Mosca Syndrome

PORTER:

(OOC: duly noted--in that light, the mayhem ensued as you nonchalantly tucked the wad in your pocket.)

The ambulance starts up well enough, but through the clouds of settling dust you can see that the front of the building has suffered a major structural FUBAR--there's heaps of rubble, excess office furniture, and broken bricks between you and the street. It becomes clear that "slowly" isn't going to cut it. The only hope is to back the ambulance up as far as you can, drop the transmission into LOW, mash the throttle and hope you can build up enough inertia to shove through. Either that or hop out and leg it. Your call.

(OOC: In gamespeak, Porter shot a "1" on a Luck Save roll, and it miraculously looks as though the debris has fallen/is hanging in such a way there's a good chance the ambulance could make it should whoever is at the wheel make a decent driving roll)

Chantry, without speaking, braces himself with the help of a stainless steel grab handle in the back section of the ambulance when he hears the engine start and Porter's mention of "rolling"...

OZ:

Everything seems to be there and to work, though there is a general state of overall background pain that seems to be radiating from of your back, and a mother of a headache from deep within your ears. Your right ear is stinging sharply, and when you feel it it's clear that it's bleeding and feels a little, well...loose. You think you might have a few scrapes on your face, too, but it's hard to tell.

Getting out of the car is easy, seeing as how most of the back end of it is blown clear away. You roll over the twisted bench seat and onto your feet.

The street looks like a ground attack chopper has swept by with a particularly nasty ex-wife at the controls. You can see the tail end of the Chevy engulfed in flames nearby, the paint on the remaining tailfin blistering from the heat. The front left corner of the car is wrapped around a streetlamp on the north side of the street. Parts, objects from the trunk, and other less identifiable debris are scattered all over the place. It looks like you did two full rotations before coming to a stop.

You look down the street toward the building, and see that the front facade has partially collapsed, though most of the outside structure seems intact. There is a gaping hole in the middle of the street near where that Subaru was, and a rushing, continuous fireball about eight feet high is rolling out of it. Whatever happened over there--couldn't have just been the Subaru's fuel tank; only a good-sized chunk of high explosives could make that kind of mess--must have broken a natural gas line. You can see some large chunks of the Subaru, the building, and the pavement scattered here and there, smoking and in some cases burning as small satellite fires. The cyclone fence is completely flattened, and one streetlamp has been bent out of plumb, away from the crater. There are two plumes of black smoke rising, backlit by the orangish overcast sky that more or less completes the Fire-and-Brimstone scene before you. Out of the corner of your eye you catch something flapping at your shoulder in the wind. You grab at it, and see that it's one of the tattered scraps of the back of your armored vest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OOC: Everybody knows that, somewhere in the city, siesmographs have picked up the spike of that second explosion and a city computer is alerting emergency crews and attempting to triangulate the source. You maybe have five minutes to get clear of the area before the first telecopter drone arrives to survey the scene. Thankfully, any satellite imaging would be impossible due to the cloud cover.

OOC: Chalkline is bowing out of this one. I will NPC his character until some point at which I can gracefully (or not) exit him stage left. I realize that many games "jump the shark" when this happens, but depending on what goes down in the next few posts, new plot developments may well change this and allow a new character into the game, subject to y'all's approval.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OZ:

You make a mental note of the plates and the make of the truck as you launch the Chevy from its parking place.

Skyler snaps a right turn at the corner, back toward the building (West). You follow. His car is faster and surely handles better, but your skill allows you to drift around the corner carrying a lot more speed than him, so you end up not far behind.

On the second side street available to the right (Southbound), Skyler's brake lights flash and he makes a sudden turn--you know enough to be able to tell what someone is thinking to some extent by how they drive, and it looked to you like Skyler changed his mind at the last possible second--if he didn't have the computerized assistance the Acura no doubt offers, he surely would have plowed up over the curb and into a building. The move looked like fear to you. The funny part is that he even put his turn signal on, which in your business is a hallmark of an amateur wheelman who is in over his head.

I'll assume you continue forward, as chasing Skyler around is probably lower on your priorities list than getting back to the Organ Factory. It's about at this point that you feel and hear something that, given a chance to describe it, one would say to be much like getting rear-ended by a dump truck. You see the street and buildings, and bright orange light whipping past from left to right, too fast to comprehend them as anything but a blur. Then a sudden, solid, and vicious stop.

