Behind the Crown [IC], Behind the crown are shadows Options

[pbangarth]

Blue marvels at their luck. Not only does Jeremy's arrogance ally with them, but it seems the person on the other end of the commlink didn't notice the gunshots. Nevertheless, one scream from the woman and the reinforcements could still be summoned.

Before she can assess the situation, Blue puts her to sleep.

[ Spoiler ]

F5 Stunbolt, Deadly level (Is there any other setting??) at the woman

Target unknown (WIL), Spellcasting 6 + Spell Pool 6 + Owl 2 = 14 dice: 4, 3, 1, 13, 1, 3, 3, 5, 4, 2, 2, 3, 1, 1

Drain Resistance target 2(D), WIL 12 + Owl 2 = 14 dice: 12 successes No Drain.

Assuming the spell succeeded, Blue calmly shuts off the commlink with no comment, just as a sleepy, arrogant Jeremy might.

[Koekepan]

Blue manages to knock the woman out, even though Karmakaze might not clearly realise how that happened. In any case, she just slumps into the bedclothes. One quick reach for the commlink, and it blips into silence.

And Karmakaze and Blue are suddenly in a silent, dark room with a naked (of course he sleeps commando), bleeding, unconscious Jeremy Huang in front of them.

Who knew that the shadows might hold such glamour?

[pbangarth]

""" So, shall we wrap him up in the bedspread and carry him totally inconspicuously out to your car? """ Blue winks in the dark at Karmakaze, but of course both of them are able to see well enough.

""" And, check for his credentials, bring them along with his commlink ... oh .... """ he considers a moment. "" Maybe a credstick? You know, for expenses? """ Hmmm. Theft as well as general mayhem. How far has he sunk?

""" Nah. The lady here probably will need to tide things over till she finds another ... benefactor. Let's leave his money for her. """

[Bastard]

"""Definitely take the comlink. We can load him into his own vehicle. It is probably parked closer than mine.

"""Let's find something to tie him up with, just in case. Shoe laces will work fine.

After tying his hands and feet, Karmakaze realizes how heavy he is.

"""Well, unless you can levitate him, we may need to use one of these bed sheets as a sling and sked."""

[pbangarth]

""" We have all the bedclothes here we need. Wrap him, sling him and let's go. You take the head end, I'll take the feet. """ Blue arranges sheets etc. to wrap their cargo securely. If Jeremy can't be lifted, the stairs might be a bit bumpy, but Blue has little sympathy for one who put a six figure bounty on his head.

[Koekepan]

Jeremy is definitely over a hundred kilos, and probably nearer 150. He could be lifted, with a block and tackle, material handling robot or even a chain hoist but as a deadweight he'll be rough to handle, regardless of flopping parts and trickling oozes. Bump and thump down the stairs may be the way to go.

Pity his kept woman wasn't on the shopping list; she's surely less than half his weight.

Rolling Jeremy in a blanket and knotting the ends and edge is the work of a mere minute, but the rest may take longer depending on the approach taken.

[pbangarth]

""" Damn! This guy is massive. I would call up some spiritual support to give us some mundane help, but hearth spirits, the only kind I can call up inside this building, are not strong at all. I would have to summon a really powerful one to provide any meaningful help, and that would likely drain me. It would take me the better part of two hours to clear my head. Let's just drag him down the stairs. A few more bumps won't kill him.

""" As far as vehicles go, I don't want to leave those lizardlings behind. I could drive their car, as long as it doesn't have any kind of special security. Maybe it would be better to bring your car up once we are downstairs. """

[Bastard]

"""I don't know about transferring him into my little car. Let's see what he has in the garage or driveway. I will drop you off at my car and you can follow me."""

Karma scans the kitchen and entry way for a key fob. If it isn't readily available, it looks like she will have to grab the car.

[Koekepan]

There's a key cubby near the entry, which has a set of keys on it - mostly maglock, but one or two old-fashioned ones. One is a Ford key - maybe there's something in the garage. Then again, there's always the car with the two knocked-out goons out front.

