Re: Lion's Den- Gauge

by **Claymore** Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:56 pm

Biggs and Wedge looked at each other, clearly hesitant about keeping guns trained on their former employer. But neither one was feeling particularly loyal to him in the presence of the guy who damn near killed him, so they did as they were told.

The Master of Elysium was speechless for a moment. The shocked expression lingered on her face all the while, before finally falling off in a defeated sigh. "I think you just did..." She just looked at you and held her hands out to her sides a moment, then letting them drop while shaking her head.

"So what do you want from me? The keys to Cadman's office, or just a witness? I'm not Invictus, and I'm not going to try to stop you."

Gwen stayed silent and kept her gun trained on the Keeper, just in case she was trying to lure her into a false sense of security. A moment later, you got a text back from Sophie, reading 'WTF...?'

by **Jedi_Master_007** Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:51 pm

Starting with Biggs and Wedge, I pointed at the shot to shit Sheriff. "You'll earn double pay tonight. For the rest of the night I want you to watch this corpse. If it does anything at all, and I mean anything, I want you to shoot the shit out of it, okay?"

After I made the call to Alec, I took a second to let out a sigh of amped up adrenaline. Taking a quick survey of the room, I paused long enough to text Sophie, giving her a very brief, deal done. Im prince now. Tell Penny to blow up whatever then bring Irwin to Elys. Once I was certain I knew the message was sent, I sent V's friend Alex a text message, asking her what was up tonight, and if she was up to partying with V and I. Like the cool as fuck asshole that I was, I clicked the phone closed and propped my feet up on the biggest motherfucking desk I'd ever seen just as Gwen and the Keeper of Elysium walked into the room.

As soon as the Keeper spoke, I flicked open my lighter and lit a fat ass blunt. I looked at her like she was a piece of meat. My fangs were drawn and it was something of a snarl. "The Sheriff's my bitch. My name is Gauge, and I'm calling the shots now. That nice lady right next to you kindly pointing her shotgun in your direction is Gwen. Not that it matters at that range, but she is a very good shot." I paused, turned the blunt and hit it again. I still eyeballed the Keeper of Elysium. My purpose was to put her in an extremely compliant position. It was going to start by scaring the fuck out of her. I let the air of threat surround her for about four seconds before hitting my blunt again.

I waved my hand with the blunt in it at the chair directly across from her. "I don't know you. It's nothing for me to bend you over this desk and put two behind your ear. I hope at this point in our relationship you understand me well enough that I don't have to say something as trivial and trite as you try to weasel out of this, feed me false information, or fuck with me in a way I don't like that I'll kill you."

by **Claymore** Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:00 pm

Gwen checked the Sheiff for any more weapons, and found a wakizashi and body armor. She took the sword and dragged him off into the meeting room he originally came from, leaving a bloody trail behind him on the floor.

While she was in there and you started dialing, you heard what sounded like electricity arching in the auditorium down the hall. But it was brief, and not followed by any other unusual sounds. Closer inspection would reveal an empty room with a spot of vomit in the isle.

On the other end of the phone, Welder sounded more surprised that you pulled off whatever stunt he thought you were insinuating so quickly... rather than that you pulled it off at all. He said he'd be there in about twenty minutes, giving you plenty of time to track down the Master of Elysium, and the awol guards.

Biggs and Wedge stuck their heads back in the door a few minutes later, and came in when you waved them over. Gwen made her way back down the stairs with the Keeper, a very startled-looking 30ish brunette with what might have been mistaken for a subtle, fake, French accent. She introduced herself as Sabrina DeRosa, and asked what's going on. As her eyes landed on the blood pool left behind by the Sheriff, she also asked if she really needed to know.

by **Jedi_Master_007** Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:12 pm

When the Sheriff was down for the count, I grudgingly moved forward and kicked him over so that he was face down. Then I slapped the cuffs on. I looked at Gwen while she spoke in between cuffing the Sheriff's feet. When, or if, I woke him up, he would have to make two incredible feats of strength before posing a threat. As Gwen finished I stood up and stretched, testing my own injury. It still sucked.

