Looking at her squad, she sees a few dents on the armour of one of them, but no breaches. Heading further in, after a long trek through the jungle, she reaches a large clearing, where she sees the target site, a towering fortress made of black stone. From her vantage point, she sees two entrances, the main gates, which lie open and seemingly undefended, but have the corpses of a few expedition members in front of it, and a side gate, which is closed, and has a plasma turret mounted above the door, its sensor moving around and scanning for any targets.
"Hmm?" Vizelle's smile quickly disappears as the surprise attack missed, "Well, well. It looks like we have some uninvited guests." She quickly puts up a barrier for her, and Halipha. Using her psionics to detect where the assassins are. Verner dear, stick to the shadows, try and look for those that seek harm us. She sent a telepathic message to her nearest disciple, while trying to send Valleus and the rest a warning about the attack.
Yannika bit her lip in thought. "I-I don't know Your Eminence." she admitted. "I want to, but I fear doing so will only cause him pain and destroy any chance I have of serving him better. Yet if I don't tell him and he were to discover the truth, he would never trust me. And that would doom my efforts. Perhaps you could share your guidance with me on this matter? "As for how I shall gain his affection? I must first prove myself capable to him, if I achieve nothing for him or the empire I fear he will not keep me on his council. I believe success on Lave V will allow me to spend time with him privately in the capital. It is only here where I may counsel him and appeal to him as a confidante and as a woman. Once I have gained his trust..." Yannika couldn't keep a coy smile from her lips "He is a young man Your Eminence, shy and inexperienced. I am not."
The position wasn't entirely ideal. In order to get close, it would require too much risk and getting in a shootout with the turrets was risky.....but wasn't about to panic. Going her own pace and thinking things through was what she needed to be doing. The fortress was quite well defended. True, the defense seemed powerful and had been active for a long time...however...these machines were probably quite old, weren't they? Security has some a long way since then. She didn't exactly have the best tools to attempt remote hacking, but getting close to active turrets to reroute them manually would be...difficult. Still even if a little tricky to do with just a few tools, she might be able to manage to turn the turret defenses against themselves and destroy each other.
Another round slams into Alexandros' shield, and he begins to order the villagers around him as an additional shield. Spoiler: Telepathic awareness roll D100: 43+15 (Order of Sorcerers)=58 (Pass) Reaching out telepathically, she identifies that the shooter is somewhere in the direction of the ship she arrived on.
The cardinal nods. "A true dilemma, it must be said. When you have gained some level of rapport with him, inquire about his parentage. That should give you some idea of how to proceed. The truth must come out, but in a way that works for us." He returns the smile. "I see. And you have the...skills...required to stand out amongst the other women he might choose?"
Taking a look at the systems using her visor's magnification, Vivian determines that she could hack the system remotely. Of course, her engineering skillset means that she'd be more effective if able to physically interact with the turret's machinery, which would mean crossing the field of fire. The scientist is faced with a choice: Danger and greater chance of success, or safety but a lesser chance of success?
Vizelle doesn't really mind him using the villagers as a shield, though she is glad to see he's willing to make sacrifices, which makes her grin. But as she spots where the shooter is, she informs her disciples about it. Meanwhile, she keeps up her barrier, as she prepares a long-range lightning strike to fall onto the sniper.
She knew it probably meant more difficulty on her end, but attempting a remote hack was the better option without needing to have anyone draw out the turrets fire. She was no field commander, but she understood stats and the best tactics were generally that ones that provided minimal risk to yourself, is the way she saw it. She was confident if it would work but began to attempt to remotely break the system from a distance.
Spoiler: Combat Sorcery Roll D100: 49+15 (Order of sorcerers)= 64 Vizelle watches her lightning crash down off in the distance, though she can't see if she had any effect, After a few minutes, she hears Verner's voice through her communicator. "Mistress, it's the inquisitor's acolyte! The blonde! She was hit by your blast, but she's still active, currently repositioning with her long range rifle. Orders?"
Spoiler: Hacking Roll D100 77 (Pass) Luckily for Vivian, the codes programming the turret are surprisingly easy to hack into after one of her men hands her a long range device. Sadly, they're on localised systems, so she's only able to shut down the turrets covering the main and side entrances, but she doesn't have access to anything inside the fortress.
Yannika nodded and accepted the cardinal's sage advice. "I will do so Your Eminence." She left an outright laugh at his question to a smug smile. "You have full access to my history Your Eminence it should speak for itself." Yannika thought for a moment and then dropped her stance into a more relaxed and seductive one. Her weight shifted to one leg, her hands clasped together at her thighs, her upper arms squeezed in front of her, her impressive bust strained forward as a result nearly bursting from her top, her eyebrow cocked up and a sly grin played across her lips. Her tone dropped into a quieter one and took on a sultry inflection "If not perhaps your require a demonstration?"
"What?" Vizelle groaned, Tsk, I was sloppy. I should have made sure to turn her as well. For now, immobilize, and detain her. I'll need to have some alone time with her. After she's sure Verner had suppressed the blond, Vizelle takes down her shield. "Let's go." She said as she makes her way toward Verner's location.
Spoiler: Verner Attack Roll D100: 29+15(Order of Sorcerers)= 44 (Fail) Vizelle hears a cry of pain through the communicator, and then nothing. When she arrives at the spot Verner indicated, she sees neither her disciple, not the acolyte.
"Tsk." Vizelle glares, showing an expression she rarely lets anyone see. "You two, meet up with the others. Alexandros, give me the book, I take it that's what she's aiming for." She ordered the twins, while requesting the ancient tome to be handed to her. And once they follow her command, the sorceress attempts to look for traces of her disciple, and the assassin. If she finds one, she follows it.
Yannika resumed a more formal posture, but the sly smirk remained, "As you say Your Eminence." After a moment she added, "Thank you for this meeting Your Eminence, and your blessing. If there's nothing more I ask to take my leave and depart for Lave V. If you would be kind enough to grant me the dossier on this 'priestess' I would be..." she was about to say 'grateful' but she had already declared her gratitude. Several times. But it was the only thing she could think of so she settled on "...further grateful."
Spoiler: Persuasion Roll D100: 74 (Pass) Still suspicious, Alexandros hands over the book. Spoiler: Awareness Roll D100: 84 (Pass) She quickly finds a trail of blood, leading back to the ship.
Vivian quickly shuts down the surviving turrets after giving them new orders for their targeting parameters making sure that they would pick up the I.D. of the soldier's uniforms and not open fire, but could be used to help defend the location later instead of destroying them entirely. Regrouping her troop with the bulk of the major conflict died down, she gave orders for them to take the wounded back to the ship while the rest recentered. "Do not split off from the phalanx unless otherwise told. Do not be the first to enter a room. Do not be the last to enter a room. If you hear a noise that you must investigate, you will do so in pairs, check your corners and keeping in communication at all times while we sweep through the rooms." Giving careful instruction, she got ready to push deeper in.
Spotting the trail, Vizelle follows it. Keeping up a barrier in case Jycere shoots at her again, meanwhile she attempts to look for the inquisitor's mind in an attempt to dominate it.
