Hig draws his gun, makes eye contact with Felix as he nods at the door. Then he pushes it open.
doors and corners he thinks.
Agent Ormando goes first through the door, moving to his left and quickly scanning the area. He takes in the room, looking for danger or signs of movement.
In the living room area, it appears the sliding door to the balcony is open, with the wind blowing softly and rustling a mess of papers scattered around the floor by three open filing storage boxes.
A small mess clutters the dining room table and both closets in view appear to be open. The other doors down the hallway, likely the bathroom and bedroom, are closed.
Oscar draws his gun and enters the room.
Jones follows suit and draws her firearm, but lets the others go first. She's no marksman.
Allowing Ormando to cover the hall and living room Oscar moves right into the dining area, eyes on the kitchenette area. He does not hear any movement in the apartment other than his and Ormando's, with Olive's still out in the hallway watching their backs.
Clear he says, noticing the table before him is covered in empty liquor bottles, a new in the box mega squirt gun, and a birthday card.
The kitchen area appears in order, if somewhat piled with dirty dishes, the trash can nearly full with what appears to be fast food packaging and wrappers.
Agent Ormando moves into the living area as he spots a shadow sway across the curtained sliding balcony door. A barely audible thump sounds as a knotted nylon climbing rope bumps against the outer wall of the building. He signals to the others as he moves to the doorway.
Spotting no one on the balcony the agent edges forward, parting the curtains slightly with his barrel, then steps through as he brings his gun and sightline up along the building, trailing after the rope. No one is on the line, it swaying in the breeze.
The rappelling line traces up the side of the building and over onto the rooftop. Whoever set the line only ran enough slack to reach this floor, planting the line directly over Myers' balcony.
Poor connectivity; I cannot load the map.
Hugs won't disrurb anything yet, once clear he will stay in overwatch and observe.
what would he need to squirt, and is the alcohol for squirt gun ammo?
The squirt gun is still new in the box, a pink and yellow Super Soaker model, with a large reservoir tank holding about 3-4 liters. The card next to the box is likewise in pink, yellow, and orange colors, with a large "Happy 8th" on the front.
The liquor bottles are all empty Captain Morgan's 100 proof rum.
The loose papers from the filing boxes appear to be accounting ledgers and corporate reports.
I think the only man with answers just went up to the roof. Jones, watch the line in case he doubles back. Ormando, let's head to the roof, and assume he's armed and will shoot to kill.
Agreed. Also look for a laptop or phone you can hack for any info
Felix and Higs can check out the balcony, if it makes sense Higs will run back to the stairs to head to the roof, or down to the main floor.
Jones nods and watches the window/line.
You rush out of the apartment and past the hall with the elevator to reach the stairwell with hopeful roof access. You find the door has an emergency alarm pressure bar on the door which will likely sound if opened.
Agent Ormando however notices a cigarette butt laying on the floor by the stairwell in what must otherwise surely be a non-smoking building, considering some of the rooms he's passed had warning placards for oxygen in use. Taking the chance he pushes on the door bar opening the exit onto the landing. Wide stairs lead down to the lower floors with deep and easy risers and sturdy hand-holds. A small metal service ladder rises up along the wall on the left behind the door to a square, locked hatch which must allow for access to the roof.
Agent Olive waits in the apartment, surveying more of the interior of the entry area. She notices the TV in the living area is an older non-HD model without Smart features. There is a land line telephone mounted on the wall near the kitchenette. A discarded phone book lies on the floor near the bookshelf which appears to have been rifled through sloppily, similar to the filing boxes.
A locked mahogany display case in the dining area holds four angled and cushioned, red velvet shelves supporting four out of five weapons as part of a collection. There is a suppressed dull black rifle, a long automatic rifle with a black wood stock, a squat matte black shotgun, and a light pistol with an ivory grip. The last spot likewise seems shaped to hold another pistol, but is currently empty.
Down the hallway Olive spies a white dry-erase board on an easel which has been messily erased, the writing smudged and smeared save for a small green triangle in the upper right corner of the board. There does not appear to be any electronic hardware or gear in the living room, dining room, or kitchenette.
