New Orleans, Louisiana (V.W.A.T. Mission)

It was around 1:15 AM in the bayous of New Orleans. A group of twelve vampires headed by a man who was most certainly human walked together. They drug three squirming sacks behind them, grunts emanating from the fabric at regular intervals. Finding a clearing with a large stump in the middle, the human snapped his fingers, signalling that the vampires should put the sacks on the makeshift altar. Ripping the sacks open, there were three nude males bound and gagged. Stepping to the center, the human took out a large, jagged knife from his belt. "Now, mes amis, I know you all got an envie for these piggies, but no eating until we done." Slicing open his palm, bright red blood ran onto his dark hand, which he used to splash in the faces of each of the men. Whatever was going on in these woods was not something the government wanted to continue.

(OOC) Trees line the clearing. Four of the vampires are F, four are D. The human is a voodoo and hoodoo practitioner and can protect himself from attacks for up to three posts, needing to recharge for one post after using up his barrier. Though the men can die, it is preferred they live.

(OOC) You still planning to do this?

==>Entrance (from VWAT Base)

Vampires working for a human master? That was certainly a new one. At least, it was new to Brandon Cole when he had first received word of it back at base. Adding to the growing list of new experiences, he was to be working with two operatives he had yet to cooperate with in the field. First, there was a mysterious individual identified only as Ghost. No files presented, no information outside of what Cole could gather by looking at him. He had a good build and a confident air about him, good signs but no guarantee of competency. Oh well, Brandon would manage regardless. Also on the mission was his recent bed mate, Eleanor Harkness. Her he at least knew a bit about. Not suited for a straight up brawl, she worked best in the shadows much like himself. He could work with that, especially considering their tentative plan for the operation. Attacking from a distance behind the vampires, it would fall to this Ghost and Cole to trim down their numbers as much as possible before the enemy became fully aware of the situation. Once the attention of the hostiles had fallen upon them, it would be Eleanor's responsibility to neutralize the voodoo man and secure the hostages.

And so the archer found himself 150 yards to the rear of the gathered vampires, safely hidden among the branches of a large tree on the edge of a medium sized river. He'd checked the wind and kept his movements controlled moving through the swamp to this position. With his vest and black tactical gear in place, those monsters shouldn't have the foggiest idea he was there. With practiced ease, Cole drew three arrows. Two of them were of the explosive variety and the third was one of his specialized silver dust "tear gas" arrows. Firing multiple arrows at this range with the necessary accuracy would be a challenge even for him. In order to ensure grouping tight enough to guarantee the destruction of the heart, he'd need to limit himself to two arrows at once. The assassin nocked the two explosive arrows and punched the call button on his ear comm device twice, the signal that he was good to go.

Crouched in the cover of the trees, the archer drew back the two explosive arrows while the silver shaving version rested against the trunk of the tree. Counting down mentally towards their agreed upon attack time, the assassin prepared to release his arrows. Three...two...one...mark he thought, releasing the black titanium missiles. They shot through the air like rockets, soaring in graceful arcs towards the hearts of two vampires standing roughly in the middle of the group. Once they hit, be it their intended targets or otherwise, the archer was ready to hit the detonator on his bow to trigger their charges immediately. The three to the right of his targets (from Brandon's perspective) shouldn't pose much of an issue for this Ghost person with the element of surprise on their side. But that left the other vampires on the left as interference in Eleanor's path towards the monk. As soon as the explosive arrows left his bow, Brandon was already nocking and drawing back the silver shavings arrow. Taking a moment to adjust his aim, Cole let the arrow fly towards the center of the vampires gathered on the left. If he was lucky, it'd be another vampire dead on the ground. However, another press of his detonator would trigger the release of the silver shavings into the bundle of vampires to disorient and blind them to further attacks.

OOC: I took some liberties by setting up a game plan for us. If anyone had any issues with it I'll happily edit this post accordingly.

Leon enjoyed the thought of playing a role in the mission and when Steeler would read the nicely written note Leon left for him saying he was partaking in a mission.  One problem was that he neglected to say which one. The flight ride over here Leon was mostly silent unless he was confirming a battle plan.  He let the two agents decide most of it.  The plan was simple enough. The archer would open with an explosive arrow and Leon will pick off three targets with his sniper.  The archer and Leon were going to kill as many targets as possible and play distraction.  Leon had no problems with that.  He preferred long ranged anyways but he was able to handle his own in a one on one fight.  The archer seemed confident in the strategy and looked skilled enough.  Brandon Cole.  Leon briefly read this person file.  He hoped this person was as good as the file said he was.

