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The Harpies fly away as Stringer shoots and misses.
Combat over!
The executives crawl from the limo and grab at the party. Their faces are pale and their sweating. They shout.
"Thank you Thank you! We nearly died! What can we do for you?"
One of the guards walks over the color nearly drained from his face.
"Who are you guys? Are you supposed to be there?""
"Well, you can start by telling us just what the hell you think you're doing dumping poison into drinking water. You can earn bonus points if you know what happened to our friend, Lou Roger's. But the poison first."
To the guard Mick simply says, "Keep a close watch on our perimeter and find some folks to change that tire while we have a discussion with your bosses. Keep an eye on the skies."
Taking one last look through the binoculars at the departing Harpys, just to confirm the direction, and that they are indeed fleeing. Salvo then turns and heads back to the limo.
Once there he quickly surveys the scene.
Moving first to the bewildered security guards.
”Hey! Snap out of it. Watch the perimeter, stay alert. And you!” Looking at a particularly nervous guard. ”Get your finger off the trigger. You’ll end up shooting yourself.”
Looking over at Stringer.
”How you holding up? Nodding at his wounds. ”Put Snoop on 360 watch 50 feet up. Bring Tank over to the limo.”
Walking over to the Limo. Kneeling next to Perl. And checking her wounds.
”Being a badass takes some getting used to doesn't it?” Looking over at the Executives.”But I think these guys will be able to give us some much needed information. And to get the good information sometimes you gotta have the scary monsters. Welcome to Dark Minion hunting.”
Moving to Kat. Noting she is still tightly gripping her Katana and has a slightly vacant expression.
”First time?” Nodding to bloody katana. ”I’d tell you it gets easier. But that’s both the truth and a lie.”
Finally standing behind Mick as he questions the Exec’s, glowering at the men. Leaning close to Mick.
”Want me to help intimidate them? Though they already look like they’re about to piss themselves.” Making an exaggerated point of reloading the M16.
Stringer puts his drones into sentry mode and reloads his shotgun as he walks over to look into the back of the limo. He does a quick net search on their faces to see what kind of information he can dredge up.
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"Well, you can start by telling us just what the hell you think you're doing dumping poison into drinking water. You can earn bonus points if you know what happened to our friend, Lou Roger's. But the poison first."
The executive in the suit rubs his head with his palms. His eyes are bloodshot. 'I explained to my wife. The THINGS on the 28th floor. They're getting to me. Everyone at home thinks I'm crazy my sister! My brother in law. It's not right. But those things they're connected to something in the swamp. It's getting hard to sleep. Those red eyes I've seen seeing at night. It keeps telling me to get the pesticide to the swamp on schedule. And the 28th floor is in on IT. I know it. It's hard to resist. I know it's wrong but...." He struggles and pulls a pill bottle out of his suit jacket and pops two blue pills. He drops to his knees.
"Please...those things I didn't want to die. I have a daughter. I don't know about a Lou. Please make the red eyes go away." He starts to sob.|
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Stringer puts his drones into sentry mode and reloads his shotgun as he walks over to look into the back of the limo. He does a quick net search on their faces to see what kind of information he can dredge up.
[dice=Research to ID the execs in the limo]1d20+6
Stringer finds their ID's, addresses and net worth. 1. Grant Rodgers assistant VP of production, 2. Melvin Thorton Jr VP of production and 3. Wes Thompkins assistant VP of real estate.
They all live in the high end bourgeoisie gated area of town.
Mick blinks at the response from the VP. He truly hadn't considered thst a guy like this might actually be just a puppet to something else entirely. "The 28th floor? Of NOBC? Your building?" Mick looks over at Salvo and frowns. Me, him, and Kat could maybe, if we were really lucky and brought a lot of firepower, then maybe we could mildly annoy their security teams. Maybe.
"In on it? Are you telling me your company is working with monsters to poison the city? That's crazy! It sounds like one of Beth's conspiracy theories, or like some Weekly World News headline! What's on the 28th floor? I mean, what was on twenty eight before the...red eyes?"
