andres ♔ but what he told me last night lays on me like lead

[affianced]

♬ dear ophelia - abney park

WHO || Buffy, Myri, Finnick, Spike, Kat, Gar, Archer, Des, Rafael, Fred Jr., Vi, Rocket, Lara, Dimitris  [Closed]
WHAT || A diplomatic mission to Andres Isle goes about as successfully as one would guess
WHERE || Andres Isle
WHEN || August 15th  [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

Even the briefing for this mission went well, with Wynn walking in on Dragon's Claw Jack Chessing macking on Sir Gar, in direct violation of his vows of, er, abstinence, both romantically and physically.   Following the briefing, and the team's attempts to make Wynn see reason in the face of Jack's resignation, they gathered up a large amount of weapons of all kinds into their private plane and took off for Andres Isle.  

Upon arrival, they found the island did not match up to their expectations.  Instead of fields of torture, they found themselves in a very upscale part of the city, full of affluent manor houses close to the palace.   They spun a cover story upon learning about a party there, using Finnick's celebrity on Andres to get access to the festivities.  

Inside, they met Dimitris Sarandis, Prime Minister of Andres Isle, who invited them to stay for the party, which was being thrown in honor of Countess Lara Tamon, who had helped Jack, Spike and Myri escape from their torment on the Isle.  They took the opportunity to chat up the local aristocracy, picking up the vibe that most of them had either benefited from Dimitris' rise to power, or were too afraid to stand up to him.  Spike talked to the Marquesse de Lyons, and learned that her son, Percy, had been a friend of the late Prince's, and had died shortly after voicing his belief that Sarandis had framed the Andres family in order to seize power.   Archer was shocked to find his manservant Woodhouse employed at the palace, and extra annoyed to learn that he didn't remember him.  For once, Archer found a reason to care about liberating the Andresians... if not purely for selfish reasons.

The party itself was to announce the breaking of the betrothal that had long stood between Lara and the late Prince, even after his death, a blemish on the reputation of the Tamon family that Sarandis sought to rectify by arranging a new betrothal: between Lara and her childhood friend, Lord Michael de Collines (aka Michael Collins).  Neither of them seemed particularly thrilled about the arrangement.  Lara managed to sneak a message to Myri to meet her that night under the bridge.

Following the announcement, the gang went to speak to Sarandis in private and find out his demands for the safe return of Sir Thomas Bancroft.  He wasted no time in making clear his position - he painted the Knight's vigilante attitude towards policing the world as the ultimate evil, and warned that no more Knights would set foot on Andres, lest they be killed.  He also demanded that Wynn himself bring the artifact Excalibur to the island to give to him - so that Dimitris could behead Wynn in exchange for Thomas' life.  The demands were met with outrage by the Knights, and in the face of their fear that Thomas was not even still alive, Sarandis agreed to let one of them stay the night to speak with the Dragon's Claw.   He specified that Kat be the one to stay, and despite protests, she agreed, and convinced Gar to let her stay.  

The other Knights headed back into town, where Gar, Fred Jr., and Vi headed to the nearby hotel to wait to hear from Kat, and be ready in case they should need to reach the palace quickly.  The others headed to the bridge across the river, where they met with Lara and her friend Lord Dana Green, another of her childhood friends.  They explained the situation on the Isle, and how many of the younger generation wished to see things returned to the way they'd been before, but the challenges they faced in doing so seemed almost insurmountable to them.  Lara expressed her fears that toppling Sarandis' rule would only wind up putting Andres in an even worse position.  They also related how Dimitris had created programs and taxes that had basically banished Shadowkind to the other side of the river and left them all but destitute, all while pumping more and more money into the coffers of the rich, particularly those serving on his Parliament.   She secured the Knights' promise to help in every way they could, and Myri asked her to show the way back into the woods where she'd found them before.

Finnick, Archer, and Rafael crossed the bridge into the Shadow village to do some recon, and spoke with a local tavern owner/dwarf who related that people down here were turning up missing more and more often - likely to feed Dimitris' experiments in the woods.  They seemed largely disheartened, but could potentially be talked into fighting if giving the means to do so.

