[Spycraft/S9] Sleight-of-Hand

[Codename: GhostFox]

Thumbs her nose at the clumsy stranger. "Hmff... a strange man, that one." Elise huffs as Mr. McGuire ignores her attempts at introduction

Riese clenches his gloved fists, struggling to contain his annoyance, and returns to his duties, scanning the crowd and scrutinizing anyone who approaches his client.

And the crowd parties on...

 

[Hammerhead]

Finished with her task of buggin Riese's phone, Sarah places it in her purse and retrieves her own personal line. If only that argument could have escalated into a fist fight, then giving Riese back his phone would be much easier, Sarah Greenwood thinks as she hits the speed dial button for X-Cel's own line.

"Hello, this is Sarah. I got it, and processed it," she speaks into the mouthpiece.

 

[Hurricain]

X-cel goes outside for a breather where no one can see him and thumbs his cell phone out and answers sarahs call. " Good , now the hard part. Getting it back to him. Whats the plan? Could try to slip it back to him?"

 

[Hammerhead]

"I had hoped you would persist in your distraction. Unfortunately, such as not the case. You must engineer a new one. My reccomendation would be not do something obvious; two such wine spills or similar mishaps would certainly alert him, even if the first did not. That is the true danger, Reise recognizing the distraction for what it is.; I could steal his pants without him noticing even a draft." Sarah taps her foot impatiently. Should I perhaps consult with Mr. Riese about security matters? Ask him for a dance? Most men do consider themselves good-looking and would be flattered by my attention. Or perhaps my last resort that would certainly test X-Cel's skills, and my own, to the limit.

 

[Hurricain]

" well , a new distraction? i think that if I even go near him again he will just ignore me or mabey pick a fight. Which is fine with me but I feel that when he finds out that he can't beat me then he will grow suspicious. Do you have any ideas? "

 

[Hammerhead]

"Pick a fight. Throw it if you want to. Or beat him down. A fight would be great right now. Just get near him, maybe provoke him a little, but not too much. It should work. But I can't do this without you."

Actually, I can, but then my superiors would think I'm not a team player and doesn't work well with others. To avoid such a career-ending condemnation, I'll have to work with you.

 

[Hurricain]

" Ok , well , this should be interesting to say the least. Let's see what happens"

Pick a fight? Wow , If only she knew how bad I wanted to hear that. I just hope someone will be able to get me off of him. Time to play.

X-cel smiles widely and goes back into the party and looks for Reise and Elise , when he finds them he walks toward them.
When he gets to Reise he speaks.

" Listen buddy I didn't appriciate you grabbing me like that , yes I spilled a drink on you but I didn't mean to. Just consider yourself lucky that I just don't knock you out right here. I would hate to have to ruin this party over your mistake of touching me!"

X-cel standing at 6'5 looks at Reise with supreme confidence and waits for Reise's action. If he attempts to grab at X-cel then he will react instantly and the fight will be on.

 

[Codename: GhostFox]

Interrupted from his bodyguarding duties, Riese turns to X-Cel and looks at him straight in the eye and says....

((X-Cel's Intimidation Check vs DC ??: 13=10+3:Str.

Before I describe the final results and post what Riese says, do you want to spend any action dice to increase the roll? Riese is known to be an experienced operative and is at least the same level as X-Cel, so the DC is at least 14 - possibly higher.))

 

[Hurricain]

(( Well , I actually want him to fight me. If intimidation is the skill to use then yes I want to use an action dice but if bluff is used ( like taunting someone) then my bluff skill is a -1 which is pretty bad. So anyway I want Reise to attack me so we can complete the plan. Just let me know.))

 

[Codename: GhostFox]

"You've just made third mistake of the evening."

Riese's lips curl into a snarl and the veins in his temples pulse with bottledup rage. Riese is only a few notches shorter than the towering X-Cel and doesn't seem at all intimidated by X-Cel's posturing. Neither of the two men Riese nor X-Cel flinch as they stare each other down.

"Your first mistake was coming here tonight. Your second: stepping on me with that clumsy foot of yours. The third: Putting that club foot into that second garbage hole you call a mouth you little snot!!!"

Riese unleashes the predator within, intent on smashing Mr. McGuire's windpipe with the row of middle knuckles of his gloved, black fist. With Riese's thumb tucked to side of his fist and with the back of the hand including the first row of knuckles flat and level with forearm, X-Cel instantly picks up on Riese's fighting style: Leopard Fist!

Training and raw instinct take over as X-Cel's arm sweeps up and across his chest in a defensive maneuver, transforming a life threatening blow into a glancing hit. Even so, X-Cel feels the savage fury and recognizes the years of hard training behind the knuckle punch.

Having seen the Leopard Fist in action before, X-Cel predicts Riese's follow up attack. The Section 9 physical adept slips to the left and Riese's palm strikes nothing but empty air. X-Cel grips Riese's twisting it forcefully, straining muscle and bone. A low grunt to escapes between Riese's lips as he fights to break the armlock. X-Cel gives Riese what he wants and releases the armlock, throwing Riese off balance. X-Cel launches another attack quickly sidestepping (to the righ this time), pivoting and slamming a back-handed punch into Riese's jaw with a sharp CRAACKK!!!

The bodyguard takes a few steps back to buy himself some time to recover, regain his footing and assume a ready fighting stance. With the back of his hand, Riese wipes off the blood and saliva from the side of his mouth. And despite the pummeling he just received, Riese manages to snicker and sneer. Thick strands of blood stain Riese's yellow toothed smile.

"Ahhh - so the garbage-mouth knows how to fight. Excellent... Now I don't have to hold back!"

((Hmmmm... you're right. Using Bluff to taunt Riese into a fight is more appropriate.

X-Cel's Bluff Check: 2119-1:Cha+3isposition(Hostile)
Riese's Sense Motive Check: 9=5+4.))

Initiative Rolls:
Sarah: 27=19+4:Class+2ex+2ept
Security Goons: 2118+3
Riese: 17=10+7
X-Cel: 13=8+2:Class+3:Str
Elise: 11=4+7

Elise and the Security Goons are surprised and cannot act during this round.

Sarah is presumably taking a ready action (full action), waiting for the chaos erupts before choosing the moment to strike.

X-Cel's Defense: 16 10+3:Class+2ex +1:Armor(TuxLiner), Def 14 (flatfooted)
Riese's Unarmed Attack vs DEF 14: 20=11+9. Damage d6+5: 11=6+5.
Riese's 2nd Unarmed Attack vs DEF 16: 15=6+9

X-Cel's Unarmed Attack vs DEF 17: 21=15+3:BAB+3:Str. Damage d6+5: 6=1+3:Str+2:Feat.
X-Cel's Unarmed Attack vs DEF 17: 26=20+3:BAB+3:Str. THREAT!.
Does X-Cel want to spend an action die to activate the critical hit? This will apply the damage directly to Riese's WP without first reducing VP.

Important Note regarding Henchmen and Foils: There is some conflicting info in the SEH. The NPC Type (p.265) description indicates that Henchmen and Foils as special NPCs. The Henchmen and Foil descriptions (p.247-248) say they are Standard NPCs. I consider the info on page 265 to be correct: The pillars of villainy that they are, Henchmen and Foils are Special NPCs.))