[Marcus and Kendrick receive a short notice call from Victor Jaeger to meet him at a cafe in an upscale part of London] [They're both available at short notice and thirty minutes or so later get to the cafe, where he's waiting. Fairly ordinary place with outdoor seating.] [Date: 8/3/20 Time: 2045 EST, weather: Had been hot earlier, but cool and misty now, probably rain soon.] [Start] * Victor is sitting at an isolated out door table, looks like he's got a cold coffee in front of him. * Marcus sits down at the table across from Victor and turns visible You called? * Kendrick takes a seat at the table as well, not in the least bit of surprise from Marcus's appearance. "Good day. What's the mission?" * Victor nods. His fairly shaggy hair is even worse looking than usual at this point, and he seems to have a lot on his mind. He's wearing an unseasonable light trench coat, fully buttoned. * Victor takes out an tablet view pad and puts it on a table. "One of our agents was killed last night." * Kendrick takes the pad and flips thru the information. "Exact time, place, name?" [He hits a button and it brings up a picture of thirtish man, red hair, and freckles on the part of his face that's remaining.] (It's not normally Victor that gives mission briefings, yes?) (Correct, he normally just assists) Erin Ferguson, 10:45 pm, it vas at a prearranged meeting site five hours out of London. * Kendrick nods. "Who else knew this information? I assume you secured the area after the incident." He was on assignment to further investigate ze vampire conspiracy Marcus among others gathered information on recently. The assassin, and whoever hired her. I vas ze only other one present at hit itself. Ah. The vampires. Pity Angel isn't around.. she might like another crack at 'em. Ve vere able to take tire prints from the location ze assassin's car vas parked, and I vas able to catch her scent once I was sure agent Fergusson was dead. (Oh Marcus, give me a visual roll (Mind) HA doesn't count) (Fergusson was the guy who briefed you last mission) (Ah. right.. I remember him now...) * Kendrick nods and sighs. "Too bad he's gone. No time to dwell on it, though. What exactly is our responsibility in this mission?" Ve believe ze assassin was hired by ze manager of ze factory Agent Fergusson vas investigating. Zis is based on speculation, but she is a trained sniper, with a car zat matches ze tracks ve found, and she had been zeen having a private meeting vith ze manager. * Victor looks over at Kendrick "You are to take her down, alive if possible, but she is not to escape. Ve our holding zis meeting on such short notice as ve are afraid she may flee the country." What is her weapon of choice? Gathered that much. Normally you give a bit more notice... We need to find where she is now, though. * Kendrick flips thru the information a bit more. According to ballistic, she uses a Heckler and Kock PSG 1. Ve have found her penthouse apartment, and she went in an hour ago. (What's that mean for those not familiar with weapons?) (Does Marcus know weapons?) (Mechanic (gun) or guns with rifle specialty or above level two) (If not, just ask IC) * Kendrick nods. "Must be a good shot as well. Will she be expecting us, or don't we know?" I don't believe I'm familiar with that weapon. * Kendrick throws the pad over at Marcus. * Marcus reads. It is a sniper rifle, a very good one... ::Victor pauses as the pad is handed over:: But no, ve do not believe she knows ve are hunting her. Ve are not even certain if she is the right one, but vhen ve get to her apartment, I vill know by her scent. So you will be coming with us? That was a given considering he has her scent. We cannot risk innocents, you know that. * Victor nods. "I vill be your back up. I vas a friend of Agent Fergusson, and as my field training is minimal and my volf control not the best, I vill hold back unless you absolutely need me." * Marcus nods You mentioned this was in relation to the vampires from before. Is it suspected that the suspect is also a vampire? Ve can go in now, or vait until she may be asleep, although if ve vait, she would be more likely to noticec our stakeout, if she is a pro. Ve vill be careful, but.. * Victor shakes his head. "No, by her smell, and by the vay she got around some protections on Agent Fergusson, ve are certain she is alive. Ve do not know if she has other powers zough. * Marcus nods Looks just like a very well trained sniper to me. From the information you've gathered, she's just highly trained, no paranormal abilities. * Victor nods. "Zis is likely, but ve are not certain. So, in now, or vait for sleep?" Well, if she is not expecting company, then the sooner we go, the better, I think. I can probably get us into her apartment quietly without much trouble. * Victor nods and looks over to Kendrick. * Kendrick hmmms... "I suggest we at least observe the area. Marcus can get in and out without a fuss, so he should do that. Depending on her awareness, we either wait for nightfall or strike now. * Victor "Zis is not a bad idea." I'll try and