After entering the stairwell after Ormando, Felix climbs the ladder, signals Ormando down below 'on three' and opens the hatch slightly after three beats.
Fendar Hig will go out on the balcony and look up and down, and listen for the sound of a climber.
Oscar pulls out a knife and pokes it into the padlock and shakes it around slightly, trying to open it.
Realizing the knife blade will not fit well into the lock Agent Oscar then sets his mind to prying the hinge free of the hatch cover. It takes some doing but he manages to pry the flange and screws free of the thin steel cover, nicking himself but careful not to leave any trace blood on the ladder or cover.
Oscar waits for Ormando to come back.
Sights on the hatch He says pointing his fingers in the shape of a gun at the hatch over his head and twitching it as if firing.
Ormando comes back. Whispers How can an old guy clamber up or down a balcony? Or did he run out down the stairs?
He motions up to Agent Oscar.
Agent Oscar sets himself firmly on the ladder, stepping up another rung and locking his leg around one side to better maintain his grip. He puts away his knife and motions to Agent Ormando that he is ready. With a strong heave he throws open the access hatch, the square rimmed sheet flipping open fully, slamming against the roof only articulated hinges.
Glancing around Oscar catches a glimpse of a pale, blonde haired man far across the black tarred roof, aside the exterior fire escape ladder on the opposite side of the building from Myers' apartment. The man looks at Oscar with deep ice blue eyes and a condescending smirk before stepping over the edge of the rooftop.
A few seconds later a heavy metal clang can be heard as the man lands on the first, possibly second, landing of the fire escape. A rhythmic clanging can be heard as he rushes down the stairs.
Not Myers!
Oscar fires a shot at the man.
Ormando whirls and races down the stairs, heading for the parking lot and hoping to intercept the man down below.
versus a base skill of 80, if necessary
Agent Oscar climbs the rest of the way out of the service stairwell and races across the roof after the fleeing suspect. Reaching the edge he sees the man jump from the last fire escape landing to the ground below, forsaking the last stretch of ladder yet to lower to the street level. The man sprints across the small lot on this side of the building to a waiting red jeep with a black soft top, idling in the bank lot on the opposite side of the street. The driver appears to also be a pale man with blonde hair.
Agent Ormando rushes down the stairwell, many times taking two-three steps in a stretch, pacing himself but moving faster than might be wise. He finally reaches the ground floor and bursts through the exit door into the main hallway, setting off the emergency klaxons, loud buzzing alarms sounding, lights strobing at each end of the hallway. Guessing which direction he might need to exit closest to the escapee he forces himself past elderly residents as they stumble out of their rooms, starting to respond to the noise and alarms. The rear exit door alarm triggers as well as Ormando bursts out the door, finding himself looking across a small lawn and hedges to see the suspect jumping into a waiting red jeep with a black soft top.
Ormando will give chase over the hedge and across the street.
vs a base of 80
Oscar curses at himself for firing the first time, and begins descending the fire escape.
Ormando will stop and pull out his (burner) cell phone and take a quick video too.
Then he will slip back to where they parked the car and meet the team to exfiltrate the area.
Oscar goes down the zip line to Myers' balcony and pokes his head in the window.
We got enemies fleeing the area. Time to go. Grab anything useful.
He then continues down the fire escape and heads to the truck.
Agent Ormando catches about 20 seconds of video of the fleeing jeep before it runs through the red light, turning onto the next street speeding towards the bridge across the river. He then looks around as everyone is watching the crowd on the street and those still slowly climbing down the fire escape.
Seeing Agent Oscar start to head back up those stairs, then turn back around on his cellphone, bumping into a confused looking older woman turning in random circles, Agent Ormando has sudden inspiration to salvage this situation.
He taps his throat mic, hoping Agent Oscar is wearing his own. Dementia, Alzheimers, whatever, use it for cover. It wasn't us.
He then glances around for a staffer, and moves in their direction.
