Clusterfrag

Among other things, Max sure wishes he hadn't jumped ship on his search for the missing bliss so readily.

Max grumbles back,

<Cyber ghouls-- can you shut them down??>

The color drains from Doc's face. He gives one last look over the room, to make sure there aren't any other exits or vents.

Max comms back quickly,

<S'better than nothing! Hit it and let's move, Doc!>

"Deal!" Max barks back.

< Milly, hit the suppression system on my mark! > Doc Comms.

"Okay, you ready?" He says, "We'll be going clockwise around this thing. Make sure we draw them in before moving around the other side. We don't want them cutting off our escape."

"One, two, three..."

Tyros eyes the three approaching monks from his place, invisible, against the corridor wall. With a grim, pittiless motion of his hands (center), Tyros reaches out with his mind to the right most monk and crushes his independent thoughts (thought control, f4). Subvocally, <"Rawhide, get the one who isn't fighting each other as soon as the brawl begins.">

The monk almost misses a step as the Trolls consciousness takes over, but covers it neatly. Tyros ordered the obedient monk to lag a step behind and then, without warning, use whatever melee weapon he has to backstrike the middle monk, aiming to kill.

Still pressed against the door, Max jumps off of it and throws it open on Doc's mark. There's a moment where the cyber ghouls almost hesitate-- a split second where the two chummers and ghouls stand in anticipation as all parties involved get a handle on what's happening. But then the scene explodes as the two runners put their plan into action.

The ghouls pour in, falling over each other to get at the two objects of their animosity. Unfortunately for Max and Doc, they converge on both sides of the base station!

As the ghouls pour into the room, Max finds himself wondering, 'Why the frag do we even bother to make plans?' Max comms Milly,

<Frag! It's gone to drek! Hit that fire suppression system now to try to distract them-- we just have to push through!>

Doc's idea blown, Max looks for what little seam he can find between the ghouls and pushes for it to burst through into the room beyond.

Max vaults himself through the ghouls, tucking into a roll that lands him in the laboratory. Just as he lands, a foamy mist begins to cascade from the ceiling.

Doc pushes through the hole that Max made, staring straight ahead.

Doc manages to barely shoulder past the thrashing mob and into the blizzard of fire retardant.

The last cyber-ghoul to attempt to enter the room leaps at them.

Max reels at the heavy blow that lands on his back.

Max wants exactly nothing to do with fighting a pack of ghouls by hand, so the undersized elf turns and runs from the room.

Doc dashes through the ghouls, not stopping.

"We need to draw them into the defenses!"

Max responds quickly,

"What if we draw them down on the monks somehow?"

"Even better!" Doc shouts back.

"But right now, we run!"

Doc and Max pound through the laboaratory, emerging soaked with flame retardant. They re-trace their steps through the hallway and slip through the vent in the corridor. As the pair climb up towards the opening in the duct, the sounds of the cyber-zombies in close pursuit echo up behind them.

Max isn't exactly panicked, but he isn't cool as a cucumber either,

"We've gotta' lose these fraggin' ghouls! We'll ditch them in the ducts as we try to make our way back to Tyros and Rawhide."

Switching now to his comm,

<Milly! Where are they?? How do we get there?? Can we follow the ducts all the way to their location??>

Max dives into the ducting, working his way through them as fast as he possibly can.

"We're going to pass by that gap in the ducting. Hopefully the cyberzombies will catch the cultists' attention. I can't imagine they'll be to happy to see their monsters out and about, nor will the cyberzombies be too pleased to see the people who likely made them what they are."

Doc crawls as fast as he can after Max.

Max agrees,

"We could try to open the grate as we go by. Maybe some of them will split off and attack the monks."

Tyros takes control of one of the monks.

Coming upon the opening leading to where the monks had previously been, Max approaches the missing section of ducting as silently as he can so as to slip by unnoticed.

A particularly rusty section of the ducting perforates as Max puts his weight on it, causing all of the monks in the room below to turn and stare at the surprised elf's face.

"GO!" Doc hisses.

There's no further need for subtlety, it would seem, so Max charges ahead past the open spot in the ducting.