OOC: Alright! Here we go! Like I've said before, I'm cool with things getting changed once we start. I'm not sure how this game runs either, so we might find things need tweaking with your Identities or Mysteries or tags, and that's totally cool.
As for how this starts, I was thinking about it, and I think I'm going to go with short and sweet. The whole thing is actually going to be OOC, and I'm going to leave it to you guys to tell me where you guys are starting and how you handle the info, since how you guys all interlock is still kind of fluid.
Charles has seen a few reports of Missing Persons come through the station lately, all for teenagers, but within hours to a couple of days, they've been cancelled as the "victims" have turned back up without incident. The police have pretty much stopped taking the cases seriously, leaving the latest, for a girl named Allison Craig (mother, Emily Craig filed the report), missing for 24 hours so far, sitting in a bin.
Wendy, meanwhile, has gotten wind of a "well known" human trafficker by the name of Stanislaw who seems to be overstaying his welcome in the City, having docked recently and then taken up residence in an old warehouse. Some have nicknamed him "Stanislaw the Vile", and it is a reputation that is supposedly well-earned.
It's 1 AM. Most everyone else has gone home. To their families... homes... not me. I'm still here at my desk, shuffling around the dark station with only the night operator and the cell guards to keep me company. Them, and this cold cup of coffee. Can't keep the overhead lights on anymore past 10, chief says its new policy from the mayor -- cost saving efforts... trying to be 'green' they said. What do I know?
The bullpit of detective desks is like a big ocean of black, sometimes you catch a glint from someone's fancy nameplate when a car's headlights pass by just right. Other times you just plain see stuff out of the corner of your eye. Old building. Older city. Go figure.
The green glass desk lamp provides my own little point of light, a lonely island in a deep dark sea. I usually spend this time looking through old files, sniffing out leads to cold cases. But tonight's menu is a fresh plate of missing persons. Seems to be plenty to go around these days. M.O. stays the same -- people dissapear, get reported, show up a few days later with no idea what's happened or where they've been. Word on the street is it's some new drug making people all foggy -- at least that's the line captain and the mayor are running with. I think it's bullshit. I know better.
Missing's name. Craig, Allison. Looks like a nice girl, Junior at Public School 15... fighting jaguars I guess. That's what her hooded sweatshirt says in the file photo. Mother reported her missing...
Can you give me a run down of what the report says? Anything to go on... leads, last known location, etc.?
File doesn't say much. She goes to the same High School a lot of the other missing teens have gone to, but the victims haven't been limited to just there, though that does seem to be where the majority of them attend--but, it's also a big public school, so maybe that shouldn't be surprising. Her mother mentions Allison hanging out with some new friends, but she doesn't really know any names, and doesn't know where, all she knows is they go to school together.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
Wendy was sifting through the growing pile of documents on her desk, and did not seem at all pleased at how little concrete information she had to go on. She backhanded her lamp to make sure the damn thing stayed lit, then continued flipping through pages. Knowing the creep was in a warehouse did her exactly zero good until she had some hard evidence, though something told her that even a color photograph of the guy with a pile of bodies would have still gone ignored by the 5-0.
Her files proving no good, she'd go to plan b: her phone. Wendy wasted no time in dialing up the best contact she could think of... the one closest to the police force. It was morbidly tempting to go investigate the place herself, but she wasn't a fan of rushing into trouble. Not quite yet, anyway.
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AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
edited July 2017
Up early; time for a jog before he had to deliver the Blankenship - Halstead merger contracts for review. Anthony's life had been calm lately, since he helped Detective Maine track down that old woman with the candy shop and put her out of business.
iPod on shuffle, All-Star playing, he passed the local high school. Some girls standing around giggled and stared; he turned up the volume to try not to notice. When he'd been their age it was flattering - swim team, date, triathlon, date with some other girl, cross-country, date with yet another - but he was almost 50. It should've stopped by now!
He slowed for a minute, waiting out a red light, Smash Mouth coming around again. There wasn't a lot on this playlist. Still, that one McConnaughey line snuck in. "I get older, they stay the same age." Not quite how he was living it, but...
