Curtains #3 - Problems of One's Own

[Velmont]

"Thanks" And he leaves the coffee. I would have been lucky to learn anything from him... 4am, that's left me 16 hours. I need to recon the place. I need to get the statuette, I need to give it to them, I need to put my father to safety and finally, I need to make sure they won't ever try again that! I need to make things clear, nobody touch me or someone close to me!

He walks out of the coffee and instinctively looks around if anyone fits the description, expecting to see more than one with such a vague description.

 

[Mimic]

Thomas HP: 4/4 status: fine

It wasn't that Thomas didn't like the military, the fact that he was in it for 6 years indicated that he did. It was more that he didn't like certain parts of it, like getting up at ungodly hours or as in his case not going to bed yet or the fact that the military liked to indulge itself in red tape, most career men wouldn't go to the bathroom without permission from a superior officer, signed in triplicate of course. And everything he had heard the FBI was the same if not worse.

Obviously either the rumors were false or this man was an exception to the rule. Either way Thomas was impressed. He liked this guy.

"Don't know, never tested it out but I did go a couple of rounds with a mutant fungus thing. Compared to that, some gernades and C4 should be a breeze."

 

[Rybaer]

Outside the Crosstown Café, Downtown, Coast City
June 16
12:12

Lawrence steps out onto the sidewalk and makes a quick survey of the area. Given that he's near downtown at lunchtime, there are several hundred people on this block alone. Easily twenty of them would fit the description that the waiter gave him. None, however, seem to be acting suspiciously or giving Lawrence any particular attention.


Spot roll 13+2=15, fail

 

[Rybaer]

"Don't know, never tested it out but I did go a couple of rounds with a mutant fungus thing. Compared to that, some gernades and C4 should be a breeze."

"Good," Agent Wedlake says. "As you may have already heard, we found that the place has been rigged with explosives in spots. We don't know how pervasively, so you'll have to use some caution. Hopefully you'll be able to withstand anything you come across. I suspect most of their traps are near the entrance, but we won't know until you get further in."

The agent leads Thomas into one of the rundown buildings on-site. It looks as if it's been abandoned for decades. Sunlight streams through holes in the ceiling and there is evidence of several generations of animal and bird nests. Half a dozen other agents have set up a make-shift command post with banks of communications gear. A card table has several maps unrolled on it.

"These are the best maps we could get of the mine," Wedlake says. "Unfortunately, they're pretty old and were dated before the mine was closed down. They should be pretty close, though. We're trying to print up some smaller versions that you can carry in with you.

"The bad bit is that we didn't know they were using the mine, so we have no idea where in here they might be. As you can see, the mine is pretty big. The company that owned it did seal off a considerable number of unused passages for safety reasons before closing it down, so that could help some.

"Our best estimate of the sitation puts their number between eight and ten men, armed with automatic weapons. We know they have explosives and it's probably safe to assume that they'll have grenades and other heavier munitions."

He pulls out a headshot of a middle-aged man with a black goatee. "This is Abram Schott, our primary target. We want him alive if at all possible. Ideally, we'll want you to take as many alive as you can, but we understand that some casualties may be unavoidable.

"The government has deemed you to be an 'important national security asset,' so please try to not get killed. It would be bad for your health and bad for my career. Any other questions? If not, we'll get you set up with some gear."

 

[Velmont]

Now, let's move. Some recon is necessary.

Lawrence takes the bus to 415 Marigold, in Rollingwood.

I will need help, but who? Gus could give me some good general advice, but I would waste too much time to find him. And I won't put Yannick in that, even less then Jennifer. What about the others? I can always implicate someone in the case and pass it on necessity, but if it is a teammate, I'm sure I won't see my father again... Damn... who was that shapechanger, who are those guys, what is this place I must rob, what are those statuette, what they worth... if I knew half of that, things should be a bit easier.

During the bus, Lawrence have the reflax to check once in a while if someone is watching him.

 

[Keia]

Prof. Fate, Unharmed, HP's: 4

The Centurian, Parkside, Coast City
June 16
07:47

"Philadelphia? No, I don't think so. And I haven't served you before...well, not in this lifetime. We've been serving you for thousands of years, of course. But you already know that . . . Oh, and getting past the guards downstairs was easy enough," she continued. "Just a little Charm spell and he was more than happy to give us your apartment number and call for the elevator. 'Course, Mom doesn't like me doing that."

Steven smiled pleasantly, as he always did when dealing with expectant fans. His head tilted slightly when Nicole mentioned a charm spell.

