essen ♔ where not a single soul gets through

[superswank]

♬ rainbow factory - glaze

WHO || Sydney B., Andrew, Diana, Felicity, Sebastian [Closed]
WHAT || The Knights investigate a hacker friend of Andrew's who has gone off the grid
WHERE || Essen, Germany
WHEN || Jan 10th, shortly before 7pm [forwarddated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

The flight to Essen is very short, only about half an hour, and Sydney makes good time flying them there. Wynn has a car already rented and waiting for them as usual and then it's a short drive to the coordinates Lady Nell sent them.

While the neighborhood in question was once a very nice residential development, it now shows decades of neglect. There is a squat, one-story storefront across from what appears to be a riot control vehicle that appears severely battered.

Comments

[opprobrium]

[ He fell back after a shockingly harsh string of curses flew from his lips. he had already been hurt once and this slash was no walk in the park. He He pulled back some.]

Shot it! [ Well, so much for a weak spot for kids.]

[superswank]

[ syd doesn't shoot it, but she does move forward to deliver an axe kick to the thing (atk 20, dmg 10), although her second kick goes over its head.

the little girl behind them says eerily: "Hello, brother."

she turns to look up at andrew, tilting her head. "You should stop them from hurting my brother." time to make a will save dc 15 andrew... ]

[badexample]

[just gonna slide it in here that Andrew barely failed that will save with a 14 so whatever he's gonna do when it's his turn is probably not his call... Carry on with your regularly scheduled init.]

[opprobrium]

[ Sebastian is still scooting back because holy shit that thing is creepy as fuck. IT MADE HIM BLEED HIS OWN BLOOD! ]

[badexample]

[With his failed will save, Andrew turns towards the biggest threat in the room- which would be Syd. Drawing his gun from his waistband, he fires. But thankfully he's a shitty shot (attack 8). All of this is done without a word from him.]

[superswank]

Andrew! [ syd stares at him in disbelief, before looking at the little girl with narrowed eyes. dat bitch.

meanwhile, that creepy little boy crawls out from beneath the gurney to stand, and then raises one hand. a black ray projects from his pointing finger towards sydney, but she manages to duck out of the way. she looks ready to break for the little girl but apparently THEY CAN BOTH DO MAGIC. her first kick misses the little boy (atk 12) but her next one strikes him right in the head (atk 24, dmg 7).

the little girl turns her wide eyes to felicity next... (also a dc 15 will save). "Are you going to let her kill my brother?" ]

[opprobrium]

[ Sebastian scrambled up to his feet, trying to ignore that pain in his leg. Combined with his arm having been bit earlier he was having a bang up day. Moving to try and get back to give himself time to come up with a plan. It's on the others.]

[badexample]

[Andrew is still under the whims of the little girl so he's going to just fire at Syd again. But he still sucks (attack 7) so this is just sad. Should have picked a more competent person to brainwash, little creepy child.]

[superswank]

[ creepy little child reaches out to try to grab syd by the wrist (successful touch attack), and dark electricity crackles from his palm, as she grits her teeth against the pain (5 dmg) ]

[allmydreams]

[Felicity turns to look at the creepy child, trying to mind whammy her, tips her head to the side, before nodding (will save 18).]

Yeah. Pretty sure that's exactly what I'm going to do.

[And she'll draw her gun and point it at the kid for good measure.]

Wonder what'll happen if I shoot you though.

[superswank]

[ syd moves to break free of the grip and crit fails, falling backwards into a gurney that contains one of the women, ripping out some of the tubes she's hooked up to. beeping noises go off wildly, filling the room, as the little girl scowls at felicity.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." ]

[opprobrium]

[ Here he was without a sword, and he never did take the course on guns so he did not have one on him. Still injured he started to push himself up forcing down the panic.

Leering at the children he spoke painly trying to force down everything but to look frightening and bluff his ass off (Bluff check 14 + Intimidate 17) ]

Back the fuck off or you will not live to see another day.

[badexample]

[With Syd on the ground and Felicity attacking the little girl, I presume that Andrew would turn his attention to Felicity. That same blank stare is plain on his face as he raises his gun to aim at her and fires.