Higs / Ormando walks up to the staffer. When we got to Mr. Meyer's apartment, the alarm went off. I am guessing a patient pulled the alarm? Not that they will remember it.
The staffer appears confused for a moment, not recognizing you from before. Seeing the orange lanyard identifying you as a guest of the facility his look changes on to resignation. Yeah most likely. Usually it happens once or twice a year with some of our older folks. But this makes it three I think in the last six months. Shame what getting old does to 'em. Guests should check in around the front, they'll let you in once there is a proper head count. The young orderly then goes back to trying to gather people together as another staffer checks faces to a clipboard of resident mug shots.
Agent Oscar reaches Agent Olive on the phone and she informs him that Myers is dead, the apartment partially tossed, the zip line still dangling from the roof, bound to be spotted if it remains that way much longer. She asks how he and Ormando want her to proceed. Right now no one knows, but if this gets found out now... and we haven't cleaned the scene... if the staff makes noise... What do you boys want to do?
(letting Agent Oscar make the call as Ormando isn't in on the phone call)
Go ahead and wipe the door and other surfaces in the room. Copy what you can from any computers, and lets get out of here. I'll stow the zip line.
Ormando will make sure to help the old folks, and move toward the vehicle when ready to exfiltrate the area.
Agent Olive quickly goes over the entirety of the apartment, confirming the surfaces are wiped of anything her group may have touched and trying to locate anything which may have importance to the current case or Delta Green overall.
In the bathroom the agent grabs a couple of quick photos of the body, it's wounds, and the disarray. It appears Meyers briefly struggled with his assailant before being shot and killed. A few strands of white hair are grasped in his hand. She is careful not to touch the body or the strange wound on the former agent's arm.
In the bedroom Agent Olive finds an empty service holster for a revolver and three boxes of ammunition. The boxes have a small green Delta symbol marked onto them. She adds the ammo to her purse, just in case, but not the holster.
In the closets she finds two sets of "repurposed" electronics which appear to be used for covert surveillance. She deems the transmitters and boom box receiver too conspicuous to attempt to remove and leaves them behind. She does however drop the wrought iron manacles into a tan canvas shoulder satchel which had been repurposed as a home exorcism kit.
In the kitchen Olive discovers a hand towel covered in dried purple goo and blood, giving off a foul decayed odor. It would appear that Meyers had been cleaning the wound on his arm here in the kitchen, as evidenced by similar bandages and debris in the kitchen trash.
In the living room the agent notices a few books on the shelves which may be of use but doesn't have the time to really go over them, opting to leave them for the regular authorities to discover. She also doesn't have time to go over the papers scattered about, opting to snap a couple of pics of both the papers and the books for review.
Agent Olive then listens for activity in the hall, stepping out to join Agent Oscar as he exits the stairwell from the rooftop after pulling up the assassin's rappelling line. The pair then take the elevator down and exit the building, moving to the car and a waiting Agent Ormando.
Only once in the car does the group feel comfortable discussing what has occurred.
Ormando / Higs starts the car and pulls out into traffic, making a right and slipping into the flow of vehicles on the street. He checks for tails, and makes several semi random turns, all the while heading steadily away from the apartment building.
Eventually he stops at a Starbucks, and gets two venti coffees (black, sugar, and cream, sweetener for Oscar and Olive) along with a venti mocha (for Ormando).
Returning to the car, he slips behind the wheel and hands out the caffeine. What's in that stuff you scooped up Olive?
Exorcism kit - left over from Meyer's day, or in use?
Glancing at the kit, Ormando tries to come up with how recently it was used, or what it may have been used on.
against a base of 10
After stowing the line, Oscar scoops up his shell from the shot he fired at the fleeing adversary.
In the car he attempts to access local car registration and driver's license data.
Small-ish city like this, bright red jeep owned by a man with light blond hair. Maybe we'll get lucky.
Agent Olive takes a few moments collecting herself before she replies to her fellow agents. She uploads images from her phone to a DG cloud server and surreptitiously to her laptop as well, then purges them from her phone.
She hands Agent Oscar the boxes of ammunition since Agent Ormando is driving.