Nope, nevermind! He did miss those old high-school films, though. The kids these days were always snapping pictures of things and never going out and living, really enjoying their youth, you know?
His phone buzzed. A text from the detective? Huh.
OOC:
I know we're still in the establishing phase but we probably need to push things along a bit.
@Auralynx yeah, I just figured that things seem to quiet down around here during the weekend, so I wasn't going to nudge anyone until today. But you're on it, obviously.
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AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
Auralynx yeah, I just figured that things seem to quiet down around here during the weekend, so I wasn't going to nudge anyone until today. But you're on it, obviously.
Yeah, I let the weekend go myself, obviously, but I was talking more in terms of narrative pacing. It's important that we get some information out, or a roll made, pretty regularly.
Must have lost track of time. Can't remember how I got here. An alley in "The Stacks" I think... bad part of town, down near the old textile mills lots of old smoke stacks - bad houses, guess people aren't very creative with names. It's cold out for this time of year.
Something's off... why is my face wet? Rain? no... the pavements bone dry... what's this on my hands. It's red... smells like copper... blood? My blood? no, not mine. Something's here beside me, past the edge of the street light --- A body.
I run over and check what's left of the poor bastard. Eyes burned out of the sockets, neck sliced open by some kind of blade. My blade. ...My blade? I look down to my left hand. Holding some kind of sword. It's cold. metal. Shining brighter than anything I've ever seen. My head starts spinning and the alley melts away into a thousand images at once. Millions of souls, billions of people, screaming out. For help. For vengeance. Afraid.
Bright feathered wings wrap around me. For a second I can see myself from the outside, face covered in red, eyes white with light. I let loose a scream from so deep within you'd swear it was my own personal hell... maybe it is...
Just like that - it's all gone in a flash. I'm back at my desk, dawn light coming through the windows. What time is it? What's that sound?
My phone's lit up like a christmas tree, causing all kind of racket. I look at the picture on the screen. "INCOMING CALL... WENDY" I hit the icon and clear my throat.
"This is Maine... Hey Wendy... Yeah... No, you shouldn't go in there... I know... No, don't trust them, they're in the Mayor's pocket... Yeah?... Now? Alright, alright. Just hold up a bit. Let me get a cup of coffee and meet you down there. Alright. Hey, promise you'll wait. I don't need to spend the rest of my day filing a report about how you got yourself killed." she ends the call.
Even with her 'promise' I figure I got about half an hour before she gets impatient enough to go in there herself. I gather up my badge, Allison's folder, gun from my desk drawer and throw on my jacket.
Keys are jingling in my hand as I send a text to Anthony. He's usually out jogging this early. "CODE RED. WENDY GOING AFTER STANISLAW. OMW. GET MURPH. MEET AT DOCKS."
cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited July 2017
"Yes, I'll wait. Maybe. ...no, I'm not eager to wind up dead either, just be quick about it for once in your life." Slam goes the receiver, and up she goes, reaching to grab her keys and her camera on her way to the door, and not necessarily in that order. She brought her dossier along for the ride, too, taking second glances at her sparse information whenever a red light would allow it. Sometimes a green light, too. She could multitask. Usually.
OOC:
Maybe it would be a good idea to have a separate OOC thread? Just personal preference, it could get confusing if we start doing dice rolls and such, especially if OOC posts are going to be made outside of spoilers.
Also, you didn't post a setup for Maclay unless I'm missing something...
we can stick ooc in spoilers, that's fine. As for setups, I only gave two. The people without them could just state what their chars starting situation is and you guys could decide how you connect and which setup you follow.
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AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
edited July 2017
If he hadn't known Detective Maine since forever, he'd have thought the text was rude. The man never seemed to remember that Anthony had a real job.
Back to the condo complex and dialing Mrs. Murphy on speakerphone while he gathered up the briefs. The call connected.
"Oh, hello, Mrs. Murphy! It's Anthony Ball. Say, is Shelley free today?"
