chicago mission ♔ the people under your feet are shooting stars in the night

[rationalizes]

♬ Dreamworld - Rilo Kiley

WHO || Gar, Kat, Mark, Dumage, Martha, Myri, Buffy, Sven, Spike, Desmond Descant, ??, ?? [Closed]
WHAT || The Knights infiltrate Nightscape to intercept a deal for the Eternal Jade. And... so does Des. At the same time. Hilarity ensues???
WHERE || Chicago. Nightscape.
WHEN || Friday, March 9th, various tiemes.
HOW || Actionspam; Don't sweat tagging order.

It's been a busy day. Following Gar's discovery of a message that seems to imply a trade for the artifact known as the Eternal Jade will take place at a location called "Nightscape" the next evening, several of the Knights headed out to the area outlined in Hoffman Institute files, only to discover the place was an office building that sold pharmaceuticals. However, as Myrilandel stared at a strange canopied fruit stand attached to the front of the building, she began to notice something, well, quite odd about it. A long line of people waited against the edifice to enter the stand, but none of them looked as if they fit into the commercial sector whatsoever, with their leather, vinyl, spiked hair, glitter, colored hair, etc. In fact, only by staring at the image presented and concentrating could the others recognize there was something wrong with the whole picture - something that caused theirs eyes to rebound off from it and find the entire scene innocuous otherwise. The line of people disappeared into the canopy - but none of the crowd ever came out again, defying any logic about how many people could humanly fit inside the tiny stand at a time.

It was clear that it wasn't just any fruit stand.

It was an entrance. They quickly surmised just what it had to be an entrance to. Myrilandel managed to note a number of guards emerging from the club after hours, dressed in some kind of futuristic looking armor that... looks a lot like Halo armor. She spotted the symbol on the side of the van they climbed into, and the surveillance team took note of it before heading back to the hotel.

Meanwhile, the research team back home (Kat, Buffy, and Sven mostly, since Gar passed out asleep in her chair) threw themselves into finding out what they could about Nightscape: and found rumors about an invite-only underground club, whose location was protected by magic, which seemed to mesh with what the other Knights had seen. The most interesting aspect of the club, however, wasn't just the fact that invitations to it come in the form of pills that implant directions into the subject's unconscious mind, but that supposedly it played havoc with the memories of those who frequent it. Every visit fades from the patron's mind when they leave, in the same way a dream does - they could remember a vague feeling of what it was like, but not any details about what actually occurred - and the more they attempted to remember, the more the memories would elude them.

Today, they've managed to look up that symbol Myri noticed on the side of the van and identify it as belonging to a private security firm that hires out to wealthy patrons in often underhanded deals. Which has allowed a plan of action to be hatched. :O

The Knights will coordinate efforts to plant a fake detour between the security firm and the club, derailing a van full of guards to lead to a stop light that will be controlled by Kat. And allow them to come up through a conveniently placed manhole to plant a device on the underbelly of the truck that will cripple its battery temporarily. At this point, the Knights will assume control of the vehicle, and Kat, Gar, Buffy, and Spike will don the armor of the guards and take their weapons, proceeding to the club as security personnel. Mark and Myrilandel will transport the captured guards to somewhere safe to keep them out of the way and possibly interrogate them. Dumage and Martha will drop off Sven at the club - he'll be attempting to bluff his way through the front door as a patron so that they can have an eye in the crowd as well, and then the ladies will park on the street to sit and wait as a getaway car / backup if necessary.

Obviously, nothing could possibly go wrong. :)

[ooc; subthreads to come!]

Comments

[slays]

Kat? Gar? [ Buffy's eyes widen as they round the corner and she sees the two women, guard costume-less. Her eyes then fall on Des. ] And ... you. You are who, exactly?

[bigbad]

[Spike relaxes a bit when he turns the corner and sees their teammates. He saunters over to them, and if there's a little bit of a strut in his step, well, his new coat is just that cool, can you blame him?]

