Log:The Plot Thickens

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The Plot Thickens
Emitter	Stephen
Players	Wraith, Northguard, Blackjack
NPCs	Stephen's mom and grandfather, Terry's dad, a guard, a cyberpath meta
Place	A warehouse on the Waterfront, then Cabani & Alamana Research's central office building
Time (IC)	8-25-12
Time (OOC)	9-10-07

Lies & Betrayal, Part V

(read Part I here)
(read Part II here)
(read Part III here)
(read Part IV here)

It's a pretty normal warehouse on the outside. High-tech, it's got cameras at every entrance, and an electronic thumbprint lock locking each door. There's no label of who owns the building, but a quick online check would show it's registered to Cabani & Alamana Research. Making circuits of the building every ten minutes is an armed and uniformed guard.

GAME (Computers): Blackjack rolls 1d20 + 12: 16 for a total of 28.

The little speaker emits, "...should be arriving in a few minutes." "Good. Make sure everything's ready, we went to a lot of work to arrange this test, this better go perfectly." "It will. My only concern is the Canadian. That force field of his won't let us inject him. But we brought in a heavy hitter, who should be able to take him down. Too bad we can't test on him, that'd save us a lot of trouble." "You know as well as I do why we can't do that." "Yeah, I know. Make sure to treat our guests well over there, it isn't their fault who they're related to." "Oh, the board has been very clear on how we're to treat them. Call me when the test's complete." And the call ends.

GAME (Stealth): Wraith rolls 1d20 + 16: 6 for a total of 22.
GAME (Guard's notice): Northguard rolls 1d20 + 4: 19 for a total of 23.
<Init> Wraith rolls initiative with a modifier of 8 and gets: 9
<Init> Northguard rolls initiative for Guard with a modifier of 0 and gets: 4
GAME (Attack): Wraith rolls 1d20 + 13: 3 for a total of 16.
GAME (Guard toughness): Northguard rolls 1d20 + 3: 14 for a total of 17.

Wraith's cloak snags on something as he's sneaking up on the guard. It doesn't tear, but it causes a misstep, which alerts the guard just enough. Without another sound, Wraith pulls back his steel-clad fist and slams it into the guy's jaw. Eyes roll back in his head and he drops to the pavement, out cold.

GAME (Disable Device): Blackjack rolls 1d20 + 11: 7 for a total of 18.

Blackjack snarls after he gets the door undone. He taps the silent comm. "We've been set up ourselves. The only person here is Black." He is silent for a second. "He's an operative and he knows the risks; the others are innocent. I say screw this whole thing, we go to the people on the other end of that convo and get the other hostages. Cabani & Alamana Research's central office building."

Wraith taps his own sub-vocal comm. "Agreed. We can come back for Black later. Maybe." He continues to search the downed guard for a communications device.

(later, at the Cabani & Alamana Research's central office building)

GAME (Computers): Blackjack rolls 1d20 + 12: 7 for a total of 19.
GAME (Computers): Blackjack rolls 1d20 + 12: 19 for a total of 31.

Blackjack secures himself and the boys in the building core and taps into the computer systems of the massive structure. A couple minutes later he smiles. "Everyone we're missing is on the 16th floor in a board room. One guard on the outside, and the camera inside is now looped. Let's haul ass. Northguard, you're our ace here. I want us to move to the outside of the building, and I'll get the window free. You wrap the hostages in the metal of the chairs, and float them to the nearest rooftop. Once they are free and safe... then we're going to kick some ass here.

Northguard nods quickly to that and says, "Ok." He pauses and says, "I can move them all at once, or one at a time, but if I'm moving them all they'll stay in relative position with each other. So we'll have to make sure it's a big opening in the window, or I'll take multiple trips." This is said as they move outside again.

Wraith says softly to Blackjack, as they retreat outside again, "Can you tell what condition they're in? Do they seem to be unharmed?" One of the hostages is his father, after all, so he's understandably concerned. "And is Northguard going to stay with them, once they're safe, to make sure they -stay- safe?"

"It'll be big. Get them all at once," Blackjack says as they exit into the summer night; he snags a peice of ceiling tile and a Sharpie from a maintence stash as they exit. The cutting torch comes out, but before he applies it, he writes a sign for the people in the room: --Shut Up, We're Here To Rescue You— Blackjack nods to Wraith. "I think so. We need to get them to safety first."