 The other agent was a spy.  Leon questioned her combat capabilities but her role was suiting for this mission.  The target was supposed a voodoo shaman.  It was reported that he found a way to control vampires.  Leon was interested in how but he doubted he would be willing to chat because of Leon's policy of shooting anything that deals with the supernatural/ undead (even a loose association) and asking questions later.  Leon situated himself a little ways off of Cole.  He situated his sniper and took aim at his targets which were to the right of the Archer.  Leon would have an easier time killing his targets due to his gun advantage over the Archer's bow but the archer was also playing with explosives.  Leon waited patiently and sat still counting in his head until the designated time.  Once the Internal clock hit zero Leon fired shots at his targets heads.  Two bullets for each.


OOC: Leon is equipped with his sniper and assault rifle. Both attached with suppressors

The ride over had been a relatively quiet one, all things considered. The planning session between her and Cole had been brief, but thorough, and their methods had been laid out in short order with little room for misunderstanding. It was a simple plan, but those were usually the best; easier to follow, and more wiggle room should something not go their way.

Which in her experience, was practically always.

Now she was moving with surprising stealth through the brushy forest near the edge of a clearing. She was positioned near the flank of this group, insofar as Cole and "Ghost" were set up before her, creating a distraction while she took out their main issue. With her suit, she knew she wouldn't be heard or smelt before she was within the group, what with the explosions and silver dust and sniper shots creating a distraction that she was (fairly) certain would be a decent enough diversion to keep her off the radar until the last moment.

She counts down in her head until the timer read zero, beginning her assault just as the first of Cole's arrows were loosed. She knows that by the time she was halfway to the target, explosions, silver, and large rifle rounds would be flying through the air, giving her the cover she needed. As soon as the conflagration full swing, she would be within the group center, going immediately for the hoodoo man.

Her gun is out, ready to be snap-aimed at anything that got in her way; her garrote is clipped in a ready position on her belt. She would be counting on her armor to block any close blows she may take before she got to her target.

This turned out to be anything but a private party. One of the vampires took an arrow through the chest, a bit too far to the right for a heart strike, while the other caught the projectile, only because it arrived just a moment later than the other. Regardless, both exploded, killing each of them. Though alerted to the enemy presence, the three to the side were confused when the third arrow didn't explode as the first two did. They were choked by a silver dust, gasping for breath as they ran into the woods to cough the volatile metal from their bodies. The three remaining went for cover to avoid the dust and any other offense, one taking a shot through the brain by Leon and dying instantly (the other narrowly escaped).

Not sure on what to do, but hell bent (pun intended) on completing the ritual, the shaman instinctively activated his otherworldly powers, a purple glow surrounding his body. Raising the knife, he cut the throat of the man to his left, blood gushing from the wound and pooling around him and the man in the center.

(OOC) The vampires who ran will come back in a post. The five living now are three D and two F, the D being in the woods.

Three kills. Not a bad start considering three of the five remaining priority targets were disoriented and fleeing. The downside was that they'd lost one of the hostages. Oh well, the mission parameters were clear that the hostages would be preferred alive but it was by no means a requirement. Rather than worry about expendable assets, Cole focused in on the three vampires making their way towards the woods. While vampires might be able to run faster than her could and perhaps even react to his arrows when they knew the projectiles were coming, that didn't mean her couldn't deal with them easily enough. His eyes was sharp enough to keep a bead on them and lead them accordingly. It was obvious they were making for the woods to recover and more importantly, they were blinded and slowed by the painful dust in their lungs. Fish in a barrel, Cole thought to himself as he loosed another arrow at the vampire at the head of the three person back. A focused shot with a single arrow, Brandon's accuracy with it was far higher than his multishot earlier. The explosive projectile was aimed at the vampire's center mass. If the heart wasn't pierced immediately, the accompanying explosion would destroy the heart or head. An explosion and another loss of life should be just the deterrent to give the other two second thoughts about continuing towards the trees. If they were still feeling froggy, the hunt would be on.