I put the pistol back in it's holster. "I'll wake him up when I feel like it." I bent down and picked up that sword of his. "And I sure as fuck ain't going to waste him on Erwin's merry Carthians. No offense, but I did this sans Carthians so I'm going to continue to do this sans Carthians." I cracked my neck and stood upright. I glanced at the fallen Sheriff to make sure he wasn't pulling a fast one and looked at Gwen seriously.

"No, Drag him into the office right here and search him down good. Then get those two guys, Biggs and Wedge who were just here and give them jobs. They were smart enough to not get themselves killed. That makes them more useful then normal security guards already." I put the sword under the my belt even though it didn't feel right at all. Until I was sure Gwen wasn't setting me up, I kept my hand on the flashbang. "Then get the Keeper of Elysium here. I expect whoever is controlling this Elysium to come checking on the Sheriff shortly. I don't know who it is, nor do I really care too. I want them to bear witness though, so they have to be more or less undead. Otherwise feel free to make as much violence as you need to be rightly intimidating and ensue cooperation."

I wiped my head and shrugged a little as my Southern roots started to seep through. I blinked again and crinkled my nose. Fuck it. "As for me, I gotta make a few calls."

by **Claymore** Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:11 pm

All throughout the fight, the Sheriff moved with the finesse and reaction time of someone who could feel no pain or anger. When Gwen delivered the final blow however, he slammed into the floor with all the grace of a three-legged cat, splattering blood all over the marble. His sword left his hands, and spun just a couple feet away from him. But he could barely pick himself up, let alone the sword.

All at once, the seemingly invincible Sheriff looked like he was in as you'd expect from someone missing half their face. He barely managed to sit up to listen to your ultimatum, but when he opened his mouth to reply, the only thing that came out was more blood, and for an instant, a look of surprise. Finally he collapsed, unconscious. His Supernatural Stamina had depleted, and his wounds caught up with him. The Sheriff had spent the last half of the fight on borrowed time, and now his life was in your hands.

Gwen looked at you with a half-smirk and raised eyebrow. "What now? take him back to Erwin, and throw him in front of the Regent at the meeting? Or find someone who can wake him up and call a life boon?"

by **Jedi_Master_007** Sat Sep 19, 2009 8:22 am

What the fuck? Now that's weird. I remember thinking that as I watched the first blast from the shotgun knock Tau off balance and to the right, blood and pieces of his suit splatting behind him. I remember thinking that as a smoking red shotgun shell ejected and flipped end over end on my right. I caught it with my peripheral. I know I remember thinking What the fuck? Now that's weird. when the second blast from the shotgun caught Tau dead center on his left knee, splattering bone and sinew and other fleshy particles I could only hope to one day identify across the ground behind him. He was supposed to fall flat on his face but somehow didn't.

My next thoughts were Fuck you Mister Murphy. Fuck You Very Much. The reason I was hating on Mr. Murphy of the infamous Murphy's Law who says that "if it can go wrong it will go wrong" was because he decided to literally ride shotgun with me. Tau's stagger step I was prepared for. I was even prepared for the silvery katana that came from a black scabbard on his hip. What I wasn't expecting was the target. I counter stepped backwards, reacting to the phantom blade swinging for my face. Unfortunately that was not the target. My poor shotgun was. I heard the clang. I felt the clang. I reacted to the clang. But I did not see the clang.

Instantly releasing the shotgun, I reacted in only the way someone who was prepared would react. I sidestepped to the left, putting some distance between Tau and myself and giving me the advantage of having his back. While doing so, I quickly pulled my hands across across my belt. My right hand move the jacket out of the way while the left hand slipped around the ergonomic grip of my chrome and ivory Colt 1911.

Sight.

Acquire.

Fire.

Looking like a cool Navy Seal Commando Guy, I fired the pistol. Bla-Blap! I saw the bullets hit their mark. It was a perfect double tap too. I was a damned homing missile, I was that badass. Tau took the first bullet right behind the ear. The second shot was a quarter inch higher, also behind the ear. I didn't see Tau's face, or what was left of it. However, I did see the nasty splat of blood, brain matter, and more importantly bone. Was that an eye? It might have been, but I didn't get the chance to gloat, because I heard a loud ka-blowww that I recognized all too well. Gwen had fired her shotgun. Instincts took over and I immediately turned towards Gwen. Mr. Murphy would have been 2 for 2 if she had turned on me (something I hadn't entirely disregarded).

