"Well, you have the basic grasp of the idea, but the one we support, namely Zalaya would have all of the Kabal's resources at the end of it all, even if 'reduced' a fair bit due to us sparking off the fighting between the two we don't want, then letting our supported leader take the Kabal but bending to the Crimson Moon as the end result be it out of gratitude, or as a logical result of losing enough of the Kabal's total forces she couldn't stop the Crimson Moon taking over." Heltherith replied before looking to the new arrivals. Evidently, she'd need to tell them the plan...

@Draconion , @Casavay , @Wata , @Vlayden , @Vulpas , @bossaroo

"Given you're all here, I suppose I should let in on the plan I've cooked up: We simply intensify the conflict between the Dracon and the Haemonculus and let them bleed each other dry, considering the two of them are more likely to be.... Not conductive to the functioning of a successful Kabal, while we offer a position to the Wych... And we give her our aid for her in seizing the rest of the Kabal as a token of good will.
Naturally, there is the implication that she would be more inclined to joining the Crimson Moon, especially if she happens to require the Crimson Moon due to 'higher than projected number of fatalities' leading to 'a lack of manpower to hold her territory' if you catch my meaning as to what we'd do while aiding her. "

Mertrixa said, hoping that the plan would be well accepted by the rest of the team considering that it should hopefully prove effective in subtly forcing the Wych into joining the Crimson Moon but without making it an obvious coup that could be maneuvered against, or a too blunt 'Kill leaders and make their underlings join the Crimson Moon' affair.

The Incubus didn't so much as speak now, her helm glancing over towards the woman. With the Punisher resting over one shoulder, it was more clear that this woman was literally just here to do as told, to kill who had to die, and get work done; she wasn't exactly a planner. Of course, as though in silent cooperation, she DID step over towards her side, and watched everyone else to see what their reaction would be to the plan itself.

"Sounds like we have a way forward now. So let's get this going already." His ambitions of his own now having a driving force to reach them. Soon he would be able to build his own stable of beasts. One that would be the envy of all those in the Nether Gale!

<Mission 1 - Enter the Severed Hope> @kanila @Draconion @Vlayden @Vulpas @bossaroo @Maleth @Casavay @Wata

OOC in case anyone forgot to pick up nades or combat drugs, feel free to write that part - you can do it retroactively

The time they had for planning was over as two Kabalite warriors, the same ones who escorted them here, once again entered the armory and told them Seneschal Kouron was waiting on them outside, "politely" asking them to hurry it up. Picking everything they needed, the group followed their guides down the stairs and out of the spire, where an entire squadron was waiting for them to arrive.

Four Raider transports filled with Kabalite warriors and two dozen Scourges with couple of Reaver jetbikes awaited on them, the force already going through the last preparations. They saw Kouron standing aboard one of the Raiders and he waved them to come over. "Hop on. It'll be a short trip but hopefully not uneventful," he grinned and gave everyone just enough time to come aboard (not counting Aesra who was able to use his skyboard and fly alongside the group), after which he signaled for the pilot to activate the hover engines and the Raider jumped into the sky, the entire force following right after it.

Like Kouron said, the trip was indeed short - it took them only half an hour to reach the outer wall of the Severed Hope's fortified area and five more to reach the entrance. Gates which served as the entrance were completely destroyed, blasted apart by some heavy ordinance but they weren't left without a guard. A number, around fifteen Kabalites from the Severed Hope were currently hiding behind the rubble and were acting as some sort of a welcoming committee for everyone who tried to get inside uninvited. They were definitely members of some of the faction currently vying for control but which exactly the team would never know as Kouron signaled his men and the crew upon Raiders came in hot, opening fire and killing those guards indiscriminately.

Couple of those that survived the initial attack where either annihilated by dark lances carried by Scourges or were swooped down by their Reavers. All in all, the battle, if it could be even called like that, lasted less then 15 seconds. "There, like Archon promised," Kouron grinned, his old face twisting in an ugly snarl, "We brought you to the entrance unmolested and undamaged. Now be so kind and piss off. Also, it goes without mention - if you fail to complete this task don't bother to return and pray that death finds you quickly before we do. Our Archon isn't known to be a forgiving person."

The pilot lowered the Raider close enough to the ground so they could jump off and once they were clear of the transport, it went back in the air and they saw Kouron and the rest of the force simply flying away, leaving them all alone in the midst of dead bodies and broken masonry, with a difficult task in front of them. But since it was also quiet at the moment, they were free to split their party as they wished and walk in the direction of the spire and the lord they wished to visit first. They had map of the place so navigating won't be that problematic and each of them also received a comm system so they could communicate with each other over a longer distance.

OOC feel free to split up (or not) any way you wish and head towards the area you wish to go to, I'll handle the rest

<Thû>

<Armoury>

Listening in silence as the others so disposed present their plans, the gears in Thû's mind tick away as he adjusts his plans to accommodate the ambition and pride of the others.