You're lying in a heap in the passenger floorboard, one foot up on the passenger headrest and the other up on top of the steering column. Your ears are ringing, your head feels like it's been hit with a cast-iron frying pan, and the spiderwebbed remains of the car's safety glass glimmer as if there's a fire nearby. It's warm in here.

PORTER:

Chantry appears at the back of the ambulance. He heaves the M-16 and one of the equipment trolleys up in there--there's no time to worry about properly fitting everything, which (without having seen where it goes to begin with) is the sort of spacial relations exercise that would give a champion Tetris player nightmares. Chantry goes back to grab another trolley.

The lock on this satchel responds better to being pried, which is what you do. It pops open. The satchel is full of tools, a few electronic devices and some other things... However, it's the thick roll of cash that really catches your eye. You hold it up to appraise it when when you are deafened by two explosions, about a second apart. One sounds close, but it is quickly eclipsed by a much bigger one that happens, oh, about where you threw that camera bag. The whole building, and certainly the ambulance, shudders, and through the windshield you can see the interior structure of the second-and-third floor rooms, and everything in them, coming down fast. The noise is horrendous. You can hear Chantry yelling something from behind you--he's jumped into the ambulance and pulled the doors shut--but there's no telling what he's saying for the moment.

After a moment, the rumbling subsides. Whatever optics or flashlights you may have are the only available avenue for vision. Dust is swirling everywhere outside. You're in one piece.

Chantry, with a concerned glance at the ceiling of the ambulance, says something about Amontillado. Or something like that. Your ears are ringing too much to hear and perhaps too much to care.

OZ:

You huff your way toward the Chevy. Skyler watches you warily (and wearlily) as you go past, but quickly jumps into his car when it's clear you are headed to yours.

The rusty pickup roars through its so-called "mufflers," and begins to inch forward, the snow tires on the back screaming their disapproval as the driver steps on the gas and spins them into smoking blur. Whoever those clown are, they do know how to tune an engine. AK-boy tosses the gun ahead of him into the bed of the truck, and barely manages to vault over the tailgate himself and keep from being left behind. The beast slews wildly away from the curb, heading South. Real subtle.

The back seat is clear, and you hop in. You don't hear Skyler's engine starting up over the dopplering baritone of the pickup, but you do see his brake lights come on and the white lights on the back of his Acura flash as he shifts through reverse into drive. He begins acclerating North, back toward the corner.

The "old" Chevy starts up with no drama. If nothing else, it's been a reliable car. You're good to go...so where you headed?

PORTER:

One satchel is quite heavy, and one isn't. Both have little combination dial locks. Such locks really only keep honest people out, but since the lighter satchel is unlocked, I'll discuss that first. A quick rifling reveals clothing (flashy-ish club wear, mostly), a couple of pairs of sunglasses, a liquor flask (full) and a number of small pillboxes and "snort vials"--pocket-sized bottles designed such that they can be shaken to load a pre-determined dose into a chamber in the neck, so the user can quickly and discretely snort it. Some are empty, some aren't. At the bottom of the satchel is one of those cheap (and illegal) plastic throwaway 5-shot pocket pistols with a little belt clip built into the handle. Not exactly pro-quality equipment, but the sort of thing that encourages "civilian" victims to do as they're told.

OZ:

The three of you round the corner, Skyler first, then AK, then you. The cars are where they left them, though another guy is climbing into the driver's side of the rusty pickup truck. Wild hair, black motorcycle jacket, hooded sweatshirt, and jeans. He ("Gordie?") hits the starter and the heap blasts to life, the hungry V-8 grumbling through glasspack mufflers. AK guy is running directly toward the truck, which is pointing away from you.

It occurs to you that neither of these guys is the one you saw in the street earlier. Peculiar.

Skyler, panting and slowing, reaches the driver's side of his white Acura (which is pointing toward you) at the same time its headlights flash, signalling that the alarm has been switched off. His hand on the door handle, he looks up and watches you approach (You're parked a little ways behind him at this point, also pointing North toward avenue F).

CHANTRY:

You flatten yourself on the ground next to the Japanese Clamshell Bathroom unit, but all you hear is the sound of someone (likely Porter) jogging back into the building and the ambulance doors opening.

For what it's worth, you spot a door about three stories up on the back wall. Probably the other side of the fire escape door you saw outside. Not that there's any obvious way to get to it. Peculiar. Hanging in space next to the door is a ladder that seems to lead up between the heavy triangulated metal trusses to some kind of roof access.

