Oh yeah, forgot about BGC.
But why the 17 in defence? Shouldn't it be 16? Not that it changes anything considering the rolls, but I'm curious.
Oh and while I do agree that in general one could argue the penalties don't count in normal astral combat, there's still the fact that in the current situation the Shedims are possessing people and your spirit is materialised. None of them then are free of their movements, it's basically the same thing as normal combat except for the skill and stats used. Consequently, I'd say the malaise should be applied here.