Herald shrugs. "Okay, I'm going to try heading in. Just... cover me?" he says, moving to slip in through the door while the two are distracted going back and forth.
Perhaps it was the rainbow mohawk, perhaps the shining blue star orbiting his head, or perhaps the fact he's just can't keep quiet, but Herald does not do well 'sneaking' anywhere...
Cree snickers, turning to the others. "Fellas. I have a plan. I'll need a cart, and about 10 minutes. I bet I can rig us up a fake bill of lading, and smuggle all of our stuff in. I'll push the cart full of weapons, you guys get the pat-down, and we meet up inside while you 'help me unload.' Thoughts?"
"Lets hold a moment but presuming they don't try to break Heralds jaw it is worth tge attempt."
{"So does that mean you're also gonna lie for us? I mean, I'm not very good at it myself,} Valorus asks Cree, though broadcasting to the allies, including Herald.
Cree chuckles at Val's question, shaking his head. "Okay, that's a good point, and one I hadn't considered. My poker face is as good as I am tall - which is, not at all. I'm all ears, then, when it comes to a different approach."
As the rest of his group look on from down the road, Herald attempts to sneak into the club while one of the bouncers is taking stock inside and the other is distracted with helping unload the nuar's delivery cart. As he is almost at the door and getting ready to open it, Herald makes a dreadful clamour as the metal door's rusted hinges creak loudly, causing the bouncer to turn around, his face contorted into a menacing sneer.
"There's a trick to that door. Regglers would know it, but not greasy, stupid asses trying to sneak in," he says as he begins to advance on the solarion as he reaches for the tactical baton at his hip. "And you've chosen the wrong night to try something like this, friend."
Initiative - Round 1
17 - Herald
16 - Krevlor
15 - Valorus
13 - Bouncer
11 - Cree
8 - Darshe
Herald grins and gives his knife a spin in his hand. "Eh, I hate sneaking anyways!" he exclaims. His stellar mote whips down and forms the glowing blue armor again.
Krevlor moves into cover and puts his lower left hand on his pistol. He calls out to the bouncer making an attempt towards avoiding conflict even if unlikely. "We're here for answers about what happened at Dock 94. We are prepared to defend ourselves now as we did then."
Herald's solar mote covers him in its familiar glow, protecting him from oncoming attacks. Krevlor's words, however, seem to fall to penetrate the gang member's solid bravado, and he continues to bullheadedly prepare himself for a fight.
Initiative - Round 1
17 - Herald
16 - Krevlor
15 - Valorus
13 - Bouncer
11 - Cree
8 - Darshe
Valorus pulls out his pistol and moves closer, the bouncer is too far away for his spells to have any effect, and he'd rather not alert anyone nearby to laser shots.
As Valorous stalks closer to the melee, the bouncer advances towards, paying no mind to the words shot at him by the kasatha talespinner, and swings his club at the solarion with a powerful blow. Despite the strength behind it, the dexterous Herald sidesteps it effortlessly.
The nuar delivery man stands in place next to his cart of crates, either oblivious to or uncaring of the melee unfolding before him, holding the manifest tablet and continuing to chew a piece of gum.
Initiative - Round 1
17 - Herald
16 - Krevlor
15 - Valorus
13 - Bouncer
11 - Cree
8 - Darshe
Cree sighs, muttering under his breath. "Son of a....really, with this?"
The Ysoki steps forward and pulls his rifle from his shoulder. He drops to the ground, prone, and takes careful aim at the bouncer, waiting for things to escalate before firing the loud weapon.
"Stop it! There's no way you win this, fella! Don't wanna get yourself shot, do you?"
Move action: Move 30' closer, draw weapon
Swift action: Drop Prone
Standard action: Ready action to fire if bouncer makes another hostile action
"That about figures," Darshe mutters when the bouncer turns on Herald. He was not really counting on getting things done quietly anyway. Opting not to help fill the bouncer with holes just yet, the soldier breaks out into a full run, intent on entering the melee.
As Darshe rushes headlong towards the melee, Cree lies down and stares down the length of his rifle, ready to take a shot should the bouncer get any more violent.
Initiative - Round 2
17 - Herald
16 - Krevlor
15 - Valorus
13 - Bouncer
11 - Cree
8 - Darshe
Herald steps to the side and then lunges with the knife, avoiding the bouncer's attempts to clobber him.
With a sigh Krevlor fires his pistol towards the man from his cover. He draws his staff in case the man comes close.
He sighs looking at the pistol... at least he'd get to join the others up front now.
Valorus steps closer towards the man, keeping cautious, though Krevlor fires out a blast. Valorus thought about the actions and decided it would be best to try and draw the man's attention.
It looks like the attack did at least distract the bouncer.
The bouncer dodges the knife's blade, ducking backwards out of reach momentarily. The quickness that the human reacts with is enough to cause Krevlor's shot to miss its mark completely, but the harrying fire from Valorus' pistol stops him dead in his tracks. "Oh, so that's how its gonna be, eh, with your friends and their pea-shooters? Very well then!"
