Horde Invasion: Kihzra Taken

The Alien District is long and thin, stretching north and south on either side of StarDancer Boulevard, but of great historical significance: here aliens made first contact with the superhero StarDancer herself. A bronze plaque in the middle of the boulevard, toward the southern end of the district, commemorates this momentous event, while as does a park further north, with a statue of StarDancer and the alien shaking hands.

The architecture and style of many of the businesses here shows profound alien influence, even ones built more recently than the initial alien craze, as if here the fashion never went away. This alien flare manifest in the products too, and if you are lucky you may even see some actual aliens here.

A young and clearly frightened little girl is running down the street as if the hounds of hell were chasing her as she bawls sobbing and yells for someone to help her mummy.

Kihzra, standing on top of a nearby building, doesn't quite catch that, but looks up the street to see what the girl is running from.

Narosia ,oblivous and disturbingly relatively cheery almost collides with the hysterical girl, staring down confused at the bawling child. Both slowed by their near hit, the elder girl takes time asking softly what is wrong. Forgetting to simply look behind them.

Kihzra moves a few buildings that direction, trying to get a better look. Maybe the girl's frightened about nothing, but no harm in checking.

After bumping into Narosia the little girl, probably no older than six or seven, clings to the reassuring form of an adult female with the tenacity of a non-swimmer clinging to a life-belt. "My mummy is being hurt!" she bawls. "Two funny men grabbed her and put something in her mouth. They must have been naughty men. They were all white and they didn't talk."

Narosia squirms, full weight one very upset little girl gearing up to detrouser her, it feels and left hand awkwardly pats the moving head in reassurance. "Come, let us go see these men. Fully white you say?" Brow creasing worriedly, the young woman mutters a few choice words in latin, becoming steadily less exhuberant.

Kihzra sighs and crouches down on the edge of this roof for one last look, but guesses it was an overrracting child.

The child is clinging to Narosia but tstill bawling and sobbing. She tells Narosia, "I wanna find a HERO! A hero will save my mummy!" in a carrying voice that attracts attention from several bystanders and shoppers.

Kihzra looks back at the child. Might as well find out what this is about - and maybe find find her parents. She climbs down the side of the building and heads for the child.

Vitalis emerges out of Starguard building, after looking around he notices the commotion nearby. He decides to head towards the child and Narosia.

"I...guess from perspective view, I-um, well...miss-" Narosia pauses, deciding not to ask her name and quicken matters "...This uh, lady and gentlemen with me can help out just as good as any hero." She waves at the pair coming out, taken aback telling in the 'stunned' expression faintly worn.

The girl spots Vitalis. His robes denote him as a hero. "You gotta save my mummy!" she yells over at him.

Narosia thinks. o O (...Children supposed to act this uncontrolled, unbridled?)

Vitalis looks down and says, "What has happened?"

Narosia thinks. o O (...Huh.)

Kihzra squats down to bring herself to the child's level. "What's wrong?"

Narosia says, "Three men attacked the mother according to her accounts...Vitalis sir, I think it was some Horde members-they put something inside her mouth..."

"I was with my mummy and two naughty men grabbed her. Mummy told me to run but I saw them put something in my mommy's mouth. The men were funny. They were white faced and moved all stiff and they didn't speak." the girl tells Vitalis.

Vitalis looks down and says, "The taken, quickly, someone notify Starguard of another incident." then says, "Which way?"

The girl points down the street to the Chesterfield Hotal. "In there." She adds, "In the big room."

Vitalis looks on and says, "Quickly, before they infest more." and heads for the hotel.

Kihzra runs for the hotel as fast as she can. She's heard rumours about the takers, but knows little about them. She draws her sword from her bag as she goes.

Narosia noiselessly follows, unsure what else she might do-stopping once to lean down and whisper for the girl's benifit, "This man can help heal your...mummy. Stay here."

As the interested parties get to the hotel you can see a sign outside. - XXVII International Mime Convention. Grand Hall, 9am - 11pm.

Vitalis looks to the little girl, and says, "Run to Starguard, and tell them what happened."

The girl nods and sets off at a run. Narosia goes with the little girl to Confirm her story to the Starguard people.

Vitalis looks at the sign and says, "Mimes?" then shrugs and looks into the room.

The hotel prides itself on old fashioned style and the Grand Hall is no exception. It's large, as befits the title Grand Hall, over forty metres in length and twenty in width. The decor is Edwardian, heavy flock wall coverings, replica old masters hanging on the walls, four large ornate crystal chandeliers equally spaced across the ceiling for illumination.