Leon smirked at the kill as well as the other two vampires attempts to cover behind a tree.  Since he wasn't playing with explosives he knew he had to take the single kills with gratitude.  He quickly adjusted aim at the fleeing vampires and fired twice into the back one of them in the area where the heart is.  He figured Cole would've fired another arrow by then, but vampires can out run arrows, they cant out run bullets easily.  The modifications to Leon's rifle made aiming at long distance relatively easy but still required skill to hit the target.  After he fired he immediately readjusted back to the two behind cover and readied himself to fire two shots at the first one he sees moves from cover.  He was impressed with the archer's skill but he wanted to see how he would fair when not using explosive arrows.  The spy on the other has yet to be seen on the battlefield.  But given what she was trained for that was a good thing.  Especially since Leon and Brandon forced the Vampires to flee or go behind cover given her a seemingly clear opening towards the Shaman. He is anticipating what ever one doesn't pop out of cover would run in a different direction and Leon most likely wouldn't be able to hit immediately and would have to lead the shot.

[[OOC: Alright, if I am reading this correctly, Cole shot one of the fleeing three Category D’s, as did Leon. Assuming they hit, that leaves one D in the woods and two F’s hiding behind some trees on the edge of the clearing. I will be going off these numbers.]]

Well, the commotion had definitely begun. Three of the vamps took off to the edge of the clearing, scattering after Cole’s silver gas arrow detonated, while two others took shelter behind a few trees. She was heading right down the middle of these fleeing groups, not worried about their presence for the time being, as she had two expert – well, at least one – marksmen covering her approach; if all went well, she wouldn’t need to keep an eye on anything besides her main target.

But when did things ever go well?

She was nearly on top of the shaman man when a purple light enveloped him. Coming to a complete halt right behind him, she takes a split second to process this new player in the game. What the hell was this glow intended for? Offense? Defense? Distraction? Her awareness of the situation around her hadn’t lowered while she took a heartbeat’s worth of time to take in information on this new wrinkle in their plan; if this stuff was offensive in nature, she could deal with it up close. If it was defensive, well, things were about to get tricky.

Not wanting to risk a gunshot this close to a potential shield, she draws her blade and in one motion, swipes it across the man’s exposed back, the arc centered on his lower back; if it hit, it would slice through muscle and tender tendons along the spine, potentially severing it. If it would be just a glancing blow, it would open up a wide enough wound to at least give the man pause about moving; the blood loss would be immediate and the cut would be torn open wider with every move he made.

All of this took place in less than a couple of seconds; she had been on him when the creatures began scattering, halted when he brought up a purple glow, and attacked just as his knife opens up the throat of one of the naked, terrified men.

Though it wasn't exactly where the archer had planned for it, the arrow pierced one of the vampire's lower back, exploding inside him and taking the lower portion of his body with it. The other two were knocked over and, in the case of one lucky man, evaded the bullet. They were still disoriented, but the silver had begun to work its way out of their bodies. Shambling to cover behind a few trees, they would wait it out in relative safety before returning to the fight.

The others, however, were more determined. More aware this time, they had a good idea as to where the two men where firing from after seeing the extra shots. Each took a target and began to sprint through the trees to go after them. They'd have enough cover to make shooting them more of a challenge, and with their minds set on tracking down the targets, there'd be a better chance of dodging than before.

The woman had finally revealed herself. The leader was nearly about to slit another throat before the knife came into contact with him. It did nothing, of course, but he was now fully aware of this new attacker. Making a quick turn, he slashed at the person behind him in what he'd assume to be their throat or upper chest area (roughly estimated by the height of their attempted strike).

Another vampire out of the fight and his two friends had been knocked onto their backs. Though not as disoriented as before, the effects of the silver dust were still apparent and Cole aimed to take advantage of it. Drawing another arrow as the lead vampire was blow asunder, Brandon loosed the explosive at one of the two remaining vampires as it struggled to it's feet and shambled towards cover as less than top speed, an easy target especially when detonating the arrow upon impact.

However, that still left the vampire currently rushing Cole's position. Knowing full well that the vampires would be able to slink around straight on shots at their vital points, Brandon decided to use something they couldn't simply evade. They weren't hindered like the other group and were making for his position and Ghost's with full speed using partial cover. Brandon drew another silver dust arrow and rather than even try to hit the vampire, shot the arrow into the ground some distance in front of the charging vampire along the path that Cole guessed the freak would be taking. It was the quickest available route to the archer's perch in the try and afforded decent cover. Cole's arrow would release its payload upon hitting the ground, generating a painful and disoriented cloud directly in the path of a charging vampire who shouldn't have the time or space to halt it's momentum.