Taking a moment to draw a laser pistol from behind his back, the bouncer takes another swing at Herald with the club. The short aluminium weapon connects with the lashunta's shoulder, sending a tingling sensation taveling down Herald's arm and into his fingertips. At the same time, having taken careful aim, Cree squeezes the trigger of his hunting rifle. The sound echoes through the nearly empty street, echoing through the narrow cavern-like walls. The bullet rips through the bouncer's reinforced sleeve and tears through the flesh of his upper arm. His eyes flare, widening with the dual emotions of both rage and fear. "Dimmo, you lazy prick! Get out here!" he shouts, the pitch of his voice rising slightly in fear.
Initiative - Round 2
17 - Herald
16 - Krevlor
15 - Valorus
13 - Bouncer
13 - Cree
8 - Darshe
Cree relaxes, falling into the familiar pseudo-trance that allows his mechanical arm to make micro-adjustments to his aim. "Dimmo, stay where you are, you lazy prick, and don't get yourself shot!" Cree shouts back in the same direction as the bouncer did before inhaling and squeezing the trigger.
Darshe tugs his assault hammer free from his belt and closes in on the bouncer, putting him between himself and Herald, while conveniently leaving Cree's line of fire open. With a grunt of exertion the soldier swings the hammer, but the motion is sluggish.
Cree's next shot rings out into the metal streetscape, effortlessly finding his target as the bullet embeds deep into the man's thigh. With a shout of pain, the bouncer looks around him worriedly and manages to dodge the swing of Darshe's assault hammer.
Initiative - Round 3
17 - Herald
16 - Krevlor
15 - Valorus]
13 - Bouncer
13 - Cree
8 - Darshe
Drawing himself up from the cover Krevlor quickly advances towards the bouncer, pistol in hand and staff in hands ready to take on enemies at any range.
He carefully made sure to stay out of Valorus and Cree's line of fire to the target as his feet slammed against the deck platting.
Herald makes two quick slashes with his survival knife, hoping that he could take the target down before the other bouncer gets outside.
Valorus comes closer to the fray. He takes another blast with his pistol.
With Krevlor making his way quickly down the canyon-like street, Herald continues his assault on the bouncer with his survival knife. Feinting with his first attack, the lashunta lashes out unexpectedly fast as the blade carves a broad line across the man's belly, the dark fabric of the reinforced clothing hiding the deep crimson spilling from the wound.
As the man stands momentarily stricken by shock at the assault, the laser bolt from Valorus' pistol strikes true with a shot to the chest. The bouncer gives a pained gasp as he collapses to his knees before keeling over to his left onto the metal street just as the exit door of the club opens. The loud bass and ululating vocals spill out into the street along with the lurid purple, pink, and cyan neon of the club's interior lighting, silhouetting the second bouncer as he stands with his pistol in one hand.
"What the...?!" he exclaims, as he sees the other gang guard sprawled on the ground, turning a deep shade of angry red as he sees the attackers. He lifts the laser pistol, taking a quick aim at the knife-wielding lashunta, not caring that he is leaving himself open to attack.
Initiative - Round 3
17 - Herald
16 - Krevlor
15 - Valorus
13 - Bouncer
13 - Cree
8 - Darshe
Herald stabs with the knife, trying to take the enemy down fast.
Darshe unceremoniously steps over the dead bouncer, making his way toward the second. He did not really want to bludgeon the ganger to death, but they did not exactly have any alternatives to fall back on.
Herald dives in towards the bouncer in the doorway and stabs, driving the blade into the man’s belly and eliciting a yelp of pain which is mostly drowned out by the loud music from within the club. The bouncer then pulls the trigger but his aim is well off and Herald is in no danger of being harmed by the laser bolt. Darshe then comes in and swings powerfully, connecting with the head of his assault hammer with a sickening crunch of bone, and the bouncer lurches forward into the street and crumples to the ground, the door swinging shut behind him.
Combat is now over.
The nuar delivery man, standing next to his trolley still laden with small crates destined for the club and still chewing his gum casually, looks down at the two bodies. ”Mmmmm, messy,” he says ponderously, seemingly unperturbed by the bloodshed that had occurred mere feet from his position. ”Never did care much for them two.”
Herald wipes his knife off on the bouncer, sheaths it, and turns to the Nuar. "Yep. Messy business." he says, stepping closer, he looks over the deliveries. "They, uh, signed for these already, right?" he asks.
Krevlor will check to see if the first bouncer is still alive, because the second one is definitely still beyond his abilities. "Unfortunately so, it is a shame this could not be avoided."
Valorus turns to his comrades. {"I know that this had to be done, and that I helped participate in the bloodshed, but I can't help but feel this was a little on the extreme side of things."}
Krevlor reaches the body of the fallen bouncer in the street and notes immediately that he is not breathing, that his injuries have killed him.
The bull-headed delivery man turns his head to face Herald and shakes it slowly. "They did not, but they very rarely do. They take but do not give back or pay for what they take."
