new orleans ♔ there's always a siren singing you to shipwreck

[dragonsclaw]

♫ Butterflies and Hurricanes - Muse

WHO || Buffy, Alainn, Rose, Sam, Dean, Faith, Felicity, Isabella  [closed]
WHAT || The Ex-Knights of Failboat head off to interrupt an auction for Rafael Giovanni's life...
WHERE || New Orleans, LA
WHEN || A couple weeks post-LA
HOW || Actionspam

Held in the grasp of the Knighthood's enemies for a stretch of time that has been an aching splinter in the heart of the ones who love him, Rafael Giovanni's life now stands up for auction.  Having made a number of powerful enemies in his days as the vigilante assassin The Black Scourge, including the secret Vatican police known as Iscariot, Draken Crombe's organization sought to capitalize on the many who sought revenge by sending out word that Eterna Jade was not, as his trial had seemed to prove, the Black Scourge at all, and offer the chance to kill or torture Giovanni to whoever would pay the largest sum.

The Knights, being made aware of this, did what they could to stymie this auction from coming to pass, and Buffy Summer and Jack Chessing managed to at least thwart it several times, leading to its cancellation and inevitable rescheduling elsewhere.  However, none of this led to Giovanni's actual location. 

The capture of Draken Crombe finally allowed them to learn of the latest plans for the auction - to be held at a location in New Orleans, a temple of some sort.  It seems that Crombe's other followers still intend to follow through with ridding themselves of Rafael, making it clear that even with Crombe in Knights' custody, the villains still have some organization or leadership.  Tia Ellison rattled out the plan by invading Crombe's mind, learning of the way that he had been psychically manipulated by the Mind Master for years, and doing what she could to start to heal his shattered psyche.  

Jack Chessing, eager to see Rafael rescued after their many efforts, cautioned however against sending too many on what might be a mission from which there is no returning.  To that end, they've tried to split the forces of their magic-users, fighters, and researchers.

Now, it's up to a few to save their friend... without losing any more.

Comments

[klep]

[Felicity nods as she follows Sam's lead, inching forward towards the large door at the end of the hallway and doing her best to keep her ears open (move silently 27, listen 18).]

[familybusiness]

[Listen 20, move silently 18]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ their trek down the hall doesn't seem to attract any attention, and when they get to the big doors, they hear a lot of hub-bub out there - it sounds like a general party atmosphere, lots of chatting and conversation. ]

[familybusiness]

[Sam's brows furrow as he listens before glancing to Felicity, speaking low.]

Auction hall?

[Sounds like maybe pre-festivities, maybe some drinks to grease the palms of the attendees.]

[klep]

[She nods, because that's her thinking too. When she speaks, she's also keeping her voice low.]

They're probably keeping him somewhere nearby.

[And she'll start glancing around for any clues (spot nat 20, 40 total).]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ felicity notices a few things that help identify some of the doors in this area: she can catch a glimpse of black and white tiles beneath one door that seem to indicate a kitchen. other rooms general shape based on what she note of the layout seem to indicate office rooms or something of that size. there are a few ducts in this hallway high up. ]

[klep]

[She takes all of this in for a moment, before pointing to the black and white tiles - ]

Kitchen.

[She turns and points to the rest.]

Some offices, maybe? I'd offer to crawl around in the vents and investigate some more, but I'm not sure I'd fit.

[New body proportions + uncertainty of the vent size = complications.]

[familybusiness]

If one of us is gonna fit, it's going to be you.

[He squats down low, turning around.]

I'll boost you up. Might as well check if you can fit or not.

[klep]

[Felicity nods, before following his lead, using the boost to get hoisted up to the vents and see if she can get herself inside (disable device 42 if she needs it to get part of the vent off or something?).]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ she manages to unscrew the vent with incredible ease, sliding it free and squeezing in with zero problems. it branches ahead, going back down the hall the way they came from originally, and also in the direction of the big room. ]

[klep]

[She's going to head towards the big room, keeping an ear out to see if she can hear anything that would be of interest to them (listen 31).]

[familybusiness]

[After seeing Felicity get into the vent with zero problems, he figures he might as well try to follow after her, jumping up and then pulling himself in after her (climb? 23).]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ it's a tight and uncomfortable squeeze for sam, his shoulders getting stuck a few times, but he manages to push after her. felicity makes it to the vent over the large room, where she hears voices in a number of languages speaking. she has to hold very still for a bit to start differentiating anything of note, but she hears enough hub-bub to realize that they are about to start, and then a clear voice rings out, announcing that the auction will begin in five minutes. ]

[klep]

[Softly, quietly:]

Shit.

[She glances back to Sam over her shoulder.]

They're starting the auction.

[familybusiness]

[Correct me if this isn't a good assumption but I'm gonna assume they're rigged to chat with each other like normal so he'll send a message over to the rest of the team who's probably waiting on their intel. His voice is hushed and low so that those below them don't hear.]

We're inside. Got eyes on what I think is the main room. Auction starts in five minutes.

[msattentionspan]

[Faith, unlike her writer, has been with them the whole time. However, having all three of them in a vent doesn't seem the smartest play. She watches as they both head in and she stays out at the entrance of the vent to keep watch. Truthfully, she's shocked Sam fit. He's a big fella. (spot 17, listen 22)

With word being passed that the auction is starting in five minutes, she's pretty sure that's going to mean everyone needs to figure this out quickly.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ annnd faith starts to hear footprints exiting the auction hall in their direction... ]

[slay]

Forget uniforms. Can you get into the auction hall?

[ Buffy's officially on team 'burst in and pull out guns the minute Rafael's on the block.' Buffy is maybe not thinking 100% clearly. She's been waiting for literal months (years??) at this point. ]

[likedillinger]

You got eyes on the floor? [ dean pipes up right after buffy on the headset ] Any idea what we're dealing with in there?

[msattentionspan]

[Aaaand this seems headed straight for a charge in, no risks calculated type situation fast approaching.]

They have eyes on the floor -- I have someone headed my way, from the auction hall. I can take out whoever's headed this way -- but we're looking at everything happening right now.

[She's going to move to press herself against the wall that's near the door that she assumes is going to open at any moment.]

[klep]

[Felicity inches a little bit closer, trying to see what she can see from the floor (spot 37).]

I've got eyes, but I'm coming at it from an angle that might be a bad one.

[likedillinger]

[what felicity can see is that the room itself seems to be rather vast, and filled to the brim with people, many of whom are dressed rather elegantly, although some are in robes of varying styles and colors that seem like vestments of some sort. she can't see rafael from this angle, but she can make out snake-bloods in white robes milling through the crowd, as well as more guards like those they saw outside.

outside, dean looks to buffy, his hand itching towards his weapon ] We gotta get in there. Now.

[klep]

I can't see Rafael from here, but there are a good amount of snake-bloods and a ton of people. I'll try and keep you posted, but I agree, you guys should get in here as fast as you can.

[And she'll keep a look out from here while you guys work your way inside.]

[familybusiness]

If you've got this here, I'll get down and help Faith.

[And then he's gonna wiggle on out of this vent since she's staying put, landing back on the ground.]

[savemyself]

You do not have to tell me twice. [ isabella snaps somewhat testily at dean's words, immediately drawing her own weapon and making a beeline towards the back door unless someone stops her ]