Deciding to take precautions anyway, Cole grabbed three explosive arrows from his quiver in a subtle motion to keep them behind his back and out of sight of any vampire who might have been watching. Jamming their tips into the branch that he was currently crouched on, Brandon had a nice little surprise in store for any vampire that decided to get up close and personal.

He missed that shot because he waited too long and was a bit rusty. Leon had cursed himself in his mind as he saw his target scurry away as he snapped to the other two vampires.  He was just in time to catch the each sprinting in two opposite directions looking to circle the clearing.  Leon took the magazine out of his sniper and switched out for his assault rifle.  He took cover behind a tree facing the expected path of the vampire.  He left the sniper with a clip or bullet to serve as a distraction if need be.  

His new plan of attack is simple enough.  Catch the vampire rushing his position by surprise. Simple right?  Should work. But Leon was used to plans not going perfectly.  He had his fair share of missions that went wrong.  Granted he was his own worst critic and would constantly berate himself after a mission if any of his subordinates were to get hurt.  However he had none, in fact he was an agent.  That was a mind set he needed to get used to because he had caught himself almost saying orders to Cole and Harkness.

So, the that happened. Her blade didn't miss - it was in fact perfectly on target - but it met with resounding failure as it came in contact with the strange purple glow surrounding the hoodoo man. Parameters of the fight were changing, which meant her plan needed to evolve. There wasn't much room to maneuver in this situation; she needed to stay close to the man, to prevent him from killing any more men, but she had no idea if any subsequent attacks would deal any form of damage.

Not a completely unwinable situation, but the chances of ending this mess on her end were steadily dwindling, and if she couldn't kill the man, she was just going to have to keep him busy until her partners finished up with their little side projects.

Taking a half step back, she bends away from the swiping blade, her balance still perfect. As her blade was in her right hand, and he had turned with his left to strike at her, she darts up with incredible speed into the opening of his new-exposed left shoulder and chest, free hand snapping out to force her entire movement through her palm, directing it to impact his heart; if it hit, it will shove the man off balance, as he was already half-way there from his turn, and possibly put him on his ass. If not - if it missed or the purple stuff writhing around him stopped her - the action would put her right up in his face, forcing him to deal with her and not the men he had planned on killing.

Regardless of all this, her mind was still keeping track of where his own blade was in relation to her.

Both vampires felt recovered enough to reenter the fight. Intent on avenging their fallen comrades, they took the same action as the two before; each would attack a different shooter.

The vampire attacking the archer was stopped in his path, jumping back as the arrow came towards him. Instead of exploding, it was another of those problematic gas things. He missed the majority of the dust, but couldn't help but inhale some of it. Angry and in pain, he moved around the cloud to continue on his way, but his senses were dulled quite a bit by the silver in his body.

The other, however, met no resistance on the way over. The man was hiding, but it wouldn't be very effective. All he had to do was listen. A heartbeat, twitching finger, rustled leaves; anything could give away the coward's position.

As expected, the man was knocked over. He landed on the bloodied neck and head of the dead man. He wouldn't let this setback stop him, though. Kicking at the woman as many times as he could in a few seconds, he was going to stomp his foot to the ground and propel himself up to stab her in the throat. It wouldn't be long before his protection broke, so he had to finish quickly.

The vampire hadn't been completely smothered but he'd been visibly slowed. Readying another arrow Cole lined up a shot on the disoriented vampire and paused for the right moment. There was a reason that the ankle breaker was his favorite move in basketball. A lightning fast crossover used against an opponent that had already weighted their leg to move in one direction, it forced the defender to try and make an impossible shift in momentum that sent them crashing onto their ass. Applying the same concept to combat, there were ways to overcome a vampire's speed even when it did know you where shooting. Studying the vampire's approach for a brief moment in time, Brandon learned it's tempo, it's rhythm of movement. True, this allowed it to advance on him quite a bit but that was fine, it would make this shot that much harder for the beast to dodge. Waiting for the moment when Brandon knew the vampire's front leg would be planted in it's forward path and the rear leg was still extended behind the monster, Cole loosed his explosive arrow at its stomach. Lateral movement should be all but impossible at that moment, the monster's weight distribution shouldn't have allowed it. The best shot for the vampire, in Brandon's mind, would be to simply drop to the ground. However, having aimed lower on the vampire's torso with that very tactic in mind, the vampire would be dropping its chest and head right into the path of the arrow. The arrow which Brandon would detonate as it reached it's target, having taken the precaution to not already prime the arrows jammed into the tree out of sight.