look up some more information on her after we get there. Maybe something that was overlooked earlier. Where is her apartment? * Victor points to a nearby building, nice brownstone multistory apartment. "She iz in a penthouse on ze thirteenth floor. Zat is ze top floor as vell. She is in apartment B." (Can the penthouse be seen from here?) (Yeah, it's an odd angle though) (So someone in the penthouse would have a hard time seeing the cafe, yes?) (Go ahead and go IC Jex) Right at a perfect observation point, figures. (Probably, but it might be possible) (Oh, never mind then. Enjoy!) * Marcus rolls his eyes and frowns. "Perfect. Hopefully, we haven't been seen." I vould be able to know her scent from the ambient smell outside her door, but I have not gone up yet, in case she is cautious. [Victor actually wouldn't be visible from where he's sitting] Hang on a sec. I'm going to go see if she has any open windows. That may yet make things simpler still. Excuse me for a moment. * Victor nods. * Marcus gets up and walks into the cafe bathroom so that no one can see, then turns invisible/insubstantial, and flies out to the penthouse... [No open windows] * Marcus circles the penthouse a reasonable distance away, but close enough to see if any doors or windows are open. [And there is a door for getting into the apartment building (but not the apartment itself) via the roof, but it's closed. Prolly locked. * Marcus flies over to that door and sees if he can pass through it. [He can] [‘Up on the roof’ log begins here] * Victor anxiously taps his foot and orders another coffee. * Marcus returns to the cafe, returning to the table via the restroom * Marcus sits down Ok, so here's what we've got... * Victor looks over to Marcus. "Go on." There's a bunch of doors and windows to the outside from her apartment, but none of them are open. The roof access has a simple lock on and alarm system that should be pretty easy to bypass, and your standard facial-recognition- capable security camera inside. I don't think I tripped any security measures, since I stayed a respectable distance from her apartment doors and windows. * Victor nods. "Zis is not a covert mission, SAB vill be sure to expunge the camera records aftervards, ve are only vorried about her being alerted." * Kendrick nods. I don't suppose either of you can fly? I'm thinking, we could go in through the roof access so we're in the building as little as possible. I'll enter her apartment and disarm whatever lock she has on the door and then you guys can come in. * Victor frowns for a moment and then nods. "I could get Kendrick to ze roof, if he can hold on." * Victor then stands. "So, shall ve do zis?" I'm ready if you and Kendrick are. * Kendrick nods and puts the pad down. "Sure." * Victor grabs a hat that had been sitting by him and puts it over his head. He then puts the pad in a bag and nods over to another fairly nondescript cafe goer who nods back. * He takes a route that largely avoids view from the window and leads you to a fairly dark alley on the opposite side of the apartment building. Once there he puts on a collar with a flashlight and speaker and slips his arm inside his coat. "Kendrick, just hold on once I transform, I vill be able to leap up." * Kendrick nods. I'll be waiting up top. * Marcus turns invisible/insubstantial and flies up to the roof * Victor then scowls for a moment and concentrates, rather quickly his shaggy hair grows longer as he picks up a coat of fur. His muscles also rearrange themselves to allow for four leg locomotion and his snout grows substantially longer. * Victor's coat hides most of this unpleasant process, but is left lying to the side at the end. His final form is far more wolf than man, though it's a wolf with the mass of a small adult bear. Alright, where should I grab you so it doesn't hurt? [Growls enhanced by the speaker] Take vy jacket and grab von. * Kendrick takes his jacket and grabs on. :P * Victor snorts. "It is razer hard vor you to hurt me." Once Kendrick is on, he makes a series of leaps, landing on fire escapes, windows sills and landings, leaping up three stories at a time." (Drop last quote) (Gimme a body roll (strength) with a -8 bonus Kendrick) (Riding skill (wolves) helps) (I think I made it.) [Kendrick holds on without any trouble, although it may be still a tad harrowing] * Victor lands on the roof. "Cover me viz ze jacket." Wait by the door. I'm going to try to disable the security system and open it from inside. * Kendrick covers him. "That can't be comfortable when you change back." * Marcus goes inside and attempts to disable the security system on the exterior door. (Gimme a electronics (security) roll. -4 modifier from the insubstantial ability to let you work on it from both sides.) [Victor transforms back at this point, he gets a great deal smaller and his hair doesn't look any worse than it had been when you first saw him. He ends up prone on the ground, but covered by the jacket.] [Marcus disables the system] [You can get around the lock pretty easily from this inside, so