london ♔ this is a bad town for such a pretty face

[wynn]

WHO || Wynn, Val'drin, Helen, Francesca, Eric, Lila,  Tia, Grant Peterson, Audrey Peterson, Peter Jayson, various others [closed]
WHAT || A mission gets personal when a cult takes a member of the Knights hostage
WHERE || London, England
WHEN || April 2nd, 10:30 AM  [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam or prose

This is exactly the kind of mess that the Knights like to avoid, and having two missions become very public spectacles in the course of less than a year is not doing much to keep Wynn's hair from turning... oh, wait.

It's already a media circus when the team flies out there in a helicopter that carries Francesca, Eric, Tia, and Lila. Across the street, Wynn has usurped the top floor of an office building to keep an eye on the situation. He watches the screens broadcasting the video taken by the three going on with a tense eye, along with Val'drin and Helen, who are here to consult. Below, the police have blockades of cars, officers, and police line keeping the civilians and reporters back, under orders of Chief of Police Jared O'Keefe.

The Bell 212 chopper hovers for a minute above the building, enough so that Eric can toss a long rope down to dangle over the top floor balcony in the southeast corner. He looks back over his shoulder at Lila, giving her an encouraging but grim nod, and then pulls his SWAT helmet on and grasps the rope, turning around and then hopping back as he slides down. (climb 12) the dc is 10 to climb down, and you are allowed to "take 10" (assume a roll of 10) if you don't have a negative strength score.

Comments

[socialgraces]

[ francesca wants to call her out on it now, but as long as her team is all the same page, she feels no need to start a confrontation in the middle of a much larger confrontation.

she'll just keep walking, glancing around every so often, but mostly keeping her attention on miss audrey here. ] Let's hope we can get that safe open.

[bittersweeter]

[ the way audrey touches her temple makes lila's mouth set in a line. maybe it's just a nervous tic, but tia does the same thing. and tia is a telepath. (and the only one lila can stand, ftr. no one else is allowed in lila's brain.) so on a whim... /abuses comms. ] Tia, can you recognize people like you if you're close enough?

[telekinection]

Telepaths? Not instantly, but if I make an effort to get inside their head. Of course, they're likely to know that I'm trying, unless I'm substantially more powerful than they are.

You think there's a psion here?

[bittersweeter]

I think there could be. Better safe than sorry. [ and lila sure would like to know exactly what they're dealing with here. it just twinges as skeevy and she would rather they rule that out than surprise! telepaths! when they least expect it. #reasons she is the mafia princess and anton is dead. ]

[daredtobelieve]

[Unfortunately, Helen doesn't speak drow. She looks to Val'drin and Wynn.]

Either of you catch that?

1/2

[valdrin]

She thinks the woman is hiding something. I've no idea what, though.

[sirstickuphisass]

[ they come around the corner back to where they left the others, and find eric and tia in the bathroom with unconscious/dead commandos on the floor.

the door to the safe room was obviously built to blend into the wall and look like an ordinary part of the decor. however, the intruders' efforts to get the door open have destroyed the illusion completely.

yellow spray paint now marks the doorframe, and a section of the particleboard has been pulled away to reveal an electronic lock. as eric steps away from it, they can see that wires have been disconnected from the lock and patched into a shunt of the sort that skilled burglars might use to force such a door open. eric release it with a growl. ] I can't get the damn thing. Those commandos bungled the job so badly that they can't even open it up from the inside anymore.

[bittersweeter]

Ugh, useless criminals. [ as they approach she gives tia a ~significant look, nodding toward audrey before she shoves the ak-47 into eric's hands, presents. ] I got this for you. This is the professor's wife.

[socialgraces]

[ if lila's got her eyes on audrey, here, then francesca is moving up beside eric, taking a moment to examine the lock.

she looks back to him, asking: ] May I? [ and pulls a small set of tools from her belt, quickly going to work on the lock (disable device 31), hoping and praying to hear the click of it opening sometime real soon. ]

If I get this open, make sure to be ready for whatever we may encounter inside. [ because with all the chaos, who knows it peterson is even in there alone ]

[telekinect]

[ hahaha, tia's poker face needs some work because she looks over at audrey like w h a t. yes, that is her reaction to glancing inside her head. ] You're... Grant's wife? [ sound more horrified, tia. I AM NOT WRITING MORE RIGHT NOW SO FRANCESCA IS STILL WORKING ON THE THING. ]

[bittersweeter]

She is. [ omigosh tia, get your shit together. does she need to work a bitch? you can't just get dramatic and not elaborate. this is not a cliffhanger! ]

[sirstickuphisass]

[ with a loud hiss, the lock disengages, and the door pops open. from inside the room, ten pairs of eyes gape in anticipated horror at the open door. eric trains the weapon inside, before realizing they are... likely all hostages. ]

Everyone alright?

[socialgraces]

[ francesca moves back to show her face better to the hostages inside. ] We're here to help. [ she searches the crowd of faces ] Grant, are you in there?

