IC: Chasing the Prize, We always get our mark Options

[toturi]

Graves: "You know how to boost a vehicle? Do it. No time to waste and we need wheels. Go."

[Bastard]

"I thought there might be a key box down there...you know valet parking and drek."

[Ecclesiastes]

"Be quick so we can get the heck outta here."

[Johnson]

Okay, I will wait on the perimiter of the estate just out of view from the estate and the road. I will keep and eye out if anything is happening.

[BishopMcQ]

Across the mountain, Tigger surges. Muscles pumping to put distance between him and the chateau. He weaves through trees and underbrush with an inborn grace. At his side, Herne courses intangibly through the same obstacles that his companion ducks around.

Within the manor, JT stoops to grab a passkey from one of the house guards that died in the chemical strike. Together with Graves and Bishop, the three make their way across the snow, weapons at the ready. Seconds later the garage door opens and the former Lonestar cop requisitions a vehicle.

The engine of the Range Rover roars across the still, morning air. Cutting a path through fresh powder to the hard packed snow closer to the house and finally onto the cobblestoned driveway, the 4x4 SUV is driven fast and hard with the practice of combat driving from the Lonestar Academy.

A body in the trunk rolls and a criminal's head hits the sidewall with a wet thunk as the vehicle is pulled to a stop about a mile down the road.

****
Lines fall from a helicopter, figures in Military grade hardened armor drop and move with the precision and tactics of a special forces team as they course through the manor verifying threats.
****

Tiny jogs out of the woods and climbs into the back seat of the Range Rover. With JT at the helm, the black SUV designed to be equally flexible on the road as off, begins the descent down the mountain.

****
Tendrils of mana work their way into the cracks and crevices of Edana's mind. Opening her thoughts, words are forced upon the woman's psyche.
****

The hunter spirit whispers to Tigger that the response team has found his mistress. They haven't spoken aloud yet that he can hear but they have laid hands upon her body and begun to bandage her wounds.

[Johnson]

Lets get going we need to make distance between here and where ever we are heading.

Tiny Checks the gear he has left with him. The fact that this looks as if it has all gone wrong. Now things are going to change as now the hunter has become the hunted. This all to familiar feeling coarses through the vains of every shadow runner.

[Ecclesiastes]

Bishop checks the dashboard for any sensors gear that he can plug into.

[BishopMcQ]

Bishop:
There are no sensors to speak of in the dash. You see a port for the digital dashboard; the autonav may be able to supply you with a little information about your surroundings as the computer adapts to each turn and bend but it would be comparable to your own senses.

In the SUV:
You begin the descent down the mountain and for a few minutes think you might actually be safe. Then the sound of French rings out clearly through the morning air being broadcast from the helicopter above. When they repeat the demand in English you have a cold chill run down your spine.

"Stop the vehicle and remain inside. This is your only warning before we open fire."

Tigger:
You slow from the olympian sprint down to a pace that marathon runners would envy but you know you can carry for days. The breathing practices that you mastered to focus your will easily help you overcome the weaknesses of the flesh.

Herne whispers to you as you run that the team is moving Edana. They seem to have ensured that she is stable and moved her to a triage site away from the crime scene. Well-trained hunters, the security response team seems to be moving in a coordinated effort without speaking.

[Johnson]

Okay so now we have problems', what are we going to do about this?

Tiny looks to Bishop to see what his reaction is.

I hope this is not going to get messy, but I do suggest we stop

Tiny looks out of the window to see if he can see the Helicopter over head.

[Bastard]

"Dammit!"

"Think this thing is armored?"

[BishopMcQ]

Tiny:
Glancing up at the military helicopter, you quickly realize that the SUV would be turned to so much flaming slag within seconds. With a minigun mounted under the nose of the chopper, it wouldn't take much effort to destroy the vehicle and everyone in it.

[Ecclesiastes]

"Pull over. That thing will tear us appart, let see if we can disappear into the trees on foot. Someone grab that skull, we can't lose it."

Activating his Rutheniums, Bishop seems to disappear from the front seat.

[Johnson]

Bishop shove the SUV into the trees for some cover, where is the head?

Tiny looks around for the head grabs it be fore the SUV comes to a stop. Ready to bail out the SUV and head for the trees. for cover near the vehicle.

[BishopMcQ]

In the SUV:
Brief conversation passes between you as you debate what to do next. JT slams the brake and turns the Land Rover into a dark patch of trees next to the road.

[Ecclesiastes]

The second the SUV comes to a stop, Bishop throws the door opens and slips out into the cover of the trees.

[Buddha72]

Tigger continues to move through the countryside, sticking to foliage and trees as much as possible to distort his signature to drones. "Then no chance of over hearing if they caught any of the others then. Can you see any symbols or logos?"

[Johnson]

Tiny opens the sliding door of the SUV and steps out side the SUV and waits.

[Bastard]

"I guess thats it then...unless you have an idea of escape."

[BishopMcQ]

Edana:
A rush of chemical clarity brings you to consciousness, your body aches and you can still feel bony thorns ripping through flesh and soft tissue. Your eyes flutter open.

It's obvious you've been moved, the firmness beneath your back and elevation leads you to guess that you are laid out on the prep table in the kitchen. There is the tacky sensation of a slap patch on your neck and med-sensors on your chest and abdomen. Despite the ringing in your ears you have the self-awareness to recognize that clothing around your upper body has been cut away for the Savior medkit to spread sensor pads across your more vital sections.