While still on her laptop Olive reports that there were several items she had wished they'd had more time to review. It was apparent that Myers had kept files from his previous employment in the apartment, but that she was not sure if they were from Delta Green operations or something else. She attempts to review some of the books from her less than best resolution camera phone pics, Founding Fathers, Secret Societies, something something. Flipping over another couple, Fundamentals of Physical Surveillance, I think. Frustrated at the poor quality she disgustedly exclaims, The Hunt for Zero Point, what the hells, is that fiction or some scientific who knows what...
As she continues with her reviews Agent Oscar goes through his phone, where he took pics of the files Myers had sent. There, I knew I had remembered it. Myers took a pic of that jeep, from the TV news report. Ohio license plate UBT-9770. An attempt to run the plate determines the plate number is not part of any recent or established plate series. The plate itself comes back as unregistered and available as a vanity plate.
When someone reviews the home exorcism kit, you discover the items are well cleaned and maintained, though it is not easy to determine how recently it was last used. The kit contains an old family version of the King James Bible notated for the Myers' line, what may be holy water in a clear glass bottle etched with a Roman Catholic cross and prayer, a tall white candle (never lit), a small stub of a white candle (previously lit), a small white bottle of perhaps anointing oil, a silver bell with a crystal bead striker, a seven inch silver-plated knife with the hilt shaped to form a cross, a half-used roll of gray duct-tape, and a pair of old fashioned wrought iron manacles of the type used in New England in the 1860's. The items are well maintained and in working order but there is no key in the bag for the manacles.
Anyone have a weapon that takes .455 caliber? If not, we need to get one. I have a feeling that Meyers knew he needed it.
Ormando continues to drive around, and then heads in the general direction of the campsite to investigate next. If he needs to, he will pull off into a parking lot in order to look through some of the stuff himself.
Agent Olive mentions that Myers had an empty holster for a handgun, some kind of revolver, but that it was empty, discarded next to a pile of dirty clothes.
The only thing I know about that is a .455 is a Webley - a British gun that hasn't been in production since WWII. Where the heck do we get one of those old top break revolvers?
He thinks a bit more. Can we put some of those symbols on some of my ammo?
Agent Olive interjects While my own experience with such things is limited, I understand that the symbol alone is not enough to invest any item so inscribed with power, there must be a ritual, incantation, perhaps even some kind of anointing or enchanted stylus to complete the process. She shrugs and goes back to her laptop, tapping away at the keyboard. But then again, maybe it wouldn't hurt to try, I doubt it would damage the bullet to have a bit of dried ink on it, or a bit of chicken scratch.
Finding something more in her web-surfing Olive leans forward to play a small sound bite. It seems the search has widened for the missing hikers, and WSAZ reporter Mike Blaise is live at the Charleston Police Department. Screen cuts to a man in a shirt and tie standing on the street outside in front of a police cruiser where two men are being roughly pulled from the car and towards the entrance up the walk. The men are shouting at the camera about something. Cheri, Captain David Bechert tells me the department is collecting a few known persons from Tent City, a community sponsored safe haven for the homeless along the banks of the Elk River. He tells me these men were past residents of several vagrant communities which have existed in Kanawha State Forest in recent years. The captain indicates several such residents are being detained and questioned about recent events in the forest, and in particular about where the missing hikers may have run into trouble, whether lost or perhaps afoul of more dangerous individuals who remained behind. As you know Cheri, the past several months have seen an explosion in the homeless...
If we don't know what these symbols do, I doubt we should be messing with things like that. Besides, we don't even know if they have something we'd need them for yet anyway.
How do you feel about going to the police station and asking what they know? Or will there be other FBI already on the scene who will know we are not what we say we are?
Or do we go visit the campsite, and then maybe check out the cemeteries?
Agent Olive speaks up, reviewing more news coverage of the missing hikers. It appears they have state forest rangers, a state police helicopter with an infrared camera, and area firefighters/law enforcement on the ground now. They are asking for any local K-9 Search and Rescue volunteers willing to assist to gather at the main entrance lodge for coordination.