# Dark*Matter, Discovery: Pushing for Impeachment



## Falkus (Jun 2, 2008)

Sometime in February
Eight AM, the Hoffmann Institute offices

A month had gone by since the Russian mission. According to reports, Carol was recovering nicely, and no longer given to prophetic visions, putting her firmly in the realm of normalcy. Meanwhile, you had your assignments, investigating odd events, covering up the paranormal, reassuring the population. Maintaining the status quo. You were all promoted to Security Clearance level 5, and given even greater access to the Institute’s files.

The call came in early in the day in the form of a text message on your pagers and cell phones. Emergency situation, get in immediately. You’d never got that one before, something big must be happening.

You arrived at about the same time, around seven AM, and entered the office together. An alarm light was flashing on the ceiling, bathing the front office in a dim, red glow. Oddly, the receptionist and security that’s usually present are nowhere to be seen.


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## Friadoc (Jun 3, 2008)

"Now this can't be good,"  says Cade as he looks around the red-light bathed front office. "Keep your eyes peeled, folks."

As he makes his way toward the front desk, Cade unholsters his sidearm before moving to check the computer at the receptionists desk. He'll log into the network and check for the most recent logs and alerts, including visitors or deliveries.


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## Falkus (Jun 3, 2008)

As Cade moved behind the desk, he uncovered a grisly sight. Forge, the usual secretary, was lying dead under the desk, with the corpses of two Institute security officers tucked in there with her. Each had been killed by a knife to the forehead, buried in up to their hilts.

The network seemed to be down. The only thing that the screen displayed was 'He Comes'.


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## Friadoc (Jun 3, 2008)

Cade's pause is brief, but the look on his face is strong, a mix of anger and grief.

"Frak," says Cade as he looks up to Team Libra. "We've three casualties, folks, it looks like a nasty break of some kind."

Moving out of the way, so as to make room for Nick or one of the others, Cade takes out his PDA and gets it up and running. Once it is up, he'll do a motion sweep of the area and then check to see if he can reach outside access to OSIRS via the PDA.

"We're gonna have to do this by the numbers," says Cade. "Group movements, either together or in two and three person teams, stay in touch and clear the building, floor by floor."


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## iwatt (Jun 3, 2008)

His head still hurt! Ever since the fight with the ephemeral he hadn't been able to shake the ache behind his eyes. The medics all said there was nothing wrong with him, that it probably was just stress. Right, cause surviving and saving the day was so stressful. He had a nagging suspicion that it was the watch, that it was calling him to push himself harder, but he ignored it. He hated training. He'd made it so far by been a slacker, he wasn't about to change a winning formula now.

He shook his head, trying to clear it as he stepped into the office. Of course Joker would be there before everybody, but the joke on his lips died off as he registered the gunman's expression. "Ah crap!" He drew the desert eagle from it's holster, the reassuring weight a balm on his nerves. "Two teams boss. You take Diego, and I'll stick right behind Meredith and the Doc." An idea struck him, and he moved to the corpses, drawing one of the knives out. Focusing inward, he tried to learn who the owner of the knife had been. "Give a minute to do my thing. Any intel is worth it. Can you get the systems up, Joker?"

[sblock] From the description, it would seem the knives are still lodged in their skulls. If not, I'll do the Object Reading on the computer instead.[/sblock]


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## kinem (Jun 3, 2008)

For once Diego is right on time with the others.  _Ah, this is sure to be a good day!_ he thought.

Then he was shocked to see the carnage.

"Damn it!" Diego whispers, drawing his Glock.  

Staying close to Cade he asks "See anything on that scanner?"


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## Falkus (Jun 3, 2008)

Larry touched the knife, and tried to read it. He saw a humanoid figure suddenly appear before him, driving a knife into his arms, his chest, his throat while a high pitched, unearthly scream! When he blinked, it was gone.

Cade  got the motion sensor up and running, but it didn't seem to be displaying properly. It showed the Institute just fine, but the team wasn't on it. Instead, it showed a single dot entering the front door. Two other dots, presumably representing the security personnel, moved towards it. And then they stopped moving. A minute later, the dot moved into access corridor one. A dozen dots from the interior of the building were already moving towards it in response to the intrusion. They reached the hall. And then they stopped moving.

The display on the PDA then vanished, only displaying the words 'He Is Here'. Not even turning it off could get them to go away.


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## Shayuri (Jun 4, 2008)

Meredith draws her sword and gets her shield in position.

"What does that mean, 'he is here?'" she demands. "And how could anyone, or even anything, do this? Hoffman is one of the best defended places on Earth!"


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## industrygothica (Jun 9, 2008)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> Meredith draws her sword and gets her shield in position.
> 
> "What does that mean, 'he is here?'" she demands. "And how could anyone, or even anything, do this? Hoffman is one of the best defended places on Earth!"




"Not anymore," Nick says bleakly.


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## Falkus (Jun 14, 2008)

As the team waited, they suddenly heard a series of gunshots from down access corridor one, in the direction of the briefing room, followed almost immediately by a loud scream.


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## Friadoc (Jun 14, 2008)

"Frak it," says Cade as gun reports echo down the corridor, followed by the scream, and he turns toward it, turning his PDA off and putting it away. 

As he moves forward to the opening to the corridor Cade says, "Larry, Meri, Doc...right side of the hall."

"Diego, with me on the left. Overlapping cover folks," says Cade as he leads the way down the hall. "Whatever this is, it's quick and deadly, so no hesitation, okay?"

OOC

Take 10 on an Intelligence check DC 10, which with Int Bonus and Smart Levels gives me a 17, thus everyone gets a +2 circumstance bonus for Cade's tactics plan.

It is applied to skill and attack checks for the next three rounds, for the whole team.


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## iwatt (Jun 16, 2008)

Larry responded at an intuitive level, taking his position behind Meri as they advanced down the hall.


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## Shayuri (Jun 16, 2008)

Meredith nods and takes the lead of her side of the hall, advancing roughly abreast with Cade. She looks a little goofy in her ordinary clothes holding a sword in one hand and a big metal shield in the other, but her face is deadly serious and her movements show no sign of hesitation.


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## kinem (Jun 18, 2008)

Diego quickly takes his position heading down the hall on the left side.  _Cade usually seems to have good judgement in situations like this._

[sblock=ooc]I will be OOT and offline Weds. 6/18 - Mon 6/23.  Diego has blessed rounds in his gun and expects to say his piece with his piece.[/sblock]


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## Falkus (Jun 22, 2008)

The hall is a charnel house. There's over a dozen dead bodies of elite security response operatives lying in pools of their own blood. Knives littered the hall and the corpses, far more knives than you'd expect any one person to be carrying.

As Team Libra advanced down the hall, the door from the briefing room opened up and Director Stanfield staggered out, clutching his bloody chest and holding a high caliber revolver in one hand. He collapsed onto the floor, his life leaking out.

A female scream cuts off with a gurgle inside the conference room, where the rest of the office's administrative staff, aside from Z, are lying dead in their chairs. Z was being lowered to the floor by a man at the head of the table. Her throat had just been cut.

He was a young man, with white hair and wearing a long coat, who would have otherwise been perfectly normal, if it weren't for the fact that flames were licking out of his sleeves and his eye sockets. He was holding a bloody knife in one hand. There were tatoos all over his face, of various arcane symbols. They faded almost as soon as you saw them.

"Through the blood of the ancients, the death of guardians and the sacrifice of the fey, the shackles are broken and I am free!" he intoned in a surprisingly pleasant tone of voice as he dropped Z to the floor. "This world is now mine to do with as I! See! Fit!"

He glanced at team Libra. "Meddling insects come to interrupt me."

The being waves his hand at you, and there's a brief sensation of fire, and then...

*****​
"Hey, wake up! What's wrong with you guys? Forge said, snapping her fingers in Cade's face. "You've been standing there for five minutes, just staring off into space. Stanfield and the others are waiting for you in the briefing room. You want me to call medical?"

You're standing in the reception area of the Hoffmann institute. Everything looks normal. The lights are normal, the computer's normal, the security guards are normal and there's no dead bodies lying around.

A voice whispers in your ears. "That was the future as it could be."


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## industrygothica (Jun 22, 2008)

"Interesting," Nick says as he looks around at everyone.  "Might ought to tell Stanfield about this one, eh?"


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## Friadoc (Jun 23, 2008)

"Z!!!" Cade shouts with surprising anger, however it is all brought to a sudden halt by the snapping of reality from one to the current.

After a slow breath, Cade looks around at Team Libra before he nods at Nick's words, as well as the warning fresh in his ears.

"Keep what you can remember fresh in your mind,"  says Cade, a plan already forming within. "I've a feeling that we're only getting one shot at avoiding that fate."

Looking at Forge and before going to the conference room, Cade says, "No, we gotta talk to the Boss, now."


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## Shayuri (Jun 23, 2008)

"You all saw that too?" Meredith asks, looking around and putting a hand on the wall as if to verify that it was real.

"Who...who was that?"


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## iwatt (Jun 23, 2008)

"Which button do I press to go to DEFCON 1, Joker. Whoever that dude was, he was one bad mother."


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## kinem (Jun 26, 2008)

"Maybe it's what's-his-face" Diego says. "The guy whose crazy cultists tried to sacrifice Z that other time."


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## Falkus (Jun 27, 2008)

Forge buzzed the team into the office, and you quickly made your way to the conferance room. The entire management team was already there; Stanfield, Leo, Harland, Ryker and Z.

"Good to see you," Stanfield said. "Something urgent has come up that we need to get one right aw- is something wrong?"


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## Friadoc (Jun 27, 2008)

"Sir," says Cade to Stanfield, "I don't really know how to explain this, but we either just had a group hallucination or saw a glimpse of a possible future."

With that precursor, Cade gives a quick explaination of what they had just seen, obviously expecting the members of Team Libra to fill in any missing pieces.

"When we arrived here," says Cade. "We initially found the site in a lockdown condition, with personnel dead on-site..." Cade's description is straight forward, dry but informative.


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## iwatt (Jun 30, 2008)

Larry aids Cade using Autohypnosis to tray and remember details that might have been missed.

[sblock] take 10 on Autohypnosis for a 15 [/sblock]


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## Falkus (Jun 30, 2008)

"This is disturbing," Stanfield said after Cae and Larry related the vision. Z looked shaken. "I wonder if it's related to that Oracle business the other month, no, too dissimilar."

"Might be time for my sabbatical," Leo commented.

"Was there any indication when this was taking place?" Harland inquired.

"It could be related to those fiend summoners," Ryker added. "It fits their style, but the Secret Masters of Thoth are gone, the FBI took down the last cell last week thanks to the information we provided."


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## Shayuri (Jun 30, 2008)

"No, this is worse, I think," Meredith says quickly. "This thing...it was a man, sort of. Maybe possessed. He listed three things that had to happen. Blood of the ancients, death of the guardians, and sacrifice of the fey."

She looks around at the others.

"Which is all completely vague, of course. There's a HUGE number of ancient civilizations...any of which could have descendants or 'blood' right now. Guardians is only useful if we know what they're guarding. Fey..." Meri shakes her head at that. "I don't even know where to start with that one."


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## industrygothica (Jul 1, 2008)

Shayuri said:


> "No, this is worse, I think," Meredith says quickly. "This thing...it was a man, sort of. Maybe possessed. He listed three things that had to happen. Blood of the ancients, death of the guardians, and sacrifice of the fey."
> 
> She looks around at the others.
> 
> "Which is all completely vague, of course. There's a HUGE number of ancient civilizations...any of which could have descendants or 'blood' right now. Guardians is only useful if we know what they're guarding. Fey..." Meri shakes her head at that. "I don't even know where to start with that one."




"Z," Nick states flatly.  "As for the guardians..." he looks at the others in turn, his face flush, a bit of sweat forming in his mustache, "I think that's us."


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## Friadoc (Jul 1, 2008)

"Yeap," says Cade with a nod toward Nick. "But, we now know more than we knew in whatever we saw...we just need to figure it out and prepare."

With a look toward Team Libra, then at the others in the room, Cade says, "We do what we do best; put the slap down on cultist idiots and their misbegotten devotion to some old power @sshat."

"Ain't no one, no how, touching a hair on Z's, or anyone elses' head," finishes Cade with a resolute nod. "So, anyone know anything about quick lil' creeps with a hard-on for knives?"


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## Shayuri (Jul 1, 2008)

"I don't think he was talking about us, or Z," Meri demurs. She goes to the table and sits down.

"He was talking about stuff that had already happened. Things that had to happen -before- he came. Fey had to be sacrificed and guardians had to die and...blood of ancients was used in some way."

She looks at Stanfield. "Does that sound familiar? Some kind of ritual or something?"


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## Falkus (Jul 1, 2008)

"I know I can count on you," Z said to Cade, flashing him a smile. She was recovering quickly from the shock.

"It could be one of many rituals," Harland stated. "I'll check the books after the briefing, see what I can dig up."

"I might have an idea on whothe ancients are, but I'll have to talk to some people upstairs first," Stanfield said, tapping the table with his pen..

"Now, I agree that this vision is a top priority, and should be dealt with accordingly, we do have something else that needs to be dealt with, right now. It may even be related, but only tangentially. If you'll be seated, we'll begin the briefing. We've picked up something related to Cliff Kenzington," continued Stanfield.


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## iwatt (Jul 1, 2008)

"Unfinished business.... I have a few things I'd like to say to that bombing bastard." The con man's eyes light up at the idea of going after Kensington.


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## industrygothica (Jul 2, 2008)

Falkus said:


> "Now, I agree that this vision is a top priority, and should be dealt with accordingly, we do have something else that needs to be dealt with, right now. It may even be related, but only tangentially. If you'll be seated, we'll begin the briefing. We've picked up something related to Cliff Kenzington," continued Stanfield.




The color rushes back into Nick's face as his eyes snap towards the director.  Whatever else was on his mind is gone now, replaced by hsi deadly mixture of love and hate for Cliff Kenzington.


