Re: A Wrench in the Gears

[Penny Dreadful]

OOC: Preferably I'd like to create an incendiary bomb of some kind to burn down his office. Fire should scare him more than bullets, and even if he lives if his club burns down it should be a blow to him.

[Claymore]

... Yes, I think you might be on to something there. Ok, future reference, just uncheck the 'botches' box, and it won't subtract for 1s. I thought sure that was one of the rules, but after looking a few times, I just can't find it.

Six is a very good score for this kind of thing, but it doesn't necessarily translate to damage. It translates to control. Exactly what do you want your explosives to do? Put on a good show without getting out of hand? Knock out a few key support beams? Blow a hole in the wall, with or without a lot of collateral damage?

[Penny Dreadful]

OOC: Not to be argumentative, but I think maybe that dice roller is working with oWoD rules? I checked the house rules again just to be sure you didn't change any of this, but I can't dramatically fail because I'm not reduced to a chance roll. Also, in nWoD, 1's don't cancel out successes as far as I'm aware. I checked the book to be sure, and dramatic failures are described on page 125 of the core book, and I didn't see it mentioned anywhere that 1's cancel successes either.

So really I should get six successes instead of four... right?

[Claymore]

OC: Penny, let's have three (or less) Intel + Crafts + specialty rolls. You can buff those pools by 3 with willpower points if you want. The results will determine the effectiveness of the bombs you can whip up. If you get a dramatic failure on any of them... bad things will happen. That's why three rolls is a maximum, not mandatory. If you decline, I'll have an NPC do it. They won't be able to botch, but their pool is much smaller, so it's your choice.

And I like your idea of Sophie coming with you to get you inside the club. So aside from all that, if there's anything else you'd like to do here, have at it. If not, let me know, and I'll get a new thread going for you at club SINless.

[Jedi_Master_007]

OOC: That's cool. But I want to have Gauge talk to Gwen a bit on the way to Elysium. If you want, I can post the thread.

[Claymore]

Without missing a beat, as soon as you suggested buying Gwen a slinky dress, Ian cut in. "I can chip in for that!" Gwen gave him a look. Just.. a look, there's not other way to describe it. "I can hurt you", at which point Ian nervously laughed at his own joke and went back to listening to the conversation.

"Gauge, I mostly run guns. You'd have just as easy a time getting a sword as I would, and they don't come cheap. Do you even know how to use one of those things?"

While you two discussed your immediate plans, Erwin focused on Penny while Ian headed off to find whoever's radio kept running the same track. "Gwen, send Sophie back here. She might come in handy. Penny, he's as paranoid as you'd expect. We don't want feds getting in the way, but we do want enough of a flair to scare him more than bullets. Come look at the lab." He walked you over to an area designated for putting together explosives and electornic detonators. You wouldn't dream of better equipment for the job.

Meanwhile, Gwen was already filling a duffel bag of her own and talking to Gauge on the way back to his car. "Sophie, go talk to Erwin, I think he's got a job for you." The girl immediately perked up. She shot Gauge a glance, and hopped out of the car.


OC: With Penny's player away for the moment, her character will be here pre-making some fireworks. Gauge, if there's nothing else, we'll move you on to Elysium.

[Jedi_Master_007]

When the two clowns looked like they doubted me I snapped back up. "Don't give me that stupid ass look. Celeste. Five eight or so, black hair, has a thing for spiders and spiderwebs. Yea. Before you go and give each other significant glances like that, why don't you get it in your head that so far I waltzed right in here like I own the place, got the nicest set of wheels, got that asshole who none of you can stand to actually give a damn and try to help out, formulated a plan to take down the Sheriff, and more or less have accomplished everything that it took all of you to do. I did it by myself, under everyone's radar, too." I was getting a little sick of slow learners. "I'm not the bad guy. Well, I am, but I mean I'm not your bad guy. Actually, I am your bad guy. What I mean is, I'm not your enemy. I'm the Carthian who is going to win this skirmish. I'm the difference maker. I am that asshole that the Invictus won't see coming no matter how hard they look. I didn't come here because I wanted to help you take the city. I came here because I am taking the city and then giving it to the Carthians because I like you. I'm going to give it to those who put respect and dignity where it needs to be. I'm the kind of leader who doesn't use diplomacy in a word where all it does is muck things up." With a bit of a salute and a smirk, I lit up one of my prerolled blunts with a zippo I had in my pocket. This was some of Nugget's good stuff, and anyone who knew Nugget knew exactly what Nugget's good stuff is. "I've been called a lot of things, but failure, incompitent, and quitter have not ever been one of those things. I'm here now because I think we can change things just enough to make it better for us. Us being all of us. Soon, we will have something we've all only dreamed about, a city of our own."

