[IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Deadline

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mrdent12
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by mrdent12 »

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 2
CND: Haunted
Form: Solid


At least the gas station was easy enough. Hopefully the Impala wasn't flagged by the public. If it was, this was going to be a short trip and his odds of survival were rather low. "We have company. Remember the plan. Partying and fixing up a car in the desert. We just partied a bit too hard and want to get a place to sleep it all off.", says Diego to the others.

Diego plays it cool. He's been in tough spots before. As a spy, you weren't really allowed to call yourself one until you got through checkpoints without causing a scene. Russia, under the guise of being an interpreter for an oligarch was Diegos time. His handler needed some info from a courier and he had to get it out of the country. Working for an Oligarch gave some level of protection and it worked that one time. Now, somehow he doubted it would work again. For now, he kept his eyes open and read the scene as he drove. Were the people at the checkpoint on alert, did the trailing soldiers look like they were eyeing the car, and any number of variables he learned over the years.
Spycraft 13, blah crap roll again.
Perception 31, he might not understand the behaviours accurately, but he can see them pretty well
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Sakuro
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by Sakuro »

OOC wrote:
mrdent12 wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2022 1:13 pm insight 14 I'm at work, so editing posts is a bit tough on my mobile.
I am going to wait for the other players to get a post in before putting up a proper storyteller post.
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
Storyteller for In the Shadow of Imperator
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Supernaturalist
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by Supernaturalist »

John Steiner
HP:4
Cnd: Fatigued; Impaired (-2 circumstance penalty to all skill rolls)
PP:0
"We have company. Remember the plan. Partying and fixing up a car in the desert. We just partied a bit too hard and want to get a place to sleep it all off."
John lies under the tarp in the back seat of the car. With luggage, overnight-bags, and other items on top of him, he is uncomfortable to say the least. When Diego speaks, the veteran soldier just remains quiet. In his hands, a combat knife and a suppressed-pistol are gripped loosely for the moment. I wonder what the cops are gonna think about partiers covered in a tarp and and a bunch of gear? In his mind John kept going through possible scenarios of what might soon happen. Most of them ended in imminent bloodshed. He had faced death numerous times in his life. He knew how to die. Actually the dying was the easy part...doing one's duty was the hard part.

I hope the Dark Ascendant has a silver-tongue or this mission is soon sunk.
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Supernaturalist
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by Supernaturalist »

Iona
HP: 1
VP: 0
Cnd: Normal
PP:0
EP:3
Dominion Point: 0
"We have company. Remember the plan. Partying and fixing up a car in the desert. We just partied a bit too hard and want to get a place to sleep it all off."
Iona hears Diego's voice from the front seat. Already she is concerned that this stop might result in a full-blown confrontation. From the rear floorboard, she speaks up loud enough for Diego to hear her through the tarp and luggage. "If you feel that conflict is unavoidable, I can attempt to create a broad-spectrum field of white-noise to scramble radio and phone transmissions in the area. If successful, we could do our dirty-work and be on our way without a signal being sent. This could buy us some time to make our way further into the city in order to find an alternate way to travel to our final destination with the contact." Iona then proceeds to consider the possible ways that her EM manipulators could be used to create a large enough field of adequate strength to "silence" everyone in the nearby roadblock.
OOC: I'm willing to take any suggestions on how I could create an AE that would allow us to thwart all nearby communication while we massacre all witnesses in the proximity of the roadblock. Yep...this is a villian's game alright.
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kenseido
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by kenseido »

Aiden Starr
HP: 2, Condition: Fatigued

Aiden groans slightly. This is literally the worst-case scenario. Surrounded by enemies ready to open fire, far far away from Shrike. If he tried to engage the virtual interface, someone would probably get antsy and open fire. He doesn't even have his flight suit on!

And if they are here for them specifically, that means air support is also nearby. So bringing Shrike was even more risky. He had no choice but to trust Diego and the others to get him out of this. He buries his head deeper in the seat and covers with his arm, appearing bothered by the light.

That f**king crystal had better have the most important information in all of human history!
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Sakuro
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by Sakuro »

There are no signs of civilian vehicles as far as the eye can seen. As you get closer Diego notices that the vehicles are arrayed to block the road, forming a barricade of metal with soldiers and police officers in firing positions behind them. At the center is the thickly armored personnel transport with a heavy machine gun mounted on the roof. All weapons are pointed at your vehicle. To the sides of the road, past the metal guard rails, Diego notices tire tracks in the dirt leading to a hill on the right side and behind a dilapidated warehouse on the left side of the road. Behind you the police car that had been following you turns into the center of the road, block off an easy exit.

Once you close to within one hundred feet of the wall of vehicles a soldier in desert camo approaches, an M4 assault rifle held in his hands, though the weapon was at ease. He walks up to the driver side door and peers inside the vehicle. He makes a gesture with his off hand, signaling for Diego to roll down his window. Before Diego can get a word in the soldier gives curt directions.