Except she had shot the Sheriff. I distinctly remembered wanting to comment on that, only to get kicked right in the balls by my best friend, Mr. Murphy. Do you know what getting kicked in the balls by Mr. Murphy feels like? It hurt. It hurt a lot. It was pain, but not just pain. It was GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING PAIN. The closest thing to it I could think of to describe it would be taking a ball-pin hammer and smashing it against your hurts like hell bone just for fun and then... no, that's not quite enough pain. To be honest, it's a lot like stubbing your pinky toe on a concrete slab while having to scrub with a brillo pad sort of pain. So yea. It hurt.

I looked down in time to see what had caused this thing called pain. Motherfucker stabbed me, that's what happened. I was stabbed on the left, right under the side of the vest. The blade was a good seven or eight inches deep and I was pretty sure even more then that was stuck out the other side. I was still looking at the sword when I seen the result of the shotgun of doom. It was hot how Gwen marched forward with the shotgun and fired. The second shot, the one I seen, had picked Tau up off the ground and rather unceremoniously dumped him on his ass against the wall.

In spite of Mr. Murphy's lovetap seeing that Tau was missing the right half of his face from the eye socket up made me smile. It made me smile enough to center my sights right in the middle of his nose. As my right hand found the flashbang, I made whatever passed as eye contact. "Give up now and I'll let you live through this. Do anything stupid and you get this." To get my point across, I waved the flashbang menacingly. It didn't really matter if he knew what it was or not. To an Invictus prick like him, a grenade is probably just a grenade.

by **Claymore** Thu Sep 17, 2009 4:18 pm

Gauge:
I pulled these details from the message archives of our IM conversation. I'll list everything off OC for now, and we can decide how to RP it later. I also realized that Resilience only downgrades Aggravated damage, meaning it's ineffective against guns, and Iron Skin would not have been able to absorb one of the subsequent Bashing points. So the Sheriff's actually a little more beat up than we thought... and I need to tweak his sheet after this fight scene.

Moving on!

Prior to entering combat, you spent 2BP to activate two of your physical disciplines.
Tau spent 1 on Resilience
Preemptive actions included Gwen leveling a shotgun at the guards and the Sheriff motioning for the guards to merely standby.

Round 1)
Gauge- 1BP on the last physical discipline. Shot the Sheriff, and did a total of 7L
Shotgun Guard- With Gwen aiming at them, since he's only Mortal, he backs off.
Alarm Guard- With Gwen aiming at them, since he's only Mortal, he backs off.
Gwen- Holds her action for when the Guards do something.
Sheriff- Spends 1WP on Nidan Waza, 1BP to heal, enters The Wave is the Man, Quickdraws a Katana, and splits your shotgun in half.

Round 2)
Gauge- 1BP on Dex, Quickdraws and fires a Colt 45 and deals a total of 6L
(Since you have Tactical Reload, we don't need to bother keeping track of the Colt's ammo.)
Shotgun Guard- Runs away.
Alarm Guard- Runs away.
Gwen- Shoots the Sheriff, dealing 3L
Sheriff- Spends 1BP on Dex and 1WP on Nidan Waza, dealing 11L. Since the damage in a single attack exceeds your Size, you're stunned for the next turn.

Round 3)
Gauge- Stunned
Shotgun Guard- Getting Coffee.
Alarm Guard- Jacking off.
Gwen- Shoots the Sheriff, dealing 3L
Sheriff- Surrendering. 1WP to buff his pool to end Frenzy, 1BP to heal.

Recap:

Gauge:
Health- *XXXXXXXxx
BP- 9
WP- 5

Sheriff:
Health: *******xxo
BP- 9
WP- 3

Gwen:
Health: OOOOOOOOoo
BP- 10
WP- 5

Now that he's done riding the wave, Gauge can, for the first time, clearly see that he's in extremely bad shape.