[[Skipping Leon due to inactivity.]]

The man was quite literally flailing about. He’d gone over the head of one of his victims, and now was kicking out at her from a seat on the dead man’s neck. She couldn’t help it, she really couldn’t; her eyebrow quirked and a moment of confused amusement set in. It was only a fraction of a second, but the scene reminded her funnily enough of a wealthy “oil merchant” who’d managed to slip his noose and fumble away from her; he’d done much the same action as the man before her now artfully practiced.

The purple light surrounding the hoodoo man appeared to turn away physical attacks, not the manipulation of his body. This in mind, she catches his foot as it strikes out at her again, free hand wrapping around his toes while the hand that held the blade cupped his heel.

With a tendon-sheering twist, she jerks his entire foot – from the ankle – in a motion that was designed to take any movement with that particular appendage out of play. His struggling attack would therefore be slow, hindered by his inability to balance. All she needed to do was take a step back, knife at the ready, and watch him falter again. If he did indeed manage to follow through with his attack – unlikely – then her own blade would meet his and rebound the incoming attack to the side, skittering it off the angle of her knife and out into empty air.

Since he'd just thrown himself at her, and was now likely in tremendous amounts of pain, she felt a moment quick disgust - at herself, and him. He was a murdering, dark practitioner of voodoo magic, yet here she was, backing away once again, leading him into another attack that was sure to come, but would falter all the same; he may have "magic" on his side, but she was fast, and well-trained. She had the feeling that if this purple halo that surrounded him didn't dissipate soon, she would be forced to break him apart a little at a time, contorting his body until all that was left was ruined flesh surrounded by a useless shield.

Not a pretty, or clean way to die.

Things did not go well for the vampire. He was far too enraged to even pay attention to the arrow, so it hit its mark without issue. His body was engulfed in flames from the resulting explosion. The other one wouldn't fall for stupid tricks like that, though (he thought, at least), and took to the trees. He'd jump through them one by one until he was in the area to strike at the archer.

Elsewhere, the vampire had managed to find the hidden sniper, rushing at him to drive a hand through his chest. The other caught up in time to see where their foe was hidden and planned to join him. They were quite sure of themselves in this.

The broken ankle was a setback, completely ruining his attempted lunge and landing him on the ground. Yelling various inappropriate slurs in Cajun, he slashed at the woman's ankles in a sort of revenge. The worst part was over, though; for Harkness at least. The glow left the man, something which visibly shocked him. He was probably in one of the worst situations he could be in without any aid.

Another vampire down. This was starting to get dangerous. Not necessarily due to the mounting frustration he could sense in his targets but because of his own disposition. Success like this could very easily lead to one becoming complacent in a dangerous situation. That meant mistakes and mistakes meant somebody generally wound up dead. He still had one more vampire breathing down his neck to deal with before he could more to assist Ghost. Keeping his attention on the bigger picture was one of Cole's better qualities, one that allowed him to stay aware of the general situation that Harkness and Ghost were in. There was room to capitalize on them once he'd finished with this vampire.

As expected, the vampire was closing at a swift enough rate that preparing another shot wasn't an option. Worse, this thing had avoided the disorienting cloud that had slowed down the last one. The archer would need to use a different trick this time. Though he couldn't move as fast as the vampires, he could still track them with his eyes and followed its path into the trees. Rotating to look at it, Brandon used the subtle movement to brush his bow against the three arrows he'd jammed into the tree earlier. Those arrows, which should not have been visible to the vampire, were now primed. All they needed was a trigger. Playing the role of a cornered rat, Cole kept his eyes on the vampire while drawing another arrow from his quiver and nocking it. The vampire was going to be on top of him at right about the time he'd normally draw it back to fire. He had no time to shoot it but he didn't want to anyway. As soon as the arrow was nocking, Cole pushed off the tree branch hard with his legs, jumping backwards towards the river to narrowly avoid the vampire that had just entered the space formerly occupied by the archer.

As gravity took hold of Cole, he calmly depressed the trigger on his bow, detonating the three explosive arrows that he'd left at the vampire's feet. Landing in knee deep water on the other side of the small river, Cole straightened his posture and drew back the arrow he'd previously nocked. He had no shot at the vampires attacking Ghost but there was another target that appeared to be completely unaware of him. It was just too good an opportunity to pass up. Loosing the shaft at the voodoo man lying at Harkness' feet, Brandon sent his arrow speeding towards the cultist's center mass.