[Bastard]

Karma swipes them all and leads the way to the garage to see what is inside. If it's an Americar, she is going to be displeased with Jeremy's taste and money management. He has enough to afford a big bounty on Blue, he has enough for a decent sized car or truck.

[Koekepan]

Bad news. It is an Americar. Not only that, it is a two-door hatchback sort of Americar that they called, in an excess of marketing zeal, the Americar Zzzap. You guessed it; all-electric, with grid power, modest battery size and abundant luxuries around things like commlink integration, odour control and autopilot.

Wait, it's not Jeremy's car. It's his girlfriend's car. Jeremy probably was chauffeured here by his two thugs sleeping outside, and he bought her something cute and practical for her needs. Well, it's here anyway.

[Bastard]

Karma leads the way to the hatchback of the car. She pops the hatch, and with Blue's help, she heaves Jeremy's fat ass into the trunk, head toward the driver side, that way his legs can flop over the backseat, if it doesn't fold down, without bothering the driver.

She searches the garage for any cleaners, like bleach or simple orange, or other chemicals if those are not available. In her search she will take any ties, ropes, or garage towels.

"""Blue, you got another sleepy time spell ready if needed?"""

[Koekepan]

The rear seat of the Zzzap does fold down, which leaves enough room for Jeremy to lie in a sort of modified foetal position in the back. His weight makes the suspension sag visibly, and Blue and Karmakaze can hear the springs creak a little. Oh well, it was designed for groceries and maybe a kid in the back, not a UCAS land walrus.

The garage has a full stock of what you'd expect a kept woman to have, and that definitely includes cleaners, a couple of buckets, a big, half-empty box of rubber gloves, and various ancillary tools such as cleaning bot extensions and spray nozzles. There is also a stack of disposable synthetic cleaning towels that sort of approximate the garage towels that Karmakaze has in mind.

[pbangarth]

Blue replies, """ Yes, I have a theoretically unlimited supply of those, though eventually the laws of chance catch up and I get shocked by the Drain. I should be able to keep him knocked out, though. Come to think of it, if he starts to rouse, his resistance will still be impaired, so I could use a lower power spell.

""" Long story short, yes. Why are you looking for cleaners and such? Oh. Erase evidence on the woman's car. Got it. That gets him thinking.

""" Sure, drive me to your car, and I'll follow you to your contact. Once we're out of this building for good, I'll summon a spirit to help us on the way. """

While Karmakaze collects ingredients, Blue attempts to erase his astral signature associated with the spell that sent the fire elemental packing.

[ Spoiler ]

Adapt the roll if anything below is inappropriate.


Target 5 (Force of the spell) :
Spellcasting 6 (I think he can use that specialization for cleansing a spell, no?) + Spell Pool 6 (this is equivalent to Dispelling, no? ) + Owl 2 = 14 dice: 5 successes if it is all legit

Drain 5(L): WIL 12 + Owl 2 = 14 dice: 5 successes No Drain.

[Bastard]

As soon as everything is packed and all three of them are in the car, Karmakaze rolls the windows down, then opens the garage door and rolls out. Her pistol is in her right hand in case anyone is waiting outside. She takes the long way around if needed to avoid driving past the knocked out guards, driving back to her car.

[Koekepan]

Blue and Karmakaze make an easy circuit with a snorting walrus in the back of the Americar Zzzap. No problem, the guards aren't conscious yet - or at least not visibly so without any close inspection - so it's a quiet little cruise back to Karmakaze's car.

At her car, a transfer seems unlikely, but at least the Zzzap could, in principle, autopilot its way anywhere on the grid.

[Bastard]

Karmakaze drops Blue off at her Elektro.

"""I will drop you the address in case we get separated in traffic."""

She plugs the address into her phone, not the onboard navigation, and then shares it to the Elektro's nav and to Blue's link.