you can ignore that to save time.] (I assume the security camera faces the door?) (It's rotating, so it gets all three doors. Rotates pretty fast though.) (All six doors actually, as there's an elevator, stairs up, stairs down, and three apartments) * Marcus sticks his hand through the outside door and makes the outside part visible, and waves at Victor and Kendrick to come in * Victor heads down and waits at the bottom of the stairs by the door to the apartment hallway. * Marcus then goes over to the security camera and becomes visible right in front of it, blocking the camera from recording anything useful * Kendrick walks in as well. [The security camera stops rotating and focuses on Kendrick, seems to be having trouble focusing.] (Presumably effectively blacking it out, as that wouldn't be hard.) (That's the point.) (Does it have a focus knob or something I can use to disable it without permanently breaking it?) (You can basically unplug disable it yeah. Although they'll likely notice downstairs, given the model of camera they have.) (You get all this info by making a dang good roll earlier, just to be clear. :P) (Does it have a mic?) (No) Can one of you block the camera while I open the suspect's door? Yeah. * Kendrick walks over to the camera and puts his hand in front of the lens. * Victor steps out into the hallway and sniffs around a bit. He then nods. * Marcus goes invisible again, and goes inside the Apt B door [He gets through. He can see that the door is locked from the inside, that the apartment has a separate security system] (Oh, and give me a HA (sight) mind check) * Marcus looks around quickly to make sure no one is watching, and attempts to disable the security system. (You can also see a living room from here, and a dining room, hall that leads to a bedroom.) [You don't see anyone else at the moment] (wait.. Victor said he could tell if it's her if he's right outside the door?) (Yeah, that was him nodding earlier) (But you don't see her yet) (ok, then. trying to turn the alarm system off and unlock the door) (electronics, or computer security?) (Mind Computer (security) +2 roll on the alarm system. Body (Sleight of hand) on the lock) [Marcus keeps the security system from reactivating when the door gets unlocked. He then manages to unlock the door itself quietly.] * Marcus motions to Victor and Kendrick to come in * Marcus searches around the apartment carefully for the suspect [Alright, going to init order] Opening the door? Sticking a visible hand through the door?) (ok, gotta run now... Marcus going on autopilot. Later all...) (Uh... oh boy.) (It's alright, Victor's your main backup here) (Marcus is not the fighter) (Pfft. I'm not a fighter either.) [Marcus suddenly appears outside the door and whispers. "She just snuck through me and relocked it." [Lady, Marcus, Victor, Kendrick (when init matters, which isn't just yet)] * Kendrick nods. * Victor growls softly and then whispers. "I say ve beat down ze door." Well, how else will we get in. I'm no lock pick. [Oh, and the door has a viewing hole] * Lady speaks through the door in a clear, rich contralto, "Whatever you're selling, I don't want any." * Victor smirks and he slips his arms inside his coat again and does his transformation sequence. * Victor then charges the door, slamming into it with all of his weight. ... * Kendrick shrugs. "Go get'em." [It's a good hit and the door shudders. One or two more of these and it'll be off the hinges.] * Victor then charges again. * The door shudders and then flies open after Marcus goes invisible slips inside and unlocks it again. [Lady!] * Lady is a lovely red-haired woman of generous proportions waiting off to the side for someone to come barging in. * Lady is holding her rifle, and fires off a shot at Victor the second he comes through! * Victor is stopped midcharge and is bleeding rather heavily from the wound, he bares his teeth in the direction of the woman but doesn't charge just yet. "Must keep ze control...." [Kendrick!] Right. You do that, fuzzy. * Marcus for the record is doing something while invisible. You aren't sure what. * Kendrick draws his magnum in one hand, pointing it at the lady. "Freeze Ms. Seifer." [Victor for the record is big enough to provide pretty good cover (+2 penalty) for Kendrick] (I'm not firing.) (+2 to shoot at, no penalty for him to shoot) [Lady!] ( *Points Gry to not/msg* ) You first, Sir Breaking-And-Entering. You're sloppy. You'll miss, I won't, which means you'll die and I'll live, and you won't get to complete whatever you came here for. So put the piece down and save yourself. * Victor rears up a bit to provide Kendrick even more complete cover. (+4 to hit, no heart shots on Kendrick) he growls. "Vant me to rend her?" [Kendrick] Oh, don't you move either, Fuzzy. Next bullet goes through your eye. If she shoots again, rip her to shreads. And I wouldn't shoot at him if I were you. I've stared down demons from the gates of hell, a military punk like you seems to be child's play. * Victor growls at that, he seems to be having a bit of trouble staying upright and uses a wall for support. His wound is closing up.] [Lady!] * Marcus is still somewhere in the apartment presumably, but hard to say where. Whoop-de-doo. You'll still only take one shot to kill, basher. You wanna risk that, or you wanna put that piece down and start telling me what the fuck you're doing knocking down my door? ( And all this with a lovely British accent. ) * Kendrick smirks. "Hey, guess what. You die in one shot to." (Whoo! Go brits!) [Victor growls louder.] [Kendrick] (Oh, and so long as your just talking don't worry about init for the moment. * Lady grins. "But I'm quicker. Oh, believe me I am." 