PORTER:

You're not sure where Chantry disappeared to. Peculiar. The ambulance has all sorts of bracketry in the back where equipment likely slides in and locks down for transport. Also, hanging in one corner are two Paramedic-style uniforms. You spot a couple of fat black satchel-type cases up between the front seats. The keys to the ambulance are in the ignition lock, a plastic kewpie doll dangling from the ring.

CHANTRY:

You watch as Porter makes his mad dash. You wonder if he ran track and field in High School.

OZ:

I guess I could sit down and compare seconds and stuff to decide how far ahead Skyler and the other guy are, but I'll just wing it and say that AK boy has about 15 meters on you (and holding), while Skyler has about 20 and is slowly pulling away. You wonder if he ran track and field in High School. The building you are currently running near has a two concrete stoops you could jump behind for cover, but there'd be nowhere to go from there. Also present are a few steel lampposts, none of which are producing light, but any of which would be better than nothing for cover. You have one more block to go before the corner around which the cars lie, and the building on the next block has a similar setup of stoops and lamposts. Skyler and the other guy are running more or less down the middle of the street.

AK-Guy is yelling:

"START THE TRUCK, GORDIE! START THE TRUCK!" with his Upper East Coast accent it sort of comes out as "STAWT THE TRUCK GAUDIE! STAWT THE TRUCK!"

Neither one seems to be making any aggressive moves, though Skyler can be heard grunting and heaving to maintain his speed.

PORTER:

A modern-day video camera weighs very little--its size is purely a product of being large enough to fit the hand comfortably. As a result, a video camera bag shouldn't weigh much more. This particular video camera bag, however, is much heavier than it should be, which becomes apparent to you as you snag the shoulder strap on the way to the door. You duck under the sagging balcony and fling the bag out into the street with a deft movement at the same time as you stop yourself by grabbing onto the track for the overhead door. You had better things to do when you were younger than run track and field in High School, but it was a nice bit of grab, run, and toss. The bag soars and lands with a thud, rolling over once and coming to rest about three meters past and three meters beyond the totalled Subaru.

OZ:

You head off toward the Chevy, which is the same direction you can see Skyler and that AK-guy are running. You hear Chantry's mercy shot loudly over your radio (thankfully, they have volume compensators built-in), and also as an echo from the building you left. At the shot, AK-guy glances over his shoulder back at the building, and then does a double-take when he sees you.

"One of 'em's followin' us!" he huffs ahead to Skyler, who seems to be a little fleeter of foot than both you and AK-guy, who seems to be moving along at about the same rate as you.

Skyler glances over his shoulder and continues running.

CHANTRY:

No need to describe the effect of the mercy shot beyond saying "It worked"...There are all sorts of devices here in the tent, but you do notice in particular a sleek laptop computer that, while closed, is connected via standard inteface cables to some of the machines, which in their own right are probably valuable. It seems like the tent is a portable surgical center, that likely all fits into the ambulance. Much of the equipment even seems to be mounted on trolleys that have some kind of metal track along the sides that probably allows them to slot right into matching tracks in a vehicle--you've seen similar setups in coroner's vehicles.

PORTER:

Milner's corpse is contained within a sterility suit of some kind that really seems like a bit much here, but Milner apparently lived (and died, considering the multitude of bullet wounds) by the word "overkill". Other than the suit, he doesn't really have anything on him. He must have personal effects somewhere around here, though.

The weapon appears to be a clone or variant of the old U.S. M-16 rifle. There's a selective-fire switch, so it's probably full auto. It literally looks brand-new, with no scratches or wear. The stock and forend are plastic with a woodland camo pattern molded in, and a long-ish curved magazine is in place. Probably 30 rounds, and (depending on the ammo) it could have easily chewed through your gear had Milner had a clue what was going on (and knew how to use it).

OOC: Okay Wilphe. Still waiting on Chantry's actions. Trying not to get the timelines out of whack again.

OOC: reading back, it occurs to me that I can't determine whether Wilphe intends for Oz to go get the shot-up car the guy tried to escape in, or intends to go get the Chevy you guys drove here.

Still waiting on Chantry's reaction to the tent scene, and Oz' reaction to the fact that Skyler and co. seem to be bugging out. Hope I haven't just grossed people out or something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PORTER AND CHANTRY:

Skyler ducks under the sagging balcony and leaves out the open vehicle door. Oz seems not too far behind him.

I'm not sure I have the stomach or medical expertise to describe the scene in the tent in gruesome detail. However, the following conditions are true:

1. Milner, a real sick one even by today's standards, apparently prefers to have his patients alive and somewhat conscious to watch their own vivisection.