I have to be honest, I'm sort of fascinated by Shelley's mother, so I figured let's go there first.
Auralynx on
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MaclayInsquequo Totus Es UnusHere and ThereRegistered Userregular
The movie was outdated to say the least. Its message did not seem to apply very meaningfully to the modern day and it promoted some very negative stereotypes that would be frowned upon by a newer, younger audience. But it was one of her mother's favorites from way back and Shelley needed to absorb as much of that as possible. It was getting more and more difficult to keep their conversations from drifting into awkward territory. On the other hand, if the web had taught her nothing else, it was that disagreements regarding culture, religion and politics were a great way to avoid talking about other subjects. Still, it was something of a relief when the phone rung.
After a somewhat distracted greeting Amanda Murphy poked her head into the living room. "It's the lawyer. Try not to stay out too late. I'll be in the lab."
Shelley turns off the TV and stands up. "Don't forget to stay hydrated!" She picks up the phone. "You got Murphy." Greeting still needed work. "Sorry about my mother, new project, she tends to get a bit... engrossed. I'm ready to go for whatever, just say the word."
After Anthony provided what little information he had been given, Shelley grabbed her bag and headed out the door. "Going now! Text me if you need anything picked up!"
Did we establish who has wheels? If Shelley has a car it's probably an older Japanese model, but would suffice for the not-standing-out-too-much.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
I'm presuming Wendy has her own vehicle. Good thing we don't need a resources or drive stat here(that I know of).
Well, if you guys all want to jump into the action, who am I to argue?
You all arrive and find each other a short distance from the docks, parking your various vehicles out of sight of the final stretch of road that leads through the gates and into the field of warehouses and storage sheds.
Charles knows that more than a few cops have been killed when messing with Stanislaw, and the fact that no one in the precinct seemed to mention him being in town suggests that there is some money changing hands to keep things quiet.
From out here, there's no way to tell which warehouse the smugglers have set up in, but its likely there'll be something to give it away once you get closer. The question is, which side will notice the other first, in that case.
How do you all plan to proceed?
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AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
He'd had to drop off the documents before picking up Shelley. For whatever reason, the young man at reception kept thinking he was his own clerk; that was really amusing, so Anthony hadn't bothered to try correcting him just yet. New guys! Anything he really needed to work on they'd call his cell about, and the e-mail backed up, so no problems there. The firm was never any trouble when he had something else going on, so long as he put in appearances and kept the paperwork moving. Anthony didn't think he was quite that good at his job, but why look a gift horse in the mouth?
He'd parked the Prius and they'd headed to the rendezvous. It was foggy, but it was just about always foggy on the Docks. He was glad he'd just thrown a sweatshirt over his jogging outfit; it was thick enough to ruin a tie if he'd been wearing one. He'd showed up with coffee for everyone else and green tea for himself; no reason to be rude!
"So," he said, holding up the tray, "what's the plan?"
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MaclayInsquequo Totus Es UnusHere and ThereRegistered Userregular
Looking out at the buildings before them, Shelley considers her options before turning back to the group. "It seems unlikely that the companies located here are on a shared network, but if they were, that would be the obvious in for me."
She eyed the coffee tray as she had on the way here- It wouldn't do much for her in terms of warmth or energy, but it would be impolite to turn it down...
"I could try to get into the power grid, map out who is using what, where. Doing so directly seems plausible but it isn't something I've tried before, I could also try going in via their energy provider, which would be more of a standard hack. In any case, I imagine there is some form of general administration office near the main gate that has records regarding the various property holders."
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
"Tea. Really?" Wendy appeared baffled by the offering, but she wasn't about to be so rude as to turn down the offer. "One cream, one sugar. As for that?" She looked to the buildings, contemplated the bes course action, then produced her camera and began taking photos. "Recon, I suppose. If you want to bust down a door, be my guest. Or a window." In between photos, she would scout for possible entry points and places that seemed unlikely to draw attention, though she had a feeling their group already had a nice big target on their collective backs. "I hope he doesn't have a rifle."
