John cuts his story with Sariel off as he sees Nick approaching. "Afternoon Nick, any trouble finding the place?"
Sariel nods at Nick, making room for him on the bench, and asking
How was your trip? Have you been to the house yet or heard from Titus?
As you all sit and talk you happen to see a man jogging in your direction. He is massive and once he gets a bit closer it is unmistakable its your friend Titus.
Hey Bro's whats up? So you guys been waiting on me? Sorry parking is a b@$$@ here. Parked at a garage and took the subway in. You guys want to get some grub or you wana go back and check out the house. I have cased the out side pretty good already. Camera's all around usually three guys and a dog outsice. A few nicer cars in the driveway. I sent the tags to my buddy in miami PD. Just waiting on hem to get back to me on who they are registered too. We should probably check out the property appraiser site and see who owns the property. I also got us a sick cable package and some new furniture.
He stretches letting out some grunts and then takes a seat looking to everyone to see what our next move is.
Sariel nods to Titus, as the big man takes a seat Sariel hands him the walking stick, smiling he says
I bought you a little something to remember the British Isles by. It will protect those delicate hands of yours, and not quite as obvious as a ball-bat, but just as effective.
then looking at the other two men he asks
What now gentlemen?
John waves at Titus, "My place is just across the street if we want to discuss a plan. We could also head to your new apartment if you would rather Titus. Nick and I have already eaten lunch, not sure about Sariel. I think the biggest thing is, we don't need to head to his house until our plan is 100% ready.
Sariel nods in agreement with John and stands up, stretching he says
we may as well head to the neighborhood and the Lloyds house where Iitus has set up. Who is going to ride with who, I have not acquired a vehicle yet. Also, shall we still use the alias' provided by Lloyds, or other alias'? If any of us have not shaken the tails "they" had on us; we may be exposing everyone else. I would think the Lloyds alias' are safe, but what do you guys think?
Titus looks to Cool a bit puzzled.
Apartment? What apartment. I have been at the house for a few days now. I case the german guys place when I'm out for my runs. The dog doesn't seem to be a fan of me, but the security guys are as pleasent as you would expect. My truck seats four pretty comfortably. We just need to hop on the subway to get back to the parking garage. Thanks for the stick Sariel, I guess I could use it if I fake an injury or something, by I'm way more leathal with just my hands. He smiles as he stands taking the stick.
Well follow me bro's don't worry we can walk.
John chuckles at Titus's confusion. "Sorry, I'm a New Yorker, I use house and apartment interchangeably."
Ypu make the trip back and its getting dark, from down the road you see likes at the Germans house. A number of cars are parted outside. There seems to be a party going on. As you pull into the drive a high end helicopter flys in low and seems to land behind the Germans house.
There are a lot more security guys then before, 2 at the bottom of the Germans Drive way. The one thing you did note was a symbol on the side of the helicopter. LOGO here
*Edited, got the wrong logo right one is there now
Sariel, shouldering his pack smiles at Johns explanation and adds as he follows Titus to the subway
that Ok back in Chicago we just call it Da crib, even if it's under a bridge
Sariel keeps a keen eye out, one hand holding his extra large pack, the other in his pocket where the "magic bag" holds a Sig Sauer.
Well that's interesting, I think we should all go inside, It wouldn't do to be indiscrete
as he heads to the house, he says.
those goons may be private security but they are definitely packing
The goons outside look privet security they are packing.
John watches the security and any peeks he can get into the house. Parties mean the gate has to open, so John is sure not to miss any chance to see inside. The only thing that draws his attention away is the familiar sound of a helicopter. His eyes float up reading the copter's type then the logo next.
As Titus sees the helicopter fly over he focus's on the logo a moment.
Yeah lets go inside.
As you go inside there is now music coming from the house, some kind of event, you see a caterers Van comes past, heading to the house.
Mortol Cooks and caterers.
They seem local, then a few more cars.
One of the guys in the gym you remember was talk about wall street, he was saying there where problems at "Bears" something about "sub" something.
Pilot was not happy going in made two passes, but skittish
Must be a temp landing site because bad temp lighting was making him worry by the looks of it. Makes you think hes not military trained.
You find all kinds of stuff on Bears Stearns, they are doing great, a power house for making money. Sold for cast and looking to expand.
Once were in the house, and the door is closed, John speaks. "The good news is, he doesn't seem to have a private military. That pilot was green. I agree with what you said Sariel, security was packing, but they appeared to be private security. What I'm not as happy about is how quiet all of you are right now, because this silence sounds like you're thinking of ways to get into this party. I agree, I would love to go into a party tonight, if we had known about it two months ago. We do not have enough info. Please, don't try this. We don't know the dress code. We don't know what the invitations look like. We don't know the reason for the party. We don't know even 1 of the hosts names. We agreed in London to play this slow. I like a party going on, cause if he can do magic like Nick, all those people around would limit him. Tonight is not the night though.
