep its guts in, "she was raising a child."

<COMBAT> Sammel attacks Hostile200 with Polearm - Critical wound to Abdomen.
<COMBAT> Jarek attacks Hostile200 with Greatsword - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Darious attacks Hostile200 with Bow - Serious wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Cedric attacks Hostile200 with Sword - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Thalo attacks Hostile200 with Great Bludgeon - Serious wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Hostile200 attacks Cedric with Sword and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Brienne tries to attack but has no target!
<COMBAT> Advent attacks Hostile200 with Polearm - Light wound to Chest.

Advent shakes his head. "You came to our home to attack us! You come to our shores to attack us. You have a home why not stay there!" He snaps. "She should have stayed with her child!" He lunges again to attack the brutally injured hostile. "This is on you!"

There is no sympathy in the mechanical voice of Cedric's. "Your fault." he states, his tone devoid of any emotion. "You shouldn't of come here. You shouldn't of killed other people's -families-." He points out. "How many families do you think you killed when you came to this place? No, fuck you. Burn with the rest." He looks at the others. "Someone take it's damn head off and put it out of it's misery."

"Fuckin die already!" Thalo growls out and once more he grunts and swings his hammer at the Hostile again, his hammer moving for the chest. He growls out at the others, "Let's get this done and move on up." How many Knights does it take to kill a Hostile?

Pulling back, Jarek looks down at the hostile trying to pull itself together. A shake of his head, and his blade aims straight for it's chest. With a roar of passion he thrusts his blade through the hostile spiking it to the ground, watching any last twitch. "We weren't hostile towards you, your race started this… all of this. This one had a child? Good. And your family? I hope they screamed for mercy and never found it." his voice is slightly joyous, there's no shake to his hands from cold blooded killing like this, he's too calm.

"Our families, our friends' families. They have all suffered too much pain and loss, due to you and yours." Sammel speaks quietly as he pulls back his poleaxe, before his next attempt goes for the neck of the creature. "Die!"

Darious continues to lay fire into the hostiles, until he drains his quiver or all of them are dead he doesn't care which.

Surrounded as it is, the Hostile has no chance. But that doesn't mean that it will fold easily. It is battered this way and that, hacked, slashed, hammered, pinioned, and stabbed. But it will… not… go… down… It's own slash at Cedric is sent off-target by one of the heavier hits, making it more of a random flailing than a sure and true attack. As Jarek administers a coup de grace against the mortally-wounded Hostile on the ground, the still-standing one screams in pure rage, "YOU ABANDONED US!" Dropping the sword, the Hostile surges toward Jarek, trying to wrap both hands around the Young Lord's throat by pure force of anger.

More and more contact reports start to come in over the comms of encounters with Hostiles, outside of most of the buildings and inside the others. A few teams still have not yet reported any contact, but there seem to be skirmishes all across the resort by now. Havenites are fighting, killing, and dying all across this part of Lazarus Island. None of them has yet gotten close enough to see what state the Waygate is in, but several have found survivors and are escorting them back to the boats.

<COMBAT> Sammel attacks Hostile200 with Polearm - Moderate wound to Left Arm.
<COMBAT> Jarek passes.
<COMBAT> Advent attacks Hostile200 with Polearm - Light wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Thalo attacks Hostile200 with Great Bludgeon - Critical wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Hostile200 attacks Jarek with Unarmed but Jarek DODGES!
<COMBAT> Darious attacks Hostile200 with Bow - Critical wound to Abdomen (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Cedric attacks Hostile200 with Sword - Moderate wound to Chest.
<COMBAT> Brienne tries to attack but has no target!

<COMBAT> Hostile200 has been KO'd!

Advent frowns and looks around at the group. "We still have our mission." He moves for the stairs again. "We need to get the Waygate assessed and we need to find out where the hostages are." He looks over the group. "Whose coming?"

"Scream things at people who don't even understand what that means. Were not witness. You hold guilt by association." Cedric snarls. "Doesn't matter. You hold a grudge against people for something that happened thousands of years ago. Genetic lineage does not mean guilt. That'll be your undoing. And that's why I'll see the fifth world burn." He sucks in an inhale. "Doesn't matter, time to get back to work."

Darious looks at Advent and arches a brow, "Well perhaps we should see if we cant find a medical kit as we've wounded sir Advent.. and While many aren't that bad off, I'd like to get something on this wound of mine and some pain killers."

Stepping back away from the hostile and takes two quick steps in, with a spin to bring his hammer around in a 360 degree horizontal arc aimed for the Hostile's gut. He grunts when the work is done and glances towards the others, then to Jarek, "We should regroup first, then get moving."

"Let's go get this done…" Sammel replies, as he steps away from the Hostile again, shaking his head a little bit. Moving a bit closer to the stairs, but waiting for the rest of the group now.

"Yes. I have a craving for pancakes, but lets get up those stairs. Thalo on point, Advent and Sammel second rank, Darious middle, Cedric and Brienne after him, then I'll pull up the rear of the group. You're welcome to request the back end if you want it." Jarek states before motioning, "Anyone here got medical training? If you do, then assess us quickly if you feel we must but we're rolling out. Move."

When directed, Brienne falls in line behind Cedric, her sword still held tightly in her hand. She gives a nod to Jarek in acknowledgement to his orders but has to answer in the contrary. "Not me, I've not got a medical bone in my body."

The responses of the Havenites are, at this point, words to a corpse. The Hostile never even made it within arm's reach of Jarek before he took an arrow to the stomach that was then smashed further in by a massive hammer to go along with several wounds from polearms and a sword. There is no way it is getting up from that much damage.

From the open stairwell door comes a soft drip… drip… drip… that is loud as it echoes, loud enough to be heard over the pouring rain outside and another boom of thunder.

After encountering another couple of Hostiles scattered here and there throughout the Diamondine building, and encountering some mildly awe-inspiring vistas of rain-swept resort out of gaping holes in the side of the hotel (likely the source of the dripping water in the stairwell), the group comes out to the skybridge betwen the Diamondine and Sapphire buildings, where they can see through the glass sides of the Sapphire building that the entire fourth and fifth floors, including the Waygate, fell down into the ruin of the third floor. It is certainly not functional at the moment, and from the obvious damage, probably never will be again. Probably.

They (mostly) dodge the bolts of a few crossbow Hostiles watching over the fallen Waygate, report its status, and retreat under orders. They collect a pair of scared vacationers on the way out, and names start to roll in of those rescued, including Lady Lyrienne Orelle, Lady Lucretia Cindravale, Lady Elodie Cindravale, Lady Cyrielle Hollolas, Miss Aaryn Reilly, and Master Balius Quellton. Those interested are directed back to the boat with them on it.

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