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## Friadoc (Jul 2, 2008)

Falkus said:


> "I know I can count on you," Z said to Cade, flashing him a smile. She was recovering quickly from the shock.




Cade returns the smile, adding a sly wink of his left eye as he adds, "Anytime, Z, you know that."



Falkus said:


> "It could be one of many rituals," Harland stated. "I'll check the books after the briefing, see what I can dig up."
> 
> "I might have an idea on whothe ancients are, but I'll have to talk to some people upstairs first," Stanfield said, tapping the table with his pen..
> 
> "Now, I agree that this vision is a top priority, and should be dealt with accordingly, we do have something else that needs to be dealt with, right now. It may even be related, but only tangentially. If you'll be seated, we'll begin the briefing. We've picked up something related to Cliff Kenzington," continued Stanfield.




"Nice," says Cade simply enough as he moves to take a seat.

Also, true to his word, Cade says, "The Professor should have point on this one, boss. He's got the inside track."


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## Falkus (Jul 3, 2008)

OOC: Don't forget to level up your characters.

Once the team was seated, Stanfield turned on the display.

"Over the last week, there have been a series of deaths here in the United States. Four women, of different social classes, in different cities, were killed in their apartments. Debra Chandler in New York, Ruth Surber in LA, Genny Oneal in Vegas and Marguerite Mead in Dallas. Generally not our concern, but OSIRS monitoring programs, after the fourth murder, pinged us on a common thread."

"All four women were former mistresses of Robert H. Haight," Robert H. Haight, multi-billionaire and self made man, big in the steel and construction industries. "This was information only we had access too, for reasons that we do not need to go into right now. Due to the fact that each murder took place thirty hours after the previous one, we suspected a ritualistic component. The deaths themselves are odd too, two of the women slit their wrists, but no knives or any other sharp objects were found near them, while the other two were beheaded. In all cases, their rooms were locked, in one case barricaded from the inside, and local security measures gave no indiciations that anybody else had entered and even been near the premises at the time of death."

"We immediately assigned an agent to observe Haight, while putting analysts to work on figuring out his motivation. We've hit paydirt with both."

"We believe that Haight is attempting to perform the Rite of the Lesser Ascension," Harland said, leaning forward, and handing an old scroll to Nick. "It involves arranging the deaths of five former intimates, thirty hours apart, and then performing some miscellaneous rituals. Chanting, and whatnot. It gives the caster enhancer strength, speed and intellect."

"And as for the observation," Stanfield turned on the viewscreen. It showed a video of an office being filmed from a position in an apartment across the street. The time stamp and location indicated it was somewhere in Minneapolis about twenty hours ago. Haight was visible in the office, talking and shaking hands with Cliff Kenzington. He looked exactly the same as when Nick had seen him last. Unfortunately, there was no audio. After about a minute, both men left the office. The camera then swiveled around, showing a large, ugly, scarred man entering the apartment that the Hoffmann observer was located in. He was carrying a suppressed pistol, and pulled the trigger, then the camera feed cut out.

"We found our observer in the river two hours later," Stanfield said, shaking his head sadly. "Nasty business. The man is Randy Braggs, Haight's chief of security, and a former mercenary from the golden triangle. Nasty customer, and we believe him to have demonic contact before, and to be involved with the Final Church. He and Haight have dropped off the radar, along with Cliff Kenzington. We have no idea where they are right now."

"Your assignment is to proceed to the residence of Haight's last surviving mistress here in Chicago, protect her and discover the means by which he's committing these murders. This woman, unlike the others, has actually done fairly well for herself since she left Haight. She's Senator Naomi Cook. As I'm sure your aware, she's incredibly popular with the voters, and has a good chance of being nominated for the presidency in the 2012 elections. We've had a bit of luck, and her house in the suburbs has been suffering some electrical problems over the last day. We intercepted the call to the electricians an hour ago, and we've arranged for you to take the place of the regular electricians. Z will accompany you to provide the necessary technical information over your radios to maintain your cover while you perform the investigation."

"Oh, and she's also under Secret Service protection, with four agents in and around her home, so tread lightly, and don't carry any firearms or swords on you. There'll be a secret compartment in the van where you can store them," added Ryker. "Please try to bring this one back in one piece."


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## kinem (Jul 3, 2008)

ooc: Is Haight's face visible in the video?  If so, Diego will ask "Any chance that a lip reader could make something of that video?"


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## Falkus (Jul 3, 2008)

Neither Cliff nor Haight is directly facing the office window in the film, making lip reading impossible.


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## industrygothica (Jul 3, 2008)

"Rite of the Lesser Ascension," Nick repeats as he takes the scroll.  "And this?"


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## Falkus (Jul 3, 2008)

"A copy we had on file," Harland said. "There seems to be no necessary requirement in how the killings are done, just that they're done at the right times."


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## Shayuri (Jul 3, 2008)

"Does he have to do it himself?" Meredith asks. "Or can it be done by people he orders? And what's the zero hour?"


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## Falkus (Jul 3, 2008)

Harland shook his head. "They just have to be killed. Who does it and how doesn't matter. For the time frame, it's going to happen sometime within the next two hours. There's a bit of wiggle room."


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## iwatt (Jul 3, 2008)

"Great, now we get to save a politician." Larry shakes his head, at the idea. "So what we going to do about the SS detail? You know they'll only get in our way once Haight shows up. Between us we should be able to take them down non-lethally."


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## industrygothica (Jul 3, 2008)

iwatt said:


> "Great, now we get to save a politician." Larry shakes his head, at the idea. "So what we going to do about the SS detail? You know they'll only get in our way once Haight shows up. Between us we should be able to take them down non-lethally."




"We'll need to make sure they haven't been compromised... or possessed, or whatever you want to call it now.  That'd be the easiest way to get to her, by using her own men."


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## Friadoc (Jul 3, 2008)

"If all he has to do is kill her," adds Cade. "Then we'd best make sure the building is swept for explosives and that we check their anti-sniper protocols, too."

"I've worked with the fed before," says Cade. "They generally have some solid security tech and methods in place, but nothing is cool proof."


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## industrygothica (Jul 3, 2008)

Nick looks at the director.  "I'll need some things, especially if we can't take any weapons.  I'll assume the institute has those resources?  Both paper and electronic copies uploaded to the PDA would be nice."


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## Falkus (Jul 3, 2008)

"There's going to be a secret compartment in the van for you to stash your weapons. You should also be able to get in a pistol with that holster you acquired last month," Stanfield said. "Any resources you need, of course, will be provided."

"I would greatly appreciate it if you don't injure or attack any federal agents in the course of this mission. It may be necessary, but please try to avoid it. The US Government can make trouble for the institute as a whole if they start a deep investigation into an agent."

"The deaths themselves so far seem to have a mystical component. We can't rule out anything of course," Harland said. "But I suggest focus on spells and the like as the likely MO of the killer."


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## Shayuri (Jul 4, 2008)

"Slit wrists," Meri muses. "Beheadings. Like a guy with knives."

She looks at Stanfield. "Do we have a picture of this guy? Or a description?"


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## Falkus (Jul 4, 2008)

Stanfield calls up a clearer photo of Haight than the one in the surveillance film. He's a middle aged man, with black hair and green eyes. He's wearing an expensive suit, and has a nasty scowl on his face. He was a fairly popular figure in the media, a well known philanthropist who steered clear of politics.


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## Shayuri (Jul 5, 2008)

Meri nods, a little deflated. "The guy in our...vision, or whatever it was...he had white hair, and a long coat. Fire was coming out of his sleeves and eyes. Didn't really look like Haight. Oh well, just a thought. I figured maybe the man in the vision was Haight would become if this ascension ritual worked."

"Nevermind then. False alarm."

(OOC - Shucks, I thought this would be my first Shadow Slayer level, but I had to take another Dedicated to get the BAB +3 required.   Next time!)


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## Falkus (Jul 5, 2008)

OOC: Remember, I ruled that the template MEri took would let you qualify at this level.


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## Shayuri (Jul 6, 2008)

(eee...sorry about that, I forgot! Finding the old pages is kind of a pain too, since the link page is on the RG which has fallen off the boards...I shall post fixed sheet asap)


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## industrygothica (Jul 6, 2008)

Shayuri said:


> (eee...sorry about that, I forgot! Finding the old pages is kind of a pain too, since the link page is on the RG which has fallen off the boards...I shall post fixed sheet asap)




[sblock]put a /forum in front of the thread path and the link should work just fine. eg. www.enworld.org/FORUM/threadpath[/sblock]


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## iwatt (Jul 7, 2008)

Falkus said:


> "I would greatly appreciate it if you don't injure or attack any federal agents in the course of this mission. It may be necessary, but please try to avoid it. The US Government can make trouble for the institute as a whole if they start a deep investigation into an agent."




"Great. So we can't even knock them out? Instead of conning rubes, now I got bluff trained security personnel. We'll talk about a raise after this, Boss."


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## Falkus (Jul 14, 2008)

OOC: Sorry about the delay. I just got back from my vacation, and I've been really busy, especially with getting a fourth edition game I'm DMing at the local club set up. I should have a post up to move the plot forward to the next scene in a day or two.


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## Shayuri (Jul 15, 2008)

(OOC - No worries. It's taken me awhile to finish up Meri...I'll post her up tonight when I get a chance.)


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## Falkus (Jul 16, 2008)

"Good luck, agents," Stanfield said, standing up. "I know you'll do us proud."

After the briefing, Team Libra made their way to garage, accompanied by Z, where Ryker handed over the keys to the van. Inside was numerous computer and radio systems in the back, that Z quickly seated herself at. There were electrical toolkits present and overalls with 'A to Z Electronics' emblazoned on them. A hidden compartment in the floor would serve to hide the weapons, and a set of blueprints of the senator's house were present. Everything that was needed for the team to disguise themselves and conduct a successful investigation was present.

Z also handed out earpiece radios, so she could stay in communication with the team while they were in the house, and talk them through any technical issues in case the secret service inquired.

(Map notes: Bed #2 is a computer room, and Bed #3 is a security room.)

A blizzard was picking up as Team Libra and Z left the Institute. The weather conditions worsened as they drove through Chicago. By the time they reached the suburbs, the roads were becoming practically impassable, and they almost got stuck in a snowdrift once or twice. But eventually, the van pulled into the fifty foot long driveway leading up to Senator Cook's residence.


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## iwatt (Jul 17, 2008)

"I guess the service is running it's own perimeter sweep. You want to run one ourselves?"


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## Friadoc (Jul 20, 2008)

"We'll do our best, boss," says Cade to Stanfield, before Team Libra is on the way.

While the van is being loaded, Cade makes sure to secure his sidearm on his person, via the magical holster, however he does include his rifle, with plenty of ammo, in the covert hold in the van.

During the ride over, Cade checks some of the equipment with 'Z', including synching up his PDA with her systems, as he plans on bringing it in with him. However, after a few moments, Cade sits near 'Z', speaking quietly to her.

"How you holdin' up, 'Z'?" Cade asks while getting his PDA tuned into the van's systems. Once Cade is sure 'Z' is okay, he'll finish his prep work on the ride over.

"It'd probably be the best bet, Larry," says Cade before he turns to Nick. "What do you think, Professor?"

OOC

Hey, folks, as I've said in other play by posts, I'm real sorry for my lack of replies this week, but things have just not been good this week. Sorry.


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## industrygothica (Jul 20, 2008)

"Do it," Nick says.


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## Falkus (Jul 20, 2008)

"I'm doing okay," Z said said quietly, smiling at Cade. "Stanfield and the others keep making me go to the therapist weekly, so I can get over the trauma," she rolled her eyes. "They just don't listen, I'm fine, I bounce back easily. And as for that prophecy, well, I know that you'll stop it from happening. You saved my life before, I'm sure you can do it again."

"Say, I've never told you why I left the Faerie Court and how I came to work for the Institute, right?" she said, as she continued to type, accessing the internal Secret Service database.


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## Shayuri (Jul 20, 2008)

Meredith shrugs into a long coat that was modified with a hidden compartment that could hold her sword in relatively easy reach without being too obnoxiously obvious...though no clever stitching would hide it if she were searched or even just patted down. She takes a 9mm in a shoulder holster too, with a couple of clips of normal and a couple of 'blessed.' Balancing a compact mirror on her knees, she starts awkwardly putting her hair back in a 'regulation-style' bun....but finally settles for a ponytail when the van proves too dark and the position too weird for her to do the bun right. Then it's just the classics. Earpiece. Dark glasses. She reaches out to trail her fingers over the surface of the shield they took from the Russian base, but there's no way to be subtle with that thing.

She's about to put the mirror away when she pauses and just looks in it at herself for a second. The vaguely librarian-looking girl from months ago is gone. Oh, she's still recognizable...but she's gotten leaner, lost weight, put on muscle...but the biggest change isn't physical, even if it shows on her face. Confidence has replaced confusion, but it's a grim sort of confidence. The inner knowledge that she was going to die doing this someday.

Just not today.

"So what's the plan?" Meri asks as she finishes her ponytail and snaps the compact shut.


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## Friadoc (Jul 20, 2008)

Falkus said:


> "I'm doing okay," Z said said quietly, smiling at Cade. "Stanfield and the others keep making me go to the therapist weekly, so I can get over the trauma," she rolled her eyes. "They just don't listen, I'm fine, I bounce back easily. And as for that prophecy, well, I know that you'll stop it from happening. You saved my life before, I'm sure you can do it again."
> 
> "Say, I've never told you why I left the Faerie Court and how I came to work for the Institute, right?" she said, as she continued to type, accessing the internal Secret Service database.




It goes unsaid, as Cade will do his part to make sure nothing happens to 'Z' and that the prophecy will fail.

"No, you haven't," says Cade with a smile. "I figured if you wanted to, when you wanted to, you'd say something."

While talking, as the Team draws near, Cade runs his own surveillance profile and check of the residence, drawing on his experience as a security professional.