We were wondering where you got off to. [He looks over at Des curiously.] Not him, though. Did we start picking up groupies or something?

[slays]

Ooh! Are we recruiting? 'Cause, y'know, I've been throwing around this whole pamphlet idea that -- [ She looks excitable, closing the distance alongside Spike, and looking to him for support of her idea. ]

[bigbad]

[Spike does not look all that supportive. He raises an eyebrow.] You did see the sort of people that came here, right? Do you really want one of them joining up? [Sorry, Des, Spike is judging your life right now.]

[shootfirst]

[Kat slowly turns her head towards her far-too-happy-right-now teammates, and frowns]

He's a PI. Who's also after the Jade. And Gar's decided to just let anyone in.

[rationalizes]

[Bitch please. Is what Gar's face says. Only in a polite, British way. So more like 'bitch, do pardon me'.]

I've decided that if we don't act quickly, the real guards will be alerted to our presence any moment, so we may as well cooperate with the man for now.

[She glances at Buffy and Spike... and then also frowns]

Where are your uniforms...?

[nothingsodivine]

Still standing here. [Des says casually, before waving at the newbies.] I'm guessing your game is "get as many people into this as possible and hope that whole 'safety in numbers' shit still applies.'"

[slay]

Oh. Well, there was a -- A-And we decided that it'd be better if we -- [ She stumbles over her explanation, then just points at Spike. ] It was his idea. [ Moving on. She'll let Spike deal with the yelling that will come. ] So. P.I, huh? Did you manage to privately investigate exactly where this deal's going down? Because we came up empty and we've preeeetty much scoured every corner of the downstairs.

[shootfirst]

[Kat narrows her eyes at Spike, looking him up and down] ... Including the coat room?

[bigbad]

[...perhaps Spike shouldn't have based his entire strategy on getting the coat he so desired, but oh well. He doesn't really regret it. He didn't like the guard uniform anyway. He crosses his arms defensively.]

We [A glare at Buffy, who will share the blame if Spike has anything to do with it. It's not like she protested the idea. At all.] thought it'd be better if we blended in a bit better.

[rationalizes]

If you're caught up here like that, who knows what they'll do with you. [Her tone is more worried than chastising though, and she furrows her brow, thinking] Perhaps we can use that to our advantage.

[She nods to Buffy] We think we have discovered where the trade will occur. [She glances around the corner to make certain it's clear, then gestures for them to look] A group just entered those double doors down the hallway. Kat and I were already scoping out the area up here: those doors lead to the adjoining chamber between the hallway and another room, where they must be meeting. That meeting room can also be reached by a back entrance down the far corridor.

Perhaps the three of you can monitor the front exit from the chamber beyond those double doors, while Kat and I make our way to the back. We'll have both exits covered, therefore, in case they've already made the exchange.

[slays]

[ Buffy listens intently to the directions and nods. ] I think we can swing that. If they try and get through us, we'll knock 'em out cold and wait for you guys.

[bigbad]

You really enjoy violence, don't you? [Yeah, Buffy, he saw you raise your fist before he (almost literally) scared the shit out of the elevator boy. And how you whacked the previous owner of Spike's coat. And oh, Spike. He looks back up at the other three.] But all right, I'm in. Though I still don't see why we've got to babysit the new guy.

[shootfirst]

Because it looks a little more suspicious to have one regular dude trailing after two guards all buddy buddy than a group of three clubbers getting lost?

