Mus'ad and Happy-Jack are able to approach the bridge without incident. There is a pedestrian foot path on the bridge, but traffic over that is light due to the length of the bridge. Apart from an increased V'Sori presence things seem to be business as usual at the moment. Mus'ad of course, draws his usual amount of attention
Satisfied that he now knows where he needs be for the job to come, Mus'ad idly scratches his bare back before deciding that thirsts needed slaking. He looked around for a place where tea might be purchased.
To himself. Well you just signed your own death warrant.
(2)Any evidence, blade shape and spacing, to indicate more than one attacker?
Walking past a clothing store the young man dials another call.
Via Com-link to Jack: "If you have the time I found another tunnel crawl that might benefit from your particular idiom. Seems a thing is eating folks down by the docks. I should be there in an hour or so. Normally I could care less if something quiets the Vox Popului but bullet head seems to consider this a little test and the timing is interesting. I will be quite surprised if this is just another nightmare out to nosh the nebbish. Feel free to pass the word should you desire."
Closing the phone the young man cuts into another alley and an older man wearing a blue suit walks out.
The conclusion of the coroner was, as stated previously, that the wounds were inflicted by natural weapons such as claws or teeth. Given your own limited knowledge of medicine you'll have to take his word for it.
As far as multiple attackers, the reports do not mention anything like that specifically, but the police seem to be operating under the impression that it is a single serial killer.
As he heads towards the Docks it seems Star City's finest is busy at work elsewhere. He can detect noone paying him any undue attention either.
Responding to DA: "Well, I have an hour or three until the convoy is due to show if you'd like to leave Mus'ad on his own; is that enough time could this wait until we've shown those fins what for?"
The businessman appears to take a call.
To Jack:"I am only across town. You could easily make it back in time for the party."
Expanding my police eye to include any decent rides. Cars, vans, decent motorcycles, Yaschuk Aerodyne Flying Car.....
Ping to DB: "Name the location and I'll be there with bells on"
Ping to Mus'ad and Cash Out: "Off to play with Satan's Lawyer; don't start the party without me"
Jack then nonchalantly strolls a few blocks away before kicking into a higher pace once he receives a target location.
Extricate myself from my current roost. Wander over the the plain clothed watcher.
Attempting to stealth on up and find out who they are.
As I approach listen in for any RF signal coming off them and trying to listen in if there is.
Stealth ; Wild
Stealth within 6" ; Wild
Stealth to pick pocket for ID ; Wild
Read ID
Stealth to return ID to owner ; Wild
Stealth to return to my roost ; Wild
Having grown bored of his vigil Cash Out seeks to obtain more information on their unwanted observer. He managed to locate a radio signal coming from where the man was seated some time ago, but all that he's done is complain about getting stuck watching 'this ugly s.o.b.', while he reports the same thing every ten minutes or so, that Mus'ad is sitting, drinking tea.
Still a bit stiff from being in position for so long he finds his initial movements slightly clumsy as he approaches the man still reading the same paper. He manages to work out the cramps after a few moments, but as he's coming up to brush past the man he folds up his paper, stands, tucks it under his arm, and walks away. Through the odd connection Cash has he hears simply. "I've been made." and a brief description of himself, the only response is the same one he's been getting the previous few hours, an acknowledgement.
Still being nonchalant and wandering over to a secluded spot busting out the texting device and transmitting to the ones I know are involved with this job:
Stealth for the nonchalant bit ; Wild
"Plainclothes is watching. Has more than normal resources. Can see me when I'm skulking about. He either has advanced technology or abilities. Was radioing in every 10 minutes. Had some nasty insults about Mus'ad"
Apparently I need to keep from hissing radio tunes through my teeth while invisible. Bad habit.
One of them, the shorter of the three, appears to be waving a gadget over the manhole, which one of the others is removing the lid from. The third is scanning the area in a very obvious guard position. All three are heavily covered in enveloping trenchcoats and obscuring hoods. Despite the attempts to hide Jack is able to spot a flash of blue skin from the gadget wielding man, while the other two wear the blank, faceless visors of drones.
Mus'ad continues making with the sitting and the tea quaffing.
After texting about the watcher I guess I'll go find another roost with good range to target, shooting lines, a number of exit paths and concealment.