Currently the hall is hosting a Mime Convention. Circus themed music plays softly as a gathering of supporters of the miming art wander about the numerous small booths where performers are engaged in entertaining their audiences in additional to wandering performers moving about the hall. A face painting booth is doing excellent trade so it's not only the official mimes who are going about white-faced.

Vitalis looks around the room, he pauses to study the people around him, using his sense to determine any have been taken.

The Grand Hall is pretty crowded, with well over a hundred Mimes and perhaps a thousand or more in the audience. It’s going to take Vitalis time to scan so many people.

Kihzra looks about to see if she can get any sense of anything amiss. Other than the presence of mimes. Her warrior intuition warns something dangerous is here.

Kihzra, not seeing an obvious target immediately, slips back to the cloak room to change into her armour.

Two women are at the wash bowls in the cloak room. They turn to head to the hot-air dryer by the door as you enter and will be passing beside Kihzra.

Vitalis shrugs a bit, "Uhmm, there are a lot of silent white face people here."

Vitalis looks around and decides to get up close and feel areas of the room, scanning people as he walks around the room. o O (Hopefully some will imprison themselves in their imaginary boxes)

Out of sight of Vitalis, in the ladies washroom, two women attempt to grab Kihzra as they pass close by seemingly heading for the hot-air dyers near the door.

Without a word nor any obvious warning sign the two women make co-ordinated attempts to grab hold of Kihzra. But pre-warned by her warrior alertness she avoids the attempts.

Sword Dancer takes a swipe with the flat of the sword at one while dancing clear of the other - without armour she's not taking chances.

Kihzra's blow with the flat of the blade takes one attacker across the chest. The sound of breastbone snapping is matched by the thudding crack of a spine snapping as the force of the impact lifts the woman off her feet and throws her back against a washbasin. Adding to the flow of blood, the pipe work of the washbasin is torn apart and a spray of water jets across the washroom.

The remaining woman of the pair in the washroom swings a ungainly but powerful fist at Kihzra.

The punch misses wildly and strikes the wall instead. It leaves an impression embedded in the plaster and brickwork, and the hand breaks, fingers snapping and coming away bloody. The woman shows no acknowledgement of the damage she just did to herself.

Sword Dancer deciding they're essentially undead. Kihzra concludes that her first approach was the right one, and takes a swipe at the second.

The flat of the sword takes the second attacker in the right shoulder. Slammed hard into the washroom down the woman goes through it, bursting the door open off its hinges.

Screams start up in the Grand Hall as the ladies washroom door is flung off its hinges by the battered body of a woman getting hurled through it into the main area.

Concentrating on the second attacker, Kihzra fails to spot the Taker emerge from the broken body of the first woman and scurry across the floor to leap up at the rear of her leg.

Vitalis looks over and notices a bloody woman has been thrown out into the room. He glances up and at the bathroom door. He decides to end his search, and head for the trouble.

Jace turns about and looks toward the comotion. "What the hell?" Looks toward the others to see if any capes are about or if he needs to gets ready for a brawl...

Vitalis turns and quickly transforms into pure energy, shimmering across the room towards the bathroom. A golden aura surrounds him, he looks quickly for the little creatures. "Everyone, stay away from the bathroom!" he calls out, glancing for something to strike at.

Jace shivers finally seeing whats going on and makes sure his form is nice and phased...going shadow to keep himself safe and help SD as best he can...

Vitalis extends his hand, and a golden energy of disruption reaches out bus misses, doing nothing to the tiles.

A mime steps up behind Vitalis and swings a chain down across his back.

Vitalis looks, feels a slight amount of pain, then says, "What are you doing, I'm trying to stop those creatures!" then looks at the mime to sense if he has been taken.

The Taker crawling up Kihzra's torso reaches her face and starts disappearing into her mouth and down her throat. It will be fully inside at the end of the segment.

From the woman who was hurled through the door a second Taker emerges and scurries across to try to sting Vitalis.

The Taker jabs it's scorpion like stinger into Vitalis, to no apparent effect.

Vitalis extends his hand, and a golden light streams forward, grabbing the creature disappearing into Sword Dancer by the tail, he yanks it out of Sword Dancers mouth. "No you don't."

SilverShadow moves to take on the mime that seems to be causing the trouble, moving to slide his extended arm around the mime trying to hold it down so Vitalis can do whatever it is he is trying to do. "Time to end this.."