2. He was well on his way with the unfortunate young woman on the table in here, who is hooked up to an array of machines and drip tubes. The "big organs" are there, but it looks like the rest is missing, presumably in the largish hissing metal container-device nearby. Essentially, she is running the bare minimum at this point. Her drugged eyes roll toward you.

3. You have both made the necessary COOL saves to not faint, vomit, or run screaming.

A flashing red LED draws your attention to an glowing and equally red:

"STERILTY COMPROMISED"

OZ:

The only open door is the vehicle door, unless you feel like jumping out the second story window. I'm gonna assume you went for the vehicle door, rather than bothering at this moment with the personell door.

As you peer out, you see through the vapor of your breath two people dashing away down the street. They are headed in the direction your vehicles are parked. One is clearly Skyler. The other looks like it might be Mr. Autofire from a few moments ago. The wind is like icicles stabbing at your exposed skin, and a few snowflakes swirl about.

The Subaru has partially knocked over the chain-link-and-razor wire fence of the building next door. Despite the car being riddled with bullet holes, the engine is, astoundingly, still running (though knocking and smoking), unsuccessfully trying to push the car further into the fence. The driver's still slumped, though it doesn't look like the airbag has deployed. Thankfully, the driver didn't come to rest on the horn button for once. One of the headlights is still blazing.

(OOC: Whoa! Chalkline posted while I was writing mine. Lemme add CHANTRY to the current situation)

CHANTRY:

You make you way around the back of the ambulance, between it and the piles of abandoned chipboard organ shells. You come around the tent to see Porter crouched over a bloodstained figure in white, and hear him over the commo and in person simultaneously as he speaks, the combination of the tinny transmission and his actual voice creating a bizarre quasi-echo. Skyler speaks and does as mentioned above and is now backing toward the vehicle door as if he wants nothing to do with this place. His camera bag and knife lie on the floor near a large rip in the tent.

You hear that rythmic wheezing as well.

OOC: We'll drop out of the second-by-second blow-by-blow play-by-play stuff, at least until someone or something turns up to throw us back into it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyler rips a big slash in the side of the tent and leans in, the gun at his shoulder leading the way.

"Yeah, right. I'll call them off when I'm clear of you--"

He staggers back from the tent, his mouth hanging open, turning what you can see of his face into a mask of horror. His shoulders sag, and the camera bag sloughs to the floor. The knife drops from his left hand to land next to it.

"I...I gotta go outside." He says to nobody in particular, moving toward the door as if he's afraid to turn his back on that tent. He's halfheartedly holding the gun to his shoulder, his left hand waving behind him, trying to feel his way toward the exit.

PORTER:

The rip in the tent allows you to hear some sort of rythmic wheezing over the whirring air filration setup.

OZ:

You have to carefully pick your way to the stairs , as the balcony has partially collapsed so that it's resting on the nose of the Ambulance at one end and only tenuously connected at the other. You are making your way down the stairs when Skyler apparently loses his cool and starts making for the exit.

OOC: Home on a Friday night. Oh, well...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SECOND FOURTEEN:

PORTER:

You wheel toward the downed figure in white. Skyler jumps out of your way as you move. The burst finds its mark. The body barely moves as the slugs hit. Deadweight.

CHANTRY:

No targets visible here, though you can hear footsteps on the other side of the room, and hear a th-th-thump as someone fires a suppressed gun.

OZ:

You lean out the window. The car has crashed into the cyclone fence surrounding the metal shop next door.

SECOND FIFTEEN:

CHANTRY:

Looking about, you see that you could either move toward the back of the building and around the ambulance, toward the front of the building and the wide-open-to-the-outside vehicle door that has only just now hit the end of its track, or drop and roll underneath the ambulance.

OZ:

On closer inspection, the engine, surprisingly, is still running, but is making a loud knocking sound and smoke is pouring out the passenger (right) side wheelwell. You can only make out one figure, slumped in the driver's seat.

PORTER:

You're almost on top of the person you shot. He/she/it isn't doing anything. Skyler moves toward the tent-structure. His weapon is dangling from his sling and he's pulling out that folding knife of his.

SECOND SIXTEEN:

CHANTRY:

More footsteps. A snick noise and some rustling. You notice a badly-tuned engine knocking away from somewhere outside.

OZ:

No motion in the car. No noticeable movement across the street. No apparent reaction from the building next door.

PORTER:

You move the target's head to get a look through the plastic faceshield. It's Milner, or at least it was Milner. Skyler shifts the knife to his left hand and reaches for his gun as he carefully approaches the tent.