His Resilience will last till the end of the scene, but it'll take 3 turns worth of healing to keep him from falling into Torpor as soon as it wares off. Now that combat's over, I don't know if that's possible. And spending blood on Stamina would just delay the inevitable, while adding hunger to his problems. So you could very well have an unconscious Knight to parade in front of the Regent, followed by waking him up to the tune of your Vinculum. Because you do in fact have a high enough Potency to do it.

by **johntfs** Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:16 am

Josh nodded gravely at the Regent's condition and felt a certain amount of surprise that the Kindred ruler was actually willing to trust him.

"Okay, I can accept that. However, remember that BRI is in the middle of dealing with this Brain Spider thing, so don't let anybody touch you with bare flesh," Josh warned him. "Once we're there, I can probably prevail on them to give you a conferance room or office complete with some kind of communications suite. That way if it comes down to it, you could probably run your war from there. And you have to admit that you doing this is probably going to confuse your enemies, to say the least."

Josh brightened up as another thought occurred to him. "Maybe after these crises' die down, we can combine the Orbs' power to recover the one lost in Shadow and perhaps even to locate the other lost ones. You know, get everything together and complete the set."

Josh then dialed BRI and told them what he'd done, specifically mentioning that the Orb would be coming, but that it was the Regent's property and that the Regent would be coming to look after his property. He also suggested using the cell-phone's GPS signal to allow for a stable gate to BRI.

As he was speaking, Josh heard a muffled roar of man-made thunder and felt a tickle of fear in his chest.

"Ah, guys, best we move this along. I think we're about to run out of time..."

OOC: I'll again use a Persuasion roll to convince the BRI folks to play along if I need to, but I wouldn't think it would be necessary given how desperately eager they were to get the various Orbs on their own territory.

by **Jedi_Master_007** Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:00 pm

IC:

I completely ignored the two guards, one with a shotgun and the other by a mysterious button I can't see but naturally assume is there anyway. You know, it's the button that calls for backup or activates the security. Every action movie has one. Every bank has one. Every museum has one, and every airport I've been through had one. A lot of other places have them. Why can't an Invictus Elysium have a concealed button too? My brain cells would all put guns to their heads and simultaneously pull the trigger if I went back there and didn't find a mysteriously concealed button. It might even be red.

"Boy I just spent the last three years figuring out how to take a city from you Invictus pricks without some asshole pulling my choke chain, and you got the nerve to what are your terms me?" I took three steps forward. The red dot on Tou's balls moved up his torso. That's right, dead center in the middle of the chest. A blast from a shotgun at this range is still going to knock anyone on their ass - including an Invictus Sheriff.

"I got a wreck waiting to happen on the bridge to prevent any backup from getting here any way except the boats. Your water sprinklers have been toxified with kerosene gas, because it smells different then the easily detectable gasoline, and the napalm that clogs in the spouts. There's a fuel truck ready to start a high priority fire six blocks away, and another rigged and loaded with fertilizer!"

I closed the distance to now be point blank range. "Motherfucker we haven't even gotten to weapons and tactics, like the two Obfuscated snipers with fucking sweet PSG-1s and their thermal scopes, capable of, you guessed it, detecting the difference in human and kindred body temperatures! And just to keep you Invictus twits from having any real chance, Crow's club is about to be exploded. So Fuck You Very Much cockbreath!"

I glared, dropped the barrel of the shotgun about two inches and tipped it slightly to the left. "If I was a wrath Daeva - you know, the Daeva's whose fatal flaw seems to be Anger Management, I'd blow your fucking nuts off and make you eat them for insulting me. Thinkin' I'm just some shit off the street with no thought into this! Assclown I want your Regent to come back through those doors so I can make this even faster." Nope. I was a pride Daeva. Pride comes before the fall, or so they say.

...

I pulled the trigger.