[antiquaria]

[ the professor pushes his way forward, looking mildly uncomfortable, but his eyes search behind them for his wife. ] Oh thank God. Audrey. [ he moves out and goes to lock her in a tight embrace, burying his face against her shoulder as one hand tangles through her hair ] I thought they might have--

[bittersweeter]

[ eleven hostages... four guards? granted, they were all in one place and audrey had her own but... that... doesn't seem practical. ] The video said he was going to kill you at 11:30, so... why did he have your wife?

[ tact. ha! ]

[socialgraces]

[ francesca's looking back to tia b/c that horror on her face did not go unnoticed, and i doubt she's doing too good a job hiding it now ] It is rather curious.

[antiquaria]

I-- I'm not sure. [ he looks anxiously back over the other hostages, who... don't look very happy, despite being rescued. he keeps one arm tightly around audrey's waist. ] But I think we should get out of the building as soon as possible. [ several of the nervous hostages agree, milling around in confusion and looking anxiously out of the room. make spot checks~ ]

[socialgraces]

[ none of this is settling particularly well with francesca, and she, too, glances around nervously (spot 29) ]

[bittersweeter]

[ (spot 21) why the fuck are you all shady as fuck? this reeks of trap or some backhanded deal. ]

[sirstickuphisass]

[ tia's too busy focusing on audrey, apparently, to notice, but the other three all manage to see at the same time - one of the 'hostages'? is carrying a gun. eric reacts instantly, pulling his weapon up and yelling: ] He's one of 'em!

[ things happen very quickly. a gun shot sounds (atk 29, dmg 7) as the disguised commando shoots one of the other hostages in the back. blood spurts everywhere and people scream, as he reaches out and grabs a random other hostage to hold in front of him as a human shield, pointing the gun at their head. the woman looks terrified and starts crying and begging slightly, terrified eyes fixed on eric's wide ones as he keeps his gun aimed at the guy. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ lila doesn't flinch. she's been in this position before, sort of. an fbi agent holding "patton", lila meant to kill him because patton made an enemy of her father. except it was cassel in a patton suit, as if she of all people wouldn't be able to recognize the stupidity seeping out of his pores. she'd shot the fbi agent, blood as bright as paint splattering against the sidewalk and cassel's cheek. her eyes dart between the commando and the hostage and eric before she opens her mouth. ]

Okay, starshine, everyone calm down. [ she holds up the gun she liberated from his friend (she should have shot him, jfc) like she's going to put it down, never mind that she still has her own in her pocket, shh. (bluff 45) ] Relax, we can be friends. [ she smiles sweetly, sparing a glance at the hostage with reassurance in her eyes. very quickly, she ejects the magazine and pulls back the slide, disarming the beretta and tossing it aside like no big dealio. (dex 16) ] See? Sign of good faith. I'm nice like that. Why don't you let my friends take the rest of the hostages outside to the police and we can talk. Just me and you. And, you know, our lady friend. [ i.e. the hostage. lila looks like a kid, she's hoping that he'll underestimate her and agree just out of some testosterone fueled machismo. (diplomacy also 45) she's 900% sure she can shoot him in the head and miss the hostage completely, but she's not that sure no one else is going to spring out of the woodwork.

and if he says no, they can still ventilate him. ]

[telekinect]

[ the guy looks back and forth between them all for a moment, seeming to consider, but then he nods a few times, pushing the barrel against the woman's head.

"Fine. Everyone else clears out. Just you."

tia glances at eric and francesca. ] Lila... you don't have to--

[bittersweeter]

It's okay, just get everyone out of here. [ they have comms, they'll still be able to talk to her. and tia has her thing. lila has faith in her ability to aggressively talk her way in and out of anything, even violence. ] We'll be fine. [ she addresses those words to the commando. we. the both of them. ]

[socialgraces]

[ yeah, francesca looks incredibly uncomfortable with this plan, shooting lila a slightly panicked look. what does she even have to offer this guy in exchange for the last hostage?? however, they're a little stuck considering that she's already made such a deal with him, and francesca no longer believes they have a chance of rescinding the offer and not having innocent blood be spilled.

with that thought, she holsters her gun, holding her empty hands up for the man to clearly see. very slowly, with her palms open for all to see, she reaches behind her neck and unclasps the chain of her necklace, carefully removing it from around her throat and lowering it into her hands. she holds it out to lila, and says firmly: ] Take this and put it on. Don't ask questions.

[ she's afraid of drawing suspicion by giving it to her, but she more afraid of leaving lila alone with a trigger-happy mercenary, so she'll just have to take her chances. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ for a long moment, lila just stares at it. she's not going to ask questions. taking it in her gloved fingers, she clasps it around her neck, the chain brushing against her scar as she tucks the familiar diamond under her shirt. she doesn't say thank you, or anything at all, because she doesn't feel like explaining to the peanut gallery about the diamond, but her eyes betray her gratitude. lila doesn't necessarily believe in it's worth, but obviously francesca does. ]