[Mercy Merchant]

Your guard looks at you for a few moments then shakes her head.  "No, I need nothing more that what I came with.  You will need to talk and share sometime if you want to be true partners and not simply the top tier of a relationship.  I do not know what you need of me to earn your trust."  She walks off into the shadows, presumably to take up her position to support your plan, but is she really supporting you or following some private agenda?  Is Sian?  Or Li Shang?  Can you really trust anyone but yourself?  Doing that once before got you into this mess, so is it the right of some jumped up gun for hire to even talk of trust?

[VegasRigged]

I should have been nicer, but I feel profoundly unsafe in this place, even with all my plans I fear the mana is effecting me. I will set things streight later when theirs no chance of being overheard by Sian. It is not advantageous for her to know what Sylvia can do and having her act as Ping would surely betray her abilities. Also conveying deep feelings for my bodyguard could convince Sian that other things are at play. Again assuming she's listening, since the last time I assumed to be unobserved I made a grave error, the opposite seems wise for now.

For now I need to meditate and focus. My preparations are complete, so I'll spend the next few hours examining this lay line. I should in that time be able to determine hot spots along its flow that contribute to its corruption, and perhaps even find other streams and rivers of energy.

I tell my air spirit to inform me if anyone gets near my body while I'm away.

[Mercy Merchant]

Your journey in the astral is informative as you follow the ley line that runs under the building your body is in.  It is sick and twisted, ill with the taint of something you are not sure you can identify.  Certainly the miasma of humanity that resides in the area has had an effect, but you feel that there is something more.  Following the corruption up one length of the line brings you to an intersection with another line, one so corrupted as to be almost black.  The putrid river of power assails your sensibilities and your astral form feels sick, something you have not really felt before.  There is a certain bleed-off from the black stream to the ley line you are following from this intersection, and it appears that the one is poisoning the other.  You really do not wish to push along the horrible line, but it seems that you might have found part of why the astral here is so.........so very wrong.

You get little time to explore these thoughts as your spirit comes to you and says, "Cherie, the odd woman-man approaches."

When you return to the meat world, you see Sylvia stand a short distance from where you are kneeling.  She nods at you when your eyes open.  "Show time, partner.  Sing is walking up to the building now.  He is accompanied nine men, all armed."  She grins in the semi darkness.  "He should have brought more.  I will stand ready."  She fades back into the wing, disappearing as if part of the shadows there.

[VegasRigged]

I stand and look out over the floor. The stage at the other end of the room is clearly visible from my high up position in the both. I assense them as they enter and direct the two illusions too the stage.

My ghostly double speaks first "Good evening mr Sing, thank you for meeting with us, we apologize for the lateness of the hour and hope we have not put you out to much."

The illusions bow politely but not so politely as they maybe should have.

[Mercy Merchant]

A group of men enters the main lounge area and moves closer to the stage, stopping as they see your illusion.  One man pushes forward from within the group past four men armed with submachine guns of some type and steps a few feet in front of his men, implying that this is Sing.  The remaining four gunmen seem to be armed with pistols and are scanning the rear and sides of the room for any foes that might be hiding there.  Sing wastes no time with pleasantries.  "Ping, you bastard son of a jackal, what is the meaning of this and who is this cheap slot that has the nerve to address me?"

[VegasRigged]

Mr Ping answers "She is the new owner of Ping studios you arrogant prick, she has made me an offer I could not refuse, and will make you on as well if shut up and ask nicely."

From above I take note of each man below me, noting his location and how best to target and aoe spell to hit everyone.

[Mercy Merchant]

Sing spits on the floor of the lounge.  "Fuck you and all of your worthless ancestors, Ping."  Sing turns to the men behind him and motions to the stage.  "Kill them both.  I want to slot their corp........."

He does not get to finish his sentence as he gives a slight jerk and his head pops right off his shoulders in a spray of blood.  A shadow glides from the stage wing, an outstretched hand flinging a knife with deadly accuracy into the throat of one of the front gunmen.  A flurry of blows leaves two others crumpled on the floor, their necks at odd angles.  One of the gunmen swings around, trying to get his submachine gun to bear on the figure in their midst, only to have his gun arm fall from his shoulder to the ground.  He spins off to the side, screaming as he tries to stem the flow of blood.  Such has been the speed of the attack that Sing's body only now waivers and collapses and the remaining four gunmen are caught still trying to turn around.  The pistols of all four clatter to the floor as they wisely drop them and raise their hands.

Your bodyguard remains kneeling, poised like a spring to launch at the four, his face and clothing covered in the arterial spray from poor Sing.  "What is your command, master?  Do they live or die?"

Two of the men moan softly and go to their knees to beg for mercy.  The other two are either braver or too scared to react as everyone waits for your decision.  The screams from the dying guard are already fading as he completely fails to stop the flow of blood from his severed arm.

[VegasRigged]

Composure check passed.

My double speaks from the stage "Sybdue them but keep them alive. If they prove useful somehow we will consider recruiting them."

I'm infinitely glad that my double is n the stage below and not me, because I'm exceedingly pale at the sight of all that blood. Killing Ping was almost subtle by comparison, it's a miracle I'm able to still hold these spells.