OOC:

Of my Experience, I spent 10 on the final part of Combat Marksmanship, 32 on Blood Potency 4, and 4 more, 2 points a piece to represent new Retainers. They're only 1 point merits because they're not very good and not especially loyal. I'm being all plot pointy and making those two retainers these, Biggs, the one with the Shotgun, and Wedge, the one with the button. They're smart enough to do what the Sheriff says and to realize that Gauge is a badass so they're going to avoid fighting. After all, the definition of a Hero is someone who gets other people killed. Razz

If you need more inspiration, think of the movie Scarface, and the scene where Tony kills the cop and his boss. The bartender witnesses the whole thing, standing right there. One of Tony's henchmen asks about the bartender. Tony looks him over (he's sweating and looking really nervous now) and then asks, "You want a job?"

by **Claymore** Wed Sep 09, 2009 11:46 am

OC: Good roll

Kilpatrick eyed you suspiciously when you asked to see the orb. Your Sight allowed you to see he was using some kind of non-invasive magic on you as he stared into you. Finally he reached into his pocket and produced one of the orbs. "My guards will be furious with me for doing this alone. But I see no deceit in you. I can't allow that out of my sight though." Then he reached into his pocked for a notepad, and scribbled something down, walking back to the top of the room to lay it on a table by the door. You couldn't get a good look at it, but it looked like another language. "If you must take it with you, I'm going to have to insist on following."

by **johntfs** Fri Sep 04, 2009 9:30 am

A thought occurred to Josh. Or, if not precisely a thought, a desire. A wish. A wish to see if has theory was true. An experiment like this wouldn't really be controlled, exactly. And it probably wouldn't be safe, either. But it would let Josh learn some things about the Orb. And he really wanted to know those things.

"You know what, on second thought, let's try that demonstration after all. We'll need the Orb, though. Once we get it, I'll call BRI and see if they'll activate the machine to create the gate. See if it's controllable. And then, with you holding the Orb, I'll go through the gate back to BRI. Assuming I make it, I'll call you. And then you don't have to worry about the Priscus or Nosferatu or gossip or anything. BRI has plenty of advanced computer gear I can use to do my investigation. And I can use that. Sound like a better deal?"

08:25, Today: Joshua Weinburg rolled 3 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8. Manip + Persuasion + 1 WP.

OOC: This site's dice roller doesn't let me copy and paste results, so I used the RPoL Fallen Sky one instead.

by **Claymore** Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:19 am

Gwen had herself positioned with her back to yours, and immediately went for her shotgun. One of the guards did the same. You couldn't see it, but the guard furthest from you moved to the alarm under the desk. The only one who didn't make an aggressive move was the Sheriff, except to raise a hand toward the guards in a 'stop' gesture to actually prevent them from taking any action and making things worse.

"Freelance...?" He took a quick glance at Gwen, wondering how strong her loyalties were. Then he slowly lowered his hand to his side, making a deliberate effort to not look like he was reaching for his sword or behind his back. His eyes returned to yours while he took a long pause, deciding on a more appropriate response. "Please understand, if Lord Kilpatrick enters this room, I will be forced to be less compromising. In the meantime, state your terms."

You clearly smelled less potent blood on him. However despite that and the shotgun, there was no flinching on his face, or deceit in his voice. He seemed genuinely more interested in a discussion than a fight.

_{OC: In case you're wondering, I'm not no-selling his fear, that's actually something to do with his bloodline discipline.

The Initiative Roster is:
Gauge
Guard1 (Closest to you, with the shotgun behind the desk)
Guard2 (Furthest from you, closest to the alarm button)
Gwen
Sheriff
Yup... he actually had a decent score, just a lousy roll.

And despite having posted everyone's intended actions here, feel free to take your turn to interrupt someone. Even though the guards rolled higher than the Sheriff, both would hold their action for any queue from him, so he could in fact stop them from doing anything this turn before things go back to the regular order. And in case you didn't already know, Willpower can't be spent on combat actions.}

by **Jedi_Master_007** Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:11 am

One step at a time I power marched right up to the Sheriff while he properly introduced himself. I figured I should probably give him the same dignity, even though the expression on my face was a howling monster of doom in comparison to his meek facade of fearlessness and calm. Inside I knew he was trembling, and if he wasn't, he would be soon. "My name is Gauge. I am the childe of Edge. I'm a freelance badass and this is a hostile take over. Sky Valley is my domain now."