SilverShadow throws his arm out a bit wild, missing entirely, "Whew...get your head in the game kid!"

SilverShadow's Demon muses, .oO(See...this is what i was talking about...failure in even the easiest task)

Sword Dancer opens, her eyes, takes in the scene, rolls smoothly to her feet and stabs at both the takers.

Sword Dancer skewers the two takers on her sword then flips them off again with the flick of her wrist.

Vitalis looks over and waits to decide what is next.

SilverShadow takes another shot at the mime, "Alright fun boy...time to settle down"

Vitalis looks over at Silvershadow, "Now is not the time to wrestle or be nice, these are zombies!"

Sword Dancer thinks. o O (Qhah! *Are* zombies.)

SilverShadow finally has one caught and the blank face area of the shadow twists into a smile with empty eyeholes, which is suddenly dispelled when the mime casually tosses his arms off.

SilverShadow says, "Whao....alright, hard ball is it."

Vitalis looks at the rest approaching, "The parasites are in their heads, attached to the brain, when you take out the host, they'll come out of the mouth..."

SilverShadow says, "Thats _really_ messed up...but you got it"

More of the Taken are coming at the heroes. Three attack Sword Dancer. Two miss but one, armed with a knife, strikes up under the ribs felling the warrior and Seriously wounding her.

A knife passes through the suddenly desolid Vitalis as he transforms into a golden energy form, "Sorry, I am not going to become a pin cushion."

Screaming and trampling over each other the crowd that hasn't been Taken are leaving.

Another three Taken attack SilverShadow while he is off balance from attempting to grab the mime. Stuck by a punch, club, and knife blade, he is stunned.

Vitalis looks between the two, and ponders, "Excuse me, I need to go get Starguard!" then pauses, "Uhmmm, wait..." the wonders how to save these two.

SilverShadow growls under his pain, taking a moment to right himself so he doesnt fall to the floor, "Get her safe, i can handle myself.."

Vitalis looks upwards and shimmers to the closest chandelier.

Vitalis looks downwards and around the room for a window, a large window.

Vitalis looks down and calls out, "Hello takers, come and get me, come on, come on! Up here."

Another Taken gets to the site of the washroom doorway. The rest are fighting against the fleeing crowd. There are nine there now. One picks up Kihzra and starts carrying her into the washroom. The three who attacked Jace last time do so again. The others look hauntingly up at Vitalis.

The knife and club swing through the now desolid form of SilverShadow.

Vitalis shimmers away and towards the exit.

Vitalis looks around and says, "Everyone out!" waving his hands, trying to get the last ones out.

In the washroom, in a cubicle, is a jar of Takers, one is possessing Kihzra as the Taken has carried her back inside the washroom.

The audience are piled up at the doors and exits in panic. It's going to be a another twenty or thirty seconds before the last will get out.

Three start after Vitalis. Others try to grab the laggards of the fleeing crowd.

Energy weapon fire is heard from out side the hotel’s Grand Hall, with shouts by a loudhailer ordering people to move away and wait to be checked, warning that failure to do so will mean being fired on. The Taken turn and start rushing back into the washroom.

Vitalis looks over and says, "Oh, now you've arrived." then looks towards the washroom. He shimmers, and heads towards the bathroom fast

Vitalis looks upwards, and resolidifies, stepping clear of the doorway and weaponfire. He extends his hand and reaches out a golden energy, striking at the connection at the ceiling, trying to bring down the chandelier onto a Taken.

In the washroom the Taken, as they arrive, are heading down into the sewers by the inspection manhole in there. There is no sign of Kihzra or the Taken who carried her into the washroom.

SilverShadow grits his teeth audiobly, "Damn it, we can't let them take her"

Starguard get there, eventually. They had to check all the fleeing people first. Unfortunately two Mimes, too proud to speak to the Delta troopers, will live after hospital treatment for blaster burns.

Starguard troopers start heading down into the sewers, and running into random ambushes of Taken groups at first. But soon the number of junctions and possible passages that might have been used grows too large for a realistic search to be made.

Vitalis shakes his head, and turns to help treat any wounded.

SilverShadow moves to search ahead, "I'll keep looking...perhaps less physical approach is the correct way of dealing with this"

SilverShadow says, "She has to be down here some where and I am going to find her."

Vitalis saves the lives, and cures from their possession, the two women who were engaged in the washroom ambush.