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## Falkus (Jul 21, 2008)

"Well, you see," Z said, as she worked on the computer. "When a Faerie is born, he or she is linked to some element or natural force. Fire, water, nature, forests, etc. I was born just over twenty years ago. My element turned out to be electricity, and computers in specific, almost certainly linked to the computer revolution on Earth."

She shrugged. "There was friction between me and the others, especially since my birth position resulted in me being a very high ranking member of the Faerie Court. Especially Titania. I wanted to modernize the court, I saw no reason to hold onto the archaic principles that we'd been following for thousands of years, I wanted us to adapt and use the best that humanity had to offer, take a serious look at what you humans had made, instead of simply dismissing human technology and ideals out of hand. The Faerie Court is a very traditional place, proponents of change aren't welcome. Eventually, Titania banished me from the court and to Earth."

"I found myself in New York. It was a bad time for me, leaving hand to mouth, until I managed to get work as a freelance hacker. That lasted about a year. Eventually I cracked into OSIRS, got captured by Harland and wound up getting a job. And here I am today."

The residence appeared to be fairly secure, after examining the schematics that Z shot over to Cade's PDA. There were three cameras at each side of the house, as well as several inside, though not in the bedrooms. Motion detectors were on the lawn, but the weather would be making them inoperative. Alarm systems on every door and window. A safe room in the basement that could be accessed by a trap door from the study. Four Secret Service agents were patrolling the house and the grounds, assigned in light of the recent elevated terrorist threat level in Chicago. There were alert systems that, in the event of an emergency, would have half of CPD and a battalion of marines on the lawn within ten minutes. All in all, it would be very difficult for anything human to penetrate the security.

Cade did notice one flaw, however. If power went down in the security room, it could take over three minutes to restore full security functionality after the power was back up.


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## iwatt (Jul 21, 2008)

"So I'll play the drunk, walk around the place with the PDA. We got any sensors you want me to plant, Joker?" As he spoke, Larry began disheveling his hair. Taking out a small brown bag, he takes out the sandwhich and replaces it with a water bottle. Undoing his coat, he puts on a tie he'd "borrowed" from one of the institutes's desk jockeys. Soon enough, he has the appearance of a man returning from the office after hitting the bottle pretty heavily. He'd have to keep the bottle close to his face in case of cameras, but it shouldn't be too hard.


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## Falkus (Jul 30, 2008)

OOC: I still need Meri's updated character sheet

The weather outside is blizzard like by now. Visibility is extremely limited, and the temperature makes staying outside for long periods of time a dicey prospect. The roads are practically impassable by this point as well. Air travel is out of question. Any reinforcements, if needed, would be a long time in coming.


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## kinem (Jul 31, 2008)

"Wow, that's cool, Z" Diego observes.

When the van nears the residence Diego admits "Guys, I'm still not real clear on the plan.  We're supposed to be electricians, right?  How does that jibe with your drunk act, Larry?  Maybe we should just stick with our cover.

And how do we access our weapons when we need them, if they are hidden in the van?"


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## Shayuri (Jul 31, 2008)

(sorry about that...I fixed it with the slayer level, and I thought I'd uploaded it, but I guess I didn't!  )

Meri grabs a nonlethal stungun (assuming those are available) and slips it into her coat pocket as well.

"I think one of us should be designated gunrunner. If something starts to go wrong, the gunrunner is responsible for getting out here, getting gear, and running it back as fast as possible."

She thinks, then adds, "We could try to hide some stuff in a toolkit too, but I think that's probably pretty obvious. They'll be searching us pretty well."

With that thought she sadly unloads the weapons from her coat again.


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## iwatt (Jul 31, 2008)

Larry ahd finished donning his costume, but one look outside and Diego's comment said. "Scratch that. I ain't going out there like this." He quickly dons his electrician uniform once more, but keeps the flask. "For the human touch." He grins at Diego.

At Meri's comment, Larry shrugs and points at Diego, "He's the fastest. Joker has to stay cause he'll have his gun anyway. And I'll probably have to fast-talk them to keep them on their toes."

[sblock]I have a fairly decent Sleight of Hand. What are the odds of smuggling another gun or knife in, if I throw in some distraction using my Fast Talk ability?[/sblock]


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## kinem (Aug 6, 2008)

"All right, I'll be the gunrunner" Diego says.  "Though I should mention something.  I have developed the ability to manifest a kind of knife that I can wield with my hand using psychic energy.  It may come in handy if we can't get to the guns."


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## Falkus (Aug 9, 2008)

A secret service agent appeared out of the blizzard. Wearing a heavy coat over his standard issue suit and sunglasses, he rapped on the side of the van and waited for one of the team to approach. "You came out in this weather? I'm impressed. Now, let's get inside and do the security checks before we all freeze to death."


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## Friadoc (Aug 17, 2008)

"Ignorance does that," says Cade to 'Z' with a smirk. "It breeds fear of change, it's easier to attack what you don't get." Cade gives 'Z' a pat, then a squeeze, on the shoulder as he adds, "It's their loss, 'cause you're home now."

After a few moments of review, before the secret service folk show up, Cade says, "Whoever did their security setup was a bonehead, the control room is vulnerable to power loss and if it goes down, it'll take the whole place down with it."

"If they don't have a UPS, they're hosed," says Cade with a shake of his head. "Frickin' rookie mistake or sabotage."

"If the time comes, Diego, just keep your head down and get here in a hurry, okay?" Cade smiles though as he adds, "I'm sure you'll handle it, though."

Cade loads up and follows the crew out of the van, with a chuckle he adds,with respects to the weather,"The OT rocks."


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## Shayuri (Aug 17, 2008)

Meredith looks at everyone, hoping that if anything needed for the security is missing, they'll speak now.

She's all smiles when she goes out to meet the secret service agent though.

"Yeah, well, what's a little weather when a VIP needs some help, right?" Meri replies to the agent noncommitally. "Besides, I like storms. Real power of nature in your face. Kind of awesome."

She waves a hand over at the rest of the team. "Come on, guys, he's not gonna bite."


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## industrygothica (Aug 17, 2008)

Nick quietly exits the van and gives a friendly nod to the agents.


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## iwatt (Aug 18, 2008)

"When your boss tells you to haul ass and get things fixed for some damn VIP or you can keep the graveyard shift another quarter, there ain't many ways to say no."


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## Falkus (Aug 27, 2008)

"Good, let's get to this. Give Agent Johnson here your tool boxes," the agent said, indicating another agent. "He'll search them after he finishes running over your van with the bomb sniffer. In the meantime, I'm going to check each of you out with the metal detector. If you'll just step inside," he said, gesturing towards the front door.


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## Shayuri (Aug 28, 2008)

(oops...hee hee...I need to read my posts more carefully)

Meredith patted her pocket and made a face. "Crap...forgot something. One sec."

She went to the van and quickly stuffed the stungun she'd thought she might smuggle in back into a little container, then came back, shaking her head.

"One of those nights. Okay, I'm ready."

She follows the agent into the house.


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## iwatt (Aug 28, 2008)

"Women. I swear she keeps forgetting her gear everywhere, making us come back to a job after we're done. Still, she's better to look at than the fat slob we had before." Larry speaks up in a conspiratorial tone, putting a little leer in his voice. Hopefully he would cause the guard not to be suspicious of Blade.


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## Friadoc (Aug 28, 2008)

With a chuckle, at Larry's comment, Cade follows the others in, obviously submitting to whatever checks they require, however he is quite silent, as some of his clients in previous years were government contracts.

Basically, Cade is going for the silent techie approuch.


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## industrygothica (Aug 29, 2008)

Nick enters the house and gives the place a cursory glance, and submits quietly to the search with the metal detector.


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## kinem (Aug 29, 2008)

Diego quietly allows himself to be searched with the metal detector as well.  _Not so different from getting searched at the door at some dance clubs_ he observes to himself.  He looks around, just to get the lay of the land.


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## Falkus (Aug 31, 2008)

The metal detector and search cleared the agents, confirming to the secret service that they were carrying now weapons or bombs.

The foyer was a nice place, upper class, nice art, good carpeting, decent paint. The sort of thing you'd expect. The study to the right had its door closed, it appeared to be the senator's office. Aside from you and the agent, nobody else was in sight. Once or twice, while you were inside, the lights flickered.

"Okay, the generator's in the basement," the agent said. "The senator's in her office, and she is not to be disturbed under any circumstances. You need to go in there, you come talk to me first. Same deal for the security room."

"Williams, get out front," the agent then said into his earpiece radio. "Williams? Williams? Damn interferance. Johnson!" he shouted. "When you're done, go find Williams. The radios are down again."


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## Friadoc (Sep 2, 2008)

"You've been having comms issues?" Cade asks, after seeing the power flicker. The young man's curiosity is raised, thus the second question. "Power issues, too? Is there anything that is tied into the generator system, or should be, that we should be aware of?"


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## Shayuri (Sep 9, 2008)

"Might want to check the roof too," Meri muses. "The step down transformer and the line outside."

Of course, she thinks, it didn't hurt that the roof was a good place to keep a lookout too.


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## Falkus (Sep 10, 2008)

"Our security network is hooked up to the generator. No matter what happens, that system needs to stay up," the agent replied.


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## Friadoc (Sep 15, 2008)

"Gotcha, chief," says Cade as he turns toward the generators location, heading to check out the system and see what, if anything, he can do to improve it. However, Cade does try to catch the eyes of the others, after hearing that the radios are having issues and someone missed a check-in.

OOC

Cade is fairly handy with the electronic aspect of things and its tech - He is a gear headed security tech, after ll  - (+11 on craft electronic, +10 on craft mechanical, +10 on knowledge technology).


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## Falkus (Sep 18, 2008)

The generator's a nice model, fully fueled and ready to go. It's on an automatic circuit, if power cuts out for more than a minute, it automatically activates. After a bit of tinkering with his kit, Cade manages to reduce this to thirty seconds.

Cade does know that the there's nothing in the electrical system here that should interfere with radios, and that at this range, the weather would have virtually no effect any transmissions on a top quality secret service issue headset.


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## Friadoc (Sep 18, 2008)

OOC

Are the security folk generally close by, or do they just leave us be?


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## Falkus (Sep 18, 2008)

One's in the security room, one's always near the door to the senator's office, and the leader is currently heading out back, looking for Agent Williams.


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## Friadoc (Sep 18, 2008)

"None of this should be affecting their comms," says Cade to those of Team Libra who are nearby. "I've cut the delay in the generator switch over as much as possible, but if it goes down, the security is gonna be hosed for three minutes, or so."

"If they can't reach their man," adds Cade. "It might be going down, now."


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## Shayuri (Sep 23, 2008)

"Can we get our stuff?" Meredith asks quietly. "While the agent in charge is busy. We may need it soon. Also, can we try to...sense if there's something unnatural behind this somehow?" She looked over at the mage and psychic of the team.


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## iwatt (Sep 23, 2008)

"I can tell you right now something funky is going on. Now, what is causing the interference is something else. I can message you guys if the radios go down, but that's going to be slow. I'm going to run a mind scan now, see if there's anything psychy going on" The con man moves to a secluded alcove out of direct sight while he focuses on the psychic fields around them.

[sblock] Use Detect Psionics[/sblock]


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## Shayuri (Oct 4, 2008)

(Falkus, do I/we have any idea how hard it would be to make a gunrun to the van and back right now? How distracted do the agents seem?)


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## Friadoc (Oct 4, 2008)

OOC

Would Cade's knowledge of security, both via Know Tactics and Know Technology (both +10) give help with figuring out the best path, manner, and way to get the weapons, yet avoid guard issues?

Basically, give an overall help or bonus tous figuring it out.


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## Falkus (Oct 4, 2008)

Larry cannot detect any unusual psionic activity.

A gun run would be difficult, but not impossible. The Secret Service operative guarding the office would see you leave and enter. As long as the guns were kept concealed, it should be possible to sneak them by.


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## kinem (Oct 6, 2008)

Diego itches to make the gun run now, but he's not sure of his ability to keep the guns concealed.  "Larry, we may need something from the van."


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## iwatt (Oct 14, 2008)

"What you forgot the number 3 amp/volt meter again. I've told you to keep it in the kit and stop fiddling around with it on traffic. Let's go get it." The con-man moves down with Diego towards the van. Once they're inside, he begins hiding the weapons on himself and Diego.

[sblock] Sorry guys. For some reason ENWorld didn't notify me of the updates.

Sleight of Hand: +8, maybe Diego can give me an aid another bonus. Takign 10 that gives me a DC 20.

I'll also use dazzle on the guard, bringing up the latest Bears game and the hopes he has that this year they will actually win one. That's a DC 15 check with a +6 modifier (I'll use an AP if necessary), and the guy will take a -1 to his skill checks if he fails a DC 16 will save.

If that fails, I'll hit him with a lesser concussion and hopefully Diego can knock him out as well.[/sblock]


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## Falkus (Oct 15, 2008)

Larry's able to quickly and efficiently conceal the weapons on him and Diego. The pistols, at least.

"Something's not right here," Z comments to Larry and Diego while they were gearing up. "I keep getting minor electrical fluctuations. And I can sense some sort of disturbance, I'm not sure what," she suddenly winced as static briefly filled her computer monitors. "Damn, that was a big one."

Inside the house, it happened rather suddenly. One moment, Meredith was there. The next, she was gone, after glancing in a mirror hanging on the eastern wall. No flash of light, no puff of smoke. The Secret Service agent, distracted by Larry, didn't notice her disappear.

Meredith found herself still inside the living room of the senator's house, but with differences. The room was now ruined, old, decrepit, decaying. The furniture was smashed and rotten, and the room was unnaturally hot. Random letters, numbers and symbols were scrawled on the wall and ceiling in what appeared to be dried blood There was a faint, but disturbing and pervasive howling in the air.

Hellish would be a good word to describe it.

There was a trail of fresh blood on the ground, leading into what was the study and Senator's office in the real world.