Not wanting to distract from their central questioner, Stringer murmurs to Mick "Maybe more relevant, Mick, is where in the swamp? Where are the things and, if it's a different spot, where is the place they're delivering the pesticide to?"
Meanwhile he searches the company's office directory to see if he can find out who has offices on the 28th floor. If he can't find specific names, he tries to see if he can found out what group or division has offices there.
Pearl dumps the ineffective shotgun into her bag. She's hurt bad. There's blood everywhere. She feels like she's gonna die. Then this idiot starts blabbering about his brother-in-law with red eyes or some s&%+. She's had enough of the madness.
Pearl slumps to the ground and leans against the limo. "I need somethin'" she mumbles to herself. "I can't take this. It's too much crazy."
After looking thoughtful for a moment.
”Okay, so the company is working with / being controlled by the Red-eyed Monsters. And ‘they’ are dumping nasty chems in the water.”
Pausing to give the men a disgusted look and shakes his head.
”No, the real and very worrying question is. If the Red-eyed bad guys are dumping the poison. Then Why? Were the flying monsters attacking them? This means there are likely Two Evil factions at work in this town.”
Looking at the group and shaking his head again.
”Well, at least the two monster groups seem to hate each other. Maybe we can get them to take out each other.”
Sighing and dropping his head.
”The only problem is. They will probably take Half the city with em.”
Moving to the Execs.
”Okay guys. Time to lay it all out for us. The where. The when. And the why. Oh and obviously this isn’t the first time your trucks have been attacked. So tell us about that too.”
Walking over to Pearl
”Yeah, its Crazy alright. That’s what makes the Monsters so successful, most people just can’t believe they are real.”
He hands her a metal flask. ”Here, have some of this. Go easy on it. Its older than you are.” Giving her a little grin.
Pearl wipes blood off her face with the back of her hand, then realizes her arm is bleeding too. She takes the flask from Salvo and almost cries, then takes a long hit like a baby latched on a nipple. He's right, it burns like fuuckin' fire, but it takes her mind off the cuts over her body from those g~##@!m harpies.
She hands it back, her hand shaking. "Thanks, Anthony. Got anything harder?"
Moving to Kat. Noting she is still tightly gripping her Katana and has a slightly vacant expression.
”First time?” Nodding to bloody katana. ”I’d tell you it gets easier. But that’s both the truth and a lie.”
Kat says nothing in response to Salvo's attempts at helping her deal with the awfulness of the moment. She gives a grim-faced nod and briefly makes eye contact. She hopes killing anything is never something she gets used to. Her mestre always emphasized that killing should never be a goal of combat, but neither should one hesitate from administering a killing blow when it is the best or only way to end a fight. Of course, she's not sorry to end the abominations that were attacking her. If monsters exist, and if she is good at killing them, she is ready to adjust to that.
When there is a pause in the Q&A sessions with the executives, Kat says loud enough for everyone in the area to hear, "Anybody have a medical kit or know how to treat wounds? We got some people bleeding over here." She directs her gaze at Pearl and then anyone else wounded. Kat herself has some blood on her, but it has an odd greyish tint suggesting it is not her own but from the bird people.
When Salvo pauses, Kat adds to the cowering herd of suits, "I assume one of you has a phone and has the passwords to search for a corp truck driver named Lou Rogers. Let us know his last known work assignment, the last thing he picked up and where he was supposed to deliver it. He disappeared and we need to find him if he's still alive."
Pearl thumps her head on the limo, then gets up. Reaching inside through the open window, she opens the door to the spacious back of the vehicle and climbs in with the big shots.
"Move the f~+@ over," she says to one and sits down next to the booze cabinet. She grabs a bottle of something brown and takes a lengthy swig, then reaches for the vodka.
"All you f*@~ers look away. Look away dammit. And don't you turn to peek or I'll let those monsters eat your brains."
Pearl peels out of her white shirt. There's a long bloody gash on her chest and arm that hurts like f!~~ing bloody murder and is bleeding pretty good. Sitting there in her bra, she douses her wounds with the vodka and lets out a scream. "MOTHERFUUUCKER!"