Notice to find one ; Wild
Stealth to set up ; Wild
Eavesdropping on the conversation between Happy Jack & DA, Belladonna makes her way unobtrusively towards DA's 'encounter point'...
Or at least as unobtrusively as she is able.
Jack, confident in his abilities, nonchalantly steps into a nearby shadow before attempting the difficult task of sneaking up on the trio, watcher and all.
The blue-skinned man--presumably one of the V'Sori--wears a compact suit of armor beneath his cloak, and startles, saying something in an unfamiliar language. The drones, predictably turn towards Jack with violence in their cybernetic hearts, but halt at another word in the strange language.
"Some... You're certainly very bold." he observes in quite good, though strangely accented English.
While I'm waiting I suppose I'll see what I can decrypt.
Knowledge Cryptography ; Wild
Ace
"We have an old saying here: Fortune Favours The Bold and my old countrymen held that Who Dares, Wins. So bold and saucy Jack I must be and I shall be so bold as to ask what you seek and why.". Jack's smile spreads slightly as he speaks, gazing directly at the V'Sori.
As Jack speaks the V'Sori fiddles with his gadget, tapping and caressing the screen. After a moment he turns to face Jack, running the gadget up and down his body. The pair of drones continue to hold their arms up in line with his head.
"Fascinating. No respiration or cardiovascular activity, but..." he says raising the device to point at your head "heightened neural activity, and a hyperactive nervous system. Tell me, do you still eat? and if so organic or inorganic matter? Or do you obtain nourishment from other sources perhaps?"
An young street thug of indeterminate sex or race lounges near the pier.
Great. Now Jack is missing.
The thug raises a cell phone.
To Bella Via Com: "Bella, are you in touch with Jack. He is late for tea."
"A question answered with an unrelated question! Well done! Allow me to respond in kind with the raise of a repetition: What are you looking for?".
Jack examines the V'Sori's face, showing no emotion but his ground-state glee.
"What?" he asks, seeming confused. He tears his gaze away from his readings to look at Jack properly. "Oh. Trying to clean up a mistake I made..." he admits, sounding disheartened "An anomaly. It escaped... it's all a terrible mess, and now they want me to captured it..."
Texting again to the ones I'm aware of involved in this side of the tracks.
"Hrm. Lets see. Looks like they have a watchdog over on 7th. A couple of fliers over by that black spike".
In response to DA's query over the comlink. "He seems to have found himself another conundrum to distract...
A V'sori investigator looking into some lost...
test subject perhaps?"
"Shall I remind Jack of our date?"
La Belledonna, if you're reading me, I have a V'Sori looking for DA's little maneater. He's got a couple of 'bots with him, easy pickings I should think. Shall we take him and interrogate?".
Happy-Jack leans forward, "This is a city full of anomalies, friend. May Dame Fortune smile upon you in seeking yours."
'Wonderful! Allow me to bring DA into this conversation & we will resolve an appropriate course in concert."
Via Link: 'One researcher and a pair of drones? I have seen what his little project can do. They are not sending the poor lab rat to capture it they are sending him to be eaten. Must have written off the project and are cleaning house. Talk to the nice alien Jack, stall a bit. We might be able to turn this goon. It would be very useful to have a pet V'sori'. Bella? What is your ETA? You can be quite persuasive when you apply yourself.'
Several blocks away the street thug begins to walk faster.
'I should arrive within minutes. I will make what haste I am able given appropriate caution.'
The scientist looks at Jack oddly as he reports into the others, glancing down at his device, pressing some of the strange icons on the screen. "Ahhh. I see.
So, you must be Omegans then, yes? sounds an unfamiliar voice over the mental link. Jack of course recognises the voice, though it seems to lack the accent now, replaced with an odd mental signature instead he can almost taste.
The team's communicators as one begin an urgent sounding alert. Checking the device immediately brings up the VMAP, where the countdown, previously still with over two hours remaining is flashing red and rapidly dropping. It seems to stabilize after a short time, slowing as it hits 12 minutes, then suddenly dropping to 9 minutes, 12 seconds.
The sound of car horns and amplified voices suddenly erupts from the direction of the bridge, followed a few moments later by panicked screams, and crunching of metal. Mus'ad leaps into action and quickly is able to get a view of the bridge where it seems a number of V'Sori M'bunas, water running from their sides are forcibly clearing two of the incoming lanes of the bridge. Fins leap from their sides while the repulsor craft are ramming any vehicles too slow to get the picture out of the required lanes, the vehicles inhabitants fleeing for their lives.