"This fog is going to keep anyone with a rifle pretty limited."
Somehow Maine had already made his way to the group, but no one had seen him approach. Or his unmarked car. Most likely he parked it a few blocks away and just walked the rest.
"Remember. This guy is a human trafficker. So there's likely civilians in there with them."
He reaches into his jacket and gets his pistol out, clicking the safety and holding it pointed to the ground, finger resting on the guard. It's a stainless finished 941 Jericho.
"I know you guys have some mixed feelings when the guns come out. But these punks don't mess around. Be ready."
As the group begins to make their move towards the entrance to the docks, the fog obscures any signs of movement. There looks to be lights at the top of most of the buildings beyond the gate, but if anything this creates a sort of white-out condition. The mist isn't constant though, coming and going in rolling clouds.
As you near the gate, you see a small "guard" station that appears empty, flanked on both sides by a rather tall chain link fence with brown plastic lining. The road leading past the station is only blocked by two red-and-white horizontal barriers, nothing that would stop people on foot.
Do you go through the front door, as it were? Or do you make your way around the perimeter?
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
It hadn't taken Wendy long to make up her mind. She motioned indicatively to the gate, then voiced her interpretation. "Trap. No thanks." She was willing to play along, but it was clear she was not a fan of the direct approach. "There's bound to be a better way."
I am leaving on vacation this evening. Driving to Florida - arriving on Saturday. I will most likely be able to post and keep up from the road via mobile. But I wanted to give everyone the heads up I may seem inactive, but I am not.
MaclayInsquequo Totus Es UnusHere and ThereRegistered Userregular
"If we're avoiding 'official' entry-points, it would seem to me that we are limited to going in by water, which is likely more trouble than it's worth, or going over-slash-under-slash-through the fence. My recommendation would be that we find a point not to distant from our vehicles that lies in the shadow of a building where we can pull back the plastic lining the fence to mask the evidence of us making a large hole in said fence. At that point we would still need to determine which building the target is stationed in. Hence my recommendation of the admin office."
So, should I just go ahead and proceed with you guys cutting a hole in the fence in the shadow of a building just off to the side of the main entrance?
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
So, should I just go ahead and proceed with you guys cutting a hole in the fence in the shadow of a building just off to the side of the main entrance?
If it's doable, works for me.
+2
AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
Probably a good idea. Honestly we seem to be having trouble getting our teeth into this, so what we may need is something a little less freeform for a bit until we do.
Alrightly then. Things are likely to heat up pretty quickly here, given the path you already chose, but I'll try to give more solid options until then rather than leaving it completely open.
You all make your way, in the shadows, toward the high fence that separates the docks from the rest of the City. It takes you a few minutes of searching, but you eventually find a place both somewhat concealed and with a loose bit of plastic. After you manage to cut your way through the fence, you find yourself in a foggy back lot of a metal-walled warehouse. Everything seems quiet here, and you can see fairly well thanks to the lights mounted atop the fronts of the various buildings. The fog is still fairly thick, however, which is both a blessing and a curse.
Now that you're in, the question is, what next? The administration building is likely somewhere near the front gate, of which you're about a quarter-mile to the left now. There are also likely "You are here" maps posted somewhere nearby, if you wanted to look for one and try to simply intuit a place to start looking. Or, you could always just wander through the dark and misty dockyard until you hear the sound of people--what could go wrong with that plan?
Mahou So-so on
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MaclayInsquequo Totus Es UnusHere and ThereRegistered Userregular
Just acknowledging that my earlier position still stands, and that I do indeed still exist. It'd just be repetitive to say it in character.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
Wendy would again take the lead if no one else would. She'd approach the nearest map for a good indicator of where to go, and if that failed, the administration building seemed as good a place to start as any.
Wendy approaches makes her way through the dark, keeping her eyes out for the tall, wide pair of sign posts that denote a map. It doesn't take her long to locate one near the front of the building they entered by.