'Sides, you want me alive. Otherwise you would've shot at me already, and you'd already be dead, and we wouldn't be avin' this lovely conversation, right? * Kendrick glances down at Victor. "And he's ready to rip your arms off." Kendrick flashes his badge. "Scotland Yard. We're here to take you in for the murder of Erin Ferguson. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you. And I'm sure you've heard the rest of this shit before." Yard, ey? You coulda' bloody well said so afore ye opened your mouth an' all that stupid came rolling out. Do you know your fuzzy buddy's corrupt? * Victor growls softly. "Humans.. alvays vith talking.. vait, zat's volf thought. Bad..." He's increasingly straining to stay up. Wolves not so much meant for the standing up." * Kendrick laughs. "And how do you justify that?" * Victor bares his teeth again, licks them, and just looks at the woman after that comment. It's got a definite "you're lunch" quality about it, but he's not charging just yet. He hangs with a fella wot poisoned bloodbanks, is how. Lotsa people who need that blood to survive, an' he an' his wanna turn it lethal. How nice izzat, ey? She lieesss, Erin vould never. ::He's growling pretty much continously now:: Hey, Victor, you probably should change back into a human. Or at least a hybrid... You're giving in to your feral side. I agree. I don't think anyone here want's nothin' rash bein' done. * Victor growls again, and seems tenses his back legs for a moment, before letting himself drop and then transforms himself back into human form. Naked human form admittedly. He covers the area he's most worried about having shot with his hand. * Kendrick throws Victor his jacket. "And put something on." Good. ...ew. Izzit too much ta wear spandex or somethin' when yeh change? * Victor puts it on. Carefully switching his hands around as he does so, keeping things fairly hidden. "I have ze wrong kind of curse.... sorry I didn't convince ze volf zat bit me to find a pants vearing buddy." [Victor's a bit over six feet tall when he stands up. He's fairly well built, particularly as he looks forty years old. He's got wavy shoulder length hair that's in a real mess right now.] [His wound is also healed at this point] [Oh, and having seen him in the buff, his muscles have a fairly unnatural look, you'd think werewolf enhanced rather than lots of exercise.] Now your turn, basher. Put the gun down an' we can talk, aye? * Kendrick looks around the apartment. "Only if you put yours down first. We both have little reason to trust each other, and according to you, I'd miss if I shot ya." * Victor nods. "And you are ze assassin among us." * Victor still has a fairly feral look about him. But a feral looking human is a hell of a lot less scary looking than a feral looking uber-wolf. Oh, but we gotta start somewhere, roit? 'Sides, you're a cop, maybe a good cop. That scores you points trust-wise. Not sure about your taste in friends, tho. Well, he didn't rip you into two when you shot him. That's a plus. * Victor "Ve vill see about zat." * Victor's not moving though, and, well, pretty obviously unarmed. Okay, okay. So it's *his* taste in friends wot worries me, right? You still didn't explain what the recently deceased was doin' poisonin' blood. * Victor glances over at Kendrick. "You vant me to handle zis?" If you really want to. He was your friend, after all. He vas a decorated Mi-5 agent, zat you should accuse him of such a zing is ridiculous. But I'll listen to what she has to say. I'd like to hear what reasons she thinks Erin was a vampire. Because I can assure you, he wasn't. I didn't say nothin' bout vampires. I said he was poisonin' blood, not suckin' it. Saw it m'self. * Kendrick nods. "Are you sure he wasn't, instead, gathering samples of blood?" * Victor nods and scowls. "So I could analyze ze agents ze vamps vere putting in." "Or vas it a few days ago, ven he vas injecting the nullifying agent, I vas quite proud of zat..." Nullifyin' agent, right. Which is why it was poisonous to humans afterwards? * Victor scowls "It vas not, now, do zey have the capacity to make poisoned blood.. yes, zat I can be certain of." Who hired you? * Red scowls. "Mark Randolph, factory manager for Hemocorp. I looked into him, he checked out as a normal and well-adjusted fellow." * Victor nods to Kendrick and says quietly, "Ve had him followed. Zis employer story check out." 