Descent into Darkness : The Remnants of the dead

[Mal Malenkirk]

Freak Alley

[sblock=Ghost]All right, I started with the intent of posting the skill challenge between Ghost and the fleeing suspect, but it soon got ridiculous. I'm talking a bucket load of dice and links. The rolls are there somehwere on invisible castle and the result is that Ghost rolled poorly in the athletic phase of the chase. The suspect initially increased his lead and awareness roll were made not to lose him. Still in the end Ghost would have lost the suspect if I hadn't made him spend a willpower point for one automatic success at a crucial point. Then after 4 atheltic check I switched to endurance and he eventually caught up with the suspect as his edge over him increased dramatically.

So Ghost, chalk up a temporary willpower point.

Now I should post a storytelling version of the pursuit, and I will! But not tonight. I'm tired. tomorrow.

Suffice it to say that it ended with Ghost having cornered a mean looking yet frightened thug in a dark alley. He is armed. Will he go for his gun fight or plead for his life?

Ghost can take a penalty on initiative to attempt a non-combat option or simply go on the offense. Your call.[/sblock]

 

[Ithuriel]

When Ghost broke into a run, Suria's hand strayed to her taser. Her frown looked troubled, but she didn't pursue. "Hmm. Well, I'm going to have to wait for my partner to make it back before I can make good on my offer Mac, but we'll be on our way in a few minutes I'm sure." Addressing Jimmy and Mac she asked, "How are the other survivors doing after the crash?"

[sblock]Digging through Mac's mind - Mindshare 3 (1d10=10, 1d10=3, 1d10=6, 1d10=8, 1d10=5) = 2 succ

L 3 effect with 1 Mode Boosted = +4 difficulty, parameters start at OO
PSI spent: 2 (1 point to match the +4 diff, and 1 point to use on the effect)
WP spent: 1 (to enable the attempt)

Target: OO (Two subjects)
Duration: OO (10 minutes)
Precision: O (Target in view)
Sensory: OOOO (Beyond standard detail, includes subjective or abstract info)

Long as I can hit 2 subjects I'll make a scan of Jimmy too.

With Mac - Digging for info about the collapse and who drugged him or whatever.
With Jimmy - Digging for any better leads and for visual images of the other investigators who hired him.[/sblock]

 

[hafrogman]

[sblock=ooc]Is Dr. Grabowski the be all and end all of this clinic? Does he have any superiors (that Carlos might know of), or is it just him on the Moon?[/sblock]

 

[stonegod]

The big man loomed over their shadow. His hands were not on his weapons, but when he stood to his full height, the shear wrongness of his appearance was clear as day. He looked dispassionate, his voice was cool, almost casual. You best be talk'n now. It'd be less hurt for both of us.[sblock=OOC]Ghost will try a social approach, using Intimidate (remember, his Appearance is treated as 5 dots when Intimidating from his Flaw).[/sblock]

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

Somewhere in Freak Alley

Ghost bolted after the mysterious figures. Noticing the chase, he accelerated and almost lost the legionnaire in a maze of concrete tunnels. The fleeing man initially outpaced the larger man but Ghost dug deep and managed to maintain his target his sight, if barely. As muscle fatigue set in, the sprint turned into a contest of endurance and the well trained legionnaire finnally started to grind down the lead of his prey. Well over a mile later, the chase concluded as Ghost cornered the man as he fumbled in a dead end and had no time to get out.

The fleeing man looked like a local toughs, maybe a gang member though he was pushing thirty and was getting a bit old for the game. He stared at the approcahing legionnaire. His eyes were wide, panicked and his left hand was inching toward a suspicous bulge in the pocket of his coat.

The big man loomed over their shadows. His hands were not on his weapons, but when he stood to his full height, the shear wrongness of his appearance was clear as day. He looked dispassionate, his voice was cool, almost casual.

-''You best be talk'n now. It'd be less hurt for both of us.''


[sblock=OOC]
Ghost, Intimidate (1d10=4, 1d10=9, 1d10=4, 1d10=8, 1d10=5, 1d10=6, 1d10=2, 1d10=6)
2 successes

Goon, Willpower (1d10=3, 1d10=4, 1d10=9, 1d10=3)
1 success

Ghost wins by a margin of one. The opponents isn't broken but is willing to talk his way out of it instead of drawing his weapon. He doesn't actually surrender, though.
[/sblock]

-''All right, all right, no need for spillin' blood. I was just keepin' an eye on you. No harm's done.''

-''Why?'' growled the legionnaire.

-''Paid to. Well, not to keep an eye on you. On them. The mole people.''

-''Don't make me pull answers from you the hard way. Spill everything.''

-''Look, I've been hired by a guy named Mauser, a fixer from the Pit. Me and a few buddies have been hired to track down some of the mole people from freak alley. We were hired last week, maybe a week after the collapse. We have a list with names, descriptions and sometime photos. Not all of these guys have made it out of the warren in their lifetime so some are real ciphers known only to their buddies. I don't know who made the list. Here, take it.''

The thug gave a few short orders to his beat up, last gen minicomp and it sent a signal to Ghost's. He accepted the upload.

-''What did you do with the guys you found?''

-''We had to snatch them up. Unharmed, I swear! Then we had to drop em' off at the emergency ward at the Beaulac clinic. Yeah, that's wacky, but the pay is good. Look, I told you everything I know, now let me go!''

[sblock=OOC]At this point the goon expect you'll let him go.