There's a nice "You are here" star, which shows they're on a long road that, if followed to the east, will bring you to the administration building and then the front gate. If you go right, the road curves back toward the front again, creating essentially a large oval. The opposite side of the oval from where you are now is where all of the waterfront warehouses are, mostly all in a nice neat row, though there does seem to be a couple of offshoots at the curve, each seeming to be a short dead-end road with a few medium-sized blocks on it. One juts out to the northwest and stays close to the water.
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AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
Anthony had been quietly letting Wendy call the shots since they arrived, but now that things had escalated to trespassing, he had to ask:
"So I know this guy's not on the side of the angels, but why are we here right now? Are we even sure he's one of us? Usually we let Charlie do his job before we try anything serious."
Expecting an answer as he walked, he started quietly towards the administration building.
"I'm going to try to get into their records and see if I can narrow down where we ought to be looking for this guy - no sense blundering around warehouses all night. Shelly, you want to give me a hand?"
"This guy has been pegged for human trafficking for weeks now. But the Mayor has been playing his games on keeping the few good cops from busting him up."
Holding his gun to the side he uses his free hand to point on the map board. "Let's head to the Admin building. Maybe we can find some security cameras so we don't have to go into that murder-box blind."
Charlie starts moving towards the building, cover to cover, staying low and in the dark. Pistol still at the ready. "I am libel to catch shit from it -- but I can work up a probable cause and no one's going to put their neck out in public for this guy and challenge it if we bring him in and get whoever he's got in there out."
MaclayInsquequo Totus Es UnusHere and ThereRegistered Userregular
Nodding in silent acknowledgement, Shelley accompanies the others to the admin building and starts looking for signs of whatever security measures may be in place. She tries to stay out of the main throughway in case there are eyes watching.
And I guess it's time to roll some dice? Do you want to do this in any specific sort of manner, maybe a quick rundown? Guessing this'll be Investigate, but feel free to correct me on that.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited July 2017
"I don't really know or care if he's 'one of us', personally. I just want to get to the bottom of things, and if he happens to be, that just means it'll be a bit more of a challenge." Didn't mean she was about to take the lead, though. She was more than willing to let the guys take point. Wendy had no qualms about exploiting chivalry, especially since she wasn't the type to be carrying heat.
Posts
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
OOC: Alright! Here we go! Like I've said before, I'm cool with things getting changed once we start. I'm not sure how this game runs either, so we might find things need tweaking with your Identities or Mysteries or tags, and that's totally cool.
As for how this starts, I was thinking about it, and I think I'm going to go with short and sweet. The whole thing is actually going to be OOC, and I'm going to leave it to you guys to tell me where you guys are starting and how you handle the info, since how you guys all interlock is still kind of fluid.
Charles has seen a few reports of Missing Persons come through the station lately, all for teenagers, but within hours to a couple of days, they've been cancelled as the "victims" have turned back up without incident. The police have pretty much stopped taking the cases seriously, leaving the latest, for a girl named Allison Craig (mother, Emily Craig filed the report), missing for 24 hours so far, sitting in a bin.
Wendy, meanwhile, has gotten wind of a "well known" human trafficker by the name of Stanislaw who seems to be overstaying his welcome in the City, having docked recently and then taken up residence in an old warehouse. Some have nicknamed him "Stanislaw the Vile", and it is a reputation that is supposedly well-earned.
The bullpit of detective desks is like a big ocean of black, sometimes you catch a glint from someone's fancy nameplate when a car's headlights pass by just right. Other times you just plain see stuff out of the corner of your eye. Old building. Older city. Go figure.
The green glass desk lamp provides my own little point of light, a lonely island in a deep dark sea. I usually spend this time looking through old files, sniffing out leads to cold cases. But tonight's menu is a fresh plate of missing persons. Seems to be plenty to go around these days. M.O. stays the same -- people dissapear, get reported, show up a few days later with no idea what's happened or where they've been. Word on the street is it's some new drug making people all foggy -- at least that's the line captain and the mayor are running with. I think it's bullshit. I know better.