...But again he can't hit the broad side of a barn (or the barn side of a broad) with his attack of 14.]

[superswank]

[ both of them failed their will saves, which means they are effectively demoralized, obviously casting uncertain looks in his direction, unsure of how dangerous the tiefling might prove to be as a foe. they each take a -2 to all their rolls. the boy scowls and raises a hand to cast a 'cause fear' spell on felicity. a dc 15+ will resists the urge to flee and leaves her shaken for only one round. ]

[allmydreams]

[Fortunately for Felicity her will saves keep being awesome (will save 21). She's shaken at the feel of the spell but she manages to keep her cool. Mostly. She grits her teeth in the face of the fear and keeps her gun trained on the little girl as Andrew's shot misses her.]

I think I'd rather figure that out for myself.

[And with that she fires once at the little girl, trying to keep her arm steady and not shaking (attack nat 20, 24 total, damage 20). The fear feeds her anger more than anything else and she's done with this part of the mission.]

[superswank]

[ felicity's shot hits the little girl right between the eyes, which is pretty disturbing because SHE'S JUST A LITTLE GIRL. whose brains just splattered everywhere. super dead.

syd pushes back off from the gurney and whips her foot around at the boy's head again (atk 15, dmg 12). it's enough to knock him back, sending him skidding across the floor, where he slumps, unconscious.

andrew, in the meantime, snaps out of his mental haze. /init ]

[allmydreams]

[Yeah, that's totally not traumatizing at all. She stares at the body for a moment, her hand shaking, before steadying herself with a deep breath and glancing back to Andrew.]

You okay?

[Please say she didn't break you somehow over some weird mental link that you had with the creepy child she just killed.]

[badexample]

[The haze pulls back from Andrew's mind and he feels... intensely shitty.]

Sorry. For... shooting at you. [Not that he hit anyone...] What the hell were those things?

[superswank]

[ syd is standing over them, staring down too, and it's hard to miss what she sees - where felicity's bullet went through the little girl's head, some kind of internal wires are sparking through the brain matter. it looks like a combination of organic and robotic. ] I think that's the question of the hour. [ her gaze raises slowly to rake across the women here. ] They were protecting whatever's going on here.

[allmydreams]

[Even better. Creepy cyborg spell casting children. That only makes her feel slightly better about shooting a child in the face. But only slightly.

That being said, she turns her attention to the rest of the mothers.]

Do you think we should get them a doctor? An actual non-terrifying, not mad scientist doctor?

[superswank]

The sooner, the better. Andrew, do you think you could see if there's anything in those computers? [ she nods at a bank on the far wall ]

[opprobrium]

[ Sebastian felt a little ill having watched the girl get splattered but it was time to suck it up.]

I want to know what they are protecting.

[badexample]

[Nodding, Andrew goes to fuss with the computers, trying not to think about how fucking weird this whole thing has been (computer use 28)]

[allmydreams]

[She shifts to fish out her phone, staring at the screen for a moment as she considers.]

112 or should I be calling one of our doctors?

[Basically, will the women be safe with normal doctors (knowledge 17 for knowing the number for EMS in Germany - it's an important thing to know)?]

[superswank]

I'd call the local authorities, unless Andrew finds something to indicate they were in this place's pocket.

[ meanwhile, andrew finds no such thing, but what he does find is bone-chilling.

during something called project icarus, a secret eugenics experiment in applying cultured biotech to unborn fetuses. first one, then another of the subjects were born healthy, magically active, with fully operating bioware, and without the loss of magical potential usually associated with the implementation of bioware into grown adults. the project was officially shut down, but secretly relocated to this facility and attempts to replicate the results began.

the project brought in new personnel, who were 'disappeared' by the corp and now live their lives in secret, repeating the experiment. they have thus far failed, and have abandoned in vitro experiments in favor of using "natural" subjects. this seems to mean that they kidnap healthy young women who have recently become pregnant and have a family history of magical activity.

files exist about the two children who were the products of the original successful experiment: theseus and ariadne, eight and six years old, who evidence suggests were brainwashed to serve the project. ]