Northguard nods to that, and says, "I'll stay with them after. You can call me if you need me." He looks around, and then says, "Looks like we can go now. Will it be easier if you're riding something up, like a car? It'll be hard to cut the window open if you're hanging onto a bar."

Wraith rasps, "A flying car might draw more attention than we really want. Maybe BJ and I should just use ascender guns."

Blackjack shakes his head. "Swingline, sonic cutting tool, I can have the window out in a few seconds."

Northguard nods to that and says, "Ok. How far do those reach? I can take you up and you can use them from there, if you want. Or I can just make sure they catch the roof if they're long enough."

"Take us up, then," Blackjack says. "There's more than enough metal in our utility belts."

Wraith nods, stepping closer to Blackjack, his swingline gun in hand. Northguard nods quickly to that, and after a glance around, starts them heading upward. Probably a rather dizzying lift, as they're going a lot higher than last time. At the sixteenth floor, he stops them, outside the window of the boardroom. Nobody inside is looking out.

Blackjack attaches his grapnel, then makes short work of sections of the window, motioning the people inside to be quiet once they notice him. 'Stay seated, and calm' or we're all dead'.

Wraith fires his swingline, the grappling-spike shooting out with a hiss of compressed carbon dioxide. Once that end is secure, he clips the gun itself to his belt, leaving both hands free.

Everybody inside looks shocked, not quite able to accept what's happening. Northguard speaks, saying softly, "Stay in your chairs, it'll be alright." He warps the chairs to hold them in securely, and then starts lifting them out. "Don't worry, I've got you."

Wraith swings just a bit, off to the side, to be out of the way as Northguard lifts the people out through the window. His glowing eyes focus for a long moment on a middle aged businessman with thinning blond hair and Terry's nose and jaw, who seems to be scowling in disbelief.

Blackjack watches the people pulled to safety, though the air, and has to again marvel at what a real meta can do with their powers. Then he pats Wraith on the shoulder. "Things are OK, now; we're just at the clean-up portion here. After this, we go get Black."

Northguard, once the three are out over the street, he floats with them down to the next building, saying back to Blackjack and Wraith, "Radio me if you need my help."

"More than cleanup," Wraith rasps darkly. "I want to know who these people are, what they're up to, and how much they know. We can't risk trying to bring them to justice, or our identities will be revealed." He watches Northguard getting the others to safety. "But then, there are other methods of meting out justice than the courts...."

Blackjack looks to Wraith. "Let's just not get carried away, here. Let's see if we can stealth our way to the 15th and see what's on the other end of that communication. We've got about five minutes until that digital loop gets suspicious to someone, or they bring those people some water. Let's go." With that, he'll slip back into the building core and see if he can pinpoint where the transmissions ended up.

Wraith gives a quick signal-wave to Northguard, then slips into the building after Blackjack, speaking sub-vocally: "We still don't know what's going on up on the top floor."

Blackjack nods to Wraith. "No we don't and it's not on their main security grid which means someone is both smart and serious about keeping their secrets. Let's see what this PC yeilds, then drop to the computer floor before checking out 16."

The transmission ended up in a private office it seems. Room number 1567. The computer linked there is on a separate network from the building's main network. It's also probably not turned on anymore, as Blackjack's attempts to get into it are met with no connections.

Blackjack will try to deflect any cameras in the corridors leading to the office; not blanking them but simply making sure their not pointing their way. Less chance of alerting security that way. If anyone is encountered, well.. he'll have to deal with them.

The first encounter is just outside the door to the board room. As they are just stepping towards the door, a guard opens it, "I'm sorry, but..." On seeing the two inside, and the opening in the window, he pulls his gun immediately, and starts to reach for his walkie-talkie as he backs up, "Stay right there!"

GAME (Slug the Guard!): Wraith rolls 1d20 + 13: 19 for a total of 32.

Wraith leaps forward, raising his steel-knuckled fist. Without a word to the hapless guard, he throws a hard punch to the guy's jaw, knocking him unconscious before he can bring the pistol up fully, and certainly before he can shout a warning into his walkie-talkie. Shaking his head, Wraith looks to Blackjack. "They don't make guards like they used to."

Blackjack quirks a smile. "Let's get going," the vigilante says, and makes for the room where the signals ended.

