Under the Milky Way Tonight

Kai continued to observe the church. It was getting later and he hadn't heard from West or Ankh, but he needed the silence. He wondered if he would ever get back to Avalon, or what was her name? Damnit, what was her name. It didn't matter now. All that mattered to him was that church, and the silence. He imagined the man who has just entered was Niles. You would figure a guy who was supposed to be a leader wouldn't glow like a Christmas tree. He had waited to see Vex, though he didn't think she would show up, but he half expected her to.
It wouldn't be a bad thing to kill all the Guardians here and start over . it was a fleeting thought, but they were coming to him more often these days. It felt so...right to kill that banisher. He certainly had no mercy, but Kai had nightmares about it nightly, so much so that it wasn't a nightmare anymore, but hell calling to him to watch a movie of his life. Was this the cost every good guy paid?
He found himself paying attention to the church again as something set off the hairs on his arms. That didn't come from the church. He was here for a mission. That would have to be looked into later though.

After a little while longer, Kai pulls out his phone and shoots a text to West and Ankh, and then tells them to park their car at Florin Reservoir Park at 53 and Power Inn and meet him there.

Kai comes walking up slowly dressed much like he is in my profile picture with his hands in his pocket and a smile on his face.
"The park is blessed to have such a lovely young couple grace it's presence. The park smiles, so should you" Kai tips his hat.
"And I believe the minister of the church nearby is getting ready to give his sermon. I was thinking of going to visit and listen to what he has to say. Care to join me?"

"It's warded to the high heavens, especially with space. I didn't get much on the inside, but like I said, I think Niles is the guy I saw walk in, and he was lit up like a christmas tree. Now that I've exhausted all the religious references that would make sense, what do you have in mind?"

"Everything we do concerning mages who are pentacle must go under the absolute assumption that they know who we are."

"I don't give a fuck if he knows who I am," West says, but weaves a haze of Incognito to give lie to his words.

(( 03-24 14:40:23 West rolls 8 dice to Incognito Improv -2 1 success 4,6,2,5,7, 8,3,3
Ankh is included in the spell unless she chooses to Resist ))

The church is fairly small, pictured here:
http://www.uhc-of-nc.org/UkrStAndrewChurch/Index.htm

((Ankh does not Resist the spell))

Active Spells: Pulse of the Living World, Aura Perception, Organic Resilience, Doppelganger

Ankh nods. "Ok, so what are we looking for in here exactly?"

"I think the idea was to find out how and why the mage I handed over to Vex got away"

As West opens the door, he can feel that he has set off some sort of 'supernal' alarm.

The interior of the church looks exactly like the picture in the above link. There are doors on either side of the pews closest to the pulpit. No one is in the main part of the church right now.

Kai follows in behind West.
"Ask questions and then shoot? Or shoot first questions be damned?"

It doesn't take long before Niles comes up, accompanied by two other gentlemen. He gives a long pause before speaking.
"I guess it was a matter of time before you came knocking."

"Seeing as how Vex fell down on the job and let your prisoner get away, I was wondering how long before you guys came looking for our headquarters to investigate." Niles facial expressions are more than stoic, and the two standing slightly behind him are focused as well.

A sudden flash across Niles eyes tells you the conclusion that he has just drawn, but his face quickly returns to stoic.
"Which book would you like to be read tonight child? Where the wild things are perhaps? Some Shel Silverstein?"
He looks to West
"So she threw ME under the bus. That will have to be...dealt with"

"well, West, I can tell you the story which you will or won't believe, but that will be the extent of your investigation here."
Niles eyes don't budge.

"That's odd," West replies. "I was under the impression that only Magister Undrichmann told me where and when to stop."

"So," he continued, holding out a hand in a fist, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Rock, paper, scissors -- best two out of three?"

(( West is Activating Acceleration (Cloaked) and Preparing Psy Dom (Cloaked) 5/5 Tolerance ))

"I was unaware that Undrichmann had any sway over how I run my sanctum. But I'll play your game. What can I do to help?"

"Perhaps next time you guys should just hold on to him then, so Undriuchmann can bust down your doors next time something goes wrong."
His face didn't move, though his voice hinted at more than just slight irritation.

Niles nods at West.
"Follow me. We are working on the same goals."

He leads you through the left door into the back room , where under a rug lies a trapdoor. He opens it, and it leads to a ladder into a basement room. He leads the way and motions both of you. Following behind are both of the other mages.

As he leads the crew down into the basement area, he comments on West's question
"I have, which is why I know what you will find."
((Perception checks everyone))

(( When everyone is down in the room:
03-27 22:45:05 West rolls 1 die for initiative 2
2 + 14 Init Mod + 6 CM1 = 16 w/out CM, 22 w/ CM ))

03-29 18:41:07 Kai rolls 1 die for initiative 3
(16)

~~Marker 1~~

As they all get into the room, West smoothly pulls his Sig 229 and draws down on Long with a double-tap. As he drops, West tracks over to Short and double-taps the Sig again.

"Tick Tock Man!", he calls out to his cabal-mates.

Spoiler:

Niles attempts to cast a spell but West's counterspell is triggered and instantly unravels his weave.

03-29 21:02:04 Niles rolls to Greater transmog (used WP) 3 successes
03-29 21:08:05 West rolls to Counterspell: Prime 7 successes

Kai casts Psychic Sword on Niles, which seems to have NO Effect at all.

03-29 21:18:30 Kai rolls to Psychic Sword on Niles (used WP) 3 successes

Shorthand attempts to bind West to a Geas,

03-29 21:21:48 Shorthand rolls to Geas 2 successes
03-29 21:34:06 West rolls to Resist Geas 2 successes

But it is resisted as well.

((It is now Ankh's turn))

03-29 22:08:30 Niles rolls 11 dice to Resist Ult Deg 2 successes
1,5,3,6,9, 6,9,7,1,6, 6

Niles shrugs off the effect, his body obviously having more youthful vigor than is visibly apparent.

((West is up, Marker #2))

~~Marker 2~~

Annoyed that the second man had tried to bind him with Fate, West shoots him in the head, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Turning his weapon on Niles, he continued to fire, but his aim was a touch off from switching targets.

Spoiler:

((Niles shifts time, going back to his previous turn...Everything during and after Niles turn in Marker one has been undone))

Niles casts a spell to destroy West's firearm:
03-30 01:15:18 Niles rolls 14 dice to Destroy Matter (used WP) 5 successes
3,10,9,8,3, 7,3,4,10,3, 6,5,7,5,7, 8

West's gun turns into a poof of dust.

Kai, having the odd sensation that he had done this before, cast Psychic Sword on Niles:
03-30 17:17:47 Kai rolls 5 dice to psychic sword (used WP) 1 success
2,3,8,6,6

Though somehow, he feels the time he did it before may have been slightly more effective.

Shorthand attempts to bind West's actions with the strength of purpose and Fate, not wanting all his hard work to go to waste in the span of 20 seconds what took 10 years to set in motion:
03-30 17:20:44 Shorthand rolls 13 dice to Geas (used WP) 2 successes
6,8,7,3,5, 5,5,7,2,9, 7,4,7

You can almost see the tears in his eyes at his lackluster performance.

((I need a resolve + Gnosis roll from west))

(( 03-30 17:43:18 West rolls to Resist Geas 5 successes ))

(( :'( Ankh is up))

03-30 20:23:38 Niles rolls 12 dice to Resist (Used WP) 3 successes
4,1,4,3,8, 8,2,5,6,8, 7,1

(which attribute?)