[rationalizes]

♬ Short Skirt Long Jacket - Cake

... As she says, it seems the most practical approach, although now neither of you are armed... [She frowns deeply at this, obviously concerned about leaving her hapless squires out here ): But, desperate times, etc. etc.] Though hopefully it won't come to violence. [Do you hear that, Kat? Hopefully 8| Gar goes to place her helmet back on but pauses, hesitates, and looks back at Des]

If it's answers you seek, perhaps we can make an exchange of information - if it's you who leaves here with the Jade. [And with that promise, she stuffs her hair up into the helmet again, shoulders her gun and heads off down the hall with Kat in tow]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des has just been watching this exchange, occasionally trying to get a word in edgewise, but... He's not in the special club. Sorry, Des. That's what being a lone wolf gets you- no one wants to hear your voice. But once Gar addresses him, he feigns shock.] Oh, hey. Am I a part of this conversation now? [He rolls his shoulders.] We'll see how it goes. Not really a plan guy.. Or a plays-nice-with-others-guy, but I'm willing to try new experiences. Oh... And, just in case you were wondering? [He pulls a revolver out of the back of his pants.] I'm armed. We're good.

[bigbad]

We don't need weapons. [Because Spike and Buffy both are super strong. That and Spike... can't actually consistently hit people without getting a massive headache. But he doesn't feel like admitting that one.] Planning on sharing your name any time soon?

[slays]

[ The look Buffy gives Spike says "no, I don't need a weapon. The weapon you need is called Advil." But she gets past it to address Gar and Des. ] We'll be fine. [ And to Des, she adds. ] I'm Buffy, this is Spike. And this will be easier for all of us if you learn fast to work with us.

[nothingsodivine]

As long as no one points a gun at me. [He holsters the revolver and glares at Kat. YOU ARE ON HIS SHIT LIST FOREVER, OKAY, MISSY?] Name's Desmond Descant. Descant if you know what's good for you and Des if that's too much of a mouthful.

[bigbad]

[Spike's already made up his mind to call him Desmond. Because he's contrary and wants to know exactly how it isn't good for him. So he's ignoring the instructions. Sort of.] Stop whinging. No one shot you.

[slays]

[ Oh boy. She can already tell this is gonna be fun. This much testosterone in one half of the mission. ] If either of you keeps yapping, someone will get shot. [ She rolls her eyes, and grabs onto both of their shirts, tugging them down the hall. ] See you guys inside. [ She directed at Kat and Gar, then dragged Des and Spike toward the double doors, letting go after a few steps. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

♬ The Package - A Perfect Circle

[Kat and Gar disappear down the fall hallway as the others reach the double doors. They're made of heavy wood, and have two curved golden handles.

((If they're sneaking, plz make Move Silently (Dex) checks. If anyone listens at the door, a 13 or above will confirm voices inside, but faint, since as Gar stated, there should be an empty room between them. The doors are unlocked. And to avoid having to do another tag about this since THEY WILL PROBABLY OPEN THE DOOR AT SOME POINT:

The door swings inwards, and reveals an empty sitting room. There's a rug dividing the room leading from this door to the next, and a few sparse end tables line the walls, which are covered with gilt framed mirrors. The rug is green and silver, and worked with images of the moon going through phases, each moon shape wrapped in vines, leading up to the full moon right before the second set of heavy wooden doors.]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des rolled a freakin' SEVEN, so he... Has heavy footsteps. LOOK, HE'S TRYING. And because he's the damn PI here, he gets himself free of Buffy's grip and puts his ear to the door. And... Gets a twelve, so he can't make anything out.] They might as well being saying "cucumber cucumber" or something.

[bigbad]

[...Des has nothing on Spike, who got a natural one. Vampire grace, yep. If anyone asks, it's cause Buffy was being so pushy that he... fell against the door with a loud clunking sound and a grunt of impact. It's like when he's trying to be all menacing and walks into an open grave because he's a MORON and it's hilarious. Sob, his life. At least he landed ear-first because he got a freaking 26 on his listen check. At least his... vampire super senses are working.]

I can hear them.

[slays]

[ Buffy is the only competent person here with her fourteen move silently check, and it leads to her glaring at them both. ] And I think it's safe to say they can hear us. Good job with the gracefulness. [ She rolls her eyes. ] Can you even make out anything they're saying? [ Yeah, if Spike is gonna brag, she's not gonna bother with a listen check. She has her vampire puppy for that. ]