Following the others' lead, Hibo grabs his pistol off the table and takes up a position on the flank opposite Salvo, near the others. He quickly makes sure a round is chambered and silently prays he doesn't have to use it.
Faith clambers up to the top of the container as the steel door rolls up. Wheels caked with filth squeal along rusty rails as a chain clanks while being pulled by someone outside.
Three figures are backlit by the vehicle headlights shining in from outside. Two of them are clearly holding handguns, the third is securing the chain.
The headlights easily illuminate the warehouse floor. One points in the direction of the dead guard and shouts in angry Portuguese.
Faith lays on the cargo container and when she hears and understands their words, she opens fire with her rifle. She doesn't like to shoot first and ask questions later, but knowing how ruthless these guys are, she hopes they can take two of them out quickly and get the third to surrender and talk.
Stringer panic fires from behind his crate and misses wildly.
Not liking the range between himself and the opposition, Hibo held his position. He gripped his pistol tighter as he waited, and began to chant under his breath. His eyes began to shift in color as his vision shifted to see psionic auras.
Faith and Salvo open fire first, catching both of the goons with weapons in their hands before they can even aim their pistols. Salvo catches one center-mass but misses his heart by a few millimeters. Faith's bullet penetrates another right between his eyes, spattering the still-running Zil behind him with gore and dropping him immediately.
Hibo focuses his trained senses. None of the goons has any sort of aura. The area in general seems to have a faint 'static' in the air, but not enough to interfere with his perception, more the type of background noise he has witnessed in slums.
The ganger who took Salvo's bullet to the chest tries to shoot his aggressor back, but his shot merely punches a hole in the back of the warehouse. The effort proves too much for the mortally wounded man and he falls to the ground bleeding out quickly. The one who raised the chain sticks close to the wall and attempts to shoot at Faith. Like his wounded friend, he is only able to hit the broadside of a building. He sees both of his compatriots on the ground and stares at the car, clearly wondering what his chances of making it across the lot without taking a bullet are.
Faith jumps to the crate between the cargo container and the door and rushes the remaining enemy, drawing her pepper spray as she goes.
Fortitude Save DC 15 or be blinded for rounds
Seeing two of the men go down and Faith moving to engage, Salvo moves quickly forward to back her up. He issues a battle cry along the way and attempts to look as big crazy and menacing as possible.
With only one enemy remaining and Faith rushing to take him down, Stringer looks around to make sure no one else had entered the building while they were distracted.
The young thugs takes a face full of irritating fluid and screams with pain as he tries to wipe his face with his filthy sleeve.
Sticking to cover, Hibo dashed forward and crouched behind the pallet jack. He raised his firearm, but with no clear shot, he held his breath and waited.
Swearing, covered in sweat, and with tears streaming down his face, the young gangster stumbles toward the running Zil. The headlights give him something to aim for, and he bounces clumsily off the front bumper, grasping for the door handle and pulling it open.
Faith chases the guy and points her rifle at him, saying, "Vou atirar em você como fiz com seu amigo se você não se render e nos contar o que queremos saber!" She cocks the rifle for effect.
Following the thug and Faith out of the building. Salvo launches a Martial Arts kick at the weapon in the bleary eyed man’s hand. Intending to Disarm him.
Disarm
As a melee attack, a character may attempt to disarm his or her opponent. If the character does so with a weapon, he or she knocks the opponent�s weapon out of his or her hands and to the ground. If the character attempts the disarm while unarmed, the character ends up with the weapon in his or her hand.
If a character is attempting to disarm the wielder of a melee weapon, follow the steps outlined here. Disarming the wielder of a ranged weapon is slightly different; see below.
Step One: The character provokes an attack of opportunity from the target he or she is trying to disarm.
Step Two: The character and the target make opposed attack rolls with their respective weapons. If the weapons are different sizes, the combatant with the larger weapon gets a bonus on the attack roll of +4 per difference in size category. If the target is using a weapon in two hands, he or she gets an additional +4 bonus. Also, if the combatants are different sizes, the larger combatant gets a bonus on the attack roll of +4 per difference in size category.
Step Three: If the character beats the target�s attack roll, the target is disarmed. If the character attempted the disarm action unarmed, he or she now has the weapon. If the character was armed, the target�s weapon is on the ground at the target�s feet.
If the character fails the disarm attempt, the target may immediately react and attempt to disarm the character with the same sort of opposed melee attack roll. The opponent�s attempt does not provoke an attack of opportunity from the character. If the opponent fails to disarm, the character does not get a free disarm attempt against the opponent.
Ranged Weapons
To disarm an opponent wielding a ranged weapon, the character makes a melee attack or unarmed attack to strike the weapon in the opponent�s hand (see Attack an Object). If the weapon is held in two hands, it gets a +2 bonus to its Defense. If the character�s attack succeeds, the ranged weapon falls to the ground or winds up in the character�s hands (if the character made the attack unarmed). This kind of disarm attempt provokes an attack of opportunity, but if the character fails, the target does not get to make a disarm attempt against him or her.
”Faça o que a senhora disse.”