"Please forgive Nicole's enthusiam," the older woman said to Steven. "She's convinced of your identity, though others of us wanted to watch you a bit longer before reaching that conclusion."

"I . . . see," Steven replied. Coming to a decision, he continued, "Please, would you come in? I have a guest at the moment . . ." Steven smiled and indicated Maggie, " . . . but I would be interested in hearing more of what you have to say."

Steven gave a slight shrug of his shoulder to Maggie with a . . . 'what was I supposed to do?' look tossed in. He glanced at the laptop, then at Maggie again. Steven held the door for the two women and indicated the living room as the area they should proceed into. After they entered, Steven closed the door behind them . . . perhaps with more force than intended.

"You spoke of a . . . desperate need. Is it urgent?" Steven inquired.

 

[Mimic]

Granite 4/4 status: fine

"Your concern for my health is really touching." He replies with a mock sympathtic tone. "Ok so go in bust some heads bring back as many alive as possible, especially this guy." He states grabbing the picture.

"Nope, no other questions, lets do this so I can get some shuteye."

 

[Rybaer]

Rollingwood, Coast City
June 16
13:25

Two bus rides and nearly and hour and a half later, Lawrence arrives at the entrance to the Rollingwood neighborhood. (He didn't spot anyone watching/following him on the way.) Rollingwood is clearly an upscale place - houses are easily 20-30 room affairs set on large properties. Each estate is walled in behind eight foot high stone and brick walls, designed for privacy and for aestetics. Driveways to most houses are blocked off by iron gates.

Lawrence walks for a while, searching for Marigold among the winding streets of the neighborhood. There are no sidewalks, and Lawrences gets more than a few dirty looks as residents drive by in their luxury sedans and SUV's. Eventually, he finds the street, and then the house.

The estate at 415 Marigold doesn't stand out from any of its neighbors, aside from the presence of a guard standing in a small building just inside the gate. Lawrence keeps walking past, hoping the guard won't give him a second thought. Lawrence also notes several security cameras located near the gate.

The house itself, which he doesn't get a very good look at from the street, is a three story building set about a hundred fifty feet back from the street. The property has a number of large trees and landscaped gardens.

 

[Rybaer]

The Centurian, Parkside, Coast City
June 16
07:49

Maggie follows Steven's eyes to the laptop in the dining room and makes brief detour to close it before returning to the living room.

"You spoke of a . . . desperate need. Is it urgent?" Steven inquired.

"Yes," Nicole says. "My cousin went missing three days ago. We've tried to use the Spell of Seeking to find her, but there is nothing to be found. Even if something...bad...had happened to her, the spell should have still told us something."

Nicole pauses as her emotions threaten to overwhelm her. Denise pats her daughter on the back gently.

"According to the old lore, only Dracos' power should be able to block that spell," Denise says. "If you truly are the Sorcerer, then it is possible that Dracos is back as well. You would be the only one who could intervene. The endless cycle would be set to begin again."

Maggie gives Steven a curious look, but says nothing. Both newcomers seem very serious and matter-of-fact about what they're telling Steven.

 

[Rybaer]

Wolf Run coal mine
June 16
8:02

Agent Wedlake leads Thomas back outside and to one of the oversized black vans parked there. The back door is open and a techie is uncrating various supplies.

"Get him outfitted for the trip down there," Wedlake says.

The techie is pretty easy going, young and enthusiastic about the toys he has to offer Thomas. He hands over a heavy but compact backpack. A headphone with mic is connected to it by a long wire.

"Radio won't penetrate through more than a few feet of stone," he explains. "This sucker is new, something that still has a few kinks in it. Uses ultra-low frequency sound waves to transmit through solids out to a pretty good distance. Similar to the technology the military uses to talk to their nuke subs deep under the ocean. Multiple frequency modulation gives us enough bandwidth for vocal communications, but the quality isn't so hot. It's also kinda big and bulky. That shouldn't be much of an issue for you, though."

The techie then hands over a set of nightvision goggles and two LED flashlights. "The goggles won't be very good down there, unless you're right on top of your target. The mine is so temperature neutral that there won't be enough contrast to navigate. Might work to your advantage, though, in that their footprints may show up on the ground for a bit longer."

He pulls out a few more heavy cases and throws open the lids. "Multi-tools, flash-bang grenades, frags, selection of guns, and just about anything else you might want. Anything else I can scrounge up for you?"