The path to the room in question is uneventful, thanks to Blackjack's keeping an eye on the security cameras. The room in question is occupied, however. A frail-looking man sits staring at the back of a computer, and is surrounded by four or five other laptops. Blackjack would realize he's trying to recover the data from the system he scrambled earlier, but he's going about it in a very unusual way, tying the multiple processors from the laptops together to try to run the recovery process. He doesn't seem to be typing anything, though, just staring. He doesn't seem to notice the arrivals either.

Wraith hangs back in the hallway, sub-vocalizing, "Take him out or interrogate?"

Blackjack shakes his head. "Something weird; he might be a cyberpath or something. I'm not sure we can afford for him to be conscious. Just a second."

Blackjack cocks his head, looking at something inside his visor. "Crap," he subvocalizes to Wraith. "He's linked into the computers himself, trying to unscramble what I did. I think we need to simply knock him out," he says as he eases the door open and takes aim.

Wraith keeps watch up and down the corridor, giving Blackjack a nod.

GAME ((Stun him)): Blackjack rolls 1d20 + 7: 17 for a total of 24.
GAME (Cyberpath's Fort): Northguard rolls 1d20 + 5: 19 for a total of 24.

Blackjack looks to Wraith, then points his gun at the man. An almost silent 'whhff' and an electrical stun charge cracks through the man's system. The young man waits a heartbeat to see what the effect is, already clicking over to another setting.

The man visibly jumps, and then scrambles out of the chair, turning around to face Blackjack. "Who are you? What do you want?" Blackjack would see that the security feeds are suddenly replaced, all of them, with the view through the man's eyes.

Wraith doesn't see this, of course, but he does notice the man speaking. As Blackjack is already preparing his weapon for a second shot, Wraith stays just out of sight, continuing to monitor the corridor, though he grabs a few of his shuriken just in case.

Blackjack blinks as he sees his visor video show this. "Fuck, he is a cyberpath." He shakes his head. "Who am I? Someone your bosses didn't want to screw with. Tell 'em that when you wake up." And this time, it's just a punch. A nerve shot, but still.

GAME ((Stun him)): Blackjack rolls 1d20 + 6: 13 for a total of 19.
GAME: Northguard rolls 1d20 + 5: 3 for a total of 8.

The punch lands, and down the man goes, and the signals return. Still, security's already starting to direct guards to Blackjack and Wraith's location.

"If Northguard were here, he could fry the computer entirely," Wraith says silently, casting another look up the corridor. "Don't suppose you have an electro-magnet in your belt. Or we could just yank out the drive and take it with us."

Blackjack nods quickly, stepping in to shift the man so he doesn't fall and break his head open or something on a corner. He pulls out a small device. "Take the drives, and let's scram. We might be able to peice together what's going on from them."

Wraith nods, taking one last look at the hallway, then slipping into the office and prying open the main computer. He pulls out the hard drive, then starts on the laptops as well. "Do we have time to get prints off this guy? Maybe a blood sample, too. Never know when having his DNA on file might be useful, especially if he's a meta."

There really isn't time. Blackjack follows the progress of the guards, and they're approaching fast. Blackjack and Wraith have a clear path back to the conference room, but the guards are, by that point, only seconds behind them.

Wraith checks with Blackjack first, then slips into the corridor again, heading back toward the conference room. He's silent now, not wanting to risk even a sub-vocal communication.

Blackjack races to the conference room, making sure Wraith is in front of him, and he dives through the large hole in the window; once he's fallen a few stories then it's time for the swingline gun, and a quick arc to a nearby building.. then off into darkness to rendezvous with Northguard.

Wraith fires his swingline at the window, then swings over to the next rooftop, before firing a second time and disappearing into the night. Soon enough, he's at the rendezvous point as well. "Now we go after Black?" he asks quietly, out of the hearing range of the freed hostages.

Blackjack says, "We have to, now; once they're alerted, they'll be moving him any second. Northguard needs to hang back; that thing in the room with Black was specifically chosen to fight him."

Northguard has apparantly been spending time reassuring the hostages. He floats away from them to Blackjack and Wraith as they arrive, nodding. "I can stay with them, get them home. I can fly around the world in seconds, flying a few blocks if there's trouble won't be a problem."

Blackjack nods to the masked boy. "Good; we might, if we can get him free, we might need you to transport him. A lot of their offence though seems directed to bringing you down because of your powers. So, maybe we surprise them..."

Wraith manages only to glance toward his father a couple times, just to be sure he's still okay. "All right, we should do this quickly."

(read Part VI here)