He was down - again - and this time it seemed he would stay there. His futile attempts to swipe at her would have been pitiful if they had not been performed by a man who'd just murdered a bound (most likely) innocent person for nothing other than some fiendish plot.

Whatever. He was going to die.

And then the glow left him. Stepping around his childish swings, she reaches down from behind him, and takes hold of his hair. with a sure, deft stroke, she cuts through tendon and muscle, severing his windpipe and opening up his neck for all the world to see. The wound ran from nearly ear to ear, slitting him open wide enough to make for a quick - though not painless - death. She holds his head up, encouraging the loss of blood, when an arrow wings silently from the trees. It would impact the man she was currently holding, ending his life quicker than she would have liked, but she supposed it was for the best.

Now to make sure the rest of her team survived.

With the arrow's appearance, she knew Cole was at least still up and kicking, but she hadn't heard a shot from the "Ghost's" rifle in some time. Perhaps he'd been entangled with one of the remaining vampires, or perhaps he'd just decided to pack up and leave. Scanning the area, she catches the glimpse of a fast-moving figure through the trees,

It wasn't human.

With a snap-draw, she unloads an entire magazine at the figure, knowing that between the trees and its speed, only a few would hit. But the blessed silver would at least slow the thing down, perhaps giving whomever it was after a chance to retaliate.

This fool thought he'd be able to shoot him. With a bow, no less. He wasn't like the others, though. He was stronger, and smarter, and faster, and very, very mad. The human could ready his archaic weapon all he wanted, but by the time he could fire it, his head would be rolling on the floor.

Then his legs came off.

The attempt to evade had been futile, the vampire thought, only to realize too late that the other arrows were ready to explode, blasting him in the back and breaking his legs off at the knees. He cursed and spat, blinded by pain and numbed by fury. Pointless as it was, he was still attempting to attack by crawling towards the man.

A pointed fist ran through the sniper's chest; specifically, the right side. He'd noticed the other vampire coming in for an attack, and decided to leave the "official" kill (that being, piercing the heart) to him. He was young and inexperienced, and taking a life would be a good lesson for the little tyke. He was disappointed when a simple round of pistol fire -most of them not even hitting- managed to trip him up. Even more pathetic was how he whined and groveled in the dirt. Removing his hand and smacking the man away, he went to assist and kill the woman who, apparently, had appeared from no where. Where was that pathetic human when they needed him?

Having reached the opposite side of the small river, Cole was safe from the now severely crippled vampire's continued advances. Thankfully the legends that vampires couldn't cross running water had been proven true in past missions. Even if it hadn't, he was now dealing with a legless vampire. Even Volke could handle this one. Not bother to waste another arrow on the creature, Brandon drew his sidearm and unloaded half a magazine at the vampire's head before turning his attention back to Ghost. Based on the shots, Harkness was already moving to his aid from her position in the open field. There hadn't been any return fire from Ghost's direction. He must have gone down. Holstering his pistol, Cole exited the river opposite the side he'd originally come from and moved towards Ghost's position. Maneuvering between exposed roots and larger trees, Cole's all black form blended in with the environment to create a nigh undetectable shadow shifting in the darkness towards Ghost and the vampires.

At just about the moment when he finally found a usable vantage point to target the vampires and Ghost, the uninjured target went off after Harkness. That was fine by Cole. The secondary target was wounded and writhing on the ground near an injured Ghost. No way and no time to be sure whether or not the sniper was still breathing but Brandon wasn't about to pass up an easy kill. Drawing an arrow, Cole chose not to prime the explosive head. The vampire was too close to Ghost and if the man could be saved then there was no need for excess risks. Besides, a nearly immobilized target unaware of him was an easy mark for the master archer. Drawing back on his bow, Brandon loosed an arrow at the wounded vampire's head. He'd speared countless bouncing tennis balls at this distance. That vampire's head might as well have been the broad side of a barn.

This did leave the matter of the uninjured vampire though. He seemed interested in only Harkness for the moment. Or rather, he only noticed Harkness so far. That could play to his advantage easily enough. If Eleanor could hold that attention long enough for him to pin the vampire that would be that.

OOC: sorry for the disappearence every body.  Also going off of so far, and how fast an arrow can travel I doubt the vampire could react seeing as it was busy with writing and not really paying attention. 