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## industrygothica (Oct 15, 2008)

[sblock=ooc]I know I've been quiet... not much to do, really. Yet.  I just wanted to let you all know that I'm still lurking and keeping up.[/sblock]


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## iwatt (Oct 15, 2008)

"How exactly am I supposed to get a sword through?" He looked at Diego and shrugged. "We can drop it near the entrance. That way it won't be so far if need to pick it up in a hurry."


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## Shayuri (Oct 16, 2008)

For a moment all Meredith can do is stand still, frozen by the shock of the sudden transition. What the...what had happened? She hadn't DONE anything! The last thing she remembered before changing here was...her face in a mirror? 

Then she notices the blood and where it leads.

No weapon. No shield. Who know WHAT was behind this? The smart thing to do was try to get back. 

She'd been smart once.

Now though, she took a breath and followed the path of blood, trying to be quiet as she went.


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## Friadoc (Oct 16, 2008)

OOC

Does Cade notice Meri's gone, or is it in a spot he doesn't notice it?


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## Falkus (Oct 16, 2008)

Cade notices that Meredith is gone, in fact, he saw her vanish.

Meredith pushed open the door to what would be the senator's office in reality. It falls off the hinges and collapses.

The office is likewise ruined, wrecked chairs litter the floor, and the desk is on the verge of collapse. The only thing that's in good condition are the paintings on the wall, which consist of various representations of demonic figures.

Outside the office window, Meredith can see that the sky of this realm is burning red, and that the ground is barren rock, about fifty feet out, until it cuts off at a cliff.

The blood trail leads to the desk. Upon it lies the decapitated body of a Secret Service agent, service pistol in hand and blood staining his clothes a dark red.

"Now, what do we have here?" came a voice out of the air, echoing around Meredith.


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## Shayuri (Oct 18, 2008)

Meredith grimaces and takes the gun, first checking the chamber and clip to make sure it's loaded and that the safety's off. She also checks the agent's face to see if it's someone she recognizes from the "other" house.

"I'd say," she replies sarcastically aloud, "It's a disembodied voice in some weird parallel dimension. Do I get a prize?"

(Is this the room that the Senator should be inside in the real world?)


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## Falkus (Oct 18, 2008)

The pistol is a Glock 20. Identifying the unfortunate agent is difficult, as his head is missing. He didn't look like any of the other agents, but given the condition of his body, that didn't mean much. He looked like he'd been dead for over ten minutes, however, and she'd seen all three other agents during that timeframe.

The voice chuckled. There was a dark undercurrent in its tone. "The other four, they were weak, they died quickly. Two by my hand, two by their own. The current target's stronger, but still weak enough. Even her guardsmen are weak. But you, now, you, my dear, are strong. You and your friends. Breaking you will be a pleasure. You're in my realm now."

"And you're going to die here."


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## Friadoc (Oct 20, 2008)

"We've got a problem, folks," says Cade quietly to Team Libra, once her gathers them back together. He's keeping calm on the surface, but his mind is racing. "Meri disappeared, literally." 

Quickly, Cade will give the team a description of what was going on right up until the moment Meredith disappear, in case something about the moment might be helpful. It isn't likely to be much, but it's a start.

OOC

Is it possibly to contact Z without leaving the building? Be it via PDA, Comms, or what not?


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## iwatt (Oct 21, 2008)

"What the hell!" Larry looked around before entering the house, making sure he left the sword and shield well hidden but accessible. Through the Com he called to the Proff. "Doc, I didn't sense no psychic stuff, so maybe this is more you're area? Joker, do we have a visual on the Senator?"


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## Shayuri (Oct 21, 2008)

"This is your realm, huh?" Meri asks, looking around.

"You should really have your mom come and clean up once a week, or hire a maid or something. This is worse than my college dormmate's side of the room."

As she talks, Meredith scans the room, looking for a mirror big enough for her to have fit through, or at least near where she'd come in.


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## industrygothica (Oct 23, 2008)

"Show me where she was."  Nick goes to the spot Meridith was in when she vanished, hoping to pick up something.


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## Falkus (Oct 25, 2008)

Z can be contacted through the PDAs or just a cellphone.

The mirror where Z had vanished appeared perfectly normal, and wasn't causing anybody else to vanish, at least for now. Nick could sense the faint residue of some sort of magical or demonic energy, however.

There aren't any mirrors in the senator's office in the reality Meredith is presently in. The voice was silent for the moment.


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## Friadoc (Oct 25, 2008)

So as to keep things on the down low, Cade will contact 'Z' via the PDA, giving her a situation report on what has just occurred with Meri, as well as some of the oddities with the Secret Services' comms and potentially missing personnel.

OOC

If any rolls are needed, let me know. It felt like a good excuse to have the information on an external source, worst case scenario.


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## iwatt (Oct 27, 2008)

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Larry mutters to himself. He then comms Joker. "What's the status on the SS goons. If the fecal matter is going to hit the rotary impeller, we beter know were they are."


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## Shayuri (Oct 30, 2008)

Falkus said:


> Z can be contacted through the PDAs or just a cellphone.
> 
> The mirror where Z had vanished appeared perfectly normal, and wasn't causing anybody else to vanish, at least for now. Nick could sense the faint residue of some sort of magical or demonic energy, however.
> 
> There aren't any mirrors in the senator's office in the reality Meredith is presently in. The voice was silent for the moment.




Meredith is quiet for a moment, but when the voice refuses to be baited, she pads back out to where she'd first appeared in this world. Despite everything, she didn't expect, nor even want, to return to her own world. She just wanted to see if she could see it...if they could see her. Establishing communications would be useful. And maybe they could send her sword through.


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## kinem (Nov 4, 2008)

Diego searches around, nervously, unsure what to do.  _She's gone?  Taken ... or disintegrated?  Enemies at least we could fight.  But when people just start to dissappear ..._


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## Falkus (Nov 4, 2008)

*This is troubling, *Z texted back to Cade. *The interference is getting worse out here, more than can be explained by the weather. We might lose out OSIRS uplink soon, unless I can get a signal boost.*

"Excuse me, but what is going on here? Shouldn't you be working on the electronics?" the agent guarding the door said, walking towards the group. He glanced towards the mirror.

The lights went out for an instant, and there was a horrific scream. In the other realm, Meredith felt a brief wrenching, caught a brief glimpse of a secret service agent hurtling towards her, and then suddenly found herself back in the living room in the real world as the lights came on. The Secret Service agent was gone.


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## iwatt (Nov 4, 2008)

"Well that tear it! Joker, you have a location on the senator? Whatever that thing was it's starting to piss me off." To Meredith he signals were her gear is hidden.


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## Friadoc (Nov 6, 2008)

"Is," says Cade as he checks his PDA's motion sensor, to see if the senator, or at least the same number of folk, are in the right location. "Was implies it's gone, which it ain't."

At the same time, Cade will check to see if Z is still online with him, or if that dropped, too.


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## kinem (Nov 11, 2008)

"Meredith, thank goodness!  What the hell happened?" Diego inquires.


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## Shayuri (Nov 13, 2008)

"Hell," Meri swore when the guard disappeared.

"It's the mirrors! There's something behind them that can use them as portals...draw you through when you look at them! It's been sucking up the agents one by one, and I'm sure that's how it's planning on getting the real target."

"The other side looks like...sort of like here, only wrecked. Like a reflection of the house in Hell."

She swings her gaze around each of her teammates. "We need to get the Senator somewhere that there's no mirrors or reflective surfaces, and then confront this thing before it can strike some other way. Do you guys have the gear?"


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## Falkus (Nov 13, 2008)

The remaining two secret service agents burst into the room from opposite doors. "Down on your knees, hands in the air!" one shouted at the agents, at the same time as the door to the senator's office opened.

Senator Cook strode into the living room. "What's going on out here?" she demanded of the agents of both agencies.

"Ma'am, please get back in your room. We're at critical red here!" the Agent said, keeping his gun leveled at Team Libra.


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## iwatt (Nov 13, 2008)

"Woa there buddy. No need to point the hardware this way. All I know is that you're buddy just disspeared. I don't know what kind of frealy  is going on here, but we got nothing to do with it." Larry tries to dazzle the men with his fast talk while the rest of Team Libra decides what to do.


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## Falkus (Nov 16, 2008)

"That may be so, sir," the agent said, keeping the gun levelled at the team. "But until we know what's going on, all non-authorized personnel will have to be restrained."

The other agent was moving around, to get a better angle to cover the team, stepping in front of the mirror as he did so.


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## Shayuri (Nov 19, 2008)

Meredith raises her hands, not needing to act to look frightened. Not so much of the guns, but of the fact that they were basically all having this discussion with the Senator in the room with what was effectively a mystical time bomb.

She glanced at the agent in front of the mirror. Was he blocking it enough? Could he be reached through it if he didn't look? There was too much they didn't know!

"We're just here to do our jobs," she says shakily. "We're not murderers. I...think I saw what happened though. I can't explain it...I don't know how or why it happened, but...I saw."


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## Friadoc (Nov 19, 2008)

Cade raises his hands, too, but for the moment lets the others do the talking. Before raising his hand, though, Cade thumbs his PDA, putting the screen on a more mundane and neutral screen.


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## kinem (Nov 19, 2008)

Diego puts his hands up as well.


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## iwatt (Dec 1, 2008)

Larry realized things were going to get out of hand soon enough, so he tried to use his body language to keep the SS guy standing in front of the mirror. If somebody had to be taken, it was better to remove the wild card from the deck. "Look, man. I don't know what the hell is going on, but we've got rights. We ain't done nothing wrong, and you know it." 

[sblock]Basically I'll use Intimidate and Diplomacy to keep the SS guy firmly framed by the mirror. If he tries to move towards one of the others, Larry will look more threatening, if he tries to move closer too Larry, he'll try to defuse the threat.[/sblock]


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## Falkus (Dec 2, 2008)

The agent suddenly stiffened, and then let out a sigh, and slumped forwards as a long blade exited through his chest, coming from the mirror. He fell backwards into the mirror, and instead of it shattering, he fell into it and through it before vanishing.

There was a moment of silence, as the last Secret Service agent and the Senator stared at the mirror, and the small patch of blood on the floor where the dead agent had just been standing.


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## Friadoc (Dec 2, 2008)

"Okay, that tears it," says Cade as he looks around, making sure that no one is aligned with a mirror. "Agent, I suggest that you get the Senator to a secure spot, without any reflective surfaces...do you have a panic room or something?"

"Before you say anything, it really doesn't matter who I am or whether I should order you around or not, the Senator's safety is what matters," says Cade with a nod. "Right? So move it."


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## industrygothica (Dec 2, 2008)

"I'd do what he says," Nick chimes in.  "Don't try to start a turf war, 'cause we'll win that too.  Just save your ass, and the senator's too... go on!"


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## iwatt (Dec 2, 2008)

The con man turned a cold stare to the SS agent and put as much command as he could into the next order. "My orders are to keep her alive." He pointed to the Senator. "Nobody said anything about you. As long as you play nice and do what you're told, we'll get you out of it as well. Believe me, you do not want me considering you as a liability."

"Mace, help Blade get her gear. Joker, who else do you want with the Senator?"  He looked at Nick and added. "So, do we shoot the mirrors?"


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## Shayuri (Dec 2, 2008)

Meri sighs inwardly. There went -that- idea. Hopefully the others knew what they were doing.

"We should definitely leave at least one mirror ready, but covered," she decides. "As far as we know, they're the only way in and out...but there could be other ways we don't know about. If anyone disappears, we may need a mirror to use to get them back."


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## industrygothica (Dec 2, 2008)

Shayuri said:


> Meri sighs inwardly. There went -that- idea. Hopefully the others knew what they were doing.
> 
> "We should definitely leave at least one mirror ready, but covered," she decides. "As far as we know, they're the only way in and out...but there could be other ways we don't know about. If anyone disappears, we may need a mirror to use to get them back."




Nick watches Meri as she speaks.  "What she said," he says when she's finished.


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## kinem (Dec 2, 2008)

"Don't shoot them.  Cover them" Diego says.  "I don't know if the fiends needs a whole mirror, or if any shard will do."


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## Falkus (Dec 5, 2008)

"No," the Senator said firmly, giving the agents a cold stare. "I want to know what the hell is going on, and who you are? Are you FBI, CIA, Bureau 13?"

"Ma'am, I think-" the Secret Service agent started to say.

"If my life is in danger, I want to know exactly what from," the Senator continued.

"My instruments are going crazy out here!" Z texted to Cade while the senator was talking. "Something's about to happen again!"


----------



## Friadoc (Dec 5, 2008)

Falkus said:


> "No," the Senator said firmly, giving the agents a cold stare. "I want to know what the hell is going on, and who you are? Are you FBI, CIA, Bureau 13?"
> 
> "Ma'am, I think-" the Secret Service agent started to say.
> 
> ...




"Senator, those are questions for a more secure time," says Cade firmly, empowered by the fact that he could care less about the Senator's authority and power, not to mention her lack of oversight over him and his employers. "You can prattle on like an idiot, getting yourself, not to mention most of us killed, or you can do as you're f***ing told and we might live."

While saying this, Cade sends an affirmative back to 'Z' and says, "Move it, folks, it's gonna hit, imminently!"

OOC

The power of a respectful fear of a powerful foe, disdain for politicians, and a professional dislike for how poor the security setup is.


----------



## iwatt (Dec 5, 2008)

"Joker, I'll stick with the Senator and Kevin Costner. I think we should all mosey out of here ASAP and find a good place to hole up." He looked at the senator and shruged. "Ma'am, we're going to keep you safe whether you help us or not. But believe me, it'll be better for all involved if you help us."


----------



## Shayuri (Dec 10, 2008)

When Z warns them of impending activity, Meri...standing to one side so as not to expose herself...throws her jacket over the mirror's face.

"Everyone stay close to the Senator," she suggests. "Getting out of the house is risky...just because it's striking inside doesn't mean there's no backup plan if she leaves. Stay away from windows, mirrors and walls, and stick close. All we have to do is outlast the clock."