While pocketing the Zippo again, I looked at Gwen since she seemed to be taking me seriously. I took another long inhale from the blunt, careful to spin it so it didn't boat. "I'm going to need a sword. A Wakazashi, I think. And some Flashbangs. I'm also going to need you to come along. Someone will need to be there to pull me off him, or to shoot him if he somehow gets the drop on me. It needs to be someone strong, and someone who will look good in a slinky dress." I took another long hit from my blunt. "I have money. I can buy you a slinky dress."

But then there was that sound again. It was a cross between goth and techno and it sucked. I cringed. I recognized it almost immediately. I had to cring again. Yes. My ears hurt because of that that repeating, horrible audio of the wrestler Gangrel's themesong playing in the background. It didn't help at all that in addition to the bad quality, it was the themesong of a gay wrestler who at his best, sucked donkey asshole. "What is up with the themesong? I mean, I get themesongs, but god that thing is constantly repeating. It's like the fourth time I've heard it now. Seriously? How about something good, like some Marylin Manson... Mobscene is a good example. Or Theme to a Fake Revolution by Powerman 5000. I know, The Hand That Feeds by Nine Inch Nails is awesome too." I sighed. "Then again, anything that repeats and skips into silences less then ten seconds into it is bad."

[Penny Dreadful]

Penny didn't know who this Crow character was, but it was good that something was finally decided on. She was getting tired of standing around. She looked over at the girl in the Ferrari, feeling a little sorry for her. She probably had no idea that this whole place almost got blown up over her. But if Penny was supposed to knock off some guy in a ritzy upper class club, maybe Sophie could be of some use getting inside, or getting the guy out.

"Yeah I can do that. I don't think I ever met this Crow guy though. You say he's going to be at SINless? Does he run the place or something? If he does I can just rig something up in his office and blow it when he gets there. Or else gun him down when he leaves."

You got some interesting looks when you claimed you faced off with Celeste twice. Erwin and Ian looked at each other for a moment, and Gwen stayed focused on you, seemingly the only one in the room who really believed you. No one was prepared to argue it though, and Erwin just moved on. "Officially the duels only work for other Invictus. But if you challenged him in a public place, he might accept anyway. They'd probably just take you in for murder if you won.

If you want to jump him, wait until he enters Elysium. Each night he reports to the Regent for a brief update on whatever he's working on. Then we can get another Invictus to call for help from the other Knights, and almost guarantee that the Sheriff is left alone after that.

Penny, either way, things go smoother if we separate them. So how would you like to make some other Invictus panic while Gauge handles the Sheriff at Elysium? Someone on the other side of town. You can take Crow at SINless, and I'll take Cross at the casino. Gwen can set you two up with whatever you need, and Ian will hold things together while I'm gone."

[Jedi_Master_007]

When the idiot with a knife decided it was better to walk away I couldn't help myself. So with a heavy sigh, I shook my head in a patronizing, over dramatic sense of self style. Then I looked at Erwin a little funny when he mentioned the hound. "The hound? You mean that dumb cunt Celeste? Psssht. I took a piss in her cornflakes. Then for good measure I fed her a shit sandwhich. That whore tried me twice now, and twice now she left wishing she hadn't. I promise she knows better then to fuck with me again." I shrugged like it was nothing, because it was.

"As for the Sheriff, well, that's the problem. Seems that nobody seems to know where he goes. I was figuring it would be best to approach this one of two ways. Could get a bunch of us and just rush him, or, if ya a flare for drama, like I do, I was thinking of just challenging him to a Monomancy duel. Samurai wannabe like him... I just know he wouldn't be able to resist the chance to put down an awesome badass like myself." I shrugged again, once more like it was nothing. "He'll be thinkin' twice the second I pepper spray him. I'm positive an Invictus fuck like him will never see that shit coming. And if he don't see that, he won't see the taser that follows, and then the subsequent shotgun behind the ear."