In the woods, the others ran across a strange talking raccoon named Rocket, who was running for his life from a beholder, which the party managed to take down.  They discovered that Rocket had escaped from captivity in Dimitris' labs, and he was none too happy at the prospect of going back, even to show them where it was.  They argued briefly over the best course of action - whether the break out would be the best or worse time to try to make their way into the lab, particularly given that Dimitris had Kat as well now. 

Comments

[beatupgrass]

[hiiiiii guys.

rocket all but literally slides in and grabs the gun abandoned by no face right there. he's just gonna take a moment and just be SO HAPPY he has a decent gun again. that and i don't have any damage die with me. Shh shh. Let him enjoy this
]

I thought you idiots were never gonna show up.

[isisagent]

[Archer reloads his gun, and puts it away... Then he deftly crouches down and snaps the guard's neck, with a Str check of 22.]

Let's move.

[... Then his brain processes.]

What in the fuck is THAT? [He points at Rocket.]

[slay]

[ Buffy looks up at Rafael when she feELS HIM WATCHING HER like he's asking permission and her stomach sinks, twisting with a sick feeling that has bile rising in her throat. The last thing she wants to do is give him the nod. This all sits badly enough to start, hiding bodies and killing people who are just following orders, but the guy is in pain, and—

The snapping noise makes her eyes widen, expression awash with disbelief. She knows exactly what made the sound without looking, and her eyes never leave Rafael's as her gaze becomes strained. Her eyes sting and she finally clenches them shut, steeling her gut.

Now's not the time.

Her head ducks a little, shoulders hunching and she finally opens her eyes, looking away from Rafael as she starts towards Rocket and the plane. ]

Their fugitive. He's coming with us. We need do something with the bodies; let's clean this up and be ready to go when the others get here.

[ 'We' really means Archer and Spike should totally do something with the bodies, because she's already walking away and expecting Rocket to follow so they can find somewhere on the plane to hide him in case this ... becomes a problem again. ]

[bigbad]

[Wow why is this always a problem.]

...don't reckon me eating 'em would help anything?

[Probably not, no, since he just goes for the blood. He huffs out a sigh and lights a cigarette.]

All right. [He looks up at Archer.] You've got booze on you, right? Let's set these poor bastards alight. [He glances around vaguely for some gasoline but I'm guessing a search check of 9 won't help much.]

[isisagent]

. . . [Archer blinks slowly.]

The rabbit is a fugitive? [He asks Spike dumbly, as he sifts through his coat and pulls his flask out, handing it his way.]

[He just looks so dazed and confused. And also probably a bit pale. He's down a few gills of O+.]

[beatupgrass]

[rocket fixes archer with a bared-teeth scowl that basically dares him to say one more word. HE IS DONE WITH THE ANIMAL JOKES TONIGHT. But since Buffy is leaving and he has a gun, he shoulders the thing and follows after her.]

I've met some whackjob Terrans in my life, but you people are about the craziest I've seen.

[it's maybe about halfway a compliment.]

[bigbad]

[Spike glances over at Archer but only gives 24% of a fuck that he looks like he's gonna keel over. He can sleep it off. Spike pulls the second soldier over to the first, then pours out some the booze over them both, then uses his lighter to set them on fire, managing to avoid burning himself in the process (reflex 27).]

[slay]

[ doo doo boarding the plane with the raccoon and the italian. ]

If you can believe it, this is really one of our better days. Nights. Both.

[ says the girl who doesn't know about kat yet. she climbs aboard the plane and enters the cockpit to get it going (pilot 19??? wtf???) so that it's ready to take-off when the others arrive. la di da flipping switches. ]

[isisagent]

Another bang-up job, Spork.

[And with that, Archer gets on the plane and sits near the back, alternating between taking swigs of whiskey, and pulling pieces of bullet out of himself with a 15 Treat Injury check.]

[beatupgrass]

[Yeah, Rocket is so done with consciousness. This has been the worst night ever and he is gonna find a seat and cuddle this machine gun for awhile. Okay? Okay.

