Clusterfrag

Val squeezes off two shots, destroying a pair of bolts.

(( 4 to go. ))

Sinjin's heart flutters, his weightless body turning belly-up toward the inferno hurtling down upon them. As the seconds pass, he can only watch, helpless, as his comrades scramble to facilitate an escape. Unable to reach the grate, and not equipped to assist in their desperate efforts, he is utterly powerless. From above him, Sinjin sees a tunnel of bright light descending to envelop him. From above him, Sinjin see's death.

The fireball is closing. It's now clearly visible as a roiling orange miasma.

[ Max = 57 ]
[ Doc = 52 ]
[ Val = 37 ]
[ Tyros = 31 ]
[ Sinjin = 27 ]

Tyros hacks at the bolts with his claymore.
Knocking two clean in the process!

(( 2 bolts to go, 1 more combat phase. ))

Adams can barely concentrate. He feels like someone with their foot stuck on a track while a freight train barrels down on him. The fact that they are so close to getting the grate off only serves to heighten the panic.

His vision narrows, and he numbly fires at the last two bolts.

Doc shields his face from the shrapnel as the final two bolts are blown off. Gravity does the rest--the massive grating slides free of the duct, sending up a river of sparks as it grinds along the wall and clatters on to the elevator platform.

The panic reaches a fever pitch. A way out!

"GO, GO, GO!" Doc shouts at Tyros, as a rush of hot air starts to press down on them.

Tyros throws his arm forward and the team tumbles into the duct, one by one. He doesn't release the spell until they're a good 10 meters inside. The fireball roars past the duct and slams into the elevator, causing a cascade of flames to blossom back upwards. The platform is quickly reduced to molten steel and the team can hear it folding and crashing down the shaft. A column of flame, hungrily seeking what oxygen it can, follows the runners inside and lights the end of Val and Tyros' coats on fire.

Val beats out the flames licking up from the fringe of his coat.

"That was too fragging close, 'manos."

Taking a deep breath, he awkwardly swings his pack from his back in the enclosed space, intending to retrieve the technician's tablet. Time seems to slow as he sees the tablet slip out of the half-open pocket, driven by the momentum of the swinging pack. It flips end over end, suspended in the center of the duct opening for a terrifying eternity. He desperately reaches back to grab the tablet, but manages only to brush it with his fingers. He watches in horror as the tablet drops from his vision into the hellish inferno below.

Doc catches his breath, and nods emphatically.

"Sweet Shiva, that's an understatement," he says, checking his exposed skin for burns.

"They didn't know we were here... I think this may have had something to do with those environmental warnings we were hearing earlier. But if they had to go to those extremes for a contaminant purge... What the frag are they researching here?"

Doc's voice is equal parts horror and fascination.

Max shakes his head and says in wonderment,

"Dunno-- it doesn't make sense for it to be a containment purge if all they are working on here is robotics. Biological agents-- sure-- but sure as drek not robotics. I think this is good for us, though. I think we can count on reduced security awareness to say the least. In the meantime, are we gonna see where this fraggin' duct leads, or have Tyros lift us up the shaft on happy thoughts? If the shaft is clear, flying seems like the way to me"

(( Nick, perhaps just let us know if this is a waste of time and we won't be able to get through or something. ))

Adams shakes his head.

"If they've just purged--or whatevered--the elevator shaft, it makes me think that they might be paying attention to it. If we fly up there with our asses hanging out, we'll be spotted."

He starts crawling further into the ductwork, and turns his head back to the others.

"Besides, these ducts might be our only means of escape. Might be good to get to know them."

Max relents and follows Doc into the unknown web of ducting, adding,

"I don't know, amigo. I increasingly get the feeling that we'll be exiting by the front door."

Tyros feels distinctly uncomfortable in the narrow confines of the ventilation ducts. Despite the fireball and having to pat out flames on his coat, the part of his mind that always senses the flows of mana and holds active ongoing spells has not waived in its focused maintenance of the team's levitation.