"And I need my sword. I'll do a run out to the van."


----------



## iwatt (Dec 10, 2008)

"Blade, it's right outside the door, with your shield. Behind the bushes."


----------



## industrygothica (Dec 10, 2008)

"Uhh.. aren't swords shiny?" Nick asks.  "You think?"


----------



## Falkus (Jan 5, 2009)

OOC: Back in the new year, and let's hope we can keep this going!

With a mad dash, Merideth made it outside, grabbing her sword and shield, and turning around and reentering the room in just a few seconds.

At the same time, Cade got another message from Z. "I think I've got it. It's got something to do with the ra-"

At which point the mirror suddenly exploded outwards, spraying shards over the room, flying through the air, catching and reflecting the light in a dazzling display.

The entire team, the last bodyguard and the senator found themselves deposited in the hellish otherworld version of the house.


----------



## iwatt (Jan 6, 2009)

"We aren't in Kansas anymore." The con-man removed the clip of his gun and replaced it with blessed ammo. "I guess now we kill whatever it is?" Turning to the Secret Service agent, he adds. "Try to keep yourself between whatever comes and her. You might slow it down."


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## Shayuri (Jan 6, 2009)

"Hell," Meredith curses. She backs towards the Senator, covering the side the agent isn't on. "Everyone stay as calm as you can. This thing tries to scare you to put you off balance. Eyes open, and no running. It'll probably try to separate us next. Don't let it."


----------



## Friadoc (Jan 6, 2009)

OOC

Messed up the place holder bit, alas.


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## Friadoc (Jan 7, 2009)

"You've one chance to make it out of this alive," says Cade as he draws his sidearm from his magical holster, the safety clicking off with a finality to it. "Surrender now, send us back, and you'll live, other wise we'll end you, as we've ended others like you."

"Decide now and forever," says Cade simply enough. Looking to he others, he makes a motion with his off hand, indicating that they should encircle the senator, facing outward toward any threat, with their backs toward one and other.


----------



## kinem (Jan 10, 2009)

Diego moves to help encirle the senator, his gun ready with blessed ammo.

_I thought we were in bad situations before ... but even if we could win the fight, how could we ever get back home?_


----------



## Falkus (Jan 11, 2009)

The door from the bedroom slowly swung open in the hell house, and a tall figure stepped in. He was definitely infernal, a humanoid, with red skin, no hair, wearing a black trenchcoat, and carrying a very, very large dual bladed sword. He spun it casually in his hands.

"Oh, this is good," he said, in a low sibilant voice. "The loyal knights, came to save the damsel. I'm going to enjoy destroying you."


----------



## iwatt (Jan 12, 2009)

"Well, look what we have here. Another victim of Matrix fashion. Don't you know black trench coats are so last season?" The gun in his hand steadily aimed at the demon's head, while the con-man nonchalantly continued his spiel. "Now, do you really think we'd let you bring us here if we didn't want to let you. We wanted to be here, and you've played right into our hands, you overconfident jackass."

[sblock] Bluff +14 (+3 from fast talk)[/sblock]


----------



## Falkus (Feb 6, 2009)

OOC: Again, I would like to apologize for my lack of posting. If you don't want to continue, I fully understand, my work and personal situation is such that I can't guarantee regular posting on my part. I'll do my best, though.

The demon drew back slightly. "Oh? You think to challenge me on my own domain? In my own world? Are you willing to back those words up with true action, or will you just die bleeding on the floor when I press you on it?


----------



## Friadoc (Feb 6, 2009)

Falkus said:


> OOC: Again, I would like to apologize for my lack of posting. If you don't want to continue, I fully understand, my work and personal situation is such that I can't guarantee regular posting on my part. I'll do my best, though.




OOC

It's all good on my end, Falkus, as I know how life can get, even the sudden moments, so no worries from my end. So long as you're posting, I'm posting, even if the rate is a bit slower.

I enjoy the story of these characters enough that a slow story is better than no story. 

I can't speak for the others, but I'm game. 

IC post to come later.


----------



## industrygothica (Feb 6, 2009)

Falkus said:


> OOC: Again, I would like to apologize for my lack of posting. If you don't want to continue, I fully understand, my work and personal situation is such that I can't guarantee regular posting on my part. I'll do my best, though.
> 
> The demon drew back slightly. "Oh? You think to challenge me on my own domain? In my own world? Are you willing to back those words up with true action, or will you just die bleeding on the floor when I press you on it?




OOC: Personally, I've come to enjoy games with infrequent updates.  Much less pressure on doing things NOW.

Nick watches the banter between his cohorts and the infernal being.  Finally growing tired of it, he lashes out quickly with a spell, only briefly wondering how the senator and her people will react.

_Magic Missile_


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## Friadoc (Feb 7, 2009)

Cade snaps his sidearm to bear down on the demon, at nearly the same moment the Professor unleashes his bolts of force, and fires off a three round burst aimed for the center mass of the Matrix wanna be.

"The first one was the only good one, anyhow," quips Cade, in reference to the movie in question's trilogy.


----------



## Shayuri (Feb 7, 2009)

Meredith fights off the urge to charge, and instead draws her sword but remains next to the Senator, ready to try to intercept the creature should he make a move towards the ultimate target of all this.


----------



## kinem (Feb 7, 2009)

_Down to this.  I hope it's not immune to our weapons._

Heart pounding, Diego fires his Glock with the blessed ammo at the demon.

(att +7, dam 2d6)


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## Falkus (Feb 8, 2009)

OOC: Thanks guys, it means a lot to me that you want to continue this. 

*Initiative order*
Meredith: 23
Demon: 22
Larry: 21
Diego: 19
Secret Service Agent and Senator: 18
Cade: 15
Nick: 14


----------



## industrygothica (Feb 8, 2009)

Falkus said:


> OOC: Thanks guys, it means a lot to me that you want to continue this.
> 
> *Initiative order*
> Meredith: 23
> ...




[sblock=OOC]Gah!  So much for the surprise magic missile.[/sblock]


----------



## iwatt (Feb 9, 2009)

[sblock=OOC]: I'm always in 

BTW, I want to spend an AP increasing my Initiative count to go ahead of Demon boy. Then I'll use a Daze power on him, and start an aim action for the enxt round with my move action.

EDIT: there doesn't seem to be an aim action in Modern? I've got way too many systems on my mind... modern, Saga, Iron Heroes, True20, SOTC, 3e, 4E and Pathfinder.

[/sblock]

"I did enjoy the Superfight in the third one though." Larry calmly answered Cade as he kept his weapon aimed at the demon.


----------



## Falkus (Feb 9, 2009)

Initiative order
Larry: 24
Meredith: 23
Demon: 22
Diego: 19
Secret Service Agent and Senator: 18
Cade: 15
Nick: 14

Larry, with a surge of speed, focuses his mind on the demonic beast, causing it to stagger back, its vision clouded.

Meredith gets next to the senator, standing between it and the fiend.

The demon, its mind dazed by Larry, did not act.

Diego's gun barks, but misses, shooting a hole in the crumbling wall.

The Secret Service agent guides the senator backwards, while shouting frantically into his radio. "Code Red, Code Red, any available units in the Chicago area respond immediately!" The demon suddenly shrieked, as if pained.

Cade fired his sidearm as well, managing to score a hit on the demon's arm, at the same time as Nick fired his spell, blasting the demon with a bolt of force.

[sblock]
Cade hits, dealing 6 points of damage
Nick's magic missile deals 4 points of damage
[/sblock]


----------



## iwatt (Feb 9, 2009)

"We can hurt it! Quick, hit it with all we've got." Larry hoped he could keep the beast stunned, hoping against hope that they would be quick enough and strong enough to bring it down. 

[sblock] Cool it worked! Nor let's hope for a repeat![/sblock]


----------



## industrygothica (Feb 12, 2009)

Nick notices the shriek of pain.  "Stay on that radio!" he shouts to the guard as he steps in front of them.  He draws his new wand and drops of cloud of fog onto the agent and the senator, obscuring any line of sight to them.  Then he draws his gun.

OOC: Obscuring mist; ready the gun if he can.


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## Friadoc (Feb 12, 2009)

After Nick shouts about the radio, Cade thinks, oO Well, it uses radio waves to map. Oo

With that, Cade quickly puts his PDA in auto-mapper mode, setting its pings to real time. It'll be tough on the batter, but it'll be worth it, if the idea works. While doing this, Cade's sidearm is trained on their fire, but obviously not fired, yet.

OOC

OOCly I figured I'd do this, but I wanted to wait until someone ICly suggested, since Cade was distracted.  Awesome, IG.


----------



## kinem (Feb 14, 2009)

_Yes, we have a chance!_  Diego keeps firing.

(att +7, dam 2d6)


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## Falkus (Feb 18, 2009)

Initiative order
Larry: 24
Meredith: 23
Demon: 22
Diego: 19
Secret Service Agent and Senator: 18
Cade: 15
Nick: 14


Larry focused his mind on the demon again. This time, however, it was prepared mentally, and had its defenses up.

Roaring, it charged into the group, as Meredith continued to guard the senator. It swung its blade at Larry, stabbing him in the chest, spraying blood over both of them!

Diego fired as it charged, scoring a hit on its leg, causing it to stagger slightly, but it continued its onslaught!

The agent stared quizzically at Nick for a second, but kept the radio transmitting. The demon roared in pain again.

Cade activated the automapper on his PDA, from the teams adventures in Greece and Russia. The screeching pain of the demon heightened, and Cade could notice that cracks were starting to form on the walls and ceilings. However, through these cracks, Cade could see the real world, the real house.

Nick finished chanting his spell, causing a mist to seep out of the floor, surrounding the Senator, the agent and Meredith.

[sblock]Larry is hit and takes nine damage
Diego hits for 6 damage[/sblock]


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## Shayuri (Feb 18, 2009)

"Technology," Meredith says. "Electronics. Its...doing something!"

Still holding the holy sword in her right hand, Meri fumbles in her pocket for her own PDA, thumbing for its power switch and blindly pushing its buttons while keeping her eyes on the demon, ready to slash at it should it come anywhere near the Senator.


----------



## iwatt (Feb 18, 2009)

Blood seeping out of his chest, the young man stepped back, staring incredoulosuly at the crimson stain sperading. with a look of fury, he looked at the Demon and said. "Good night!" The air begins crackling around Larry, his eyes focused solely on his target. Suddenly a wooshing sound slammed straight from the con-man into the demon.

[sblock]
Use Lesser Concussion with Trigegr power
Trigger Power (1d20+3=14)
damage (1d6=3)
meh... at least it's an auto hit
[/sblock]


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## kinem (Feb 22, 2009)

Seeing that it would be hard to target the demon without risking shooting Larry, Diego tries a new tactic.  _Here goes nothing._

A shimmering blade of force springs forth from his palm, and he attempts to slash the demon with it.

[sblock=ooc]+8 melee, damage 1d6+6.  Also flank if possible.[/sblock]


----------



## Friadoc (Feb 23, 2009)

Switching his focus, Cade decides to see what happens if he sets his PDA to violently fluxate along the echolocators spectrum, instead of the fix frequency it normally uses. It is the technician's hope that the violent flux will hurt their foe even more.


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 1, 2009)

Meri keeps randomly texting on her PDA in her left hand, the glowing holy sword held at the ready in her right. She stays near the Senator, unwilling to give any opening that might be exploited. Who knew what this guy could do, after all. Teleport? Move at super speed?

"Stay with the Senator," she says to the agents, giving them a quick look, as well as a look at their ward. "No matter what happens!"


----------



## Falkus (Mar 2, 2009)

Meredith held back, working her PDA. The cracks in reality grew larger.

The demonic figure raised its blade, and began cutting at Larry, slicing him badly in several locations as the blade twirled, badly injuring him.

Larry stepped back from this onslaught, slamming the demon with his mind, slightly injuring it.

The demon stepped forward, raising its blade to finish Larry, when Diego dived in, psi-blade appearing from his fist, stabbing it deeply into the demon's back, causing it to scream in horrendous pain as he ran it through.

The Secret Service agent, pulled the senator back with him into the mist, trying to stay away from the demon.

Cade activated his PDA with dramatic effect. The cracks in reality widened even further, until suddenly, there was a snapping sound, and reality reasserted itself. The team and the senator found themselves back in the real house. Along with the demon.

"No, you can't! I'm vulnerable here!" the demon cried out, turning to flee...

[sblock]
Larry is hit three times for 7, 4, and 4 points of damage.
Diego critically hits for 24 points of damage!
[/sblock]


----------



## Friadoc (Mar 2, 2009)

"End it now," shouts Cade as he raises his sidearm, its flicking red dot sighting upon the deamon. "It had its chance!"

OOC

+2 to everyone's attack, as shooting the Demon is now the plan. 

+6 to hit, 2d6 dmg, clip staggered with blessed and regular ammo


----------



## industrygothica (Mar 2, 2009)

Nick raises his own sidearm and starts blasting away.

OOC: I know he has a gun around here somewhere.  Don't remember what kind, or what it shoots... but he's shooting it anyway!


----------



## iwatt (Mar 2, 2009)

Larry reeled backwards, the injuries having bled him badly. With a moan, he collapses unconscious, the last though in his mind that at least he wouldn't die in that literal hellhole. 

[sblock] 9+7+4+4=24--->-1 hp[/sblock]


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## kinem (Mar 4, 2009)

"Larry!"  

If the demon is still reachable, Diego thrusts forth his psi-blade again, hoping for another square hit on the demon.

Otherwise, he raises his glock again and shoots.

[sblock=ooc]+10? melee, damage 1d6+6
or +9 ranged, damage 2d6[/sblock]


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 12, 2009)

_Almost time...almost time..._

Meredith feels something akin to actual pain in seeing the demon so pressed, and not doing anything to help. She actually takes a step away from the Senator, towards the fiend...but stops herself and forces herself to look away, around the room. Who was to say there was only one demonic assassin? 