He'll fight if you try to bring him in. You may either let him go, roll initiative and fight or try another intimidation attempt to force surrender. This time you'll need to beat him by two success to force outright surrender and if you fail you'll forfeit initiative and act second in the combat round.

Later, when you check out the list, you see that it contains six names, four are marked as having been 'done' and one happens to be Mac.[/sblock]

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

When Ghost broke into a run, Suria's hand strayed to her taser. Her frown looked troubled, but she didn't pursue. "Hmm. Well, I'm going to have to wait for my partner to make it back before I can make good on my offer Mac, but we'll be on our way in a few minutes I'm sure." Addressing Jimmy and Mac she asked, "How are the other survivors doing after the crash?"

[sblock]Digging through Mac's mind - Mindshare 3 (1d10=10, 1d10=3, 1d10=6, 1d10=8, 1d10=5) = 2 succ

L 3 effect with 1 Mode Boosted = +4 difficulty, parameters start at OO
PSI spent: 2 (1 point to match the +4 diff, and 1 point to use on the effect)
WP spent: 1 (to enable the attempt)

Target: OO (Two subjects)
Duration: OO (10 minutes)
Precision: O (Target in view)
Sensory: OOOO (Beyond standard detail, includes subjective or abstract info)

Long as I can hit 2 subjects I'll make a scan of Jimmy too.

With Mac - Digging for info about the collapse and who drugged him or whatever.
With Jimmy - Digging for any better leads and for visual images of the other investigators who hired him.[/sblock]

[sblock=OOC]Actually, +4 difficulty means 5 success (Standard difficulty is 1 success, diff +1 means 2 etc.). As a shorthand, remember that you need as many success as the level you are going for (in this case 3) plus modifier (in this case +2) so you end up needing 5 success.

That leaves one bonus dot for a sensory 3 results.

From Jimmy you easily lift the requested information; Marcus Denver. Actually, Jimmy only knew him as Mark, but you recognized him from his thoughts.

Contacts + Wits (1d10=8, 1d10=3, 1d10=1, 1d10=4, 1d10=4)

That guy is a local freelance investigative journalist. You read a few pieces by him. Good guy. You could get the number to reach him with just a few calls. You also see that Mark got lucky and nailed an interview with a witness during his tour. He took him apart to protect his scoop but he talked to him for about an hour so he must have had a lot to tell. You don't remember any extended interview with a survivor from Freak Alley surfacing in the media, though.

Mac's mind is harder to delve in. You look for information about the day Freak Alley collapsed and recent events but it's like looking in a muddied pond to see what is at the bottom. You extract almost nothing of value except for two images; a flash of energy in a huge cavern that you guess was the warren. Looks like some kind of blast coming through the wall, from the outside toward the inside. The other is a fuzzy image of a man in white. Hard to tell but the obvious guess is a doctor of some kind.
[/sblock]

-''Yeah. Were' doing okay. I mean, as good as expected. It's like a bad dream really. I don't remember much.'' said Mac.

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

[sblock=ooc]Is Dr. Grabowski the be all and end all of this clinic? Does he have any superiors (that Carlos might know of), or is it just him on the Moon?[/sblock]

[sblock=OOC]
I also posted this in the OOC thread. I'd like to keep background information request in the other thread though, please.

---

He's the head honcho at the clinic and there is no higher ranking doctor on Luna, or for that matter off-earth. His direct superior is Dr Gemma Fiosi, director of the clinic network, who in turn answers only to Proxy Zweidler himself. They are both working from the HQ at Montressor, Switzerland. All of this is common knowledge for anyone familiar with the orders and is otherwise available on your minicomp with a simple research; we're talking big shots here.

Grabowski's file indicate that he was a close friend of Zweidler in the early days of the order though they must not be as close at they used to considering his current location. His current post is very prestigious, but Zweidler's inner-circle is at the HQ, obviously enough.[/sblock]

 

[stonegod]

Ghost grunted as he looked over the list. He looked up, his pale eyes focused on the goon. But he did not let him go yet.

Well now. You and your boys may not know it, but you work for me now. Y'all find any more of these folks, y'all be ringing me up. No touch'n or fuss'n w'em, just ring me. I pay you double. And, if I find out you be playing both sides—gett'n me some, gett'n that other guy some of these—well, it'd be damn shame. A damn shame.[sblock=OOC]Assuming they weren't being paid *that* much, I'm going to assume my Resources should be able to handle it. If Ghost feels he needs to, he'll try to drive that last point home w/ Intimidate.[/sblock]

 

[hafrogman]

Carlos's eyes narrow and the friendly smile fades from his lips as he is met by the doctor's stubborn . . . or guilty insistence on protocol. He spares the doctor a searching glance, keeping eye contact longer than is comfortable before forcing the words out of his mouth.

"Very well. Since you insist."

Unless his companions have any tricks up their sleeves, he will allow them to be escorted from the premises. His immediate inclination being to seek out the Luna PD as soon as possible in the hopes of returning before whatever (if anything) the Dr. doesn't want them to see can be removed.

 

[kookalouris]

Pat nodded and followed his team out, all the time watching Grabowski for as long as he could...

Post-related OOC
[sblock]
Please don't be dismayed by the shortness of this post. In this case, Pat's teammates are doing some good work and Pat is learning a lot from the mysterious Dr. Grabowski's demeanor. Besides, a united front should be put by the Trinity team. If some kind of experimentation on the cadaver has been inferred by Pat, then that should be screamingly obvious to the good Doctor, and Grabowski's expected but strangely absent interest is very telling...
[/sblock]