SECOND ELEVEN:

OZ:

It's one of those butch-looking Subaru rally-car replicas, all wings, muscle-y fender bulges, and a couple of scoops on the hood, and it's taking a hell of a thrashing from the guy across the street with the Kalashnikov. You add two shots of your own to the storm of lead. The car begins to slew wildly.

CHANTRY:

Interrupting your quip with a curse, you charge for the door. You make it there at the end of the second.

PORTER:

You reach the landing on this second and have a clear view of the area under the balcony and upstairs rooms. Not much there except for the stereo, the front door, a large portable kitchen cart, and the open vehicle door, through which you can see the leaving car.

SECOND TWELVE

OZ:

You continue to blast away at the car, adding two more slugs to the deluge of bullets from AK-boy. The car continues turning right, as if out of control. It's probably going to end up crashing into something on your side of the street!

CHANTRY:

You're through the door and on the balcony, which you can feel moving under your feet. The highest available object is the top of the ambulance, which is an easy leap from the balcony--well, at least a balcony that isn't collapsing. You stumble off the faltering balcony and land, prone, on top of the ambulance. OOF!

PORTER:

Halfway down the last flight. Skyler is at the landing. Somebody (either Oz or Chantry--last time you saw them only Oz was wearing the coveralls-and-flak-vest getup) comes out the door of the room you originally entered through and the balcony practically gives way under his feet, dumping him square on top of the ambulance.

SECOND THIRTEEN:

PORTER:

You reach the bottom of the stairs and deliver a fierce boot to the jukebox. It skids across the floor and crashes into the kitchen cart with a horrid electronic squeal, and (thank whatever diety you please) cuts off abruptly. The din of the kitchen cart tumbling over is a welcome relief in comparison. Skyler is at the halfway point of the lowest flight.

CHANTRY:

The nearest cover to where you are is to roll off the top of the ambulance to your left, which puts you on the floor, in between the ambulance and the wall. Looking underneath the ambulance, you see the illuminated white fabric of the tent-structure on the other side. You do notice that the horrible noise has stopped.

OZ:

The firing from across the way stops. You remember the guy's gun having what looked like a 30-round curved magazine, so you expect that his cease-fire is due to having emptied the AK. The bullet-riddled car has hit the sidewalk on your side of the street, at the building next door, and crashes into something just as the digital noise in "your" building suddenly stops with a shriek, but you are going to have to lean out the window and possibly expose yourself to see what it's run into, or to continue shooting.

SECOND NINE:

PORTER:

While Porter has no view of the car, it stands to reason that he would know it is there because the taillights of the car would have created a red glow that is clearly visible reflected in the white paint of the ambulance and the equally white tent-structure. The red glow has pretty much tipped him off that there is a car parked between the ambulance and the overhead door, and that someone is in it and planning on leaving.

You make it to the top of the metal staircase, which is attached to the Western (rightmost from your perspective) wall. Skyler is following. You see a brief flash of white light reflected in the ambulance as the driver of the car shifts through "Reverse" to "Drive"

SECOND TEN:

PORTER:

You and Skyler begin pounding down the staircase toward the landing between the two floors. You can see the large stereo rig lying on its side. The noise here is nothing short of painful unless you have the gear to block it, and there's a significant draft coming in. You also see the tailights of the car as it begins to move forward ( and again out of sight), and see a few puffs of dust popping off the floor and walls like tiny explosions in that general area. Somebody's shooting into the area of the vehicle door!

(This gets us all back to the same point in time. I'll wait for all three of you to declare a move before continuing.)

OOC: I meant "Oz and Chantry are in a different room from Porter and Skyler, so I'll take a chance and go ahead with a couple more seconds for the former pair without worry that we'll start developing one of those annoying "time lag" things." Sorry if I worded it confusingly! I know that Oz and Chantry are in one place and Porter and Skyler are in another.

OZ AND CHANTRY:

SECOND NINE:

OZ:

You pull back inside the window. The guy across the street does the same, disappearing off to the left side of the window. Although you ca't see him, you can see the muzzle of his rifle as it swings up. It looks as though he's aiming in your general direction, but too low for it to be at you. Must be aiming at those lights.

CHANTRY:

"The party's start--" is as far as you get when Oz jerks back from the window, almost bumping into you. When he does, you can see the headlights playing down on the street, but you don't notice the chap with the rifle.