She'd let the Senator away from her side when the crucial moment had passed, and not before. Until then, she'd stay glued to his side, ready to take action the instant anything seemed to be threatening the Senator.


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## Falkus (Mar 13, 2009)

As the demon ran towards the door, Diego stabbed it in the back, as Cade and Nick opened fire. Their combined assault did the job. The creature smashed through the front door, letting out an unearthly wail, and collapsed just outside, slowly disintegrating into a pile of ash.

"You did it! That was great!" Z shouted from the van, as she emerged, carrying a first aid kit.


----------



## industrygothica (Mar 14, 2009)

Nick looks over and the senator and her people to gauge their reactions to what just happened.


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 14, 2009)

"Is that it?" Meri asks warily. "What time is it? Did we pass the deadline yet?" She remains on guard for the moment.


----------



## Falkus (Mar 14, 2009)

The senator was staggering backwards, staring at the dissolving demon outside, the bloody body of Larry, and the walls of her house, her mouth moving up and down wordlessly.

"What... what the hell was that!?" she finally shouted, finding the words. "Who the hell are you people? What the hell is going on?"


----------



## industrygothica (Mar 14, 2009)

Nick nods as the senator speaks.  "Hell," he repeats.  "Yep, that about sums it up."   He looks at Cade and winks.  "She's all yours, boss," he says before trying to help Z patch up Larry.


----------



## Friadoc (Mar 14, 2009)

oO I could have swore this was his mission Oo Cade thinks to himself, with a chuckle, after Nick calls him boss. However, Cade nods to Nick and heads over to the Senator, after giving 'Z' a smile as he passes her.

"We're no one Senator, just folk who saved your life," says Cade simply enough. "You were the target of a domestic terrorist who was using unstable and exotic gases to affect mental awareness and perception, so as to make you appear mentally unstable, thus undermine your position within the Senate."

"Rest assured that the threat has been removed," continues Cade. "But, due to its unusual nature, it's best that we keep it on a clandestine level, close to the vest, wouldn't you agree?"

OOC

It's sorta the truth, yet sorta not, as Cade figures "exotic gases" best explains magic to the poor ol' Senator.  He's counting on/hoping for the Lovecraft Effect, where the human mind, so not wishing to know what just occurred, will glom onto the simpler excuse.

We'll see.


----------



## Falkus (Mar 18, 2009)

"Do you expect me to believe that?" the senator said, stepping forward and poking Cade in the chest. "That's the biggest load of- I want the truth!"

Working together, Z and Nick managed to get Larry back on his feet, though he was still looking pretty pale. He would need some serious medical attention, or thirty seconds with an Institute acolyte.

Outside, Meredith could hear the distant sound of engines, slowly getting louder. Sounded like a couple of snowmobiles.

[sblock]Larry gains five hit points[/sblock]


----------



## iwatt (Mar 18, 2009)

Larry winced as he was helped to his feet. "That's gonna leave a mark. Thanks Doc, Z." Using Z as a crutch, the con man advanced towards the senator, and stares her down. "Ma'am, all you need to know right now is that someone wanted you dead, and we stopped him. For now. So what do you say we see about securing the perimeter, and getting you to a safe room. Then we can chit-chat about what happened tonight, the meaning of life, or whether the Bears will finally get a good quarterback."

While Larry demonstrates he can out talk a politician, he looks at Cade, as if asking the man to find a good place to fort up.

[sblock] trying to use dazzle on the good senator, get her to shut up, and us moving to a better place.[/sblock]


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 19, 2009)

Meredith's head perked up, then she looked around to scan the area.

"Someone's coming!" she called warningly. "Sounds like motocycles...or maybe snowmobiles!"

She keeps up with the Senator, though puts her sword away so as not to antagonize the Secret Service agents.

"Senator, we'll explain everything but for right now we just need you to accept that your life is in danger and that we're here to protect you." She looks at the surviving agents. "Can you guys with the earpieces verify if those motors are friendly or not? In the meantime, lets get the Senator someplace with some cover from outside. And no mirrors."

Finally Meri glanced at Cade and Z. "What's the clock? How close are we to the deadline?"


----------



## Friadoc (Mar 19, 2009)

"Uh huh," says Cade as he looks down at the finger poking him in the chest. However, before he can reply in a less than polite manner, Larry steps in. With a half-smile at Larry, Cade says, "All yours...but the shrew has pointy fingers."

It is then that Meri perks up and mentions the approaching noises, which sets Cade into motion, as he looks for the best defensible position and gets his team and the primary into a secure location using Team Libra's van for hardened cover.

Friend of foe, Cade plans on meeting the incoming element on a defensive posture. The senator will be located furthest away from the threat, with the injuried Larry and Z back with the senator's security detail, then Nick and Diego, and finally Cade and Merideth.

OOC

I figure this qualifies as a plan, so folks get the +2 from it. Cade has his sidearm out at the ready.


----------



## kinem (Mar 22, 2009)

Diego dissipates his psiblade after the dead demon begins dissolving.  _Whew!_

He lets Cade and Larry deal with the senator, while keeping his eyes and ears open for more threats.


----------



## Falkus (Mar 23, 2009)

Outside, the snowmobiles could now be heard by everbody, and after a few seconds, slowed to a stop in front of the house.

Listening in on his radio, Cade was able to pick up activity on a frequency and listened in on a radio transmission. "Your little pet failed, boss," a man said, with a thick, French accent. "We'll finish the job for you, but it'll cost you double."

"We got maybe five minutes before the ritual's ruined," Z told Meredith, as the last surviving Secret Service agent nodded at her, and hustled the Senator away from the front of the house.

Outside, there was suddenly the sound of heavy automatic weapons fire, as several AK-74s opened up, smashing bullets into the side of the team's van, shredding the tires and wrecking the engine.


----------



## Shayuri (Mar 24, 2009)

"Five minutes sounds like a long time right about now," Meredith grumbles. 

"I'm going to stay with the Senator. My sword's nothing special against regular humans and guns, but my shield might save him if they get past you guys."

With that she ran after the Senator and his bodyguard. When she caught up she asked, "Is there a basement we can get to from inside? Something that has limited access the others can defend."


----------



## kinem (Mar 24, 2009)

"Shiite!  Where do we make a stand?"

Diego uses his mental power to toughen his skin, and readies to attack if the enemy comes into line of sight.

[sblock=ooc]use lesser natural armor (+1 to AC for 1 minute)[/sblock]


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## Friadoc (Mar 24, 2009)

"I'm pretty sure the agents had a panic room selected or installed," shouts Cade over his shoulder. "Unless they're idiots. It'll be a location with extremely controlled access points, one...maybe two, at the most...with strong walls and doors. Get to it and have Z text me the location."

While he's talking, Cade quickly shuffles the ammunition in his gun, so the next four shots are all White Phosphorus. It is obvious that he's not making to move from his location, yet.

"I wanna give the Frenchie a warm, Irish welcome, so I'm gonna wait until they're closer to the van and then I'm gonna fill the tank full of Willy Pete," states Cade with a devilish grin on his face. "It might not stop them, but if the 'verse is kind, it'll slow 'em down and take a few with it."

"I'll be right behind you, okay? Ain't pullin' a Butch and Sundance here, trust me...so get going, all of you."

OOC

While regular bullets don't make tanks go boom, white phosphorus does. Once Cade drops his rounds into the van, he's going to beat cheeks to the holding point, hoping that this delaying tactic works.


----------



## kinem (Mar 27, 2009)

"I hope you know what you're doing!"

If the others retreat as Cade said to, Diego will stop inside the doorway, figuring to be able to assist Cade if need be.


----------



## iwatt (Mar 27, 2009)

Larry shuffles on with Meredith. He was in no shape for a gunfight, and would probably be more a liability than an aid.


----------



## Falkus (Mar 29, 2009)

"The safe room's in the basement!" the agent told the team, hustling the senator down the stairs

Outside, six men in body armor, winter gear and ski masks were slowly advancing towards the house, holding AK-74s, with three snowmobiles parked off in the distance. Obviously these were part of Haight's backup plan. As the passed by the shattered remnants of the team's van, Cade fired from the dining room window.

The WP shell hit the leaking gas on the snow, passing through and hitting the ground before it detonated, quickly melting the snow and igniting the gasoline in a crimson spark standing out in contrast against the white. Quickly, it burned back up towards the leaking gas tank.

The leader of the commandos looked at the burning trail of fuel as he hit ground, he and the rest of the team diving for cover around the van as they heard the shotgun blast. His eyes widened, and he uttered a single word.

"Merde."

The fire hit the gas tank, which then reacted as chemistry dictated it would. There was a massive explosion, and the whole van detonated in a ball of fire, as all the front windows of the house were shattered in the blast. Cade dove for cover, ducking just a piece of sharpnel flew threw the air above his head, embedding itself in the wall.

The French commandos lay motionless on the ground outside, when Cade looked up to see the outcome of the detonation, except for the leader, who was slowly trying to crawl his way back towards to the snowmobiles, leaving a trail of blood, and making the scene looking slightly surreal in the glow from the burning van.


----------



## Shayuri (Apr 1, 2009)

As the Senator, his man and Meredith start hustling down to the saferoom, Meri hears the explosion and her heart almost stops. "Cade!" she yells. "Diego! Are you guys all right? What was that?!"


----------



## Friadoc (Apr 1, 2009)

"That, my dear, was a Gaelic Hello, and they're down," shouts Cade in response to Meri. However, Cade's focus is out the window, toward the crawling leader, and he shouts out, "You've got one chance, surrender or be past tense, which is it?"

As Cade says that, he aims his sidearm at the man, letting the flickering laser sight land on the snow in front of the man, so as to let him know he means business.


----------



## Falkus (Apr 1, 2009)

The man groaned, and slowly rolled over on his back. His chest was a bloody mess, and unless he received some very urgent medical attention, it was obvious that he wasn't long for this world.


----------



## iwatt (Apr 1, 2009)

"There really is no rest for the wicked," whispered Larry. "Blade, make sure they stay in the safe room until we're sure that is the last one." He realized Meri had already spoken out a couple of the names out loud, but he would at least try to keep their names secret. Truth be told, they weren't much of a cover in a world with facial recognition software, but he really liked having a cool sounding name.

He limped towards the others. If they were going to get anything out of them, it was going to take some fancy talking. As he saw the results of the explosion, he grimaced. "So Joker, subtlety is a lost art form I guess."

[sblock]So, we  go for the Intimidate or try something trickier like making him believe I'm one of his men by bandaging my face and faking an escape.[/sblock]


----------



## Shayuri (Apr 6, 2009)

In the safe room Meri nods and says to the Senator and surviving bodyguard, "Okay. We're going to sit tight in here. The odds are that the guy behind this is going to get desperate and stupid in about two or three minutes, and I'm not even sure God knows what will happen then...so stay alert. Walls, floor, ceiling...don't make any assumptions about where an attack will come from."

She quickly looks around the room, checking to see if there's any mirrors or blind corners or places something nasty could lurk behind. In particular she checks to see if there's any battery powered lamps, just in case the lights go off.


----------



## Friadoc (Apr 6, 2009)

"Subtlety went out the window the moment the hit team arrived," shouts Cade as he heads out to check on the fallen hit team. "You okay?" Cade asks his wounded friend, before he adds, "Just keep an eye on the hall, Face. I'll be right back. Put a call in to the higher ups, let them know our status and how we're holding tight."

Cade quickly makes a circuit of the outside, his sidearm aimed at the downed men, as he checks them for signs of life, and quickly gets to their leader, to see what, if anything, he can do.


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## iwatt (Apr 6, 2009)

Larry contacted HQ and made a sit rep. "..We're not set up for a proper interrogation here, but unless you guys come pick him up soon, I'm afraid he's not going to make it. We're covering the Senator, but I can only stall her sop long before she starts asking too many questions. And I'd hate having to conker her over the head after all the trouble we went to by saving her."


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## Falkus (Apr 10, 2009)

The senator and the agent sat quietly. The explosion and the mercenaries had startled them into silence, the senator from shock, and the agent just going into full on bodyguard mode. He stayed right next to her, had his gun out at all times, and kept a distrustful eye on Merideth, though he seemed willing to accept, for now, that she was there for their protection.

"With hired thugs in play, thing just got a little more complicated," Stanfield said, once Larry managed to raise him on the radio. "This damn blizzard's dying down, so now that you've neutralized the demonic threat, I should be able to get a team of regular security guys out there. I'll send a request up the ladder to see what we can do about getting some more secret service and regular, government types out there. I'll send a telepath too, but see if you can get anything out of that guy, because it'll be a little while before they can get there."


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## iwatt (Apr 15, 2009)

"Wilco, boss."

Larry moves up to Cade, and asks him for the hitman's radio. "Time to run a con, Joker. Can you track the incoming signal? I'll keep him on the line as long as possible. I'm tired of reacting to this bastard's plans."


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## Friadoc (Apr 19, 2009)

With a shy look toward the smoldering van, Cade lets out a slight chuckle as he looks down at his PDA.

"I'll see what I can do," states Cade simply enough. "Depending on what kind of transceiver that we're working with, as well as what Gen their commo is, it could be easy or it could be impossible."

"If Z can back me up, it might be easier," adds the young man.


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## Falkus (Apr 23, 2009)

OOC: Gah! My subscription, for some reason, didn't work, and I didn't get the emails that there were new posts 

"Sure, no problem," Z said, moving to join Cade, shaking her head as she looked at the wreckage. "It'd be easier if I had my gear, though. Man, you guys... Ryker's going to have a fit when he finds out you totaled another car. What's this, the third one you've gotten wrecked?"

"I'll see what we can do with our PDAs, let's get to work, shall we?"

It took the two electronic geniuses a few minutes, and required that they disassemble both their PDAs, and two of the spare radios for parts, but they managed to McGyver together a suitable tracker. If they triangulated, the next time someone tried to communicate with the former French hitmen, they'd be able to get their location.