Missing's name. Craig, Allison. Looks like a nice girl, Junior at Public School 15... fighting jaguars I guess. That's what her hooded sweatshirt says in the file photo. Mother reported her missing...
Can you give me a run down of what the report says? Anything to go on... leads, last known location, etc.?
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Her files proving no good, she'd go to plan b: her phone. Wendy wasted no time in dialing up the best contact she could think of... the one closest to the police force. It was morbidly tempting to go investigate the place herself, but she wasn't a fan of rushing into trouble. Not quite yet, anyway.
iPod on shuffle, All-Star playing, he passed the local high school. Some girls standing around giggled and stared; he turned up the volume to try not to notice. When he'd been their age it was flattering - swim team, date, triathlon, date with some other girl, cross-country, date with yet another - but he was almost 50. It should've stopped by now!
He slowed for a minute, waiting out a red light, Smash Mouth coming around again. There wasn't a lot on this playlist. Still, that one McConnaughey line snuck in. "I get older, they stay the same age." Not quite how he was living it, but...
Nope, nevermind! He did miss those old high-school films, though. The kids these days were always snapping pictures of things and never going out and living, really enjoying their youth, you know?
His phone buzzed. A text from the detective? Huh.
OOC:
Yeah, I let the weekend go myself, obviously, but I was talking more in terms of narrative pacing. It's important that we get some information out, or a roll made, pretty regularly.
Something's off... why is my face wet? Rain? no... the pavements bone dry... what's this on my hands. It's red... smells like copper... blood? My blood? no, not mine. Something's here beside me, past the edge of the street light --- A body.
I run over and check what's left of the poor bastard. Eyes burned out of the sockets, neck sliced open by some kind of blade. My blade. ...My blade? I look down to my left hand. Holding some kind of sword. It's cold. metal. Shining brighter than anything I've ever seen. My head starts spinning and the alley melts away into a thousand images at once. Millions of souls, billions of people, screaming out. For help. For vengeance. Afraid.
Bright feathered wings wrap around me. For a second I can see myself from the outside, face covered in red, eyes white with light. I let loose a scream from so deep within you'd swear it was my own personal hell... maybe it is...
Just like that - it's all gone in a flash. I'm back at my desk, dawn light coming through the windows. What time is it? What's that sound?
My phone's lit up like a christmas tree, causing all kind of racket. I look at the picture on the screen. "INCOMING CALL... WENDY" I hit the icon and clear my throat.
"This is Maine... Hey Wendy... Yeah... No, you shouldn't go in there... I know... No, don't trust them, they're in the Mayor's pocket... Yeah?... Now? Alright, alright. Just hold up a bit. Let me get a cup of coffee and meet you down there. Alright. Hey, promise you'll wait. I don't need to spend the rest of my day filing a report about how you got yourself killed." she ends the call.
Even with her 'promise' I figure I got about half an hour before she gets impatient enough to go in there herself. I gather up my badge, Allison's folder, gun from my desk drawer and throw on my jacket.
Keys are jingling in my hand as I send a text to Anthony. He's usually out jogging this early. "CODE RED. WENDY GOING AFTER STANISLAW. OMW. GET MURPH. MEET AT DOCKS."
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
OOC:
Also, you didn't post a setup for Maclay unless I'm missing something...
Back to the condo complex and dialing Mrs. Murphy on speakerphone while he gathered up the briefs. The call connected.
"Oh, hello, Mrs. Murphy! It's Anthony Ball. Say, is Shelley free today?"
After a somewhat distracted greeting Amanda Murphy poked her head into the living room. "It's the lawyer. Try not to stay out too late. I'll be in the lab."
Shelley turns off the TV and stands up. "Don't forget to stay hydrated!" She picks up the phone. "You got Murphy." Greeting still needed work. "Sorry about my mother, new project, she tends to get a bit... engrossed. I'm ready to go for whatever, just say the word."
After Anthony provided what little information he had been given, Shelley grabbed her bag and headed out the door. "Going now! Text me if you need anything picked up!"
You all arrive and find each other a short distance from the docks, parking your various vehicles out of sight of the final stretch of road that leads through the gates and into the field of warehouses and storage sheds.
