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

[nothingsodivine]

[Des stays stubbornly silent for a few seconds, before he wilts under Gar's sensible British-ness.] Eternal Jade. Ring any bells? I'm a PI. [He points to his pocket.] If I get my license out, will the scary blonde blow my head off or are you gonna take my word for it?

1/2

[shootfirst]

[They stand there for a second, no one speaking, when finally the blonde pipes up again, snapping the silence.]

... I’m gonna shoot him.

[rationalizes]

Stop that. Put that gun away. [Gar reaches out and lowers the barrel again with her gloved hand, and then shakes her head very slowly. Kat slowly complies, but it's obviously grudgingly.]

I believe you. But you must understand... We are here to appropriate the Jade. For our own … organization. [There's something significant in the way she says that word as well. Dun dun dun]

[nothingsodivine]

Well, obviously, you're not working for the free-fucking-masons, because I don't think they let trigger-happy people into that club. [He shoots Kat a pointed glare.] Look. I don't care who gets the damn thing. Mostly? I wanna know who's behind this damn club and anything else is incidental. [This is a lie.] So now that you know you're not in the middle of a goddamn Cary Grant movie, we can either trust each other and hash out who's getting what out of this or this can get really complicated. I hate complicated almost as much as I hate getting shot.

1/2

[rationalizes]

[Yeah, Kat goes to raise the gun again, but Gar just pushes it right back down without even looking over, as if she knew that's what the girl was gonna do.]

I suppose what's most important is that the Jade doesn't fall into the hands of whoever those men are. If you feel the same, I don't see any harm in working together on this.

[shootfirst]

Awesome. Just what we need. Her sarcasm doesn't seem to sit well with Gar, but the apparently older (though not by much) woman brushes it off.]

[nothingsodivine]

I'm glad we're on the same page. [He points at Gar.] And you, darlin', are obviously the brains of this bunch. What's your game?

[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.