So there's a raccoon spooning a machine gun on this plane. That definitely happened.]

[rationalizes]

[ it's probably not hard to notice gar's trauma face when she boards the plane. she barely notices that the guards are gone out front, honestly. she does notice the weapons missing but it's just a fucking lovely end to a fucking lovely day. she stares at them all almost blankly, trying to summon up the words. the... lack of kat boarding behind her probably says something, though, and she looks back over her shoulder as the others file in. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des files in behind her and sighs.]

So Sarandis brainwashed Kat, because, apparently, he has to make quota on his fucking villain card or something.

[He flops into a seat near the front.] And you guys apparently lit some people on fire. This has been a great morning.

[bigbad]

Not until after we killed them. [Spike stands up, frowning.] What do you mean, brainwashed?

[nepotism]

She thinks she loves him. [ he sounds like he can barely get the words out, disgust ripe in his voice as he slams down into a seat across the aisle from des ] We don't know what he did. But whatever it was, it worked.

[slay]

[ yeah buffy's heading back into the cabin to look everybody over and do a headcount and what the fuck did she just walk into. des, a little sensitivity. please. ]

... Loves Sarandis? Is this some kind of sick joke?

[65]

[finnick is just helping himself to the mini-bar and dropping down in a seat. he needs like fifty bottles of tiny booze. but there were only three. to buffy:] You'll notice no one's laughing. She's resigning from the knights and staying here.

[rationalizes]

You should have seen her, Buffy. [ gar manages to speak, sounding as traumatized as she looks ] She... she wasn't herself. She wouldn't listen to any of us, no matter what we had to say.

I can't believe we-- [ she has to stop herself, can't bear to say 'left her there', but the guilty looks she sends back at the rest of those who were there says it all ] He had all the cards and he knew it. He knew there was nothing we could do without handing him the justification to kill us all right then and there.

[nothingsodivine]

He wanted us to do it. The son of a bitch found a place to stick the knife and twisted it. That's why he went for Kat. He knew how much it would hurt to see her like that and what it would do to us as a whole. He went after Myri, 'cause she's the heart. He went after Kat, because she's our iron will. Nothing breaks Kat. Nothing.

[He rubs his head.] He's playing a dirty game. We need to figure out how to play dirtier.

[slay]

Of all people.

[ She looks at Gar, visibly sickened. Nat 20 wisdom check means she definitely recalls why this is especially bad for Kat. ]

And he knows, doesn't he?

[ Because Olean was in on all of this shit. Her hands clench into fists, shaking at her sides. ]

He's not getting away with this. We're getting her back.

[bigbad]

He's a dead man.

[It's not like it's new, Spike wanting Sarandis dead, but he 100% means it this time. Sarandis is going to die. And before that, he's going to suffer.]

Don't care what the revolutionary-wannabes say, he's dead. The rest of the country can hang itself.

[beatupgrass]

[You better be damn glad that Rocket's asleep back there, because he would probably punch you in the face.

With this gun.

I mean it wouldn't do any good, but the sentiment is there.

#savedmorecivilianlivesthansuperman.]

[isisagent]

[There's a clink as Archer discards a bloody slug in the aisle.]

Sounds like a mind control chip. [And he plunges the tool back in, digging for more horrible metal bits.]

[He grumbles;] Fucking hollow-points... Anyway, we can fix it we just need to remove it. It's practically outpatient.

[witchwoman]

[As soon as Myri gets on the plane, she is going to head for the bathroom to have a cry. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Now that she doesn't have to front to save face in front of Dimitris she can properly fall apart. She may just spend the whole ride in here.]

[nothingsodivine]

I think the fact that Sarandis has his own pop star with mind whammy and the Mind Master on speed dial will make this a little more complicated than major brain surgery.

[and now that he's done throwing shade at archer, he will get up and follow myri to the bathroom and rap on the door with a knuckle.]

Little Bit? You okay in there?

[slay]

We're really leaving without her?

[ It's not that Buffy begrudges any of them the fact, nor does she miss all the reasons they have to, but numb disbelief creeps out of her in a quiet voice. ]