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## industrygothica (Apr 23, 2009)

Nick stands around with his gun, waiting for something to shoot, while the others do whatever it is they're going to do.


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## Shayuri (Apr 30, 2009)

Meredith also waits vigilantly, hand on the hilt of her sword and looking around.

"Someone tell us what's going on out there," she says tensely. "I feel like I'm trapped in a box down here."


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## Shayuri (May 6, 2009)

(dreaded 4rth page ping!)


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## iwatt (May 8, 2009)

With Joker's and Z's patch done, Larry was ready to run his bluff. There was no time for him to pretend to be the Leader, but he could play the ambitious henchman card as well as the next man. Taking the radio, he called on it, using the fake french accent he'd used in some airport cons in the past. "Monsieur, we have un petit probleme." He waited a moment and continued. "Le chef took one in le tête, and he was the one with the bank codes. If you want me to put a bullet through her head, you will have to deal with me now. And time is running out, Monsieur. I will take half of what you promised le chef. There is, after all, fewer people to share it with"

[sblock] Sorry guys. I never got the notification of the update[/sblock]


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## Friadoc (May 11, 2009)

OOC

Yeah, I wouldnt' depend on the e-mail notification stuff for awhile, as it's not worked for quite a few weeks now, again.

Go figure.


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## Falkus (May 13, 2009)

"What are you talking about? Fine, you greedy sons of... a voice shouted over the radio. "Give me an account number and I'll transfer the money. Just finish the job. NOW! It's so close..."

Triangulating, Cade was able to determine that the signal was originating from Chicago Midway International airport, about ten miles from the team's present location.


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## iwatt (May 13, 2009)

Larry looked at Z, hoping she would come up with an account number they could give, trying to keep the bastard on line as much as possible. Meanwhile, he gestured at Cade to get in touch with the Agency. Hopefully they could either get footage from the airport cameras, or get a team out there. "We're working out the details, Monsieur. I will have the number for you in a petite moment."


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## Friadoc (May 14, 2009)

"I think it'd tick him off more, if I kept count," Cade says to 'Z' with a rakish smile, however he quickly gets down to business, working out the triangulation with her. Once they have it, Cade forwards the information to the Director, via secure e-mail, and then, just to be safe, calls the Director.

However, before placing the call, Cade moves away from Larry and his phone call, so as to note tip the guy off, just in case.


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## Shayuri (May 20, 2009)

(Again with the bump! )


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## Falkus (May 20, 2009)

OOC: Gah, too used to the notification. Have to get used to checking manually.

"Hurry up, goddamnit! Minutes matter!" the voice shouted.

The Director was on the phone immediately with Cade. "We can't get a team out there, not within enough time, due to this damn weather. Roads are blocked off six ways to Sunday. Had to send the backup team out to you with snowmobiles, and they took the last of them. Goddamnit, if he gets away, he'll just start the whole thing over again."


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## Friadoc (May 21, 2009)

Quickly Cade gets together as much of the team as he can, while signalling Larry to keep the voice on the other end busy, busy with thinking that Larry is finishing the job.

Once the team is gathered together, Cade makes sure that the team can mount enough of the snowmobiles to rapidly get to the location of the signal and, hopefully, capture the mad man.

OOC

Falkus, if possible, Cade will get the team to the area and then, quickly, make it in and capture the man. He'll have the director, if possible, clear Team Libra with the Airport security, as if they're DHS or someone with the rights for arrest powers at the airport...thus, capture and detain the main, before authorities interfer.


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## iwatt (May 25, 2009)

Larry gives the number to the voice on the radio, keeping his French mercenary impersonation. "As soon as I have confirmation of deposit, Monsieur, I will do my part. We are relocating before reinforcements arrive, and in case you decide to become creative, mon ami, to avoid payment." His voice turned grimmer. "Then, the lady will take the couteau. Any special requests? I lost friends in this op, so I am feeling vindicatif..."

As he mounts the snowmobile behind Blade, he speaks only to her. "I might need you to scream and cry a little. I sincerely hope you can pull it off."


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## Shayuri (May 25, 2009)

(OOC - Wuh? Meri's still in the panic room with the Senator, I thought.)


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## Friadoc (May 28, 2009)

OOC

My post, right before iwatt's, has Cade gathering up as much of the team as he can for a quick snowmobile ride to assault/capture the bad guy, before he realizes that his attempt has fault.


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## Falkus (May 31, 2009)

OOC: I'm going to try to have a post up later today or tomorrow. I've had work troubles, again, and I'm taking my vacation early as a result, so I should have plenty of time over the next two weeks.


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## Friadoc (May 31, 2009)

Falkus said:


> OOC: I'm going to try to have a post up later today or tomorrow. I've had work troubles, again, and I'm taking my vacation early as a result, so I should have plenty of time over the next two weeks.




OOC

It's all good, Falkus, I'm sure we can all empathize or sympathize with the work thing. Hopefully it's all okay after the vacation and that's not just a stop gap measure.

Looking forward to the post, though, as well as what's coming next.


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## Falkus (Jun 2, 2009)

As the team pulled away from the senator's house on the captured snowmobiles, another team of Institute special security agents was arriving on their snowmobiles.

Z had declined to join Team Libra, and instead waved goodbye, before she went to greet the new team and start hacking Homeland Security with the computer equipment they'd brought.

The road's themselves were still jammed with snow, and it looked like the various snow plows and blowers employed by the city would have to be making a heroic effort to get the roads clear enough for use in time for the citizenry to get to work. Fortunately, having snowmobiles, this presented no barrier to Team Libra. Also, the airport was also closed, no planes would be flying in this weather.

The team arrived on Central Avenue, near one of the security gates onto the airstrip. The security gate was open, and the guards called away, thanks to Z implementing fake orders on the security network.


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## Friadoc (Jun 2, 2009)

After checking the GPS coordinates, Cade looks to the members of Team Libra and says, "We take him down or we take him out...if possible, alive is best, but no need to trade one of our lives for his, okay?"

With that said, Cade will pull up a schematic of the area that they're going to hit, make sure the others have it on their PDAs, and come up with a good plan of attack. If there are two entrances to where they need to hit, Cade will split the group into two groups; Cade and The Professor in one group and Meri, Diego, and Larry in the other.


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## Falkus (Jun 2, 2009)

There was a message from Z on the PDA, along with the floorplans of the terminal and other buildings. There were a lot of hiding places in the airport, if someone wanted to get lost. The terminals, the parking lots, the hangers, the maintenance tunnels. The tunnel network the team combed through near Delphi was a straight line compared the labyrinth of an international airport.

'Got something for you, ace. There's a private plane that belongs to a corporation owned, through about a half dozen holding corporations, by Haight. It's on runway seven right now. Scheduled for a flight out this evening, but got canceled due to the weather.'


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## Friadoc (Jun 3, 2009)

"Runway seven," says Cade to the others. "If we get near it, then ditch the snowmobiles, we should be able to approach on the downlow and he shouldn't notice us." Cade will share the maps and info with the others.


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## Shayuri (Jun 9, 2009)

Meredith nodded. "Which way is that?" she called into her radio. On getting the right heading she sweves towards that runway.

"We should still make sure we have people in the airport. He may already have gotten off the plane" she advises as they bear in.


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## kinem (Jun 10, 2009)

Diego has calmed down considerably since the fight at the house, but he always gets nervous when action is imminent.  "So what's the plan?  What if he tries to take off?"


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## Friadoc (Jun 11, 2009)

"If it tries to take off," says Cade. "We stop it, any way possible...we can't let this guy get away, he's just too dangerous."

Cade will adjust the plan, keeping to the original groupings, so as to get the team to approach the plane from two rearward directions, from the blind spot, and hopefully surprise the occupants. If the door to the plane is closed, Cade will see if he can rig things to look like a surprise FFA or TSA inspection.

OOC

Okay, folks, in seven hours I'm gonna be on the road for 8+ hours, so I'll be out of contact, minimum, for the next 16 hours, as I make my way (via car) to PaizoCon. Laters!


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## iwatt (Jun 22, 2009)

Larry had continued stroking Haight along, as they travelled. As soon as they arrived, he looked at Cade and asked. "Want me to fake her death. Not sure if he'll figure out the Hoax in time, but it might just get him to lower his guard, if he thinks it's done."

OOC: real sorry guys. once again forgot, and then I took a holdiay to Easter Island, were I truly was incommunicado...


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## Friadoc (Jun 22, 2009)

Briefly Cade thinks it over, looking at he others, before he slowly nods an affirmative toward Larry, an affirmative that grows more assuredly.

"Do it," Cade mouths.

OOC

I'm jealous of the trip, that's for sure.


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## iwatt (Jun 23, 2009)

With the nod, Larry once more returns to the suave french mercenary. He suddenly let's out a blood curdling girlish scream, that he cut's off abruptly. "It is done Monsieur. Alas, it was quick, but I fear we must now part. Their reinforcements have just arrived. Please remember us for future arrangements. You can contact me in the same way as you did my former Chef. The name is Jacques."


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## Shayuri (Jun 24, 2009)

Meredith frowns skeptically.

"Wouldn't he know if it happened?" she whispers to Cade. "I mean, that would complete his ritual and send him all kinds of unholy power, wouldn't it?"


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## iwatt (Jun 24, 2009)

"Yeah, but he'll probably be concentrated on that than on us coming down on him."


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## Falkus (Jun 29, 2009)

"Yes! YES!"  Haight screamed over the radio as he heard Larry fake the death screamm, and then he began to laugh manically. "Power, the power... it's all... nothing's happening..."

"Cliff! What's going on? You promised me the power! You! You! You! You've set me up, you son of a bitch! The government's going to have my head for this! And I get nothing!"

A series of flashes suddenly illuminated the interior of the private plane parked on the runway up ahead, as the team approached it by snowmobile.


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## iwatt (Jun 30, 2009)

His gun in hand, Larry moves towards the nearest window and peers in. Causing chaos and confusion had been his M.O. while running cons, he was just glad it had worked this time.

[sblock] if Larry sees somebody inside, he'll start using lesser concussion to try to knock them out.[/sblock]


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## Friadoc (Jul 1, 2009)

While Larry checks the window, Cade circles around toward the planes exit ramp, with his pistol trained upon it. He's fairly confident that Team Libra will be able to keep the plane from leaving or anyone within the plane from escaping unnoticed.


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## industrygothica (Jul 2, 2009)

Nick opens his eyes wide at the mention of Cliff's name.  He grits his teeth, and is even more determined to put an end to this.


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## kinem (Jul 2, 2009)

Diego joins Cade, covering the exit ramp with his pistol.


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## Shayuri (Jul 5, 2009)

Meri runs after Cade and joins him by the plane, staring up at the closed hatch.

"How do we get in there?" she asks. "There's usually a stairway on wheels they use, but this thing was ready to take off."


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## Falkus (Jul 12, 2009)

OOC: Really sorry about the delay. I just started a new job the other week, and it's been taking up a lot of my time and focus. It's a great job, I'm doing mobile QA at Airwide Solutions, and I really want to impress my new bosses.

The plane's hatch was open, though as Merideth, Diego and Cade arrived, a pilot reached out and began to swing it shut. He definitely wasn't an ordinary, airline pilot... the AK-74 he was holding in one hand was a sure sign of that. In fact, he looked like Randy Braggs from the security footage earlier... Haight's security chief and the man who murdered the Institute agent spying on Haight.

Inside, Larry could see Haight and Cliff were apparantly locked in a death struggle in the center of the plane. After a second, there was a gunshot, and Haight collapsed to the ground, bleeding heavily, and Cliff stood there, holding a Colt Python in his hands. He suddenly clutched his head with one hand as Larry started his mental assault, then ducked behind a chair, shouting something up towards the front of the plane.

Initiative order:
Cliff: 30
Braggs: 23
Cade: 22
Larry: 19
Diego: 17
Meredith: 16
Nick: 13

Cliff takes 4 points of damage from Larry's attack


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## Friadoc (Jul 12, 2009)

"Gun!" shouts Cade as he makes a slight adjustment to his sidearm, which was already aimed toward the door of the plane, bringing the crimson dot of his laser sight to his target and opens up on the man wielding the assault rifle.

OOC

Since we're still flanking the plane and what not, the group should still be getting the +2 bonus from my Plan ability.

Good luck, people. I hate assault rifles...well, when aimed at me...otherwise they're fun to shoot.


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## iwatt (Jul 13, 2009)

Larry moved, trying to find another vantage point from which to assault Cliff.


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## Shayuri (Jul 14, 2009)

Meredith drops her backpack to the ground, and under it is nestled the magic shield she'd obtained. With a quick shrugging motion, she swings it around onto her arm and holds it out in front of her as she rushes in, drawing her holy sword as she goes!


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## kinem (Jul 15, 2009)

Diego also fires his pistol at the gunman trying to close the hatch.


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## industrygothica (Jul 17, 2009)

Nick takes a shot at the pilot as he reaches out to close the hatch.


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## Falkus (Jul 24, 2009)

OOC: Yikes, everytime I've tried to post this in the last few days, it seems ENWorld has been done 

Inside the plane, Cliff took cover behind a chair, and began writing something on the floor, in the blood slowly spreading from the corpse.

Braggs swung his AK-74 around, and opened fire on Meredith as she charged the plane. A burst of ammunition bounced off her shield, as she got it around just in time. At the same time as he started firing, the engines on the plane sputtered to life.

Cade took his shot at that point, catching the man in the shoulder, the mercenary shouting in pain as he continued to fire.

Larry ducked around the plane, and climbed up onto the wing. Cliff was staying low, but Larry was able to spot him writing some runes in blood on the plane floor from up on the wing.

Diego's shot went wild, punching a hole in the fuselage of the plane.

Meredith, charging wildly, made it right up to the door of the plane before Braggs could finish closing it, sword and shield at the ready.

Nick's shot went far off target as well, putting another speed hole in the side of the plane.