SECOND TEN:

OZ and CHANTRY:

"--ed and I was on--" says Chantry. The headlights dip as though the car has started down the short ramp toward the street. Even the din of the broken stereo can't quite mask the loose mechanical popping of the AK firing full auto, and the visual aid of the half-meter muzzle flash is clearly visible to you both.

SECONDS SEVEN AND EIGHT FOR PORTER:

SECOND SEVEN:

You cut loose, the weapon jackhammering against your shoulder. Between the suppressor and the ambient din of this place at the moment, the noise of the gun is pretty much lost as the the first ten rounds pepper the target area. You are pretty confident you scored some solid hits and the white-suited figure sort of doubles over and begins to turn away from you in a sort of reflexive, cowering movement.

SECOND EIGHT:

The next ten rounds spray wildly in the general area of the target. You are not certain if any of them hit, but the figure crumples to the floor. The smell of the burnt propellent from your first volley begins to sting your nose.

Since Oz and Chantry are in a different room and communication between the two groups is more or less impossible, I'm going to risk going ahead with the next couple of seconds for you two

SECOND SEVEN:

CHANTRY:

You stick your other arm through the other hole in the vest.

OZ: Less of a dash and more of a step to the window. You lean out the window at the end of the second.

SECOND EIGHT

OZ:

A pair of blazing beams of light illuminates the street from inside the rising vehicle door below you. With the help of the lights and a lucrative awareness check roll, you can see, brilliantly illuminated, a man in a second-story window across the street. He is holding what looks like an AK-47 and squinting because of the "instant daylight" that's flooded the street.

CHANTRY:

You slap the overlapping front panel home, the hook-and-loop fasteners grabbing securely, thus punctuating your fashion statement. Oz is leaning out the window, but the window isn't big enough or clean enough to see around him. However, you can see the sudden difference in the light.

OOC:

Ugh.

I have been doing this during "down time" at work, and "down time" is starting to become difficult to come by as they have increased my reponsibilities (without increasing compensation, naturally). By the time I get home I don't even want to turn on a computer. Sorry for the extended delay. Hopefully I can get things rolling again here, as it's just now getting good...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SECOND FOUR:

PORTER:

The person that moved underneath everbody does not reappear, but you see movement in the shadows on the side of the white "tent" structure and the side walls begin rustling as if someone is opening an exit. No such exit is visible on the two sides of the structure that you can see.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Skyler leaning out the same doorway you just came through, surveying the situation.

CHANTRY:

You are shrugging your arms and shoulders into the coveralls, and speaking about a second's worth of your poem.

OZ:

I guess you are hanging back with Chantry. He seems to be saying something, but fat chance of hearing what it is. You mouth the word "Porter?" at him.

SECOND FIVE:

PORTER:

The tent structure is still rustling. You think you hear a vague mechanical grinding noise. Skyer steps out onto the balcony to your left (toward the door to the other room--the one all of you snuck into through the window). He raises some kind of compact automatic weapon out of his jacket, and a neat skeletal metal stock pops erect to his shoulder. He seems to be watching the tent.

CHANTRY:

Zipping up, and still speaking. The floor seems to vibrating or undulating very slightly here.

OZ:

Chantry is saying something. You, too, notice the vibration in the floor. Out of the corner of your eye, you see what appears to be a minor difference in the light out on the street.

SECOND SIX:

PORTER:

A figure emerges from behind the structure. Ignoring the numerous blood spatters, this person is wearing white coveralls and some kind of head covering made of shiny white plastic with a clear window on the front. Small corrugated tubes drape back over the shoulders to some kind of apparatus on the back.

The figure is clutching what appears to be an older military assault rifle in blood-drenched, latex-cased hands, but in kind of a limp manner that would imply that whomever might be in that suit might not know how to use it terribly effectively.

CHANTRY:

Pausing from the recital to shrug and mouth "No Idea!" to Oz, you grab the thick vest and sort of twirl it to allow you to stick your arm through one of the arm holes.

OZ:

The difference in light seems to be resolving into a vague rectangle of light that is starting to broaden across the street. Someone is opening the vehicle door!

ooc: Check, check, and check.

(Starting from the moment of the first crash after the loud "SPANG" noise, which is the moment the horrible digital zipper noise starts)

SECOND ONE:

Porter Begins turns and, stepping toward the door, begins a nonverbal communication with Skyler, who is standing there with a pained look on his face.

Oz gives the ladder a gentle push toward the front door and gets his hand on the butt of the Avenger.

Chantry begins unfolding a set of coveralls so he can put them on.

Somewhere down below, the stereo says "BZZZZZZWAAAAAAAA---"...it's way loud, loud enough to turn screams into vague murmurs.