Salvo throws a dramatic roundhouse kick that sends the ganger's cheap 9mm flying across the rain-soaked parking lot. Realizing that even if he got into the car he wouldn't be able to see well enough to drive to safety, the kid begs for his life and claws at his irritated eyes.
With the man neutralized, Hibo makes way towards the vehicle and begins searching it.
Faith tells the guy to put his hands behind his back and she puts a set of handcuffs on him. Then she orders him inside the warehouse while Hibo searches the car. Once inside, she sets him down and says in Portuguese, "Start telling us everything you know about this operation! Don't worry about what will happen if they find out you ratted them out. Worry about what we'll do to you if you don't provide us with convincing answers."
Hibo quickly goes through the tiny car. It smells like beer and greasy food, and in fact, the floorboards are covered with empty cans and filthy wrappers. He pops the trunk to find the most interesting thing in the vehicle: a small case with four vials of milky liquid.
"I don't know anything!" the kid shrilly screams at Faith, "There is no operation! We was going to ransom you, y'know?" He gulps and looks at his dead compatriots. His adrenaline is starting to fade and he suddenly gets sick on the floor. "Okay, okay! Look, this is all I know, okay?" he begins after he recovers. Sweat pours down his voice as he tells a different tale: "The boss says to babysit you guys. For some wealthy client, I don't know who. European, old guy. I think he's like a drug connect. But one of our other places got hit, so they said to come check on Bernie. Really, that's all I know!"
"Two last questions. Give us a straight answer and you live. Who do you work for and where can we find them?"
Stringer listens as Faith questions the kidnapper, not saying anything for the moment in order to not confuse the interrogation. He analyzes the man's clothes and accent, trying to place where he's from and see if he's wearing anything that identifies him as a member of a crew that Stringer recognizes.
Satisfied that Faith has the prisoner under control.
Salvo moves to search the bodies and collects weapons, ammo and any other items of interest.
When Faith asks her final questions. He moves to behind the kid and says (in Portuguese).
”If you don’t talk to her. You and I are going in the other room, and talk.” He says in a low menacing tone.
Hibo grabs the case from the trunk and joins the interrogation. "If I may interject a third question...what were you planning to do with the contents of this case?" Hibo asks as he opens it to let the others see the four vials of milky liquid.
Salvo finds very little of interest. A few bucks of mixed corporate scripts, cheap 9mm automatic pistols, and thick leather jackets covered in gang tags and metal studs. One carried a burner phone identical to the one from the warehouse office. It shows multiple outbound calls to the same number, but no other information.
The goon looks ready to hurl a second time when Faith puts the fear of God into him, but that's cut-off by a look of total confusion when Salvo speaks. He stutters in his response more from being stunned by the nautical goat than out of fear. "E-Eduardo Gordo runs the gang, I don't know who the man with the cash is, just what I said, branco, causcasian, maybe in his forties or fifties, I don't know! Joao Carlo is the middleman! He's got a bar. It's close to here, just between the docks and the favela!"
"That was just, you know, to keep you asleep..." he says to Hibo. "Nothing personal, honest, we just wanted to get some script!"
Stringer says quietly "Medium sized crew of nobodies, runs some drugs and extortion in between the real gangs in the docks and the favelas. Makes sense somebody might hire them as muscle, they were probably cheap."
"Name of the bar? And how long were you supposed to hold us here til we got picked up?" 'How long until more backup arrives or somebody checks in on you,' in other words.
Faith stops pointing her rifle at the punk and says, "Get lost."
She makes sure he leaves behind the car keys if they are not in the ignition. "We've got some wheels. What say we load the other two into the car and get lost ourselves? Once we get them somewhere safe, we can figure out who they are and why we were targeted. Then we've got some payback to arrange."
Pocketing the corp script and laying the pistols on the table.
”Anybody want one? They’re cheap but better than nothing.”
Listening to Faith and Stringers information.
”That’s a good plan.” He says to Faith’s suggestion.”You have a safehouse in mind? When we go, I’ll drive. Gotta make a stop to pick up some stashed gear.”
"It doesn't have a name, everyone just calls it Joao Carlo's. Someone was supposed to pick you up tomorrow night, I swear that's all I know!" he tells Stringer.
The moment Faith gives him the word, the young hoodlum takes off in a full sprint. Stringer can see he is heading towards what should be his home turf. He never once looks back.
Stringer takes one of the pieces and nods at Faith. "Let's go."
Faith pushes the gurneys with the other two kidnapped victims to the car and works with others to transfer them into a seated position in the back seat, propping them up if necessary and securing them in seat belts if they are available.
If either is conscious, she'll try to explain what's happening to keep them from freaking out. She'll suggest using the knockout syringes if either of them gets unruly.
"I'm driving," Faith says with such conviction that she evidently will not accept any other situation. If anyone asks, she will explain that she has raced in road rallies.
When he sees Faith readying the two bed ridden victims for travel he moves to help.
”You know, keeping them out might be a good idea. At least until we get someplace safe. Or at least safer than here.” He says holding up the vials of white liquid.
Upon Faith’s declaration that she is driving. He locks eyes with her for a moment. The chuckles slightly nods and says.
