"That would be the most expedient way to do it, but it lacks the certainty that he died; plus, if we are going to engage in offensive actions with another local organization, then we should have a few more moves set up first. It's like in chess, where you want to try to be several moves ahead of your opponent, and since we have the element of surprise, we'll want to maximize our advantage from it."
Mender things for a moment, then says "Are there any other organizations that we can pin our initial attack on that we wish to embroil in a war with the Grey Cloaks? That way, we can get each group to expend resources battling each other and use this cover to progress our own agendas."
Let me know when you're ready by picking a plan and filling in the missing detail. Once that's set, I'll roll engagement.
It’s a bold plan +1d
But they’re set up a bit to be protected from a forward assault -1d
Your two pronged attack hits them at a quiet moment when they’ve let their guard down a bit. The lookout on the roof is a bit distracted.
As reaches the mouth of he drug alley, the runner comes around a blind corner. He’s young, 14 or 15, with a mop of blonde hair tucked under a ratty cap. He has a bag in his hand, but no weapon.
No, guv, this isn’t how it works. Martin shudduv toldja. he says as you approach. First you drop yer bag ‘rounders back. Then I brings you your order.
From your position on the roof, you clock the two runners, the lookout standing between the two corner entrenches (who has not yet seen you) and the spot where Harrington’s snipers hide (though you can’t see the snipers from here).
A couple of stories above street level, Briar lies on her belly, eyeing the guards and snipers. She moves slowly, careful to not let any of her gear make noise. She could put a bullet through the lookout from here, but a shot would alert everybody. No, best to make her way undetected to the snipers and cut their throats all silent-like.
Tarnikos steps into the runner's personal space and looms over him, his body covered in armor and his face filled with bad intentions.
"Boy, you'd best get scarce and not tell anyone what you've seen here."
You cut an imposing figure, and the boy scatters...and he runs headlong out of the maze. The sudden burst of movement draws the lookout’s attention, though he hasn’t seen any of you yet.
What do you do?
Emaline quietly curses the damned runners. She needed to give Briar a moment to work.
she sends Felix, her deathlands hound, after the runner. A lad running from a hungry street-mutt would draw less attention, maybe delay the alarm long enough for the roof team to deal
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The guard’s attention is momentarily drawn away by the runner and the dog Awww, not that dawg again, Myke. I toldja...I toldja bout that dawg.
It’s the perfect moment, but you hesitate slightly. You can seize a risky opportunity and strike (risky position/standard effect), rush the guard (desperate position/greater effect) or take a different approach.
"If they do have drugs here" says Mender as the boy runs off "I'll want to look through them before we destroy them. Some of them could be useful for medicinal purposes."
With an arm trapped by the patch of roof that had given in, Briar doesn't have many options. With her other arm, she pulls out her hunting knife, a heavy blade the length of her forearm. It's not balanced for throwing, but it will have to do. She brings her hand over her shoulder and whips her arm forward, sending the knife spinning into the air towards the guard. She aimed it so that the hilt would strike the guard in the back of the head and, hopefully, render him unconscious.
You ready the knife, then hesitate for a moment...an ill timed throw will drop the knife into his forehead, not off his forehead. He hasn’t seen you or your friends yet, but it’s a matter of time. You can take the (risky/standard) throw and try to knock him out, try to creep up on him (risky/standard) or rush him while his back is turned and clobber him (desperate/greater). Or you can do something else entirely (including flashbacks to prior events).
She was in a precarious position and the risk to the operation was too great. Freeing her arm from the rotten roof patch, Briar crawls on her belly to a better spot, using any cover available to stay out of sight of the lookout and the snipers.
As the lookout sweeps his view back to the now undefended corner, you bring your fist down hard on the back of his neck. He crumples in a heap on the roof.
From your vantage point you can see the other runner at the money corner. He’s watching out to the street, but if a buy happens he might run headlong into the ground team.
You can also just make out the glint of the sniper’s rifle in the moonlight. There’s at least one out there and it won’t be easy to get to them undetected.
The way is clear, but you’ll need to move with care to avoid the notice of the sniper and second runner.
The last of the visitors ducks into the cafe, shaking the bracing rain from their coats and hats. Felfiz helped them with their outerwear and lead them to a quiet corner booth where he pulls up a chair. Around the booth, four figures sit, peering through simple beaked masks at each other.
"You've all come for your reasons, and it would be in your best interests not to discuss among yourselves what those are. Suffice it to say, we have business to attend, and we needs must contribute in a timely and coordinated manner. You each have your roles, discussed in depth through our myriad correspondences. When my associates initiate our business, you will see a magpie take flight. We will all of us benefit from the confusion." Hutch did not let on that the others had been chosen, not for their skill, or merit, but purely on the locations of their intended targets. Some were told to hold off their pursuits till the intended day, some to embolden themselves, and move more quickly than intended. Their marks writ the jagged limbs of Cassiopeia, the diva. He had nothing to offer more than an unbreakable agreement, but none of them was in any position to be picky. In the end, five simultaneous scores would be run, each on a different purveyor of the selfsame drug. Hutch could only pray that this gambit would be as mutually benefitial as he hopes.
Mikhail, a young man with curly sandy blonde hair with a balcony apartment that faces the alley crosses his arms and smirks, looking at your extended hand.
I think not, Darner. It occurred to me that it only benefits you for us to keep our ties to you a secret from the group. We all met before you arrived and...let’s say the similarities in your holds over us make us question the providence of your enterence in our lives. We won’t be your puppets.
Unless you’re willing to apply some pressure (command: risky/standard) you’re SOL on the distraction.
Hutch turns up his hands. "Perhaps another time then. I am not one for issuing orders. I hope to earn your trust, each of you, in time."
[
You creep your way through the alleys, maybe a little faster than is prudent. A few times you’re nearly caught, but Mender leads you artfully to a safe spot close to the nexus.
Harrington sits on a rickety chair near a small pile of brown cinch bags (identical to the one the runner carried). He’s a mountain of a man, the chair straining under his mass. He’s stuffing sachels of brown powder in each one. A small drop safe rests on the ground next to him.
Leaning up against a vertical pipe are two machetes with barbed edges. They look especially nasty to be cut by and between their length and Harrington’s long arms they have quite the reach.
You can just make out the barrels of the two snipers above you. They could reposition to take a shot at you if they knew where you were. The only place completely safe from the snipers is under Harrington’s awning and it’d be an incredible feat of stealth to get there without taking a bullet to the throat.
What do you do?
You could maybe take one sniper out from where you’re hiding, but not both. And shooting either sniper will bring the Wardens down on your head.