Charles knows that more than a few cops have been killed when messing with Stanislaw, and the fact that no one in the precinct seemed to mention him being in town suggests that there is some money changing hands to keep things quiet.
From out here, there's no way to tell which warehouse the smugglers have set up in, but its likely there'll be something to give it away once you get closer. The question is, which side will notice the other first, in that case.
How do you all plan to proceed?
He'd parked the Prius and they'd headed to the rendezvous. It was foggy, but it was just about always foggy on the Docks. He was glad he'd just thrown a sweatshirt over his jogging outfit; it was thick enough to ruin a tie if he'd been wearing one. He'd showed up with coffee for everyone else and green tea for himself; no reason to be rude!
"So," he said, holding up the tray, "what's the plan?"
She eyed the coffee tray as she had on the way here- It wouldn't do much for her in terms of warmth or energy, but it would be impolite to turn it down...
"I could try to get into the power grid, map out who is using what, where. Doing so directly seems plausible but it isn't something I've tried before, I could also try going in via their energy provider, which would be more of a standard hack. In any case, I imagine there is some form of general administration office near the main gate that has records regarding the various property holders."
Somehow Maine had already made his way to the group, but no one had seen him approach. Or his unmarked car. Most likely he parked it a few blocks away and just walked the rest.
"Remember. This guy is a human trafficker. So there's likely civilians in there with them."
He reaches into his jacket and gets his pistol out, clicking the safety and holding it pointed to the ground, finger resting on the guard. It's a stainless finished 941 Jericho.
"I know you guys have some mixed feelings when the guns come out. But these punks don't mess around. Be ready."
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
As you near the gate, you see a small "guard" station that appears empty, flanked on both sides by a rather tall chain link fence with brown plastic lining. The road leading past the station is only blocked by two red-and-white horizontal barriers, nothing that would stop people on foot.
Do you go through the front door, as it were? Or do you make your way around the perimeter?
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
You all make your way, in the shadows, toward the high fence that separates the docks from the rest of the City. It takes you a few minutes of searching, but you eventually find a place both somewhat concealed and with a loose bit of plastic. After you manage to cut your way through the fence, you find yourself in a foggy back lot of a metal-walled warehouse. Everything seems quiet here, and you can see fairly well thanks to the lights mounted atop the fronts of the various buildings. The fog is still fairly thick, however, which is both a blessing and a curse.
Now that you're in, the question is, what next? The administration building is likely somewhere near the front gate, of which you're about a quarter-mile to the left now. There are also likely "You are here" maps posted somewhere nearby, if you wanted to look for one and try to simply intuit a place to start looking. Or, you could always just wander through the dark and misty dockyard until you hear the sound of people--what could go wrong with that plan?
There's a nice "You are here" star, which shows they're on a long road that, if followed to the east, will bring you to the administration building and then the front gate. If you go right, the road curves back toward the front again, creating essentially a large oval. The opposite side of the oval from where you are now is where all of the waterfront warehouses are, mostly all in a nice neat row, though there does seem to be a couple of offshoots at the curve, each seeming to be a short dead-end road with a few medium-sized blocks on it. One juts out to the northwest and stays close to the water.
"So I know this guy's not on the side of the angels, but why are we here right now? Are we even sure he's one of us? Usually we let Charlie do his job before we try anything serious."
Expecting an answer as he walked, he started quietly towards the administration building.
"I'm going to try to get into their records and see if I can narrow down where we ought to be looking for this guy - no sense blundering around warehouses all night. Shelly, you want to give me a hand?"
Holding his gun to the side he uses his free hand to point on the map board. "Let's head to the Admin building. Maybe we can find some security cameras so we don't have to go into that murder-box blind."
Charlie starts moving towards the building, cover to cover, staying low and in the dark. Pistol still at the ready. "I am libel to catch shit from it -- but I can work up a probable cause and no one's going to put their neck out in public for this guy and challenge it if we bring him in and get whoever he's got in there out."
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)