With extra speed and my naturally honed skill, I flipped open my jacket and spun my sawed off shotgun around in complete commando style, raising it cocked and readied. Gwen's focus better have been on the security, because mine was definitely locked on the Sheriff.

Hang on. I see you there. I am paying attention. I see that blank, questioning look on your face. You're wondering how I can know that I had the drop on a Sheriff, and Invictus Sheriff and Knight, some alleged badass. Well, from me to you, I should point out that I am fast. I am so fast that Fast owes me some definition before it can even be a word. I make Billy the Kid look like your grandma after running down two flights of steps lugging a backpack full of bowling balls. Does that paint the picture? Alright, back to the story.

As the gun came up, I held my thumb over the . button, painting it on the Sheriff's balls. "Now there're a whole city full of Carthians that wouldn't mind me making a whole bloody mess of you right here. Seems there's a choice to fall in with new leadership. But I swear by my pretty blue eyes you try anything stupid and I will end you."

OOC - We discussed my exp spending. I am using a bp to activate Resilience and Vigor after Celerity last turn. You can roll for me if you're rolling for Initiative to put order to everyone else.

by **johntfs** Fri Aug 28, 2009 3:46 pm

Josh half-smiled and shook his head a bit. "This isn't some transport out of Star Trek. This is a last-ditch chance to use when everything saner has failed you. I'm not offering you a reliable escape so much as a death that's less certain. You'd use this to avoid a death that's far more certain."

"But if you wanted a demonstration, you've already had one," he said, touching a hand to his own chest. "That's how I got into the secret vault in your basement. I was too near the machine when it activate and the energies ended up grabbing me and pushing me to the next nearest orb. Still, I suspect that I'm far less durable than yourself, so if I survived it intact you probably would as well."

by **Claymore** Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:42 pm

The Regent slowed his pace to a pause, and turned to face you. You had clearly sparked his interest. "That's a generous offer. Could I have a demonstration, to make sure it's reliable enough?"

by **johntfs** Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:45 pm

The mention of a "situation" at the front couple with all the earlier talk of a possible war with the Carthians, whoever they were, kindled unpleasant memories for Joshua. He remembered the stories of one of his uncles of his time in the Israeli armed forces. Of suicide bombs and terrorist attacks and how nasty war could be. And while the Kindred didn't really seem to have much of a population to attack and suicide bombing seemed pretty unlikely, it did occur to Joish that the building he was in would make a pretty tempting target for an attack. He also recalled how his mission to safely gather the Orbs of power, one of which was also in this very building, seemed in danger of slipping to the side. And it occurred to him how he could make a bit of progess laying both concerns to rest.

As they strode toward their destination, Jiosh spoke to the Regent once again. "You've actually been pretty decent to me considering the circumstances, and you're also a friend, or ally or something of my teacher, Father Eremert. So with your permission, I'd like to set something up for you. Kind of an emergency exit, if you like. It'd be sort of what I was going to do with that Crow permission with Gypsy. What I'd do is give you the BRI number to put on your cell phone and then you'd carry the Orb with you. Then set it up with BRI such that if they were called from that particular cell phone, they'd acticate their machine, which would produce a Gateway back to their HQ. I've just thought of this, so I don't really know of they'd go for it, but it seems worth a shot. Even if they did go for it, you probably shouldn't use it except in a grave danger because I can't speak to how safe or predictable it would be, even though I've gone through it twice without too much problem."

Josh pulled out Monica Jones' as yet unreturned cell phone and prepared to dial should the Regent assent. "So, would you like me to do this or not?" he asked.

by **Claymore** Sun Aug 23, 2009 7:30 pm

Josh: The Regent and Sheriff exchanged looks before the Sheriff chimed in. "We can provide you with a laptop and escort to the hospital security room. I think, perhaps, you should visit an optometrist as well, before attempting to work on a computer." Tau's cell phone vibrated then, and upon reading the caller ID, excused himself and answered it. He made it as brief as possible, and returned his attention to the Regent. "It seems there's a situation at the front door. Can you put him in touch with the Priscus McLaughlin, to see about infiltration?"