"I feel a bit less upset about this altercation, it is more confirmation about what we have gathered that this gang is more loathsome than most. We can walk in now before more come to investigate with our weapons concealed and investigate or we can walk away and await a reprisal. I support advancing."
Cree pops himself up from the ground, spitting two rounds of ammunition from his cheek into his open hand and sliding them into his rifle as he closes the distance between himself and his comrades. "I'm with Krev. We get in now, before more show up to cause a whole lotta ruckus. Done enough killing for today, I think. At least the unnecessary kind." His voice hardens as he finishes his statement, staring at the open door to the club with malicious intent in his eye. "I'll save the last of today's deaths for the ***** responsible for Kreel."
Herald will search the thugs for any credchips and hand them over to the Nuar.
"Sorry. This will have to be their last payment." he says, scratching the hairless side of his head. "I don't think they'll be taking any more shipments, though." he gives Cree a look. "They draw weapons, and they will, it becomes a necessary death."
Turning back to the Nuar, he gestures to the boxes. "Well, you probably should get going, I don't want any survivors to think you were involved in this."
"We'd better hurry up before station security catches wind of this," Darshe remarks, tapping the head of his assault hammer against his other hand.
"I don't think station security's been down here in a looong time." Herald replies, adjusting the strap on his laser rifle and checking the door, this time actually bypassing the squeak the bouncer had so kindly pointed out before attacking him.
{"Still, I'd rather not stick around too long. Let's do what we need to do and get out of here,"} Valorus says. He casts Transfer Charge to fill the battery in his gun and drain one of his other batteries, leaving it with 15/20.
Checking each of the bodies, he finds a pair of credsticks as well as two azimuth laser pistols with full batteries.
The nuar looks down at the credsticks that are pressed into his hand by Herald, and nods. "I will help," he says, retrieving a thin, unassuming plastic tarpaulin from a small satchel hanging from the cart. "The bodies will be covered, and no one should be nosy enough to look too closely for now."
The door of the club opens, rather more silently this time as Herald enacts the trick to silence the squeaky hinge. The dimly lit interior of the nightclub is filled with the press of sweaty bodies, a haze of narcotic smoke, and the pounding beat and ululating vocals of bakarang music blaring from the main stage in the northeast corner of the room. A sinuous bar winds around the northwest corner, offering a variety of drinks and drugs for purchase. Booths line the south wall of the club, facing the main stage in the northeast corner and the crowded dance floor beneath it. Gyrating dancers stand atop four smaller stages scattered around the club: one behind the bar, one in the center of the room, and two flanking the main stage. Wide double doors marked “Staff Only” exit the room to the west, and between these doors and the front doors is a small room with a window cut out of it, and a small neon sign saying “Coat Check” above the window.
Herald is just distracted enough by the beat of the music and the thrumming lights to notice anything particularly useful.
Krevlor finds a likely spot to stash his battlestaff outside before proceeding in. His pistol can be hidden beneath his robes but the staff would tip their hand. Krevlor spends too much time looking nonchalant to notice anything of import.
Valorus hides his pistol beneath his coat before heading inside.
However, he was distracted by all the bright flashing lights and music to really notice anything right away.
Darshe shrugs, conceding to Herald's point. "You have our gratitude," he says to the nuar, nodding his thanks before entering the club.
"Well this won't do at all..." he mutters, when he sees the club filled with people, his voice inaudible over the loud music. Most of them were not likely affiliated with the Downside Kings. Scoping out the area, he eventually eyes what he presumed to be the trigger for the fire alarm. With a slight smirk he grabs the others' attention, pointing the lever out. "We should clear this place out and then get started. No unnecessary damages, yeah?"
Herald looks at Darshe and nod. "Good idea. Pull it." he says,
Cree follows the taller folk into the club, his rifle still firmly in both hands, eyeing the crowd. "Pull it, and let's get out of the way and find something to hide behind, eh, fellas?"
"Some of the guards may clear out to asses the situation, watch for those who hold position they will guard the deeper operations." He'd rather move forward covertly but the Downside Kings reputation made him a bit more willing to deal with things creatively.
A split second after Darshe smashes the thin glass casing and presses on the fire alarm's lever a loud, high-pitched ringing can be heard over the music, cutting through the air like a blade. Those who are dancing begin to stop what they are doing as the music starts to repeat itself without variation and look around with confused expressions on their faces. The bar staff turn to each other and nod before starting to lock up the registers quickly and telling people to leave the venue, while the dancers rapidly dismount from their podiums and the DJ begins to cover his equipment with a plastic tarp.
Aside from the bartenders, there does not appear to be either any visible security staff nor any members of the Downside Kings in amongst the confused crowd.
Herald makes his way through the crowd, slipping past the first of the patrons making their way out of the club. The club's interior appears to be confined to the main dance floor with its bar in the corner near the staff entrance, with no other noticeable egress points where additional security might come from outside of the doors marked "Staff Only".