Instantly woozy from the pain, she slumps against the cushioned seats. One of the big wigs turns to look and she kicks him squarely in the side of the face. "DON' FUGGIN' LOOK!" she drawls.
She grabs a couple small bar towels from the cabinet under the booze and presses them against her wounds, then gingerly puts her shirt back on, the tight cotton fabric keeping the makeshift bandage more or less in place.
"Alright you fuggers. Show's over."
She takes another long pull from the bourbon bottle and let's the booze do its work numbing her brain.
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”Okay guys. Time to lay it all out for us. The where. The when. And the why. Oh and obviously this isn’t the first time your trucks have been attacked. So tell us about that too.”
"Yeah a couple of weeks ago. One of the drivers that hangs out at HQ told us about these winged creatures attacking one of the trucks. But we thought he was mental. We didn't believe him."" He gulps hard and wipes forehead off. "But now we know what happened. The things on the upper floors said to ignore it and keep the routes on schedule. They've been pushing us hard. Maybe I should quit."
Another man chimes in. His eyes look bloodshot.
"Quit...are you crazy! We can't do that. But God I know I want too."
The last one points at Pearl as she walks away. "Say does she dance? I think I saw her once. Is she ok?" He reaches into his wall for some corporate script. "Here" He holds out the script. "Here's $500.00 for the medical bills. Can you help us get out of here? We didn't see you." He shouts again at the guards. "We didn't see them! OK"
If Kat does not see any of the execs doing corporate data record searches, she calls out, "Lou Rogers, if you please." She takes out a cloth from a pocket of her gi and wipes her katana blade clean, standing close enough that the execs get a very good look at the lethally sharp edge and the intricate filigree of a dragon wreathed in lightning and storm clouds. She keeps the sword in view until she sees someone doing a phone or laptop search.
"Five hundred? In corp scrip? You can do better than that. And give the lady a benzo, I know one of you has Valium." Mick spits out in disgust at everything. He walks off to find wounded security. Poor slobs. After something like this, they're all going to need therapy. Hell, I need therapy. As soon as he's able he tries to triage the damage and prioritize need.
Pearl gives the mouthy guy a dirty look. Dance? Hell no! "I like this car," she says. "Let's take this car."
After listening to the Execs spill their guts. Salvo spends a few minutes checking the perimeter. Returning to the limo he glares at the now totally broken Execs. Tossing a pocket spiral notepad to one of the VP’s .
”Okay! Now you and your co-workers are going to write down your logins and passwords and give them to my friend here.” Pointing to Stringer.. He then pulls out his knife and attaches it to the barrel of the M16, making it into a bayonet. He gives the men a little gtin.
Moving over the Stringer. ”You should make use of whatever they give us ASAP they won’t last long.
Smiling and nodding at Pearl’s suggestion of taking the limo. ”Be sure to find out if they have any corp. swag.”
While taking another look around the area, pausing as he passes Kat. He pulls out the flask and starts to hand it to her, then stops. Looking her straight in the eyes.”You got ID?”Breaking into a big smile.”It’s okay if it's fake.
He then seeks out Mick. Finding him checking the injuries.”The critters took off deeper into the bayou. We shouldn’t hang out too much longer. If it were just you and me, I’d say we press on. But the others need a break. We gotta get wounded better care. We are also probably going to need another safehouse. Since we mentioned Lou, his place is probably burned now. Oh you know if we do take the limo, we will have to ditch it later. Too easy for them to track.”
"Yeah, Lou's was a nice place while it lasted. My bet is Pearl or Stringer can make the car disappear and get some value out of it. She's got the right idea. Raid their mini-fridge. Check the trunk while we are Intel. If theyre dumping poison on purpose, but other monsters are fighting them, then it means the target of the poison has to be near, right? Theyre not just getting people in the city sick for pure cruelty, they're trying to kill something, and something close to the dump site. Right?"
Stringer snorts. "I can liquidate the car, get better than $500 for it. We'll be nice and give you fellas a ride to this great diner. You can get something to eat while you wait for a driver to bring you new wheels." He nods at Mick and heads to the trunk to see what the execs might have been carrying around with them.