The Regent laughed. "The Regent sending a Mage to the Nosferatu to infiltrate a hospital on behalf of the Sheriff... they'll have a field day passing around that bit of gossip. Yes, I think I can arrange something. Joshua, If you'll follow me."

Gauge: As you walked right over the guards, out of the corner of your eye, you noticed the one who didn't try to stop you on the left side of the desk, furthest from you, get on the phone and talk too softly to hear. Gwen patted you on the shoulder then and pointed to the cieling. There were gaps in it between the main hall and the one that lead to the meeting rooms, as well as just in front of the stairs. They looked like the kind of space that metal gates could roll out of, like in front of stores at the mall when they close.

The gates didn't roll down however, and is quickly became apparent who was on the other end of that phone call. From a room just a little ways away, exited the Regent, Sheriff, and a Mortal you've never seen before. The Regent took the Mortal down the hall toward the grand auditorium while the Sheriff approached you and Gwen.

"Good evening. I'm Sheriff Tau. I apologize for the inconvenience, but all unacknowledged Kindred are required to disarm here. The Regent will be back momentarily if you wish to speak with him."

by **johntfs** Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:05 pm

"Overall, I'd prefer to play to my strengths, which for the moment would leave out questioning the coroner. I figure that he's already well under Kindred influence and isn't about to talk to some unknown mortal about that business no matter what letter of introduction I show him," Josh said after nodding and being introduced to the Sheriff.

"However, instead I could, um, "question" the coroner's computer system and see if I can locate records of Frost or at least a "John Doe" being moved from their. You know, trace and see that all the bodies are accounted for. I might also be able to find digital copies of video from the cameras there. Since 9/11 many cities have upgraded their security because of the buttload of federal money floating around," he told them. "If the coroner's office has gone digital, I might be able to hack in and give you video of what precisely happened. And who did it."

"Even if the video has supposedly been deleted, it's quite probable that it isn't actually gone. What normally happens when something is deleted is that its visible access address is removed. Eventually its spot on the harddrive is overwritten by other things. The key word there is "eventually," though."

Realizing his audience had probably come of age when the slide rule was cutting edge calculation, Josh tried to give them an analogy. "Take this building, for instance. I could hack into the City Building Commision and delete it from the records. If I were really determined, I could break in and either steal or destroy the paper copies of this building. However, the building itself would still exist. And those who know that it exists would still be able to find their way to it even if it no longer appeared on maps or other records. Like that."

"And yes, that also means that any confidential information you've "deleted" from your own systems probably isn't all the way gone," he finished. "If you like, after the current crisis, I can get you some Department of Defense rated software that overwrites deleted files a good seven times, making certain that they're completely gone. That stuff doesn't erase the address. It demolishes the whole damn building and rips out the foundation."

"Unfortunately, if you want me to start the hacking now, I'd need to, ah, borrow or obtain a computer because I left my other one in a different dimension. Along with my glasses. Mage stuff," he looked at the two blurry Kindred and sighed. "It's- it's been a pretty strange week for me, to say the least."

by **Claymore** Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:37 pm

Josh: The room was pretty bare, with off-white walls and a pale blue carpet. In the middle was a long dark-wood conference table surrounded by chairs on casters. The cieling had a recessed rectangle with hidden lights that reflected off the top, making it glow and light the room indirectly.

The Sheriff sat in one of the chairs to your left, and he stood up as soon as he saw the Regent enter. Before him was a manila folder and pen. The Regent introduced you two, and explained your theory on who may have taken Frost. Then he left it to you to explain what part you wanted to play in following up on that, to make sure your investigation didn't trip over the Sheriff's.

by **johntfs** Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:56 am

As Josh went back and forth with the guard, he saw hte unfocued but imperious form of the Regent appear from one of the hallways and sharply beckon him over. The gaurd instantly ceased all objection and released him to leave. As he moved Josh felt a surge of both dismay and relief at the blurred form of the Regent motioning him over. Relief because he could get were he needed to go and dismay because he'd probably further annoyed the Regent by getting lost.

A couple of distant, fuzzy shapes were approaching the door from the outside as he turned and headed toward the Regent. "Sorry, sir," he apologized as they moved toward what he presumed was the Sheriff's office. "Phone call took longer than I thought and I got lost."