I looked around. "Then it's just a whole lot of nothing. Anybody ever see a whole lot of nothing? It's awfully impressive what a whole lot of nothing does to a kindred..."

Gauge, as the effects of your blood settled in the air, you suddenly became aware of someone with a knife standing right behind you, who had apparently been hidden in Obfuscate. He threw his hands up about half way when you turned to look at him, and pocketed the knife. Apparently, for reasons beyond his understanding, he decided he couldn't take you. Erwin gave him a confused look and shook his head, but otherwise ignored the guy as he walked off.

Ian also backed off when it became apparent you two weren't about to exchange bullets. But he was looking a little more tense than before. Gwen actually smirked and narrowed her eyes when she realized you were checking her out. Erwin smiled when he heard your plan. "It's bold, I like it. But we need to find out where he lives first, or some way of getting him where we're ready for him. And we need to take care of the Hound too. She goes to Fight Club sometimes, so maybe one of ther opponents could get some help."

[Jedi_Master_007]

I shook my head. "I wouldn't do either. I'd kill the Sheriff first. If you're against killing him because he's the honorable sort, staking him works just fine. Do that, and you'll weaken the Invictus's already weak resolve in this city. Everyone knows Kilpatrick is a bitch, so if about... I dunno... this whole place full of kindred show up at Elysium and toss him the corpse of his Sheriff, how hard do you think it will be to make him cave?" I shrugged.

"I could do it. And then if shit went downhill, we could simply do a show of real force. You think the other kindred in an Elysium are going to step up if we knock off the Sheriff and the Regent? Nah. And if they do, it's their ass. Once the Regent and the Sheriff are gone, who of importance is left in the city? Invictus I mean." I looked around at the others, using it as an excuse to check out Gwen again.

[Penny Dreadful]

Penny blinked at Ian, whom she hadn't really expected to put himself between her and a loaded shotgun, but she slowly and obviously removed her hand from her coat pocket and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Ian got some brownie points in her book for that one.

She looked at Gauge while he was giving his spiel and restrained herself from rolling her eyes with difficulty. That he was tougher than Penny, or most other people for that matter, was, in her mind, obvious. But brawn counted for nothing in her book without brains to know when and where to use it, and so far he'd proven to be decidedly lacking in that category.

She looked at her sire. "So what are we doing exactly? Are we going with the fertilizer, the stuff in this crate, or the tanker truck idea? I've said what I had to say about the options we have, so let me know what you want me to do and I'll try to make it work."

[Jedi_Master_007]

I raised the shotgun and leaned it against my shoulder so that the barrel was pointed towards the ceiling and probably somewhere behind me. "Whichever one of you is trying to slip in behind me, don't do it. You ain't that slick." I rocked on my heels then forward, standing upright. If ever there was a time for me to let the world know just how Badass I was. It didn't take me more then a second to burn through that little bit of blood it took to activate the power.

"I however..." I crossed my feet at the ankle and stood there a little on the cocky side. "Am." I smirked. It wasn't trademarked, yet, but soon my smirk should be. "None of you appear to know who I am. So I'm going to give everyone the 411 free of charge. We all heard of Kyoko, the really angsty badass over in L.A. That's my sire. Not only did I learn from the best, but I am the best." I put the pistol in my back waistband. I smirked at Gwen. She was pretty damn sexy with that brown vest on, but my attention went back to Erwin.

"Don't assume. I DO have a fuel truck. I keep a tanker on standby over at my crib. I have about a dozen cars that all have some kind of mechanical enhancements done to them. I'm working on stockpiling weapons. I could get them through the police department, except my connnections there want their toys back when I'm done with them." I looked at Erwin seriously. "I'm ready to go take out the Sheriff as soon as I can figure out where that wannabe samurai asshole is at. I wasn't joking when I said I've been at this for the better part of a year, single handedly doing what nobody else could."

I put a hand up. It was the "hang on a second" finger too. "I'm not trying to be a dickhead when I say this, but y'all need me more then I need you."

[Claymore]

At that point Ian stepped in. "Alright, now maybe I'm the only one not wanting to get blown the fuck up, but everyone needs to stop playing with guns next to the high explosives, eh?" He positioning himself between Gauge and Penny. "Erwin agreed not to fuck with the girl's head, Penny is going to take her hand out of her pocket, and Gauge is going to cool his head a little. I think we can all live happy, long lives with that plan."