The good new: Sing is dead, his security it terrified, Sylvia is, despite all the dead people, clearly exceedingly skilled, and once I read their minds I'll have enough information to begin my takeover of Sing's business.

I head down stairs and order the illusions off stage, letting my double just leave the guards line of sight before the real me steps out from behind them. That should give them nightmares for a while.

No sooner to I surprise them then I dig into the mind of the first man, now that Ins and the others are dead, who would seek to gain power?

[Mercy Merchant]

Sylvia nods and stands, moving to the first man, who pales, pisses himself, and faints before she gets close.  She passively pulls a set of restraints from a pocket and secures the man's hands behind his back then goes to the other three in turn.  You can delve into the minds of all three men but they are so terrified by what just happened that you get nothing but gibberish from any of them just now. 

[VegasRigged]

I drop the last with disappointment and turn to Sylvia "Useless. Scared out of their minds, and this hard to read. This means we will be going into Sings business without any information beyond what Sian can give us. Make no mistake, we need to confirm their conversation to our ownership at once; if we let them learn of Sings death anywhere else it will seem as if we are not in control the situation. And we must be in control."

Reading their minds has had one useful side effect: processing all those extreme emotions has left me burnt out for the time being, so much so that I find myself adopting my old ice queen persona be default.

"Sian! You still here?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Sian steps out of the shadows and moves forward.  The three men visibly pale when they see her and try to back away.  One drops to the floor and presses his forehead to the boards.  "Sian!  We did not know.  We did not realize that you favored Ping.  What are your desires?"

Sian looks at the man on the floor.  "I do not favor Ping.  I favor this woman.  She has already absorbed Ping and will now absorb SIng.  You will accept her and you will swear your loyalty to her and to her chosen lieutenant."  She looks up at you with a question on her face.  "If you do this I will ask this woman to spare your lives and give you something to do that will quiet your restless ancestors, who have grown weary of you serving a man like Sing.  Shall I plead your case to this powerful woman who has earned my trust?"

As one the three men cry out that they will swear complete allegiance to you and whoever your lieutenants are and beg Sian to talk to you about letting them live.  Sian nods in your direction.  "It is up to you, but I would plead for them in this case.  I think that their loyalty will be absolute.  You could make an example of one, if you like, but I do not think that is necessary."

Sian looks around at the bodies on the floor then gives Sylvia some special consideration.  "I have rarely been surprised, but you have done so this day.  Your abilities are considerably greater than expected and I see why your mistress has confidence in you."  She turns to you.  "I would recommend a quick movement on Sing's place of business.  I have sent a message to have some people remove the bodies from here.  What do you wish to do?"

[VegasRigged]

"Let us make haste to Mr Sings place of business and conclude this transfer of power. Have Li Sheng meet us there."

I look at the men, three terrified and one out cold in a puddle "These three come with us, their current state will send a strong message. Leave the other, his employment has ended. I have me need for such cowardice."

I walk to the door, then remember something from an old trid my dorm mate showed me, pause and turn "Bring the head."

[Mercy Merchant]

As you turn, you see Sian kneeling over the body of the unconscious man, her massive Hell Hounds at her side, having padded noiselessly from the shadows.  She has a hand outstretched to the man and it looks like some sort of fog is moving from the man to her hand.  From this angle, you can see one of her eyes and it is glowing a bright green, as are the eyes of her hounds, although you are certain those were red just a moment ago.  There is a gurgle of noise from one of the three men with you and they back as quickly as possible towards the door before Sylvia grabs one.  She loosens his restraints and pushes him to the side.  "You heard your mistress.  She wants Sing's head.  Bring it to her."

The man almost screams, but thinks better of it given the observed penalty for cowardice.  He does swing wide around Sian, though, as he almost runs to where Sing's head has fallen.  Picking it up by the hair, he holds it away from his body and returns to you, holding it out.  Sylvia looks at you, pointedly ignoring Sian.  "Do you wish to carry it, mistress, or do you wish your soldier to carry it?"

[VegasRigged]

I take the head almost without noticing, my attention thoroughly absorbed by whats being done to the body on the floor. I switch to astral and observe in detail, then ask one of my new minions if he knows what happening.

[Mercy Merchant]

By the time you think to look on the astral, most of the essence transfer is complete.  Whatever he was is now part of her, or rather, her and her hounds.  All are glowing brighter than before and then the fog is gone and the glow settles down.  The hounds' eyes take on their normal red glow and Sian's go back to normal.  As she stands, she runs the forefinger of her right hand across her lips and sucks at it and for the briefest moment, you think you see something red on her finger.  Without offering an explanation, Sian walks past you towards the building entrance.  "I will lead you to Sing's place of business.  It is larger than Li Shang's current location, but you have already dealt with most of the muscle he had on duty.  There will be some others there, but I do not think that they will pose any sort of problem."

As she walks by, the late Sing's gunmen stay well clear of her and the Hell hounds.  Sylvia nudges one and reminds him of the price of not responding to his new mistress and the man practically jumps from his skin.  "Sian is a demon from the lowest pits of the nine hells, Mistress.  She was summoned by some incompetent mage centuries ago and devoured him rather than do his bidding.  She has stalked the world since and is now here.  Death and misery are the lot of those who cross her, but she usually stays out of mortal affairs."  Sylvia listens to this then raises an eyebrow to you.