"Okay, let's see if we can figure where your Mr Frost has been taken," he finished, rubbing his hands together at the thought of doing something of practical value and making up for his unorthodox entrance. At which point he could maybe check up on Angel and then get back to BRI to help deal with whatever crisis was hitting the fan over there.

Jeez, good thing classes haven't started yet or my GPA would be taking a serious hit... he thought.

by **Jedi_Master_007** Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:30 pm

I continued to joke and press buttons with Gwen while heading to the outing at Elysium. When I drove, I drove like a maniac. Even the old beat up Ford LTD had a massive v8 engine in it. While it may have looked like an old hoop-dee, no shop sits in my garage without having at least basic engine, break, and interior modifications. In this case, Freaky (that was the car's name) had her engine bored out, a two barrel carb had been added because I was feeling frisky, a 10 pound bottle of N20 complimented the stock muscle engine nicely. Because Freaky was a big bitch, handling was always going to be an issue. I didn't bother trying to reduce weight. In a car her size, there was little to no chance of making an impact without giving yourself away as something more then just a piece of junk. Instead, I did the next best thing.

Really good breaks!

The best of the best. I ordered my breaks directly from the manufacturer. Without revealing too much about my vehicle specs, I am proud to say that I've got the same shit Dennis Anderson puts on his Gravedigger truck. Cost me nearly 8 grand when it was all said and done too. My bottle of NOS was inside the glove box. Discrete enough to not attract attention but close enough to change, protected by the car's firewall, and out of obvious detection. I mean really, how many people actually know what's in the glove box of their car? When does anyone actually check there? Even the police don't search unless there's an obvious reason to.

The entire time I kept trying to make Gwen feel confident about what we were doing, I was probably trying to convince myself. I'd have figured for there to be a Carthian snitch somewhere. Minus the fact Snitches get Stitches, it seemed prudent for someone in the Carthians to try and stop me. Of course maybe I was just being paranoid about the fact I knew my plans to take over this small city. I guess that just because I expected everyone to be a sneaky, conniving, out for themselves blood sucker not everyone else did. Fuck it. Their loss.

Making it through security with nothing but the bat of an eyelash was slightly creepifying. However it put me even more on edge as opposed to distilling my edge down. There was no reason for security to be so lax unless the powers that be really were weak in the head or unless they were purposefully trying not to tip their hands. Without looking over my shoulder at Gwen, I kept moving. "Whatever happens, follow my lead." I kept my pace even, almost at march speed, moving down the corridor to wherever the plans said the Regent's office should have been. Along the way I was glancing at the doors to see if there were labels. Sooner or later someone would run into us, and direct us to the right spot or we'd find it ourselves.

It also occurred to me that if Gwen was going to spring her own trap on me, she would do it from behind. So when we got where we were going I was certain to be the one holding the door, thereby preventing anyone from staying at my back... This was going to be interesting.

1BP for 1 Stamina & 1 Dexterity

by **Claymore** Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:49 am

Josh: The guard at the front desk told you that the Sheriff was in one of the meeting rooms just down the hall. However he also told you that he was in a meeting and couldn’t be interrupted just then. It didn’t matter though, because a minute later, the Regent reappeared from the auditorium at the end of the hall and called you over to interrupt.

Gauge: The metal detectors on the inside of the building weren’t anything elaborate, and seemed to be the only form of defense as soon as you got through the doors. They were comparable to theft detectors at a Walmart, and nowhere near airport caliber. The doors however, felt heavy when you opened them, suggesting that they were a little more than just plate-glass. Whether they were bulletproof though, or just sound-proofed to prevent Auspex, was hard to tell just by looking at them.

You tripped the detector, of course. But the guards didn’t make any big deal of it. By the look of you and Gwen, they were clearly looking at you with suspicion in their eyes, despite how they tried to hide it. For all you knew, there was a shotgun hidden behind the counter. But their only actual reaction was for one of them to just politely ask you to leave any hardware you might be carrying with him. He’d lock it up behind the desk, and give you a piece of paper with a number to get it back, like a coat check.

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