Closer to the lumbering European the streets are like a kicked anthill, the waiting police are leaping into cars and flashing sirens, but there doesn't seem to be much coordination behind the activity. The civilians in the meantime are torn between shock, curiosity, and terror, but pose little real obstacle to Mus'ad who is easily able to push his way through the melee.
"Convoy ten minutes out. Move into position." The activity on the V'Sori channel picks up, but remains controlled and orderly.
Checking the police channels however, is a different story. SOcorp appears to have been caught with their pants down as suddenly a number of vehicles rise up out of the water beneath the bridge and begin to clear a path with pure brute force . A few choice snippets he catches amidst the furor include:
"Are they firing on civilians?"
"What the f*$+? Why were we told about this?!"
"God damn V'Sori. Alright, clear the area, get the civilians out of there, and watch out for the Omegans, we know someone's in the area."
"Oh god, what the f+!% do we do?"
About 30 seconds after the V'Sori appear your communicator starts to beep urgently.
Texting: Hunh. They are moving early. Approximately 10 minutes. Apparently they didn't tell SOcorp about it. They are freaking out. They are looking for Omegans to be inbound and know there are people in the area. V'Sori seem to be muscling through with their vehicles without a care for anyone in the way.
Try to grab a clip of good ammo. Regular rounds just don't cut it against military vehicles.
Count the number and type of vehicles the V'Sori are using. Seeing if I can come up with a plan to use this new chaos.
Knowledge Battel ; Wild
any Ace if needed
Smiling and beginning to laugh Mus'ad turns bloody minded and begins wading through the crowd towards the convoy. He aims to get close enough that he might grab one of the civilian vehicles to use as a missile to assault the M'bunas with brute aerial force.
"I am beyond the end implied by the Omega, and it's hardly polite to go poking around in heads." Jack breaks off, glances at his wrist, raises the bare skin on his forehead where an eyebrow should be, and continues. "Be that as it may, I think some've seen the handiwork of your mistake and I'm not sure you've brought enough to capture it. What's your plan, should you find it?"
"Not poking. Just uh... tapped into your feed?" he replies, switching back to verbal communication as well, but sounding uncertain of his phrasing. "Have more backup if need it, suspect they're watching you right now." he adds, looking away from Jack for a moment to cast a quick glance around before focusing on him as he checks his communicator.
"Definately Omegans..." he observes, sounding almost... smug? "What does Doctor Destruction want with creature?"
Text Via Communicator to Belle. ***URGENT*** Drop the link now! We are compromised!
Somewhere in the city a street thug looks about for a mag-lev or a taxi. Finding none the figure breaks into a run
Belle's presence in their brain fades from the Omegan's perception. Jack continues to feel a mental presence for a few moments before it too disappears. The scientist looks at Jack with an amused smile. "You are flighty aren't you." he comments "Forgive me I did that question with another question. I do not know, further observation is required. I would like to put it out of misery? but orders are to capture. Now your turn."
Belle and DA are not too far away from their undead friend now, though the back-alleys here are something of a warren. The two manage to find each other a couple blocks from Jack's suspected location and proceed from there. It is as they are about to round a corner that blaster fire splashes onto the asphalt in front of them, causing the tar to bubble.
Cash counts four M'Buna's, two making their way westward clearing the bridge, two proceding towards Star City. As he watches one veers suddenly out of the way as a car wielded by the ugly leader of his team flies in it's direction, the laser gun on top retaliating, strafing Mus'ad's location.
Reaching into the connection within himself, he finds it a whirling vortex instead of the normal, relatively calm pond. Try as he might he cannot reach beyond the turbulence to his ammo cache.
"Up there!" Belledonna points to the rooftop & the figure therein.
Watching for opportunities to take out exposed drivers or troops disembarking. Big guy looks to be capable of taking the military vehicles. Listening to the radio chatter.
"Fair enough. I you truly, though, I've not the foggiest idea what, if anything, Doctor Destruction wants with the creature. I'm just here because it sounded interesting."
The street thug runs towards the warehouse wall he presses his form against the wall hoping to find cover under a stray HVAC pipe.
The street thug's form flickers for a moment as he draws a large pistol and fires a round towards the shooter.
}