[pbangarth]

Blue notes the address and makes sure the nav system has it.

He figures out that carrying this cargo may be risky, so he summons a small (don't drain and drive!) city spirit to help them on the way, then gets in Karmakaze's vehicle and follows her.

[ Spoiler ]

Summon F2 City spirit
Target 2, Summoning 6 + Owl 2 = 8 dice: 7 successes

resist Drain CHA 4 + Owl 2, target 2(L) : 5 successes No Drain. Heh, an F3 would have still been OK. Such is life.

First command: Guard the two vehicles and their respective drivers.

[Koekepan]

At this hour of the night, it's not a long drive through Tacoma and to Jaxx's favourite office; a rather low-rent situation from the outside, but inside a veritable hub of technology. This is surveillance, of course, but a lot of comms with a lot of encryption and a lot of recording. True to his style, it looks rather haphazard and nonstandard, but that's because it is. As he has said in the past, nobody could hack into it unless they were on drugs, and drugs that good would inhibit any hackers. Whether he's right or not, he's still alive so that counts for something.

When the cars roll up, a door rolls up as well, and Jaxx himself waves them into his garage space; big enough for a truck, it would easily accommodate these two little rides. Jaxx himself appears to be in a magnificently good mood, with teeth (prosthetic) literally glowing in a sort of oral firework show.

[pbangarth]

Just before Blue's vehicle enters the garage, he bids the city spirit farewell, """ Thank you for your help. We may meet again some day. """

[Bastard]

"""Hey Jaxx,""" Karmakaze says, actually happy to see him for once. """That is my friend, Blue,""" she points back to the man driving her car.

"""I got the package here,""" she gestures to the backseat / trunk. """You want me to help me pull him out, or does the contact want the car as well. It's hot, so I planned on just leaving it in an abandoned lot somewhere... but, it could be for sale."""

[Koekepan]

Jaxx is clearly in an expansive frame of mind.

"""Karmadaisy! Bluebell! Welcome, welcome and very welcome!"""

The door rolls down while he speaks, hiding internal matters from prying camera eyes outside. """My contact doesn't care about cars, but I know someone who does. What say I sweeten the pot by five kiloyen and you just leave it with me? But first, let's get eyes on the prize.""" He rubs his hands expectantly while he heads to the hatch of the Zzzap, then leans down to pop it open. """You're going for the live price, right?""" While he says that, he deftly whips a set of restraints from his jacket pocket. Evidently he doesn't want an unleashed Jeremy Huang trying to fight his way free.

[Bastard]

"""Alive, yes. Definitely...

"""... and is that 500 or 5,000 for the Zap?"""

[Koekepan]

"""Hai! Just five thousand of Nippon's sweetest export for the ride. It doesn't look shot up, so I'll go that high."""

He lifts the hatch, and finds the package inside. """Don't see any blood yet, so that's a good start.""" He rummages around until he finds out what the package contains, then hastily, and thoroughly, applies the restraints. A groan from the back of the Zzzap shows that Jeremy was evidently coming round. """Aah, mister Huang, good morning! I'm afraid that our hospitality is a little streetwise, but you won't have to bear it for long."""

[Bastard]

Karma doesn't want to negotiate. She is ready to be gone. An unplanned five grand is good enough. Plus it makes it look like Jeremy took off with his girl's car and got rolled up. It doesn't explain away the guards, but it does make the crime a little bit more confusing.

Crime. Criminal. Karmakaze.

She usually tried to play it straight, but when someone like Jeremy puts a hit out on you, your best protection is yourself, and sometimes the best defense is a good offense. She doesn't feel bad at all. Not even for his girl. She had to know what kind of life she got into when she started dating Jeremy, and probably enjoyed the rewards that came from his criminal lifestyle.

"""Sounds like a deal, Jaxxy. I am not even going to negotiate. You want us to put him back under before we buzz? He is quite dangerous."""