Leon was not in the best of situations.  It was far too long since he was in close quaters combat.  A few years ago he wouldn't have allowed this vampire to get such a hit on him.  Now he was paying the price.  Death, maybe, a Hell of a lot of pain certainly.  Lucky for him his assault rifle was still in hand.  He was loosing blood fast and probably would faint from the blood loss relatively soon.  Out of his peripheral he noticed the vampire writing some thing in the ground.  Leon began saying a prayer in his head.  He didn't care what the vampire was doing with the ground.  Leon was prepping his mind for his death.  If the Vampire didn't kill him blood loss probably would if he couldn't get to a hospital or stabilize soon.  If the vampire had something else in mind, Leon had enough strength left to make sure they couldn't turn him, even if it meant taking his own life.  

Though Leon had faith in the other two from what he saw so far.  They would complete the mission with or without him.  The only thought that made Leon disappointed is how Steeler will probably gloat in how he was right and Leon was wrong.  Leon was cursing himself in his head due to the fact that he got himself this way.  Well maybe it was his time to join the others. Leon put the rifle on his lap with the the barrel pointing at the Vampire.  If the Archer hadn't already killed the vampire, Leon pulled the trigger.

While she just loved a good, clean kill as much as the next person, an unsightly interruption in the aftermath deflated just about any pleasant feelings she had towards finishing the mission. Stepping over the still-warm, still bleeding body of their quarry, the woman quick-reloads her sidearm just in time to see another creature enter the clearing, making a hasty bee-line to her position.

Frowning a bit, she drops her knife and unslings a set of what look like black yo-yos from her belt. Firing at the thing as it approached her, she knew that at the range it was at, and her skill with a gun, the most she could hope for would be a few hits, though most likely all she would be doing was distracting the thing from its current straight approach.

If – when – it reached her, she would drop the handgun as well, taking up the strange device in both hands and readying herself for the inevitable (standard and boring) attack that almost everything with preternatural speed and strength defaulted to. Maybe she would be able to take off a hand or two this time; watching the confusion in their eyes when body parts started flying was satisfying to some degree. That, and it felt good to startle something that could lift a car or dodge bullets.

The back of her mind registered that there had been a gunshot not long after the vamp had cleared the tree-line. Assuming Cole hadn’t fallen so far as to use modern weaponry, she could only infer that “Ghost” was still up and moving. At least for the time being.

(OOC) One left...

Bullets weren't a problem. One grazed him on the arm -and it did hurt more than it should, oddly enough- but he'd be fucked by a monkey before he left himself end up like the worthless child on the ground. From the sound of it, he'd just been killed, too.

Apparently, this human decided to bring out some sort of toy to fight with. They were lesser beings, so he couldn't really fault her for being so stupid. Playing along, he went to slash through the string with a clawing attack, only to be met with waves of pain as his fingers were cut from his hand. Visibly confused and horrified, he jumped back, not really sure what to make of this situation. He'd heal pretty quickly, but that still didn't explain what the hell just happened.

She could see it in the thing’s eyes as its clawed fingers are clipped neatly off, quick and cleanly enough that little blood had time to fall before the creature lept backwards. That look, it was one she’d come to know quite well, one that spoke of confusion and doubt and fear. Uncertainty. If she could instill these things in this abnormality of nature, then surely it could be killed.

Anything that fears can be killed.

As it scurried away from her, she followed, not letting up the pressure as it stopped to gape at its hand. Her body moved in a singular rhythm, answering her call to spring an attack before it registered what was about to happen. Darting into the opening it had created, she slings one end of the garrote around its neck, whipping it through the air with a practiced sort of ease that belied the actual amount of talent needed for such a move. Once the thrown end was back around to the front she would – while at the same time looking for retaliation from the creature – catch the end guard and pull. It wouldn’t take much effort, just a simple tug and the monofilament would do the rest.

She’d seen it before: the head would sit for a moment on the neck, then some small movement would part it from its base, sending it sliding off and the body to twitch aimlessly for a second or two before falling to the earth.

Her action would be followed by a backwards step, keeping more of the blood off of her and as a precaution should the thing manage to dodge her attack; she may be ready for the kill, but she wasn’t stupid. This creature was faster than she was, but for now, she had surprise on her side.