The most dramatic step I would be willing to take tonight, and I can't pull this off alone. If somehow one of you could intercept an outgoing call from that house. Parties mean drinking and that house isn't big enough to hold all the guests cars. If we use a cover to rent or buy a limo, now. I could forge an ID for one of us to be a limo driver. Only costume that person would need is a nice suit. I've got mine on already, but if someone else would rather go that's fine.
Anyways, we intercept a call for a drunk guest to be taken home. We can't kidnap him or her, but we could take a slow route and hope they're drunk enough to talk. If you guys want to run with this plan, whoever goes in needs to be charming, and they need to have a list of questions from all of us.
The plan is full of potential holes, and I'm open to other ideas. I'm just suggesting one of many courses we can set on. Anyone else have ideas or opinions on mine?" John's eyes scan the room to each of them as he talks hushing their reactions to his plan.
Who doesn't want to party. Titus smiles. Your right thoug. We could blow this by acting to quickly. I think I could get in, but I'm sure he would remember me from Italy. So I have a plan. Its a bit long term and I probably got it from watching too many movies but here me out. So we start by finding some make up person. They need to be good. You know like they did for Rebecca Romijn in the X-men movie, but all I need is a beard and to change some facial features. From there I use my MMA skills and get hired on to the private security firm. I'm sure he uses the same men, that what I would do, but what if a couple of those guys have an accident. Nothing too serious but some hospital time. Could be car accident, mugging, something when there away from work. I can use my charm to try and get assigned to the place when they need new guys. Then we are in. Boom!!!
He holds his hand seeking a high five from anyone that approves.
Come on bro's don't leave me hanging here. Short term though I don't hate Johns plan, it may give us some insight to what the party was about anyways. Best I can tell is its stock related. One of the guys at the gym was saying something about Bears Stearn, a "sub" somehting. I don't remember.
"We need to make sure we add that to the questions tonight. Who owns the house? Who did the security?"
John seems a bit hesitant about one part of Titus's plan. "You realize how dangerous that will be though right? If this goes south, you'll be stuck inside that house with all of his goons and him. It won't be easy to get out, and it is unlikely we can give you any way to call for help."
nothing worse than being left hanging
Sariel reaches up and slaps Titus's hand
I like your plan for long term, Titus. For short term I was thinking a two step plan. First we set up a camera and photograph license plates and faces, Second, put a tail on someone important looking,
nodding his head at John
but putting someone in a car that's not bad.
Sariel smiles deeply, showing overly long cannines and asks
So no one thinks we should go down the road a little and intercepting a party goer and taking their invitation?
Dangerous. Oh I get it you mean if they find me out how dangerous it will be for all those guys. I didn't know you cared about them Coop.
He smirks.
Don't you worry bro. I may not have your luck but I have went up against the hatian gangs for a few years not. A few dudes with automatic weapons don't scare me. Besides how could it go south? I wouldn't let that happen.
He is full of himself and cocky, but you guys already knew that.
This is a mishmash, the trust leaded back to an investment bank and then you hit a real dead end. The investment bank was called Barings_Bank
The propriety ownership is real heard to pin down but after a real search of back records you find one inertial memo that was leaked from Barings, it lists a number of things that Mr Lesson did with the computer system. One talks about a holding in NY. On a huch you check the counts and out pops the addess of Mr SS house. You spend a day hunting down the info on the holding company and then you hit a name. Miss Applewhite Who seems to have a family trust fun and the property is now held by that. You can find nothing on Who Miss Applewhite is for now, you need more info.
going around the local you find the MrSS home has massive wards around it. layers of them. Your a little stunned to look at them. One thing sticks out, for a moment when you 1st looked at the you could see faint shifting Hieroglyphs.
Nick sighs, double checks there's no sightlines, scans for magic, then starts talking.
"The trust that owns the house is set up with Barings Bank. There's a holding company. The holding company has a family trust fund, held by a Miss Applewhite Who. As far as I can find out, the lady either doesn't exist or is a complete enigma."
"That doesn't sound like much, but right now you should be in awe that I got this, because the security around this stuff id crazy. Like Intelligence Agency level scary. Beyond simply professional."
"I've tried scrying, but I'm out of luck, because the Wards around that place... they're like nothing I've seen. They're layered. There's a sense of age about them - I want to say Egyptian."
"Now, if they're laid down on automatic I can probably buy us some cover for a few hours. If they're being run by the man himself, we've got about a 50/50 chance."
"Looks like this guy can build soulstealing ritual equipment. That's heavy. Plus - at his age? Sounds like maybe he's been playing with immortality - and that's just never good."
"We could maybe pick up a guest. If we can, I can probably get him to talk."
"I don't like the idea of anyone going for employment. Too much chance the guy'll go through your mind and get something."