”Okay, But I call shotgun. Which actually is one of the things I’m picking up. It’s not far. If we’re where I think we are.” He says looking up and down the street. ”Yeah, it should be half a klick that way.” Pointing to the north.
Ejecting the magazine of his pistol, he flips out a round with his thumb. Catching it deftly he snaps it back into the magazine and slams it into the weapon. Which he slides into a shoulder holster.
”I’m ready, lets go.”
"Agreed. We should depart before anyone comes to investigate the gunfire."
Knowing how prevalent gunfire is in this part of town, Faith gives a cynical grin and says, "There's a first time for everything."
Stringer laughs. "No chance of that, friend. This is Rio." He shakes his head. "But I want to get the hell out of here all the same."
"I was not referring to the authorities. I meant the riffraff. The scavengers and scroungers who come to steal from the dead. Sooner or later, they always come."
Speaking in the voice of a old man movie character from a few decades ago, Faith says, "Such are easily frightened. But they'll be back and in greater numbers."
The young girl remains unconscious through the gunfight and aftermath. She is breathing shallowly, and if someone didn't know about the drugs would assume she was just sleeping.
The homeless man, Machado, remains awake, but clearly not exactly present. His eyes stare out at nothing and he mutters constantly. He does not resist Faith guiding him to the subcompact car outside until she gets him to the door and he suddenly focuses and looks directly into her eyes.
Faith puts him in and translates what he said to those who don't speak Portuguese. She takes the wheel, waits for everyone to squeeze in and starts the car. "Where to?" she asks Salvo.
Watching the others squeeze into the Zil makes Salvo shake his head. Finally it is his turn to stuff himself into the front passenger seat. Having to scoot over twice to get the door closed. Sitting hunched down, due to the lack of head room. He has to turn his head sideways to see out the window. ”We’re heading a little to the east of that church.” Having to stick his arm out of the window to point.
The others, the ones who can see out anyway. See a church steeple to the north maybe 10 to 15 blocks away.
” Maybe we should boost another car. You know what the ads say. Buy a Zil. It’s better than a root canal. Of course like all good advertising, it’s also a lie.”
Faith is able to navigate proficiently and 15 minutes later. The group pulls up in front of a store. The sign reads Bernado’s Florista. The big man has to literally crawl out of the car.
Getting to his feet he looks up and down the mostly deserted street. Moving to the door he bangs hard on it several times. ”Bernie! Bernie! Open up it’s Salvo!” He knocks several more times before there is a scraping sound and two small sections of the door slide open. Revealing a pair of eyes at the upper opening and both barrels of a shotgun at the lower.
”Are you Fraging crazy? Do you know what time it is? A voice says in Portuguese
Salvo, showing no indication of concern at having a weapon pointed at him, simply says.”Open the damn door Bernie. I need my gear now. Remember you owe me?”
The man behind the door expresses several choice profanities in Portuguese of course but finally opens the door. As Salvo steps inside he looks back at the clown-car full Zil and says. ”Back in less than Five.”
Vanishing into the building, he does indeed return very shortly. Carrying a large black duffel bag slung over his left shoulder. Its contents are obviously very heavy, as he is leaning to the right. In his other hand is a bouquet of sad looking flowers.
It actually takes Salvo longer to get back into the car, with his gear bag than he spent in the store. ”Are we sure we don’t want another car? My treat. I’ll boost it.” Once finally in, he looks at the flowers. Shrugging.”The little rat made me buy something.” and offers them to Faith. ”Flowers M’Lady?”
Sierra doesn't need convincing to try to find a bigger car. She's not sure what the options are in this part of town. If she knows of a nearby deserted house or business that they can squat at while they locate a better car, that would be ideal.
The streets have a variety of vehicles parked along the street that range from "complete junk" to "almost-driveable". Down the street, however, is a small lot that has a trio of unmarked delivery vans for a small, private courier company.
As the group is packing the car, Faith says, "I know a place nearby controlled by a gang that could be convinced to let us crash in their turf, but we'll need something to offer them. Go back and grab anything useful and see if we can fit it into the car."
As she drives by the courier company vans, Faith keeps moving. "No dice on those vans. They've got security watching and the owners would come after us. Let's keep looking and settle for something bigger that will start and get us a little ways along."
She heads for the gang territory she knows about and checks other cards for something boostable.
When they approach the vans Salvo takes interest.
He is about to point them out when he spots the guards.
Agreed. I made the guards too. And we should avoid drawing any 'Official' attention to ourselves. He says when Faith comments on the vans.
"Ugh. This day just keeps getting better and better' Hibo muttered to himself. He almost suggested trading the pistols to whatever gang Faith knew, but the thought of arming them more did not sit well with him. He shook his head.
"Has anyone heard of this "Joao Carlo's"?" he asked.
It takes Faith driving a few blocks from the florist, and getting lost for a moment in the maze-like blue-collar business and housing district, before the group spots a jeep that looks like it might do the trick. While still only a two-seater, it has a large cargo bed. The streetlight directly above it flicks off and on at regular intervals. Most of the apartments along the street are dark, but a few lit windows show where some proles are still awake.