SECOND TWO:

Porter finishes up his hand signals and makes his way around a filing cabinet to the door. Skyler stands there watching.

Oz whips out one of the black market Avengers, holding it in a manner that implies some degree of experience with pistols and the sort of situations in which they are employed.

Chantry sticks a leg into the coveralls.

The stereo continues with its plan of action, which seems to involve saying "--WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--" at earsplitting levels.

SECOND THREE:

The door is warped and sticks slightly, but opens with what would be a "pop" if there wasn't a horrible bloodcurdling electronic noise poisoning the atmosphere. Porter can see glass shards popping out of the broken window as he shoulders through. He is now paying attention to the world in front of him, so he is unsure of Skyler's actions. He catches a brief glimpse of movement as someone disappears out of sight below the rooms the PC are currently occupying. It's too quick to draw a bead on, but it seems the person might have been heading for the space in front of the ambulance, somewhere under the room Oz and Chantry are in.

Oz remains at the ready.

Chantry deftly sticks another leg into the coveralls, meaning both legs are now in the coveralls. Pretty impressive, wearing shoes.

The stereo keeps making the noise, though a strange feedback-like ring seems to have started, too.

OOC:

I am still trying to sort out the best way to deal with "combat," so bear with me.

A big, noisy, sudden event in a formerly "stealth" situation is going to put us into "combat time"...

What I would like to see is for each of you to give me at least three seconds' worth of intended action for your character. You can describe it as merely what he intends to do during that time.

Feel free to pepper it with "If-thens" relating to things you think might happen.

I will then break the actions down second-by-second either until some unexpected event requires a decision from one of you or until the shortest action plan is completed. If he action plans all run more than three to five seconds, I might pause after three to five to let people change their plans.

Eraser's plan for Porter is close to what I'm after. It makes the assumption that the door is going to be openable (a good spot for an if-then), but it's still the sort of thing I'm after.

The plan for Chantry works, too, but the process of putting on a pair of coveralls and an armored vest might take so long that the action is over by the time he finishes up. Of course, he also has no way of knowing Porter is on the offensive in the next room.

The plan for Oz is good but it's too short--really only a second by the way I see it. It doesn't take anything for him to drop the ladder, and pulling a gun isn't much.

With that in mind, let's start again at the point where the big noise happens. If you mean to stick to what you've posted, say so.

PORTER:

Once I've twiddled a bit with the trusty Pythagorean theorem, it looks as though you've got about seven meters of air between where you are peeking through the glass and the feet in question. If you stood out on the balcony, you could probably see whoever it is, as it is the balcony itself that is obscuring him (you are reasonably sure it's a him).

The wall looks about the same as the other, and it's the extended dance mix of the Boner Lisa Overdrive song, so you begin work with the axe.

Skyler gingerly enters the second room, looking about cautiously.

OZ/CHANTRY:

Once Oz clambers through the window, the two of you are struck by an interesting dilemma--what to do about the heavy, steel ladder that probably won't stand up on its own? It would be awkward to say the least to try to pull it in through the window, and given the sagging floor of the room, might be a dangerous. If you let go of it, it'll probably fall over outside and make a tremendous racket, which may or may not be audible to certain nearby parties.

ALL:

Your varied thoughts are upstaged by a loud *SPANG!*, some crashing noises, and some further clanging and ringing noises. The stereo begins making an appalling digital skipping noise that sounds like the crust of the earth is being unzipped under your feet. It's painfully loud, and spoken communication is unlikely at this point.

PORTER:

You're thinking you might have struck something metal inside the wall and knocked it loose, causing it to plummet to the floor below.

AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME:

Porter is standing in the spot where he was using the axe in the second room.

Chantry and Oz are just inside the window of the first room, still holding the ladder. Oz has just made it to his feet when the ruckus begins.

Skyler, when last seen, was just on Porter's side of the hole between the two rooms.

CHANTRY:

Porter, satisfied with his handiwork, pops through the hole he's made into the next room.

PORTER:

It's some effort to get around all the junk in this room, but you make it to the door. By looking out of the various holes you see the following:

Through the ruined railing, you can see to at the far left the side of what appears to be an ambulance parked so that it faces out the overhead door. It is far enough into the building that there may be another vehicle between it and the overhead door, though.

In what is about the center of the open area, you can see something that looks like a 3mx3m portable pop-up camping shelter. Some kind of air filtration device is hooked up to the side of it. The walls and cieling of the shelf are white plastic, and it is brightly lit from within. You can see shadows of various things in there, and though the shapes are indistinct, at least one of the shadows is moving as if there is someone in there.

