new orleans ♔ some people they call me monster | some people they call me saint

[romanticidal]

♬ Opera Singer - Cake

WHO || Rafael, Buffy, Spike, Des, Jack, Thomas, Myri, Finnick, Elena, Gar, Kat, Burt [closed]
WHAT || The Knights infiltrate NOVA to try to locate the experiments and relics mentioned by Chad & company. Shenanigans ensue.
WHERE || NOVA HQ, New Orleans
WHEN || Sunday, Nov 18th, 2012
HOW || Actionspam, don't sweat tag order! Keep it a rollin'.

Months ago, Finnick learned from Burt Becksworth about a number of construction projects Chad had contracted on the building. At the time of discovering the occult room, it was assumed the construction was to create the secret areas behind the auditorium, however, Kat's finally managed to hack into NOVA financial records and trace the contracts down.

It seems there was another, much more expensive, project, adding restructuring to the locked off basement level, to which there is no access through the public elevators. Schematics show that there is one accessible elevator shaft that goes to the lobby, which requires a key to activate the lower floor. Thomas considers it a better bet, however, to use the nearby quarry underground entrance through which construction trucks used to reach the site. Thomas will be leading a team through the underground tunnel in hopes of finding a space large enough to host the 'experiments' that Chad and company were afraid of the Knights discovering while nosing around the building.

Meanwhile, Jack wishes to discover if there are any remaining 'relics' in the building, and if so, to confiscate or document them. The heightened security within the building has made access much more problematic, and its taken awhile for him to acquire the security protocols necessary to be able to create a looped camera feed. Now that's everything's in place, he'll be infiltrating the building to override the cams, allowing Buffy, Elena, and Rafael to join him on the fourteenth floor for one last sweep of the occult room.

The situation has also grown more complicated in other ways since eavesdropping on Chad's cabal. In a gutsy move, Burt Becksworth has created an inescapable situation for Rafael and Finnick, forcing them to comply in preparing for an album and tour, lest they destroy their own reputations and become infamous in the business for backing out of their 'contracts' and letting down legion of NOVA fans. Finnick is an ideal situation to try and discover more about Burt's plans, however, and perhaps to find out incidental information concerning Chad's "Back the Fans" tour.

Comments

[notaroundme]

[Elena's not sure she likes the vagueness of his answer, but they really don't have time for it in the immediate future. They can talk about it more once they've finished escaping.

Besides, she's worried about Jack.]

Remind me not to visit if I don't have to.

[Her eyes are glued on the numbers counting down to the bottom floor.]

[slay]

What was he doing? The priest you killed. How was he hurting Shadowkind? And, better question slash follow-up, how the hell was that one stronger than me? [ it's not arrogance, it's bafflement. buffy's strength isn't exactly a secret, and it's not lack of modesty that leads her to draw attention to it - just honesty. ]

[romanticidal]

[ his eyes narrow a bit as he looks at buffy ] The Catholic Church has done some experimenting of its own, if rumors are to be believed. They have agents who are ... enhanced scientifically. [ he shakes his head ] The priest who was killed was part of an Iscariot underground attempt to destroy a network of growing Shadow churches that they considered dangerous, because of their "pagan" nature and the growing magical power of their clerics. He was part of an operation that involved dragging away church leaders in the middle of the night to kill or "interrogate" in their own cruel ways. [ his voice is hard, clearly unforgiving and unrepentant ] In Italia, the Inquisition lives on, fully prepared to do what it feels is their divine duty, of rooting out heretics and devils.

[notaroundme]

I'm assuming we mean theoretical devils here.

[Because based on what she's seen, they might be real.]

And now the one upstairs is on some kind of personal vendetta mission? [If she's following correctly. And assuming he's still upstairs. If they're lucky, he's dead and Jack is catching up with them somehow.] He picked a really bad time to show up.

[Meaning in the middle of a mission, though she wouldn't have wanted to run into him on a good day.]

[slay]

I've seen devils. [ she just personally assumes he means demons. ] Personally, I'm beginning to think people are worse. [ AT LEAST DEMONS JUST TRY TO KILL YOU. plus being bitter and cynical about that keeps her from thinking that maybe if anderson's been enhanced scientifically, that's what's going on with her. ] Do you know him, or is he just a lackey?