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"Five hundred? In corp scrip? You can do better than that. And give the lady a benzo, I know one of you has Valium."
One of the guys stares at Mick. ”Uh...” He fishes in his pocket. ”Wait I got one!”
”Okay! Now you and your co-workers are going to write down your logins and passwords and give them to my friend here.” Pointing to Stringer.. He then pulls out his knife and attaches it to the barrel of the M16, making it into a bayonet. He gives the men a little gtin.
”Those things! They’ll kill us! What do you want to know?” He pauses. ”We can show you the building and get you in!”
Another guy looks at Mick ”Here’s another $1000.00 Thanks for saving us!”
”Those things! They’ll kill us! What do you want to know?” He pauses. ”We can’t show you the building and get you in!”
Stringer frowns as he looks in the trunk, half paying attention to his matrix daemon. "What the frag? Public records say that building only has 26 floors." He nods at whoever can see him around the side of the car. "If they want to take us there and let us in, I'm all for it."
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Stringer frowns as he looks in the trunk, half paying attention to
his matrix daemon. "What the frag? Public records say that building only has 26 floors."
He nods at whoever can see him around the side of the car. "If they want to take us there and let us in, I'm all for it."
"I swear the things are on the floors above that!"
The party finds a briefcase with a laptop in it. There's also a security car like an old police car parked in the area.
"Fuggit." Pearl pops the Valium.
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"You look like s$+#, Pearl," Wraith says blandly, leaning against the car. She leans forward and sniffs her. "And you smell like bourbon. I mean, so do I, so that's not really a demerit."
"What?" she says to any stares at her appearance. "I didn't pick the name 'Wraith' out of a hat, you know. I got up from my nap and I've been following you since the bar. I was hoping you'd draw out the bad guys and I was keeping back to make sure nothing went wrong.
I came running when I heard gunshots, and it doesn't look like anyone I like died, so good job.
Anyone hurt?" she asks, pointing to a red-crossed fanny pack.
If anyone requires medical attention, Wraith lends a hand.
Stringer immediately opens up the laptop and powers it on. "Got a laptop back here," he says to the others.
Pearl is very obviously hurt bad. She regards Wraith's abrupt return with suspicion. "I shunna drang an too tha pill. Am I unna die?"
Grace pushes whoever reported the data on Lou to dig deeper. "Did he return from his last assigned delivery? Has he called in sick since then? Anything from him on the call log during that last delivery. Come on! He may be in deep trouble. If need be, call his supervisor and ask what's up with him not reporting to work. If you guys want our help, give us some motivation."
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Pearl is very obviously hurt bad. She regards Wraith's abrupt return with suspicion. "I shunna drang an too tha pill. Am I unna die?"
One of the executives reaches under the seat and finds an expensive bottle of water.
"Here ya go!" He rubs his chin. "Say I think I've seen you dance before?"
not like I have a chance
The executive next to him laughs. "Lucky you being the only single one!" He's seemed to calm down after nearly being killed by strange creatures.
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Grace pushes whoever reported the data on Lou to dig deeper. "Did he return from his last assigned delivery? Has he called in sick since then? Anything from him on the call log during that last delivery. Come on! He may be in deep trouble. If need be, call his supervisor and ask what's up with him not reporting to work. If you guys want our help, give us some motivation."
The third executive turns to Grace. "Sorry we don't know. Ask the guys at the loading dock. If his truck is back from a run it should be parked there!"
Don't get yourself killed or your brain fried
While doing another perimeter check, Salve pauses to study one of the deceased Harpies. Prodding the body with the bayonet. Heading back to the group.
Nodding to Wraith. ”Feeling better?” Grinning slightly at her ‘no one died’ comment.”Yeah, did my best”.
In response to Pearl’s question.
”No. You’re not going to die.” Smiling slightly and shaking his head.”But tomorrow you’ll wish you were.”
Looking over to Stringer.
”See if you can find out exactly what chemicals are being dumped. Should tell us what they are trying to kill.”