To the right of the pop-up, you can see an area that is filled with a couple of thrift-store sofas and a coffee table with a couple of cheap lamps. You can see a pair of large, booted feet resting on one of the coffee tables, but the angle of view the holes in the glass allow isn't enough to see more of this person. One of the boots is wiggling in time with the music, the source of which is not visible from here but you guess is somewhere below you.

Behind the pop-up and the "living room" is what is called a "Japanese Clamshell Bathroom"...it's essentially a large folding ABS plastic loo that's popular among people who like to live in old warehouse spaces. You just hook up water and sewage lines to it and you have a sink, commode, and shower. It's cramped in there, but it beats having to go outside or fix fifty- to one-hundred-year-old plumbing. For cleaning, the whole thing closes up on itself and uses nozzles to wash and disinfect all the surfaces. It's one of the wonders of modern transient life. It's flexible rubber hoses meander toward the back of the room.

You can also see a couple of medical gurneys here and there.

The room is quite large, and the back half is crowded with old electric organs in various states of disrepair.

From here, you can see a metal stairway on the right (Western) wall that allows access to this floor and the floor above you from below.

From your point of view, it looks as though there is another small room between this one and the outer wall of the building.

OZ:

The guy seems to be of a similar mind as far as confrontation goes, content to stay well away from you (he's about eight meters off your path at the closest). You can see his jaw moving, as if he's mouthing words or chewing gum.

You don't know the Skolnick brothers, but it's probably safe to assume this guy is either one of them or part of their outfit. There's no sign that any of the surrounding buildings are occupied, and nobody takes a leisurely stroll around here at this hour.

(If you pass by without any more interaction with this guy:)

You pass by and make your way back to the car without incident. Skyler's Acura is still there. The rusty truck is still there.

ooc: Let me know exactly what you're getting--I was under the impression that the fire axe was still in the car, as it's a big bulky thing.

The trip back is uneventful. The guy is gone. The ladder is right where you left it. You can hear the dulcet tones of a song called "Boner Lisa Overdrive" grinding away inside the building from here.

PORTER:

You make a hole barely big enough for your bulky, armored-up self to squeeze through.

This room is apparently in better shape structurally than the other one. Which is probably why, although being the same size, it contains two desks, four chairs, and six filing cabinets. A real obstacle course, decorated with dozens of four-color borchures for various models of family electronic organs.

It's much louder in here. The frosted glass on the office door is cracked, and several shards have vibrated out, promising a good view of the room below.

The window in this room affords even less light than the other, as it is securely boarded up.

CHANTRY:

Your sense of hearing is of little use right now. You almost wonder if Skyler's bombs would be more expeditious than chopping through walls, given the volume of this poor excuse for music.

This room virtually screams "nobody ever comes in here," and, present company excluded, it's living up to the claim. Still, you are starting to feel a chilling premonition of dread that seems to elude (or at least to not fluster) the destructive exuberance of Porter, and the criminal helpfulness of Oz. This place is possessed of a horrible heaviness, like the ground over a mass grave.

CHANTRY/PORTER:

Oz has arrived back at the building (assuming that's what he intends to do.)

Skyler has been pretty much motionless and silent, though he looks tense. He's leaning against the east wall (opposite Porter) next to the rotting poster of the tenacious kitten.

OZ:

Ever the errand boy, you begin heading back to the car.

As you begin to jog across one of the side streets, you see someone standing there, leaning against a defunct lamppost. He's about medium height, medium build, wearing a military field jacket over typical civilian cold-weather clothing. His head is topped with a knit watch cap, and a pair of some kind of goggles are pushed up on his brow. A medium-sized gym bag hangs from his right shoulder. He's about ten or so meters away.

He apparently spots you at the same time. It's too late for either of you to feign nonchalance, so he stands up straight, putting the pole partly between you and him. He pulls his left hand out of his jacket pocket. His right hand stays where it was--inside the bag.

PORTER/CHANTRY:

The next song to come up on the jukebox is one of a dozen hits from a couple of years ago which consisted of a young girl's voice whispering filthy sexual propositions over a catchy, repetitive synth hook and a pounding four-in-a-bar beat. Whatever your opinion of such a thing may be, it's pretty good music for disguising the sound of someone tearing a hole in the wall.

Skyler looks at his wristwatch (probably out of habit, since the goggle's he is wearing probably has a built-in display), and mutters something under his breath.