[romanticidal]

I had not met him, no. But I believe I had heard of him. I would guess him to be the one they call the Killing Judge: the Paladin Alexander Anderson. [ ONE MORE FLOOR TO LOBBY ]

[notaroundme]

[It's like the closer they get to the bottom floor, the more agitated and anxious she gets.

Of the three of them, she clearly has the least experience with these high tension situations. That she knows of, anyway.]

That's...a title. [Nice, Elena.] It doesn't sound like one a lackey would have.

[slay]

Gotta love a guy that appreciates alliteration. [ beat. she holds a hand to her stab wound. ] Actually, no, really don't.

[romanticidal]

We must try to take the back door out, to limit who sees us in this condition. [ although other than the whole blood spatter thing, he seems to be holding up well enough now ] Do you think you should try to call the others, alert them of the situation?

[notaroundme]

Do you want me to go ahead, make sure the coast is clear?

[She nods.]

And definitely, we should. I would want to know if a crazy, possibly immortal priest was prowling around.

[slay]

[ buffy dug into her jacket pocket, pulling out her phone, then nodded to elena. ] You check our path to the back door. I'll try to reach Kat. [ she dials up kat's number and attempts a call ... from inside an elevator shut up it works sometimes. ]

1/2

[romanticidal]

[ the door opens, and rafael holds the open button so it won't close again as they let elena out. the phone rings... and rings... ]

[shootfirst]

[ and then finally it picks up and kat is in mid-expletive ] --love of fuck, NOW ISN'T A GOOD TIME.

[notaroundme]

[Elena slips out the elevator door before it even opens halfway, peering down the hallways and heading towards the back exit, hoping desperately that it's clear the entire way. (navigation: 17, spot: 23)]

[slay]

Jack's in trouble fighting some hulked out priest, Anderson, who took his crazy pills from Iscariot. [ her words all run together in a sudden burst of babble. her worry comes first, before the actual update. ] From what I can tell, the whole Catholic Church wants Rafael's head on a stick, and they sent their biggest gun to get in our way.

Jack told us to bail - so, how can we help with your bad time, 'cause operation relic retrieval's a super bust.

[shootfirst]

[ it's later in the day, so it's not as packed as usual, but there are definitely some people milling about not too far from the elevators. the back halls, however, are clear. ]

Yeah well, we're sorta fighting melting zombies down here so you might wanna try to hack that service elevator and give us a hand.

[notaroundme]

[She heads back as fast as she can without alerting the people near the elevators too much. She doesn't want to looked panicked.

She leans into the elevator.]

We're good. Let's go.

[slay]

Got it. [ she hangs up without another word, not wanting to distract kat. ] Zombies down the service elevator. We need to help them. Chances are, Mr. I-Missed-When-The-Crusades-Ended won't know to follow us down there, either. [ she looks to rafael. ] Can you fight? [ because she sure as fuck can ... maybe ... ]

[romanticidal]

Si. [ the service elevator is around the corner, and they can make it there with no real problems, the masses CRIT FAILED THEIR SPOT CHECKS and look right past y'all. B)

but once in the elevator it requires a key to turn it to the basement level. ]

[notaroundme]

[Oh my god you guys, how did escaping out the backdoor turn into staying. And fighting zombies.]

This is crazy, you realize that, right?

[But she said they needed help, so she presses her lips together, and just nods.]

Alright, then. It can't get much worse, right?

[Famous last words...

And another problem.]

I hope one of you knows how to pick that lock.

[...Does that kind of thing even work in this case?]

[slay]

Never tried. [ buffy's going to set about trying to smash the buttons and then pulls a bobby pin free from her hair to try and jam it in the lock and jimmyrig it into operating (disable device 13). ]

[romanticidal]

[ it is not... working so well. rafael offers to try, asking for the bobby pin, but he doesn't have much luck either. he bangs a fist against the side of the elevator ] There must be a way. [ he looks up, and his eyes light. there's a tiny emergency hatch up top, yo ]

[notaroundme]

[Elena looks up, then over at Buffy.]

Give me a boost?

[slay]

[ with a strength check of 16, buffy's much more successful at crouching down and hoisting elena easily up to reach the hatch. ]

Should have guessed. When have we ever had it the easy way? [ she grimaces, a twinge in her injury at the pull of her working muscles. ]

[romanticidal]

[ and rafael will give buffy a boost, hopefully with an added assist from elena above (str 15). but he's gon' need a hand up, guys. ]