It appears I won't get much cooperation without an object demonstration first. Well, then.

Mulling over the conundrum as he picks out his choice of grenades (1 x plasma, 1 x haywire, 1 x blind), a lightbulb goes on in the shadowed recesses of his labyrinthine mind as his eyes light upon a stack of Crimson Moon Kabal flags - of the medium-sized variety typically mounted on vehicle banners - still in their plastic wrappings. Stuffing three such - carefully folded away - into his pack, he makes to join the others.

<The Severed Hope>

As the Crimson Moon Ravagers approach the Severed Hope fortress, Thû shakes his head and smiles to himself at the audacity of the plan. Take on an entire enemy Kabal with just eight warriors? Truly either a test of ability, or else a suicide mission - given this was Commorragh, a bit from both columns was most likely.

@Wata @Vlayden

Well before the landing can be made, while still at altitude, Thû makes his move. He moves first to whisper in the ears of the Incubi, Kaesar and Venessia, "Sieur and M'mselle will no doubt go where they please, and do as they please. Yet, if they wish to succeed, they will please remember this one's plan."

He nods at the spire belonging to the Dracon Uril, flying his flag.

"Watch for this one's signal. Sieur and M'mselle will know it when they see it. If they are so inclined to join the dance, they should feel free to bring anyone else they wish to. The more, the merrier."

With that, he dives off the side of the Ravager, plummeting towards the rooftops and trusting to his unnatural strength and resilience to take him to a safe landing, as it always has in the past. Once down, he will make swift, shadowed progress to the outer walls closest to the Dracon's spire, looking to either phase through or climb them to gain access to the spire itself.

Before they landed the mandrake made he's suggestion again to Kaesar and Venessia. Kaesar inclined he's head in mild curiosity to Thû's whispering and watched after the mandrake as he jumped off. He glanced at Venessia, who showed little to no emotion with her helmet on. Kaesar shrugged and enjoyed the display of brief violence that the Archon's men showed.

@bossaroo @Casavay @Maleth @Vlayden @kanila @Vulpas
After landing, Kaesar addressed the whole team:
"So, the mandrake jumped off mid-flight, without a satisfying splat at the end. He had a plan of recruiting the pirate with us Incubi. Some of you could go see the Wych while we, the trueborn Incubi, go see the Dracon with our overly polite mystery masked man."
Kaesar stretched he's neck and cracked he's knuckles while he spoke, obviously preparing for a much anticipated fight. He had no inclination to ruining plans just for he's dose of violence, something just told him this wasn't going to be a purely diplomatic day.
@Maleth
With a sly playful smile he continued, glancing at Mertrixa:
"Or does this interfere with your grand plan...kitty?"

<Armory>

As an after thought Aesra grabbed a vial of Serpintin as he left the armory to follow the others. Who knew if he would need it. Or at the very least it could make a show of good faith to their potential allies.

<The Severed Hope>

Amongst the ruined guards to the territory entrance to The Severed Hope Aesra watched as the others decided where to go. The Razorwings, never full, began feasting on the dead and dying kabalites. The mandrake had jumped from the Raider well before they even touched down, the enigmatic being as mysterious as his kind was known to be. "Well it looks like I'm off to see the Wych Zalaya. If the stories are true she and her warriors will make fine additions for the Crimson Moon. Who else is coming with me? And who is visiting the others to sow the seeds of their destruction?" Looking from one member to the other he waited for the movement to begin, the next chapter in the great saga of his tale.

Yrara-
Yrara was silent as he came in and listened to the Archon on there first test they would be sending them on, Would be quite interesting to Yrara especially with there being a hamonculus as one of there targets. he did have to wonder what type of tools the other hamonculus had and experiments.

Armory -
Going into the armory Yara picked up a Plasma, haywire and blind grenade to keep his kit versatile during his deployment never know when you might need to blind someone to get the upper hand, or to disable someones equipment and a adrenlight for a just in case of a need for a extra speed boost.

@Maleth
"Sounds like a decent plan If I may say, But could I also suggest if we are aiding the other wychs forces that we take targets so to speek, Like the other Hamonculus vying for power,if and when they are weaken and we are going to the killing blow my expertise will likely be needed when facing him." Yrara added with a smile.

The severed hope-

Jumping off the Raider as the rampart lowered Yrara landed with his rifle in hand and his power sword at his side looking already to the dead of the Severed hope with mild interest due to how quickly they were taken out. "Hopefully the rest of them will prove to be of a more interesting Variety." Yrara said.

@Wata , @Vlayden
"A complication, but I think I can work around that. I just need him to goad the Dracon into say, either fighting the Haemonculus or working with the Haemonculus to try removing the Wych, only to be encouraged to take advantage of that situation to stab a potential rival in the back.... If I want that to happen, I suppose you and the other Incubus better go along and make sure his idea segues into mine, whether he likes it or not."
Heltherith said, disappointed that the Mandrake was that head strong he wanted to do his own idea and perhaps not follow out her plan, like everyone else seemed to be accepting.

