Chins Up, Pure Heart

Sent to kill Wen Da (Samaritan dragon, ex-Enclave agent) and to allow/aid cultists to do a ritual at the shrine in the temple.

Sir William Robert Fairfax III, a Charlatan, Henrik Davgelson, a Demolitionist, and Corusca, an Ember, port-in to a somewhat dim tunnel with no light sources of its own, though from one entrance daylight pours in, and they can see grass outside, while through the other entrance, rainbow-hued light illuminates an expanse of white sand. Closer at hand are thirteen men in crimson robes, who identify themselves as disenfranchised former nobility seeking to reclaim their lands and having formed a cabal in search of eldritch powers as a means to that end.

The squad question them about their history and learn that they had previously hired the Samaritan Dragon, Wan Ya, to aid their forces in crushing a peasant revolt. Instead of simply smiting their foes, though, she took the time to hear them out and ultimately choose to defect instead, abandoning her mission and her career with the Enclave to ensure the nobles’ downfall. It takes literally minutes of talking to these reprehensible excuses for human beings before the squad are considering much the same, with Corusca in particular being barely able to restrain her fury.

That said, none of them take failing a mission lightly, particularly not failing one on purpose, so they opt to speak with the dragon before casting judgement on their clients, just in case her side are every bit as vile and they can justify slaying her. The Agents proceed into the sandy area, which is revealed to be an amphitheatre with a cathedral-like ceiling consisting largely of stained glass; the source of the rainbow light. At the centre of the vast temple sits a comparatively small shrine, though the Agents’ eyes are drawn not to it but to the enormous, serpentine dragon hovering overhead, delivering some manner of sermon to the hundreds of people filling the pews that encircle the sandy expanse.

Stepping out of the tunnel, Corusa conjures a large, fiery replica of her Enclave Badge, which immediately catches Wan Ya’s eye. While she speaks with the dragon, Sir William distributes pamphlets amongst the congregation with the aid of a doorman who had seen one such advertisement prior to the Agents’ arrival here. Unfortunately, despite the eagerness of his accomplice, the populace seem quite devout, and not many are eager to leave the temple during a service.

Henrik joins the other two in speaking with Wan Ya, and Sir William employs his medical prowess to convince Wan Ya that she has only a few centuries of life remaining. While disheartened to “learn” this, it only strengthens her resolve to protect the people of this land as best she can in the time she has left. Although they discuss feigning her death and destroying her shrine, ultimately the group decides to slay their clients instead. Wan Ya praises them for their nobility and concern for the wishes of the people, and none of them try to resist the subtle compulsion she places upon them to live up to those virtues… including by not damaging the temple which the people require for their sermons.

The three Agents then return to the tunnel to confront the cabalists, with Corusca summoning a literal firewall to cut off the entrance to the temple, to prevent their erstwhile employers from trying to rush past them and cause trouble inside. Sir William then summons a train consisting of hi-tech subway carriages pulled by a steam locomotive. It drives right through the cabalists, and though most are able to dive aside in time, a couple of men are run down. The leader of the group storms over to them, demanding to know what they think they’re doing.

As he’s approaching, though, Henrik comments that the cabalists should be more careful, as the train could be carrying unstable substances, and no sooner has he spoken those words than a carriage detonates, peppering their clients with shrapnel which slays a few more of them. Not willing to let the guys steal all the kills, Corusca unleashes a wave of flame that’s been building along with her anger at these men ever since meeting them. The wave sweeps along the left side of the wide tunnel, its heat so intense that it cracks the solid stone floor. It also incinerates every man it sweeps over, leaving only charred bone and ashes in its wake.

After that display, Henrik has little difficulty intimidating the surviving cabalists into leaving, with the help of Sir William, who provides them all with tea which essentially acts as a sedative, replacing their anger and anxiety with a sort of numb depression. As their now-thoroughly-miserable clients slouch off down the tunnel, Henrik then shoots them in the back. With a bazooka.

One cabalist survives, the explosion “merely” costing him a leg. Sir William hurries to escort him out, taking him to a nearby spring which produces an endless supply of holy water, and convincing his fellow Agents to let the man soak there until he’s fit enough to leave, just to make sure that the message gets back to the rest of the cabal that the Enclave has betrayed it twice now and they should really stop trying to hire it to help them in their eternal quest to oppress the masses.

With that done, the Agents tap their badges to request a pingout… and wait.

Soon realising that HQ probably isn’t going to ping them out quickly, given their deliberate failure of their mission’s goal (and their murder of the clients) the trio return to speak to Wan Ya, assuring her that all is well and that her would-be slayers have been taken care of. In the end, they sit through her entire hour-long sermon before someone at HQ finally bothers to approve their pingout request, and the Agents are allowed to depart, their mission failed.

No characters assigned to this mission.