"Turn the vehicle off. Put your hands on the dash board. Both of you."
OOC wrote:John and Iona, make a Stealth check with a +5 circumstance bonus.
Evelyn Gracen, in AEGIS Squad
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kenseido
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by kenseido »

Aiden Starr
HP: 2, Condition: Fatigued

Aiden takes a deep breath, and then whines "Turn out the light!" He then curls up more into a ball to take Diego's earlier suggestion to heart. With his body turned toward the seat, he puts his finger down his throat and throws up all over his shirt.

Jerking up and straightening his position, he looks at Diego. "Dude, what was in that bottle?"

He then looks at the soldier. "Oh, no. Nothing for me," he says waving him off. "I couldn't eat a thing."
Deception checkl: 1d20+1 21
HAH! Nat 20. The Dice Gods are amused.
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Supernaturalist
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by Supernaturalist »

John Steiner
HP:4
Cnd: Fatigued; Impaired (-2 circumstance penalty to all skill rolls)
PP:0

John lies deathly still. He relaxes as much as possible, so that his breathing comes in extremely slow and shallow inhalations. He knows that Iona doesn't need to breathe, but he worries about how natural her shape will look in the floorboard of the car, even with objects on top of her. As far as the veteran is concerned, they have been stopped by a lone police officer. But when he orders The Dark Ascendant and Aiden out of the car in a more aggressive manner, John readies himself for the imminent search. His mind uncontrollably flashes back to when he completed his Special Forces training to receive his patch: "De Oppresso Liber"...."To Liberate the Oppressed". He almost chuckled to himself as he had abandoned that creed long ago for money. If he survives this mission, his price for service will certainly go up.
OOC: Here's John's Stealth roll with the +5 modifier: Stealth Roll at Checkpoint: 1d20+15 33. So, a total of 33. Is is possible to Aid Iona in any way at this point? Or is it too late?
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Supernaturalist
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by Supernaturalist »

Iona
HP: 1
VP: 0
Cnd: Normal
PP:0
EP:3
Dominion Point: 0

The female cyborg remains motionless in the floorboard of the car. Covered by a tarp and other 'travel-stuff', she waits for Diego's response. Anticipating a fight, Iona begins to plan out her 'if-then' responses in her mind.

But maybe..just maybe...it won't come to that. Without giving up on the plan to remain undetected, she does her best to stay hidden.
OOC: Here's the Stealth roll: Stealth Roll for Iona in Car: 1d20+5 21. So, a total of 21. And I know that I've asked this before (and have just forgotten), but does Iona's Sense magnetic materials have the same limitations as sight? Namely that the Sense doesn't work if it is blocked by the same objects that block her eyesight? The reason I'm asking is that I'm not sure if Iona is aware of the other police cars forming the road-block, or if she is only aware of the one police car belonging to the cop that stopped us.
mrdent12
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by mrdent12 »

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 2->1
CND: Haunted
Form: Solid


Diego makes the movement to comply with his best confused look on his face made even more plausible by absolute control of how it appears.With his rebirth, he could do things that would have taken him years to master such as facial expressions. Now, he just willed them. His voice was also tailored to the ex soldier out partying a bit too hard. "I don't know what was in those drinks man. You seeing this too? Machine guns, army, cops, and everything. You aren't some spiked drink hallucination right? They were talking about beefed up security, but this can't be real.", stammers out Diego. He lifts his hands off the wheel, turns off the car, and places his hands on the dash as requested with a deer in the headlights look.

"Whatever you are, we are just trying to get back to Vegas. We went out to a crazy party in the desert and some people took our wallets and car keys, I think. After the first few games of beer pong it all got a bit hazy. Some hot chick, like 15 on a scale of one to ten, and army buff looking guy offered to give us their car for ours if we helped them do some repairs on it. You see this thing, its amazing. Its hella better than our 12 year old Corolla. Just driving around town with this thing will get women to look if you know what I mean.", begins Diego. He had to really sell it now and misdirect. If Iona or John were seen, it was game over for being deceptive.

Slowing down his words a little more with a manufactured look of utter disbelief in his face, Diego tries to express the visage of one going through a bad hang over. "I swear man, we'll get it registered and everything when we get back to town. That chick and army man told us to stay clear of this place, go to Reno or something. Fuck that I say. This is where the party is. They take off some side road heading back here through the desert and tell us not to come back here with no wallets. She was really hot though, so hey it makes for it. What did we do wrong to get stopped? I don't think we were speeding..were we? We just want to get home and sleep this all off, clean out the back of this car, and hit the strip for some action.", rambles Diego starting to sob a little.

To give too much detail that could be verified was folly. Their cover was thinner than air. Diego had no expectation they say just move on. Maybe, just maybe it would cause them to drop their guard for a moment to wipe them out quickly if needed.

Deception 21, probably not good enough
Deception 19 + 10 for 29
Deception 11 for conveying info in a noncryptic way. The dice just seem to hate me.
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Sakuro
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by Sakuro »

Aiden gets a stern look from the soldier at the drivers ide door when he doesn't comply with instructions. Diego's tall tale pulls his attention back to the Ascendant, however. Normally you wouldn't expect an authority figure to sit back and listen to a drunk's ramblings. but Diego was good at spinning believable fiction, and his had just enough information that the soldier was interested in hearing. Half way through the mans brow furrowed though, and he looked to the back of the car, where your gear had been piled on top of John and Iona.