With that said, there was the matter of who was left to get things going... So Mertrixa turned to the artisan-like person ( @Casavay ) and the Haemonculus ( @Vulpas ) and said "I would feel you two would be better suited towards ensuring the other Haemonculus either plays along with the Dracon, or is aware of the Dracon likely to betray him and so uses it as a chance to strike first and take a chunk out of the Dracon's forces by going along with any plan of his to strike at the Wych, but enacting betrayal first."

Finally, came the matter of Zalaya... To which the Wych said to the Beastmaster ( @kanila ) "As for Zalaya, myself and the Beastmaster shall go forth and help persuade her to join the Crimson Moon. With that said there's no time to waste, unless everyone wants me to be clear on what we're going to do." She folded her arms, waiting to see who could keep up, and who she may have to coach in the fine art of thinking strategically.

<Dracon Uril's territory> @Draconion (+ @Wata @Vlayden ?) and anyone else who wishes to go there

Disappearing into the shadows after jumping from the transport, Thû made good progress through the maze of buildings which there were plenty of, although given the fact his general direction was towards the spire in the distance, anyone could follow Mandrake's progress and catch up to him in due time without much problem.

Of course, such trek wouldn't really be uneventful as Thû came across a scene of carnage soon enough. Coming around a corner, he (OOC and this also counts to whoever comes this way as well, I'm just writing from Thû's POV) saw around thirty dead Kabalites lying around the ground, their bodies either ripped apart by splinter fire or cut into little pieces. All of them carried colors of the Severed Hope so it was anyone's guess which Kabalite belonged to which warring faction.

Some distance away from it, right next to a building that used to be some sort of a hangar but now was missing two of its walls and its ceiling, the Mandrake saw a gathering of sorts. A Raider was down, sparks bursting away from its engines while two Dark Eldar worked around it to try and fix it. Next to them, he saw eight Kabalite warriors as well as some sort of a leader, looking like your run of the mill Sybarite. All of them looked bloodied from the conflict and they were either busying themselves picking apart corpses for supplies and trophies or tending to their wounds. They were apparently the survivors of the battle and although they looked somewhat battered they were without a doubt ready for more.

Mandrake would surely be able to sneak past them, but could that be said for whoever was following him? And then again, if they wanted to get to the spire without having to skulk around and risk getting caught, perhaps they should approach this gathering and maybe ask them to give them a ride once the Raider is repaired. That is, if they were on the Dracon's side at all - these warriors were in the middle of his territory but that could really mean anything given the fact how fast the territory switches hands in urban zone during ongoing civil war.

OOC 11 Kabalites in total - 2 mechanics, 1 Sybarite and 8 warriors with various weapons


<Wych Zalaya's territory> @Maleth @kanila @Vulpas @Casavay + ( @bossaroo ?)

Whatever their plan included, in order to get to the Haemonculus' territory whoever remained here had to go through Wych's territory first. Therefore the party gathered and set off, moving through the ruined fortress with all due speed. However, contrary to the somewhat peaceful progression the other part of the team had, here things were quickly turned to worse as the sounds of firefight reached their ears ten minutes into their journey.

Coming to the edge of a wide courtyard (and keeping themselves out of sight), they spotted two embattled forces. Holding the center of the courtyard that was crisscrossed with rows and fortified with pieces of broken masonry was a group of ten Kabalite warriors, who were at the moment reloading their splinter rifles and preparing for another incoming attack. Behind them the team could also spot five Wyches, all bloodied and wounded but still in the fight, cleaning some gore from their daggers but otherwise looking ahead past the barricades where the ground was littered with bodies of the dead and where another type of army prepared to have another go.

Wracks, or at least that's the general name these creatures of various shapes and forms have, were about to charge at the defending Kabalites and rip them to shreds. Armed with a multitude of various both ranged and melee weapons they were unto itself a force to be reckoned with, but their chances at victory were increased ten fold as the team spotted four lumbering monstrosities coming from behind the ranks of Haemonculus' troops. Grotesques, looking hideous as always, waved with their oversized weapons and set their attention towards the ranks of the defenders.

All in all, it was just a matter of time before the combat engulfs the area and the team had a choice in front of them. They wanted to help Zalaya's effort and what better way to do it then helping her troops win the day and not get themselves killed. Such act would send a strong message to the Wych but it would also send a message to the Haemonculus (although maybe not if every soldier from his army was killed and there was nobody to relay back just what happened), but it would also put their lives at stake...

OOC Haemonculus' troops (attacking):
- 35 Wracks
- 4 Grotesques

Wych's troops (defending):
- 10 Kabalite Warriors
- 5 Wyches