Catching Mick's attention. Salvo points to his wrist watch then looks down the road out. ”Fifteen and we should go.”
To Kat’s comment on the Execs giving us motivation to help.
”That’s a good point. I have an Idea on that.” Getting Kat, Pearl and Stringer together. ”Okay,you three are locals. What is the worst gang in the Plex? We will have the Execs tell the company that gangers were working with the Harpies.” When they look confused.”Misdirection and pest control. Leads them away from us and after those who need being got.”
Pearl drink the water and kicks the guy in the face who keeps saying she's a dancer. Then she sprawls out on the seat of the limo and passes out cold.
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Allie looks compassionately at Pearl. "You'll live through this, kid. It'll take more than this to put you down, an' I imagine you've gotten through worse, amirite?
I mean, you'd be better off with a little chrome," Wraith pauses to lightly tap her chest, "but nobody's perfect.
Sleep it off. I highly recommend it."
Wraith moves up, examining the recent battlefield. It looks like something important still needs to be seen to.
Wraith collects all the weapons from everyone employed by the corp. If they dropped them, that's fine. If they still have them, they're gonna give 'em up, one way or another.
"Nuthin' personal chummers, just biz. I don't wanna get popped before we get this all squared."
Stringer looks over briefly as he focuses on the laptop. "What? I thought the harpies were part of their whole 'dump crap in the swamp' thing. How would gangers be working with mythical monsters? Isn't it more likely some other corp would be working with them, trying to mess with these guys' project? What the hell are they even doing out here in the middle of nowhere in a limo all together like that?"
Kat helps collect weapons. If there is an extra pistol, she'll pocket it and some spare rounds just for back-up. She doesn't really like guns, but even if she's a lousy shot, she can provide cover if a firefight breaks out.
She plucks a feather and cuts off a talon from one of the fallen harpies, as souvenirs and/or proof she was not just having a bad dream. She wraps the talon in a cleaning cloth and pockets it. "Maybe that Julian guy can figure something out about these things."
When the group is ready to leave, she recommends someone drive the chemical tanker truck after getting a sample of the contents. "We might drive it back to Lou's house and pump some of the stuff all over that snake thing. Couldn't hurt much more than everything else going down."
She also recommends driving Pearl to a Doc-in-a-Box clinic for some professional medical care. Then drive in the tanker truck back to the loading base to ask the other drivers about Lou. Then consider how to get to that twenty-somethingth floor to kick a$$ and take a lot of names.
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Pearl drink the water and kicks the guy in the face who keeps saying she's a dancer. Then she sprawls out on the seat of the limo and passes out cold.
"OH, OK Jeez lady! I can take a hint!" The man looks around. "The limo looks busted!"
One of the executives takes out a huge cell phone. "I"ll call a cab. But it will take a while to get here!"
"No problem!" says the third.
One of the guard turns to Stringer and points at Pearl.
"Is she OK?"
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[dice=Computer Use]1d20+14
Stringer looks over briefly as he focuses on the laptop. "What? I thought the harpies were part of their whole 'dump crap in the swamp' thing. How would gangers be working with mythical monsters? Isn't it more likely some other corp would be working with them, trying to mess with these guys' project? What the hell are they even doing out here in the middle of nowhere in a limo all together like that?"
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There's also a security car like an old police car parked in the area.
Having relieved the corp people of their guns, she then sees if any of them have any valuables that also need relieving. ("It's all for the cause, chummer.")
Then she walks over to the security car and gives it a good searching. Opening doors, checking the trunk, looking for keys, the usual.
Stringer frowns at the guard. "No she's not okay. None of this is okay. Are you okay? We just got attacked by harpies out of a Greek myth. That doesn't bother you?" He glances at Pearl. "She doesn't look like she's gonna die, though, if that's what you're asking. Don't you guys have a first aid kit or something in case your primaries get hurt? Help her, for frag's sake."
Stringer narrates interesting findings from the laptop as he goes .
2) What do you mean "executives emails seem to ignore what they said about the strange creatures"? They actually do know what the harpies are and where they came from/what they're doing?