'Course he checks out! * Marcus... is still being invisible somewhere. * Victor sneers for a moment at Red's retort, but he leaves reply to the more diplomatic for now. * Kendrick nods. "Now, can we finally put down the firearms so we can discuss this in relative peace?" Hey, what've I been angling at for half an hour? * Victor snarls "How about I put a claw at your zroat, Kendrick lowers his gun, you lower yours, everyone happy." How about --Kendrick? Fine. Kendrick puts his gun down, I lower mine. You boys are my guests, remember. Ze claw vas a key part of ze idea, but... ::He leans against the wall:: Kendrick if you like, duck behind me then lower your gun, perhaps she vill take a shot and zen ve can all have some fun. * Kendrick shrugs. "Fair enough. What, and go first? Sorry, but you have to do something to merit me shooting you. It doesn't happen to just anybody. * Kendrick gets behind Victor and puts the gun on the ground so Red can see it. "Yeah, and you're also the one who shot Erin." * Red shrugs. "Like I said. He poisoned blood supplies." She lowers her weapon so that it's pointing at the ground, and walks over to a recliner. She has a seat and reclines, setting her rifle down to point away from the both of you. * Victor sighs "Vhy does no one choose ze hard vay." Because they know you'll kick their ass, Vict. May I have a seat Ms. Seifer? Because it's hard, basher. And yes, you most certainly may. In fact, if you'd like a drink you can help yourselves. * Red gestures to her large kitchen. There's a wine rack over thar. (Now I can put ornaments on the tree and GM without running all the time. I'm a frigging genius. :P) ( Aww. But you miss so much exersize. ^_~ ) * Kendrick takes something light and pours himself a glass, taking a seat in a chair across from Red. I've got some wine if you want to unrattle a bit. (/me quits from up here to avoid confusion. And exercise. :P) * Grysar has quit IRC (Quit: To the Greg cave. Err, the Greg first floor. ) Right. So, you two first. I wanna hear what you have to say, now that you're not talking about attacking me or anything. * Kendrick looks at Victor. "Think we should let he know about the branch?" * Victor leans against a wall with an irritable expression, he gestures vaguely with his hand, "Go ahead.” * Kendrick smirks. "You killed a federal agent, young lady. Part of the Supernatural Affair Branch of the British Government." * Victor scowls "And a friend of mine." Which is why, incidentally, he was at the blood bank. And a good friend of Victor. Maybe we should have had another agent check on this... Erin had a lot of friends... Gowon. I'd spout a buncha' stuff about the supernatural bit, but that was afore I'd seen someone doing a really good werewolf impression. Look, enough with the guilt already, alright? I make plenty of that on my own. If you can prove to me what you're saying, I'll do the guy what hired me for free. Gratis. Nada. But it's gotta be *good* proof. Fine. May I use phone? Sure. Dial nine to get out. * Victor goes over to make a call. So, to be honest, we were assigned to take you back. Standard procedure for when an agent is downed in the line of duty. * Victor nods at that. "Vigilante assassination is still quite illegal." He then speaks into the phone, "Yes, ze subject is secure, bring up ze pad." * Red raises an eyebrow. "The pad?" * Victor into phone, "Yes, assemble the physical evidence at headquarters, no, I believe zat she will assist." He then looks up at Red "Ze data pad, ze briefing Kendrick recieved. Hopefully zis vill convince you for now." Fine, fine. * Kendrick throws Red the pad. * Victor looks up. "Oh, you kept it, zat is a timesaver." Why wouldn't I? * Kendrick shrugs. * Red catches the pad and looks. * Victor shrugs. * Red turns red while she reads, and her eyes widen once or twice. This is... good. I'll want more, of course, but this is a good start. (oh, wow. you guys still going?) * Victor gives a fairly toothy smile. "You'll get it." (We had a pause of three and a half hours or so. :P) It would seem that I made a mistake. This makes me angry. My offer still stands. You prove this, gimme every shred of evidence you've got, and I will see that the man who hired my services dies. (heh, that'd explain it) * Victor snorts. "Vhat a generous offer, but vhat if the man who hired you is merely a pawn of another, with no free will of his own?" Fine. Then whoever's responsible for making a fool of me and a corpse of your friend dies. How's that? * Victor grins slightly, and toothily. "Zat is perhaps a start, if also harder zen you may zink. Ve shall see." * Kendrick sighs. "Well, how else do we recruit people. Welcome aboard, in a manner of speaking." Psh. Anyone can be assassinated. And thanks. ...I guess. It's a rough business. * Kendrick gets up and holds out a hand for Red to shake. * Victor keeps the grin. He hangs up the phone. "Vell, zat could have gone vorse, but you can't alvays get vhat you vant." * Kendrick shrugs. "We'll get the one really responsible. * Red sighs, stands, and shakes. "Right then." [End]