"I still think the "rifle from a distance" is the way to go. I've been working on Sariel's request, and I think we could probably get through his personal wards and take the bastard down. Then we can question his corpse."
"Possibly we can grab him when he's travelling somewhere."
"Whatever we do, we have to have contingency plans. If the guy can ward like this he can probably call up some terrifying stuff. There's a good chance he can scry, too, so make sure you don't leave any sympathetic links. We use aliases. Costumes where we can. Don't leave a hair behind."
very impressive, grab him when he is travelling, need to find out where he is going
Very impressive Nick, or should I say Alan, I like the idea of grabbing a guest, can you make them forget our conversation or will we need to "remove"?
Nick looks pleased with the praise, then pensive at the request
"Maybe... You're going to need no more than a few minutes, right? In theory I can knock them out and have them forget a few minutes. Easiest way might be to just... nudge their mind, then read their surface thoughts."
"I am going to need to know exactly what you want to know. In advance."
"Also, I'm going to need to set up for this. That means at least half an hour. Nine would be better, but I'm guessing we don't have that."
"They might be resistant. If they are... we'll need to - wait, does 'remove' mean kill them? Because we'd need to kill them. I don't mind killing Wizards and their allies, but I don't want to kill normal people. Actually, let me clarify. I don't think I should kill anyone, and I'd like us all to avoid killing normal people."
"Not to mention a guest turning up dead on the way home from his party is going to send up all kinds of red flags to him. I honestly feel like grabbing an especially drunk one should be enough if you probe lightly."
Sariel smiled and added
So we need to start watching for a fairly inebriated guest leaving by themselves, what's the plan to get them off of the road, or do we follow them home?
"My plan was to forge limo driver credentials and pick them up."
"Step 1. Work out what you want to know. What questions. How much detail. That'll tell us who we need."
Great work Nick. So this guys is some sort of major player in whatever this game is. I don't know how much a guest will know besides what we already know about him, but its worth a shot. Is there any way to patch into his camera system? I mean it all records some place.
As your sat there talking you hear barking from some way away, its muffled by the music coming from down the road.
you see a security car pass from the house down the street, two guys in it with a dog. Then a short while after two figures all in black scuttle to a bush in front of your and then run across the road. Out of sight. They move with skill, they looked trained, one is carrying something like a dish.
you see a security car pass from the house down the street, two guys in it with a dog. It heads off down the road.
Stealth DC20
you see a security car pass from the house down the street, two guys in it with a dog. Then a short while after two figures all in black scuttle to a bush in front of your and then run across the road. Out of sight. They move with skill, they looked trained, one is carrying something like a dish.
you see a security car pass from the house down the street, two guys in it with a dog. It heads off down the road.
Titus will stroll over to the window to check things out.
No good, s**t there on to us. Looks like they just dropped two guys off outside with a dish like one you see in movies that lets you listen in. I'm going to go ask them what they think there doing.
Titus heads out running after the two men trying to hide in the bushes shifts into dragon style so he can move and run across any dificult terrain to catch up.
Activates Air Barrier
no they ran from some trees after the car passed, you think the security guys my have been after them. They just had their backs to you and where hiding from the road then, ran across the road just. They did not seem to be interested in sticking around. The car had full beam on and one of he guys in it had a flash light.
dogs barking, a good hunter knows dogs sense things we don't
Sariel hearing the dog goes and looks out the window, hearing Titus turning and seeing him run to the door
you must be out your mind
Sariel heads toward the back door, buttoning his pee coat and pulling his ski-mask out of the left pocket putting it on as goes out the back door, relying on his night vision, he moves quickly and quietly around the house toward where he saw the two men.
John goes to the window and peeks out. "Now isn't that interesting. The Enemy of my enemy is my friend." John glances up seeing Sariel heading for the door. "Want to go make some new friends Sariel? Just promise not to kill them." John follows after Sariel keeping to the shadows, helping to track with his limited skills.
Titus swiftly runs out after the two men doing his best to stay undetected. [ooc]Taking -5 to move at normal speed will be double moving using Dragon style to catch them.
John sees Titus rushing past and his mind starts racing faster than his feet. "Wait, wait, wait. Slow down. Think. This is the perfect distraction to get us all out of the house. Too perfect. We know this guy we're hunting is smart. What if..."
John turns sneaking his way back towards the house hiding where he can watch the house from the cover of darkness seeing if anyone or anything happens to either their own safe-house, or the German's house while everyone is gone.
Nick also runs to the window.
No good, s**t there on to us. Looks like they just dropped two guys off outside with a dish like one you see in movies that lets you listen in. I'm going to go ask them what they think there doing.
Unlike his colleagues, who all spring into action in various ways, Nick prevaricates.
"Magic's too dangerous this close. I guess I could try to put some sort of... wait, I don't think they're listening too us, otherwise why the security... how did they detect them?"
By the time he has sorted out his questions, the rest of his team has left.