3) Who's on the 28th floor? If there's a map with a list of names and locations that would be great.
4) There are 30 floors? If the PCs can get a map of the building that would be great. What do you mean by "empty"? Like there are offices but nobody is assigned to them? Or do you mean there's like a big open space in the middle of the building?
5) He intends to keep this laptop, so he would definitely try to make sure any trackers are found and deleted/turned off.
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Wraith collects all the weapons from everyone employed by the corp. If they dropped them, that's fine. If they still have them, they're gonna give 'em up, one way or another.
Hang on!" the guy gets a first aid kit.
Another guard pulls a hidden drink flash out.
"OK not we're not OK. This is wierd! Wiereder that my friend getting lost in the swamp. Like quicksand got him but there isn't any over there!"
He points out into the swamp. "Last week he disappeared. over there! There were some tracks but they kept leading deeper into the swamp and we
didn't dare out of there! So NO we're not OK"
>>>you're at the pumping station, it's is used to take water out of Lake Maurepas and deliver it to a purification/ desalinization complex five miles away. Norleans
>>BioChem uses the station to pump pesticide into the lake by stopping the pump, connecting it to tanker trucks and reversing the action.
>>Norieans BioChem could merely JXlUf its chemicals into the lake, but it wants to use the pt.mp to focce it into the lake, increasing the pesticide's reach.
2) What do you mean "executives emails seem to ignore what they said about the strange creatures"? They actually do know what the harpies are and where they came from/what they're doing?
>>>sorry I meant the "aliens" at the Corp HQ. They don't know about the harpies.
3) Who's on the 28th floor? If there's a map with a list of names and locations that would be great.
>> The Ex's just say they are alien "bug creatures" no names.
4) There are 30 floors? If the PCs can get a map of the building that would be great. What do you mean by "empty"? Like there are offices but nobody is assigned to them? Or do you mean there's like a big open space in the middle of the building?
>> you find a public map but there's a space near the elevator that seems empty on the public map
5) He intends to keep this laptop, so he would definitely try to make sure any trackers are found and deleted/turned off.
>> ok done
"We've got a drone with a camera we use for surveillance. Don't you guys have anything like that to investigate dangerous things from a safe place?"
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"Alright, that's better," Allie says as she secures the firearms. "Now I feel better about our place in the world."
There's also a security car like an old police car parked in the area.
Having relieved the corp people of their guns, she then sees if any of them have any valuables that also need relieving. ("It's all for the cause, chummer.")
Then she walks over to the security car and gives it a good searching. Opening doors, checking the trunk, looking for keys, the usual.
Kat will take one of the Berettas and an extra clip, at least until the group starts interacting in places where guns are restricted.
Checking his watch again Slavo raises the binoculars and looks down the road for a minute then scans the rest of the perimeter.
Walking back to the executives. ”I have a couple more questions for you guys.”Gesturing with the bayonet equipped M16. When they flinch and look even more worried. He lowers the muzzle.
”How long after you guys don’t report, will someone come looking for you? And when is the next shipment due here?”
Moving over to where Stringer is working.
He pauses to check on Pearl, passed out in the limo.
Then continues to the team’s ‘Tech Guy’.
Offering the metal flask. ”So how do you like Dark Minion hunting? Giving the man a weak smile.”Oh, when time permits. We should check on any other weird, strange, disturbing, news stories in town. It might give us an idea of anything else our two Monster factions are up to. I will pick up some ‘Hot Sheets' when we get back to town. Nobody does quality weird reporting like the National Enquirer or Weekly world news. All other Media is too conventional to reports such things ”
Continuing his walk he stops by Wraith. Everything secured? Glancing at the corp weapons.”Are you familiar with the old adage ‘There is no problem that cannot be solved with a sufficient application of high explosives’? I think we will probably get to test it out before all this is over.”
Moving on to Kat. ”So you’re packing now? Some of the bad guys are better dealt with from a distance.”
Finally arriving at Mick. ”Well, at least it’s not as bad as that time in Boston. Not yet anyway. So what’s our next move?