Erwin continued as if the whole mexican standoff wasn't actually an issue. "I wouldn't have thought you had that kind of code. Keep the guns, I don't care about losing a handful of them. But I expect that means you're planning to help us. You mentioned you already had a truck, and I assume you don't mean a tanker. That could work too. Any smaller vehicle could work, but we would need Penny to blow a hole in the stone wall for it to get through."

OC: Gauge and Penny, if you two aren't planning on some indication that you're not about to kill each other, I'll need a perception roll from both of you.

[Penny Dreadful]

Penny didn't move, nor did she remover her hand from her pocket, but neither did she do anything overtly hostile. She wasn't going to be the one to start a firefight in here, but she'd be damned if she backed down to this punk. She didn't handle a shotgun being pointed at her with the unconcerned cool of her sire, but she faced it without flinching. "If you haven't noticed, I'm on your side. Nominally at least. And it looks like you've made your point, Erwin looks like he's willing to talk about the issue with this girl in any case, so you can put that thing down now."

[Jedi_Master_007]

I had to give this guy a few props myself, because he did hold his composure in the presence of a shotgun pointed at his face. "Tck. Nuh-Uh bucko. Back the fuck up." I used my thumb to cock the hammer back on the machine pistol I had jabbed into the side of Ian's ribs. I jabbed him again, harder, letting him know that he will in fact get shot.

The shotgun I lowered to thigh level on Erwin. "She ain't gonna talk. But to answer her question," I swung the shotgun in Penny's direction. "I see you being sneaky with the hand in the coat there. Over here next to Gwen." I was serious as could be. She just more or less hinted in about as subtle a manner as my shotgun did that she had enough stones to try and take me out. I took two steps backwards and one more to the left, forcing the angle so that everyone was in a funnel in front of me. "A long time ago I took an oath to protect and serve. It don't really apply no more, but I like to think I still have a string or two of decency. One thing that still tickles that string is just picking on those that can't defend themselves for no good reason. Sophie might be a young dumb slut, but she just wanted to drive a Ferarri. Fucking with her head when it won't change anything is just ... well..." I shrugged, still keeping the guns level. "It's just Fascist of you."

[Penny Dreadful]

Penny had to give her sire some props, despite her being slightly annoyed at him. He was remarkably cool for someone who had a loaded shotgun pointed at his head. She wasn't sure if she could keep her head like that had it been her standing there.

She also wondered why this guy suddenly got so angry when Faust mentioned modifying the girl's memory. He hadn't treated her very well, and for all Penny could tell he'd simply brought her along to look pretty next to him in the Ferrari.

"It won't get back to him because even if Eazy-E here won't give his word, I'll make sure she doesn't blab. We can keep her here until this thing's over with, or if you don't want that, she can stay with me." She looked at Gauge. "But what's it to you, anyway? You've been treating her like shit since you got here, so I'm interested to know why you go all apeshit over someone that, by the looks of it, you don't really care much about."

Ian immediately got ready to knock the shotgun out of your hands before realizing you had the automatic pistol pointed at his gut. And Gwen was about to level her gun your direction, but Erwin gave her a look that made her pause. He took a moment to think, sucking in the cigar once more before talking.

"Can you give me your word this won't get back to the Regent because of her?" After a moment, you realized that the general chitchat that had filled the room was getting a little quieter, and there were a lot of eyes looking your way.

[Penny Dreadful]

Penelope rolled her eyes at Faust. Clearly the fact that he was her sire didn't concern her in the slightest when it came to speaking her mind. "And how exactly do you expect me to blow up one single room of a building without any collateral damage? What's more, without killing off the other vamps that are gonna be inside those other rooms. You're trying to wax the most powerful draculas in the city, and that isn't gonna happen if you toss a few cherry bombs in there. If you wanna take those guys out, you need to bring the appropriate firepower." She pointed at the crate of explosives. "If my idea to get the other groups out of there won't work, that's fine. But you better come up with something to get them out and keep the Invictus in, or else they're all goin' down together."

She didn't draw her gun when Gauge when he pointed his shotgun at Faust, but she put her hand inside the pocket of her coat again where her pistol still had its safety off. "Real smart move OG. Tryin to start a gunfight next to a box of explosives that could take out half a city block. And now what're ya gonna do? Even if you're a good shot with that thing, with a good dozen people in here shooting there's a pretty decent chance someone's gonna hit this box."