There is a bright light flashed in one pupil and then the other. An armored hand holds the penlight close, checking visual responses. the other hand holds your shoulder down, not painfully but with the force of someone who has fought unruly patients for far too many years.

"What's your name? Do you know where you are?"

Behind it all, a whisper that you can't quite hear nags firmly in the back of your mind.

Tigger:
"She's awake. They have drugged her some how to force her consciousness. A shield, red across the top with blue and white stripes. An eagle. Her vision is blurry. It is hard to discern much more. Also the doctor speaks in English."

Herne keeps pace with you, the link that binds servant to master feeding information both ways.

SUV Team:
With Bishop fading off into the forest, you make a final stand.

"Move away from the vehicle with your hands in the air. Lay face down upon the street."

The sound of sirens descending the mountain road is barely audible over the soft thunder of the spinning blades.

[HeySparky]

Edana gasps, back arching, as the drugs crash over her, and she wakes with brittle, crystaline clarity. All at once everything returns - too intense - the lights, the sounds... the smells. The reek of the abbatoir that the Society hunters had made of the kitchen lets the horned woman know where she is.

A chill on her chest, something holding her down, the pull of skin over spurs of bone.

She struggles to get upright, "Ballefour!" she screams. The steady pressure on her shoulder focuses her and she squints as she looks up into the light flaring around a grim helmeted head.

Throbbing in her head settles in as the spike of awareness recedes. And the burning of the thorns in her skin. She takes short panicked breaths. Herne? Wha... Where are the others? She swallows, the man is saying something. She blinks.

Oh no. Oh no.

She paws feebly at the man's hand, struggling, "Where are they?! We are sup--" her voice cuts off as the man give her a no-nonsense shove down. She closes her eyes in defeat as he voices his question once more. This couldn't get worse. Her voice is ragged as she answers, accent making dimly coherent words barely intelligble.

"Edana. O'Reilly. Bounty hunter. License number 0071044, Class I. I, we, were here at Chateau Sang Real to apprehend the felon and ghoul," she coughs, "Lucien Ballefour. He is wanted... he was wanted--"

She coughs again, throat suddenly dry as the complete failure of the job sinks in. She breaks off and looks flatly into the reflective mask of her savior and presumably captor.

She suddenly feels the distance and a protective warning noise of emotions along the link between she and Herne. They left! Anger flares in her chest. She hears a tiny electronic bleat from the monitor on her chest. No... no. I needed the help. She takes a deep breath.

Keep them safe.

Hope for her allies, human and otherwise, fans out from her in all directions.

[Bastard]

"Run, now! I will stay and turn myself in. That is the right thing to do...," JT's voice trails off in defeat and uncertainty. He knows he should turn himself in, and let the system find the truth, but he knows that the others must get back to help solve Bellafours scheme. Hoping that turning himself in will also provide the others some time to dissappear into the forest.

"Kane! Follow Bishop!" The dog does as commanded, only after a quick nudge to his master. Somehow he knows, he wont be seeing JT again soon. Off into the country side the dog bolts, quickly dissappearing beneath the shadows of the trees. Soon he is on Bishop's heels to offer his assistance.

ex-officer Taggart set his shotgun on the ground, an act of surrender. He walks away from the vehicle, back toward the chateux, seeking the flood light of the helicopter. Once in it, hopefully they will remain focused on him, giving the rest of the team a few more seconds in their flee. He raises his hands in the air, after dearming himself of any other weapons.

Alone he stands in the middle of the French highway, awaiting his destiny.

[Johnson]

Tinytalks over the comms.

"I have the head. Should I take it with me or leave it in the back with the body?"

[BishopMcQ]

Edana:
"You have only a few moments before you will collapse again. Explain what happened upstairs, in your own words. Speak clearly and concisely, this conversation will be recorded."

The corpsman leans back to give you the illusion of personal space. Given the fact that his hand is still resting upon your shoulder though, it's a tenuous illusion.

[HeySparky]

Edana clears her throat nervously and clenches her jaw at the flare of pain in her stomach. She scans the man for any sign of his affiliation, spotting a crest, a badge really, that isn’t the Society symbol. Here goes. She takes a deep, shuddering breath and begins.

“When we arrived, the chateau had been ransacked. Filled with nerve gas. Everyone we found was dead. Upstairs was a bad scene. Ballefour had been…”

Edana looks away, “…Eating.” She swallows, “Another team of hunters - the same who and killed Gonz—the young dwarf and the old human - had our target and another man at gunpoint. The hunters shot the other man. I, I couldn’t stop them.” Tears begin leaking down the young woman’s face as she remembers the blur of events. “I could barely follow what was going on.”

She closes her eyes. “It all happened so fast. I tried to negotiate. With the sword… I’m not sure what happened next… Two of my team lunged forward and Ballefour’s neck exploded. The man with a gun on Ballefour shot him... I-I didn’t think they would kill him.” She shivers with the cold air in the kitchen.

“This… wasn’t supposed to happen.”

[BishopMcQ]

Edana:
There is a sense of movement behind you, but the angle is wrong for you to actually make out any details. You feel the stim patch get ripped off your skin and see drops of blood have soaked through the drug induction pad.

"Time to sleep again, if we give you another of these, your inherent mana levels in your body will suffer."

The medic seems clinically detached, acknowledging facts without lending weight to the fact that he could chemically rip the magic out of your body.