It tried to lash out -to bite at the woman- but it was too late for that. The movement forward only extended its neck, making it easier for the wire to remove the vampire's head from its shoulders.

(OOC) You kids win.

And just like that the final target was down. Mission accomplished. However, they still had a bit of work to do based on the current state of Ghost. The man had a hole punched in his chest and decided the best way to mitigate the damage was to fire off a few rounds from an automatic weapon. Well wasn't that just perfect. Glancing about to take stock of the field once more, Cole was double checking there were no more hostiles in the area. The last thing they needed was for another bloodsucker to t-bone them while they were trying to save this guy's life. Reaching Ghost's side, Brandon examined the wound. The vampire had missed the heart but it was still a sizable hole losing a lot of blood. Might have even punctured a lung, no way to know. Setting his bow on the ground, Brandon pressed his palm against the wound and pressed his body weight into it. It wouldn't do much, Cole knew that much, but anything that would at least slow the blood loss was a step in the right direction until they could get medical evac. Reaching up to his headset with his free hand, Brandon radioed their scheduled airlift out of here.

"Cole to Chopper 1, all targets neutralized but we've got a man down. Requesting immediate evac for medical treatment," Brandon's voice was steady, almost detached throughout his brief conversation with the pilot. Cold as it may sound, Cole didn't know the man bleeding under his hand. He would do all that he could to prevent it, but there was no reason to get emotional over a stranger. If he died, he died. All part of the job.

Leon was conscious long enough to see the archer get over here.  Leon was overall impressed with these two.  They worked well together.  Leon however had more pressing matters to worry about considering the blood loss.  He would have to introduce himself properly when he regains conscious, if he regains consciousness.  


ooc: sorry for the short post but nothing much to really.  Leon is now unconscious.

Her mask allowed for no emotion to be seen as the last vampire fell to the earth. Permitting the filament to slip closed on the two heavy ends, she hangs it securely on her belt and turns to take care of the second part of their mission. The remaining two trussed up men were terrified and pale, but otherwise unharmed. Stepping over the body of their human captor, she frowns as she feels the ground squish beneath her feet; evidently, the man had bled out further than she’d thought, and the squelch of the wet ground made her feel more dirty than any other part of this fight.

She should be accustomed to it by now.

She still hates the feeling.

The men – both dark haired and dark eyed, similar in build and facial features – gazed up at her with residual fear, knowing she’d saved them from the purple-lit hoodoo man, but unable to contain the terror they’d felt because of him. And his abomination friends. She couldn’t imagine (well, she could, but that was a different story) what they had witnessed before this moment in the clearing, and to be sure, this was a night that would not easily be forgotten.  

The woman doesn’t remove the tinted, glass-like covering over her face, but she does hold out her hands in a universal gesture for “calm down”; she hadn’t picked up the knife or the gun, hoping the lack of said weaponry would set them a bit more at ease. As she reaches out to untie the first of the two, her comm picks up the call for an evac by Cole. So “Ghost” is down.. She couldn’t tell by the archer’s tone whether the situation was dire or not; he had a tendency of being rather distant in everything he did.

Except in bed.

Knowing the helo would be arriving within minutes, she hurriedly strips the other man of his bonds, aiding them both into a standing position. Patting one on the shoulder, she nods to him before leaving them and securing her blade, then sidearm. Sheathing the wicked knife, she turns to see both men wide eyed and cowering from her; sighing to herself and internally rolling her eyes, she holsters the handgun and kneels down to inspect the body of the human “shaman” she’d nearly decapitated. He had little on him, no identification – not surprising – and a handful of what looked like ash, along with assorted herbs.

Stuffing everything in a pouch riding on the small of her back, she focuses again on the two naked men. They didn’t appear harmed in any way, so she felt no need to offer medical assistance. Or assistance of any kind, really. They would be loaded up on to the chopper and whisked away to someplace “safe”, no longer her concern.

And just like that, their evac appeared, sweeping over the treetops and settling gracefully into the clearing. Two men in uniform exited as soon as the large bird had touched ground, running flat out towards the position of her partners; they were the medical team, and from what she’d heard, they were incredibly talented. There was nothing she could do for the situation, so she began ushering the pair of survivors towards the get-away car that currently held a few blankets and a lot of safety. They were more than happy to leave the scene, and she got the feeling that they were thankful, even through the fear.

The medical team comes out of the wood carrying Leon with Cole behind. They all load into the chopper and head off to base.

--------> Everyone back to VWAT