At the end of Diego's story the soldier raised a hands, two fingers in the air, then pointed at Aiden's side of the car with two chopping gestures. In response two soldier came out from behind the barricade, approaching Aiden's door. One opened the door and moved to pull Aiden out of the Vehicle while the other held their weapon at the ready, panning over the car as if looking for something that needed shooting. While they worked, the first soldier addressed Diego and Aiden.

"I am going to need you to come with us. We need to run some tests to ensure you aren't too drunk to drive and that your friend is going to be alright."
OOC wrote:Interesting roll results. The soldier ends up buying into Diego's story and Aiden's play at being too drunk to be aware of his surroundings. But he picks up on Diego's hidden message and notices Iona. So it looks like you are hostages. Diego can intuit this by the way the soldiers are treating you more like civilians they are trying to get out of harm's way, rather than cuffing and restraining you as they would a prisoner.

John is an expert soldier, with high ranks in an appropriate Skill. He can understand the tactics at play of trying to get people away from a dangerous situation. Iona will need to make an Insight or Deception check versus the soldier's Deception.
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kenseido
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by kenseido »

Aiden Starr
HP: 2, Condition: Fatigued

As the two soldiers come toward his side of the car, his mind flashes his options.

None. He is literally helpless right now. His best option is to appear harmless - not too hard - and let the others deal with this.

When the soldier opens the door, Aiden releases the seat belt and falls out of the car.

"Oww."

Who knew that merc team he was transporting back after a mission would have been useful? He almost feels bad for opening the door and blowing them all out of the cargo area in flight.

Almost.
mrdent12
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by mrdent12 »

Diego Gonzalez
HP: 1
CND: Haunted
Form: Solid


Diego knew what was going to happen next. It all played out in his head. Iona would be her unpredictable self, the soldiers would react, and a battle would break out. Diego had half a mind to get him and Aiden out of there leaving Iona and John to fend for themselves. It would have been so easy. Be escorted from the action, beg someone to take them away, and dispatch with them once reasonably far enough away. If she was smart, Iona would bug out as well with John if she wanted. If not, John would hopefully off himself rather than be captured. If history was a guide, Iona wasn't smart. She'd try and fight. Even if she fled, her ineptitude would light up like the fireworks displays on the fourth of July.

Under his presence, Iona wasn't a complete muppet. If they could take out the soldiers quick enough, the jets might take thirty seconds if they were lucky to get to the roadblock. By than, they might be able to get away and get a new vehicle. They did have one thing in their favour. None of them seemed to suspect he was capable of slaughtering them all quickly. He wasn't even going to be bound. When fire focused on Iona, Diego could sus out where all the shooters were and take them out.

"I swear, we haven't drank for a at least a while. Someone just spiked them or something.", says Diego through the fake near crying voice. "I hope we are ok. I promised my brother I'd be at his wedding in two weeks. He's marrying the love of his life. We didn't mean to mess up.", adds Diego for good measure. It didn't need to stick for long. Just long enough to lull them into a false sense of security. Diego takes his hands off the dashboard and starts to open the door fully complying.
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Supernaturalist
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by Supernaturalist »

John Steiner
HP:4
Cnd: Fatigued; Impaired (-2 circumstance penalty to all skill rolls)
PP:0

John hears the conversation between The Dark Ascendant and the armed man. Several things are clear to John. There's an armed military presence at the road block and the armed-man (probably a soldier) is tentatively treating the group like harmless civilians rather than criminals. John isn't totally sure what The Dark Ascendant's plan is, but he feels it best to let his leader 'call the shot' on when the fighting starts. One thing is for sure, John doesn't want to be caught with a gun and knife on him if he's searched. From underneath the tarp, John slides his pistol and knife onto the floorboard and underneath the passenger-side seat. He would initially be unarmed should a fight break out, but perhaps there was a tactical advantage to prolonging The Ascendant's ruse.
Last edited by Supernaturalist on Sat Jun 11, 2022 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [IC] MnM 3e - In the Shadow of Imperator: Abduction

Post by Supernaturalist »

Iona
HP: 1
VP: 0
Cnd: Normal
PP:0
EP:3
Dominion Point: 0
OOC: Here's Iona's Insight roll: Insight Roll to "Read" Soldier: 1d20+10 26. So, a total of 26.
Iona cannot help but be surprised by the soldier's relatively non-belligerent reaction. There seems to be an initial willingness to believe that she and her teammates are a bunch of drunk idiots on a trip to Vegas. Fine. The female cyborg is willing to play at that game if that is how Diego wants to proceed. Despite the soldier's reaction, she still isn't totally sure what The Ascendant plans to do. Mostly like it is a temporary cooperation in order to relax the military and polices' vigilance. Bloodshed is still the most likely outcome of this encounter.

She continues to lie still. She suspects that the luggage and tarp will be coming off of her soon, so she readies herself for the inevitable. When the items do start coming off, she wants to make sure her sunglasses and beanie are in place to conceal her face as much as possible. It's not much, but any amount of time she can buy her team by delaying her identification is valuable.
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