[sblock]
Cade hits and deals 10 points of damage[/sblock]


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## industrygothica (Jul 24, 2009)

Nick moves to the front of the plane under the cockpit, then traces an arcane sigil in the air with his new wand.

[sblock=OOC]Nick casts _Haywire_ on all the junk under the hood.  I knew I prepared that spell for a reason.  

At least I think I have it prepared.  [/sblock]


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## iwatt (Jul 24, 2009)

"Doc, I'm guessing it's never a good thing when the villain starts scribbling symbols in blood?" Witht hose words, Larry focused once more on shutting down Cliff's brain. _I should have practiced more..._

ooc: lesser concussion on Cliff


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## Friadoc (Jul 24, 2009)

Seeing Meri launch up the stairs, shield and sword in hand, Cade comes up with a quick idea.

"I'm taking the wheels down," shouts Cade into the comms.

In the world there are fewer things more impending that a technician with firepower, which Cade proves in a demonstrative fashion as he pivots slightly, gains a clear ballistics background and drops a few rounds into the front landing gear's hydraulics. 

With that, Cade quickly pivots back to the man on the ramp with a sword wielding hottie in his face.

OOC

If Cade can blow out the hydraulics on the front strut, then the plane ain't gonna be able to roll down the tarmac without some awesome piloting, miracles, magics, or what not.


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## Shayuri (Aug 11, 2009)

Meredith positions the shield in front of her and rushes the man at the door, trying to knock him back out of the way and gain control over the door. Her plan changes though when she sees what's happening inside, and she starts to run down the aisle to stop him!

(Bull rush the guy at the door, if d20 Modern allows that...I'm not as familiar with its rules. Then next turn I'll do a charge to stop the ritual he's doing...)


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## Falkus (Aug 14, 2009)

From his position on the side of the plane, Larry could see an unearthy glow appearing inside, though there was no apparant source, as Cliff continued to chant.

Braggs took a step back as Meredith approached, firing a three round burst into her. She brought up her shield at the last moment, the enchanted metal deflecting the ammunition harmlessly into the ceiling.

Cade blasted a shot right into the front wheel well, causing Larry, Meredith and Braggs to almost lose their footing as the plane suddenly fell a foot downwards as the wheel strut started to collapse and then the plane jerked suddenly to the right, heading towards a parked fuel truck!

Larry focused his mind as he tried to stay on the wing of the bucking bronco the plane had become, but he wasn't able to focus as hard as he could, and was barely able to hurt Cliff.

Inside the plane, Meredith raise her might foot, and kicked Bragg backwards, causing him to stumble into the far wall and getting him out of her way. Inside, Meredith could see what Larry couldn't. A crack in the fabric of reality opening up in the back of the plane, pouring flames and looking generally ominous.

Nick got up under the plane as Cade took out the front wheel, and cast his spell. Smoke and sparks started pouring out of the engine, and wheels and rudders starting twisting randomly, and the engine revving up and almost dying occasionally as it headed off the runway.

Initiative order:
Cliff: 30
Braggs: 23
Cade: 22
Larry: 19
Diego: 17
Meredith: 16
Nick: 13

[sblock]Larry does one point of damage to cliff[/sblock]


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## Friadoc (Aug 15, 2009)

OOC

Quick point of clarity: Is the plane still heading toward the full truck or did Nick's spell send it off in a different, safer direction and start on it being disabled?


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## Falkus (Aug 16, 2009)

OOC: The plane's still heading for the fuel truck, but it could conceivably change direction or stop. The Haywire spell is essentially making the plane behave as if the controls are being pressed randomly.


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## industrygothica (Aug 16, 2009)

Falkus said:


> OOC: The plane's still heading for the fuel truck, but it could conceivably change direction or stop. The Haywire spell is essentially making the plane behave as if the controls are being pressed randomly.




What are the odds of all that lurching about disrupting whatever casting Cliff is doing on the plane?


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## Friadoc (Aug 16, 2009)

Quickly, Cade picks whichever rearward wheel will cause the jet to lurch further to one side, or the other, and avoid any chance of impacting the fuel truck. Once the young man has an idea of the best wheel, he'll take aim and fire into it as he shouts a warning over the comm-unit to let his team brace themselves for the results.


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## Falkus (Aug 16, 2009)

industrygothica said:


> What are the odds of all that lurching about disrupting whatever casting Cliff is doing on the plane?




That depends entirely on how good a ritual caster Cliff is. Something Nick has the sinking feeling that Cliff is very, very good at.


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## Shayuri (Aug 17, 2009)

Meredith doesn't even waste time on a quip, or a curse. She just charges at that smoking rift, the glowing holy sword held out before her. She's not exactly sure what the plan is...she just needs to react fast! Though she has vague notions of cutting at the rift, at the last second she changes her mind and instead slashes at the circle on the airplane floor!

(not sure if she can get there in time, or what you need me to roll to attack the floor. I'll spend an AP if applicable, for whatever. )


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## Falkus (Aug 17, 2009)

OOC: Cliff is standing between Meredith and the rift and is blocking her passage. She'll have to get him out of the way before she can reach it.


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## iwatt (Aug 18, 2009)

Larry sees the plane veering straight for the fuel truck and recognizes it for the opportunity it really is. "Everybody off the plane!" He rolls off the wing and too the ground, doing his best to avoid getting to bruised.

[sblock] Larry was clawed and battered already. He should be close to unconciousness[/sblock]


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## kinem (Aug 18, 2009)

ooc: I believe Diego was firing into the plane and it may have moved away from him.

Diego joins Cade in trying to shoot out the plane's tires.


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## Shayuri (Aug 25, 2009)

(sorry...missed that somehow)

Meredith lifts her Shield and charges down the row of seats at cliff, with her shield at her shoulder to help absorb the impact of her crashing into him!

(Bull Rush! He gets AoO, then we roll a contested Strength check... My roll: 22!
Roll Lookup
 Not sure if having a shield gives me a bonus...if nothing else it makes his AoO harder. I push him back 5' for every 5 points I beat his Str check by, since I'm moving with him.)


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## Falkus (Aug 30, 2009)

Cliff pointed his gun at Meredith as she climbed into the plane. "Ah, I should have expected you. Don't you realize your kind went extinct a long time ago? I'll just have to finish the job."

Braggs staggered to his feet, and went to the door of plane, firing his Kalashnikov at Diego, the burst of ammo kicking up snow at his feet, but otherwise not harming anybody.

Cade kept blazing away at the wheels, causing the left one to collapse. The plane veered away from the fuel truck, flaming destruction averted. For now.

Larry dived off the plane, hitting the ground hard as it shaked and rattled behind him, cracking his head badly.

Diego carefully aim, and blasted out the last section of the landing gear, causing the plane to come a crashing stop. Inside, Bragg stumbled and was thrown from the plane, losing consciousness as his head impacted on the ground.

Inside the plane, Meredith charged Cliff, smashing into him with her shield. There was the brutal sound of bones breaking as his gun went flying, and Meredith shoved him back. He barely had time to cry out before she forced him back into the rift itself, which winked out of existence as he vanished through it.

(Combat is over)

[sblock]Larry takes four points of damage from the fall[/sblock]


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## iwatt (Sep 3, 2009)

"Goddamn it, I'm starting to hate this job." His hair was messed up, his body ached, and the night wasn't over. "Joker, make sure Bragg is muffled and nobody else is around. I'll keep any nosy people away until they come and pick us up." Larry moved quickly to the janitorial closet, picking it open easily enough. Putting on an airport maintenance coverall, he picked up a shovel and toolbox as he moved quickly to the outside. As soon as he was outside, he gestured to Diego to close the hangar door. Oh joy, I get to freeze until the agency comes over.

In his guise as airport maintenance, he pretended to be clearing the hangar door of drift snow.


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## Friadoc (Sep 3, 2009)

Quickly Cade will hogtie Braggs and stand watch over the thug, his sidearm in hand and at the ready. Once he is secured, Cade will check on Team Libra before calling into Hoffmann, so that he can give a current update to the situation, as well as the team's conditions and medical needs.

"Is everyone okay?" Cade asks. "If you've any immediate needs, let me know, as I'm calling support in."

While less than pleased with Cliff getting away, again, Cade is glad that the team is safe and sound, as things could have been a whole lot worse. But, Cade knows that he needs to update his skillset and equipment, as it's becoming obvious, to him, that his lacking something and doesn't want the team to suffer for it.

OOC

I swore I posted a reply, previously. Sorry folks, either I browsed away before it submitted or I was imagining things...sadly, both are equal in their likelihood.


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## Falkus (Sep 8, 2009)

It's a race between Airport Security, CPD, Homeland Security, the local FBI office, a brigade of marines and the Hoffmann Institute towards the firefight on the runway.

Security got there first and was ready to arrest everybody, but Z came through on her word and hacked the databases appropriately. The security teams quickly appologized to 'General' Larry and his team of counter-terrorist specialists and let them take control of the situation.

A few frantic hours later, and numerous jurisdictional disputes, and the Institute manages to get you away and back to the office.

"You did a fine job," Stanfield said, lighting up a cigar, back at the office's briefing room. "Couldn't have done it better myself in my prime. You saved the senator, and stopped the cultists from getting a way. A pity Cliff got away, but it probably couldn't be helped. He's smart, well organized and seems to have powerful forces supporting him. He's become a top priority target, above and beyond anything else right now. We're putting out the word to all our allies, he won't have anywhere to hide. It's just a matter of time before we found the hole he's scurried off to."

"In the meantime, files your reports and take a few days off. Get some R&R, you deserve it. We'll call you when something comes up. Again, congratulations on a job well done."

Z smiled at Cade, as she typed on her laptop. "I need to get some more search algorithms online for Cliff, but once that's done, wanna go get a beer? Celebrate another survival?"

OOC: You all gain enough EXP to reach level 6. Congratulations, another successful mission! Admitidly, one that took a while (my fault again), but I'm glad you've all stuck through with me. Thanks again for being one of the best groups I've ever run a game for, online or offline!


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## Friadoc (Sep 8, 2009)

Once the situation is handled, between Larry's smooth talk and Z's righteous hack, Cade makes sure that the Team is well cared for, mentally and physically. Everyone took a fair knocking around out there, so Cade focuses on them, first, before getting any of his own needs handled.

Once Stanfield is done, Cade does state, "Thanks, Boss. That's much appreciated." After a brief pause, he adds, "Push comes to shove, sir, I think I can speak for the Team in saying that we'd like a crack at the nut, first and last."



Falkus said:


> Z smiled at Cade, as she typed on her laptop. "I need to get some more search algorithms online for Cliff, but once that's done, wanna go get a beer? Celebrate another survival?"




Although it's a tired one, Cade returns Z's smile and nods as he says, "Works for me, although I need to swing by the house and check on Selina. She was less than pleased when I left. Chuckling at himself as he runs his right hand through his hair, he says, "You'd think she owned me. I'm pretty sure she'd rather move in with you."

With a look toward the team, Cade adds, "They did real good there, kept it together, rolled with the punches...I don't know what I'd do..." But, Cade lets that statement hang, even though it'll come up again, over beers and the evening ahead.



Falkus said:


> OOC: You all gain enough EXP to reach level 6. Congratulations, another successful mission! Admitidly, one that took a while (my fault again), but I'm glad you've all stuck through with me. Thanks again for being one of the best groups I've ever run a game for, online or offline!




OOC

It's been one heckuva ride, Falkus, and I've enjoyed it all, waits or no waits. You've all been a lot of fun to game with and I look forward to continued gaming with you all. No worries about the delays, as you've all stuck with me on delays, too, such as my rapid vacancy from Idaho and the move back to Oregon last year...and that's just one example from my end.

I'll get Cade leveled up, ASAP.


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## iwatt (Sep 8, 2009)

Larry waits to get patched up, and once that is done is ready to leave. He thought about crashing the latest club, but he was beat. The truth of the matter is that he was feeling down. Usually after a mission he could feel his heart racing, but the fact that Cliff had gotten away, again, had him down. That and the fact that things kept getting crazier and crazier.

As he reached his apartment, he booted his computer and linked with Kyznetsov. The dark humor of the old russian felt just right at the time. "привет, мой друг".

[sblock] Hello, my friend."[/sblock]


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## Shayuri (Sep 14, 2009)

Falkus said:


> It's a race between Airport Security, CPD, Homeland Security, the local FBI office, a brigade of marines and the Hoffmann Institute towards the firefight on the runway.
> 
> Security got there first and was ready to arrest everybody, but Z came through on her word and hacked the databases appropriately. The security teams quickly appologized to 'General' Larry and his team of counter-terrorist specialists and let them take control of the situation.
> 
> ...




Meredith gets gloomy as Stanfield talks about Cliff getting away. Once everyone starts filing out, she approaches his desk.

"He got away because of me. I saw this...hole opening, I thought he was summoning something. I focused so much on getting to the spell to try to stop it...it never occurred to me that he might be opening an escape hole. I pushed him right into it."

(OOC - Yee! Meri's all leveled. Thanks for making this a very rare PBP that has lasted from 1st level to 6th the hard and honest way!)


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## Falkus (Sep 14, 2009)

"Meredith," Stanfield said, puffing on his cigar. "You made what you thought was the best decision at the time. It's unfortunate that he got away, but if he had been trying to summon something, it could have been very much worse. I've been a field agent, I know what it's like. When things come down to the wire, you don't the luxury to stand back and rationally think things through, you have to act on instinct."

"We will find him, and the next time you face him, you'll know about this trick of his and take precautions, right?" he finished, holding the cigar in one of his hands as he looked seriously at Meredith.



> (OOC - Yee! Meri's all leveled. Thanks for making this a very rare PBP that has lasted from 1st level to 6th the hard and honest way!)




OOC: Aww, thanks. I couldn't have done it without you guys!


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## Falkus (Sep 18, 2009)

The new thread is up. A quiet little assignment.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/playin...very-quiet-little-assignment.html#post4937458


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