"But to be fair, that's fucked up that you wanna modify that girls memory if she wants to leave here, Faust. She didn't do anything wrong other than want to ride in a Ferrari. We could use her, maybe even turn her into a pretty decent revolutionary with a little work. Plus, she's Welder's childe isn't she? She's got some pull with him, and even if he is part of the petite-bourgeoisie, that sort of thing can come in handy. But brainwashing her just like that sounds like some pretty fascist shit to me."

[Jedi_Master_007]

"I am not stealing a truck. I already own one. And yes, I am not occupying a country. I am however occupying a city." As soon as the guy mentioned fucking with Sophie's head, I leveled the shotgun under his chin. I had an itchy trigger finger. Without even moving the shotgun, I used my offhand to hold the machine pistol I'd just picked up in the direction of anyone else stupid enough to draw down on me. "Fuck you asshole. Fucking with her head is awfully Invictus of you. Especially since it was her sire who pointed us here. It's not like it's a big secret and all. So go ahead. Do something stupid." To make my point I jabbed the barrel of the shotgun in his direction. "Not that it matters at this range, but I am an excellent shot with this. I'm daring you. Do something stupid cocksucker. Do it. Do it and I swear by my big fat dick I will fuck'n end you."

No. I wasn't bluffing.

Not everyone in those Covenants would keep it to themselves. That's why the Regent has one of each on the Counsel, and why Welder doesn't know what we're planing. By the way Gauge, that girl's going to have to have her memory erased before she leaves, he said, motioning to an unsuspecting Sophie, who got bored and is now waiting in the car out of earshot. "Each covenant has it's own meeting room in that building. They just don't use them very often. If we could somehow encourage all of them to go to those rooms at the end of the meeting, we could have the truck just target that part of the building." As Erwin explained the situation, Ian joined the four of you, walking up more or less between Gauge and Penny, facing Gwen and Erwin.

Gauge, when Erwin was done, Gwen added, "You're stealing a truck, not occupying a country", pointing to the bag with her chin.

[Penny Dreadful]

"Of course we'll claim responsibility. Propaganda of the deed without the propaganda is just murder. But going in ourselves and herding everyone out is really risky. There are some very powerful Kindred in there, and getting the people we like out, while keeping the ones we don't like in, and then blowing the place up isn't going to be easy. A lot of stuff could go wrong with this plan as it is, so I'd be in favour of keeping it simple. "

"What we could do to both keep other Kindred away from Elysium and to let them know what's going on is invite them all to an informal gathering on neutral ground. Ideally the invitation would be issued by someone who has a bit of pull and isn't directly associated with our little group here. Whoever is calling the meeting can ramble on a little until we set off the bomb, and then come out with the real story. The Invictus is bound to send a flunky or two to find out what's going on, but we can deal with them. The rest would be staying put in Elysium, right where we want them and without too many unwanted casualties."

Erwin took a moment to blow some smoke out of the corner of his mouth so it went more up than in someone's face. "Yes. We have no beef with any of the other covenants. And the Lancea Sanctum are the only ones we wouldn't be worried about getting caught in the crossfire.

We can't afford to make too many enemies, and warning the others without giving ourselves away is still being worked out. We might have to go in armed and separate everyone. I don't like the idea, too much can go wrong. But a few dozen armed Carthians marching through the aisles of Elysium and herding the city's Kindred like sheep before an explosive climax does have some appeal. And it would give us a chance to speak first, rather than look like just a random act of terrorism."

[Jedi_Master_007]

I let out a low whistle when Gwen showed her stuff. I looked impressed when I saw the explosives and smirked when she played cat and mouse with me. I had forgotten about Sophie at that point, and was only again reminded of her when I saw her still over there looking nervous. While I got the rundown on the explosives and what Penny had added, I simply listened, loading a pair of those clips for the micro uzi with .45 bullets from one of the boxes on the table too.

I picked up a duffel bag. It was one of those old army ones. I listened to them talk, and payed attention, also being careful to make sure I wasn't missing anything. "Out of curiosity, is there any of them, other covens and kindred I mean, that you're not keen on giving a magic carpet ride to Nirvana or wherever it is they're going to go."

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