"Gentlemen, I think flying up the elevator shaft is our best bet. One, because they just purged it, they won't be expecting anything to still be coming up it, so I think we can actually surprise them. Second, we have no map of these shafts so have no idea where we will actually come out. And third, it's a long climb up still to the labs, and I doubt they have ladders built into these air ducts. I can fly us up the elevator shaft easily, but these tight, twisting confines might mean I can't maintain visual contact with everyone all the time, which could cause my spell to fail for whoever I lose sight of...and that might mean a long drop."

Max looks over his shoulder at the troll and says,

"I agree with a lot of what you've suggested there, but we're not invisible. Maybe you could fly up there and check it out.. ?"

"I go alone and I can't maintain the levitation for the rest of the team. We were not all invisible on the elevator so I don't see what extra risk we are taking..."

Max is confused,

"We're safely in an air duct. On our hands and knees. We don't need you to maintain levitation for us right now. And things have changed because drek is falling apart around us."

Doc crawls on ahead.

"Tyros, you can go ahead and see what's up the elevator shaft if you'd like. I'm going to see where this ducting leads, and whether it will allow for us to move higher in the building."

Reaching a junction, Doc finds himself staring up a vertical expanse of ducting. Rungs protrude from the smooth metal wall every meter.

"Found a way up," Doc calls back.

He places his hands and feet on the rungs, and starts climbing. Looking up, he tries to gauge how high up the duct goes.

((Right, i lose the ability to levitate the team, but my max capacity of levitation still stays with the spell so I can relevitate them after i finish scouting.))

"Ok, i'll scout the elevator shaft."

Backing carefully out of the environmental tunnel into the elevator shaft, Tyros releases his levitation of the rest of the team before shooting straight up the scorched tunnel. The force his spell is such that if the helmeted troll could be seen, he'd look not unlike a bullet being shot through the barrel of a gun. As he flies, he keeps his eyes turned upward, looking for where the elevator would have stopped.

(( The astral link is broken once you leave line of sight, you'd need to re-cast. ))

Tyros soars upwards through the smoldering shaft and comes to a stop as he plunges through the top. The troll hovers just over the precipice, scanning his surroundings.

He's somewhere in either the research or commercial quarter, there's no doubt about that. A group of men wearing chemical suits and carrying fire extinguishers rush past. Smoke billows out of several doors throughout the area. Nearby, an armored guard is barking orders into his comm-link.

((So you're saying that I can't cast levitate and pick up a rock, drop it and then pick up a different rock while sustaining the spell? I'd have to recast in between rocks?))


Tyros reaches out (centering) and gently searchs the guard's mind for information on their location, security, ongoing emergency and the whereabouts of Takahara (mind probe, f3).

The troll then takes a few seconds to remove any trace of his astral signature on the spell.

(( 1S DAMAGE! ))

Tyros feels the man's mind recoil from his questions.

The guard stops mid-sentence and rubs his head. He darts a few furtive glances around before speaking into his comm-piece.

"ベースは、これはユニット14である。私は可能な1011を持っています。調査。"

Doc climbs several dozen meters and wanders down another twice that before encountering another grating. Peering through the slats, he can make out a lounge of some kind, replete with potted plants and leather sofas.

Adams looks out the grating as far in either direction as possible, keeping an eye out for people, drones, or cameras.

(( Where in the building does this put us? Are we still below our destination? ))

< Tyros, what do you see up there? I found a way out of the ventilation system. >

Tyros swears softly to himself, frustrated by the chump guard's iron willpower.

<"It's chaos up here. There is a clear entry into what is probably the research labs, with one guard at the elevator entrance and people rushing around to fight fires. If your entrance is less crowded, we might still be able to maintain stealth mode going that way.">

Switching to astral vision, Tyros makes sure all traces of his spell are gone before shooting back down the shaft to the rest of the team.

(( Hard to tell from your current position, Drew. ))

Tyros joins the rest of the team in the duct.

Using his toolkit, Adams starts to work on opening the grating as quietly as possible.

Max cozies himself up next to Doc in the vent and pokes his flexicam through the grating to get a fuller idea of what's in the room.

The gratings are clearly made to remove from the inside. Within minutes Doc has the bolts removed. After checking that the coast is clear in the IR spectrum, he and Max set the grating aside.