IC - 18 - Siege - Everyone

[Mr. Handy]

"Well done, Simon!" says Jocelyn. "Yes, I agree with you. I witnessed the assault myself, and we can always charge him for it if we need time to get the evidence. Hopefully we can wrap this up before DI Malone gets here."

[Philulhu]

Kris glanced as DS Bates. ”I know you think I’ve got something against Balfour, Lucy,” he said calmly, “but this is what I was trying to tell you. He’s involved in something dangerous and Regina’s at the centre of it. If we return her then he’ll be able to proceed with his plans. We need to keep her away from him.”

[Mephistophilis]

DS Bates looks sceptical. 'I'm not sure. Are we trying to keep Regina away from both parents or just John Balfour? And for how long?' She seems to be thinking. 'Okay, so we've got the assault on Simon, that'll keep Balfour tied up for twenty four hours. But we'll need something more than that to keep Regina away from them for good. Remember, Lindsay already tried this before, the Balfours will be ready for this, they're probably already in contact with their lawyers. I don't know. I don't think the DI is going to go for it. What evidence do we really have?'

Can everyone roll me a Law check. If you want to convince Bates you'll need a successful social roll (Persuade etc)

While Bates is talking PC Grey seems to be becoming increasingly agitated and he starts gesticulating at the hotel room door. When the others turn round and look they see that there is an increasing number of insects starting to swarm across the door itself and around the door frame. Where the shotgun blast has ripped a chunk out of the frame some of the insects are starting to squeeze in through the gap. They can hear a muffled scream from inside the room.

Law 55%: 1d100 92

[Mr. Handy]

"We need to keep him away from her until at least Wednesday," says Jocelyn. "If the assault charge isn't enough to hold him long enough, perhaps we could have him evaluated psychologically. He did lose control of himself during the assault, and I don't think he was in his right mind. We can probably hold him longer for that, maybe even have him committed." She glances at Simon, who is not only an expert on the matter but was also nearly on the receiving end. "Otherwise, we'll have to find more evidence in the time we do have. We've managed to arrange for Regina's rescue. I'd hate to have her father do something terrible to her after that. I don't have enough information to know if her mother is a danger to her or not."

Law roll (25% skill) about how to keep Regina away from Balfour:
d%
Persuade roll (60% skill) to convince DS Bates:
d%

[Silver Priest]

"I would think both parents are a danger as could be anyone involved within the church," Simon responds. "I find it very difficult to believe Mrs. Balfour has no idea what her husband is planning if he truly is planning to sacrifice her-- he's a zealot and would view the action as perfectly logical within the tenets of his faith. The only ones he would need to hide it from are nonbelievers outside his church.

"Jocelyn is correct that Balfour seems set on Wednesday as the day the end times start, so we should at the very least aim for Regina to be separated from them until that date even if we cannot push it past that. However, Lindsay suggests this is the second time he's attempted this, the first being when she intervened before, so she could still be in great danger after this. I'm hopeful Lindsay can deliver the evidence she claims to have and that will be enough to at least conduct a full scale investigation. As it stands, we know the church believes and actively celebrates the deaths of all first born due to the hidden message within Balfour's bible, which at least suggests circumstantial evidence to Regina being at risk."

1d100 Law 15

1d100 Persuade 30

Then Simon notices the insect swarm and more importantly,hears the scream. He rushes back inside. realizing only too late that he possesses no weapon.

[Mr. Handy]

"It's Tuesday when he thinks the end will come," says Jocelyn, following Simon, "so we need to protect her until Wednesday."

[Philulhu]

”What the hell...?!” muttered Kris, staring at the insects spilling from the hole in the door frame. “Get out of the way!” he snapped to PC Grey and he pushed his way into the room...

Law (50%) 1d100
Persuade (55%) 1d100

[Mephistophilis]

DS Bates nods, 'Okay, we'll try and keep Regina from her parents using our emergency powers. But it'll come up in front of a judge before Wednesday so we need enough evidence to convince them to keep her out of their hands. Prosecuting Balfour or arranging for a psychiatric evaluation will help with that but we really need the evidence Lindsay says she has incriminating the whole church, including Regina's mother.'

-----

Bates doesn't initially notice PC Grey's gesticulations but when Simon and Kris push past Grey and Jocelyn to try to open the door all hell breaks loose.

The door is locked and Simon instinctively tries to force it open without succcess. Bates holds out a passkey, 'What's going on?'

Ollie Grey aims his MP5 at the door and the two other AFOs begin to advance on the door with their weapons raised. 'Stand clear, stand clear' shouts Ollie.

The insects continue to swarm across the door, more are appearing from either end of the corridor, crawling along the walls and ceiling and many flying through the air, making a buzzing, humming noise interspersed with little thuds as their bodies crash into the walls and into those standing in the corridor. More little bodies are squeezing into the room and the screaming continues.

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn takes the passkey and hurries to the door with it.

[Silver Priest]

"I can't get it opened!" Simon says, moving away and holding onto his shoulder. If the passcard doesn't work he urges the men to fire. Risky as it may be, Regina and Lindsay seemed in danger, and he suspected they needed to get in the room now.

[Philulhu]

Not wanting to risk gunfire that might hit Lindsay or Regina, Kris aimed a kick at the door, hoping that the damage to the frame from the earlier shotgun blast had weakened it and it would burst open...

Strength check (35%) 1d100

[Mephistophilis]

OOC:   Everyone entering the room roll Luck

[Philulhu]

41% 1d100

Edit: Nope, that’s a fail.

[Silver Priest]

luck 47,

1d100 Drat. Can't push a luck roll, right?

[Mephistophilis]

No pushing Luck or spending Luck on Luck! We'll see what Jocelyn decides to do then we'll enter the room.

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn follows the others into the room.

Luck roll (42% stat) entering the room:
d%

[Mephistophilis]

Swiping the passcard Jocelyn turns the handle and pushes open the door. After only a few inches it stops, banging against something solid. Kris kicks the door and it flies open, the furniture blocking it tumbling over into the centre of the floor.

Jocelyn, Kris and Simon rush through the door into the room. Alongside them a number of insects flutter in joining several more that are flying around and settling on the light of the television screen and the desk lamp.

Regina lies on the bed and sitting on the floor beside her is Lindsay, a look of terror on her face and pointing a shotgun straight at them.



There is a deafening explosion as Lindsay fires in the direction of the doorway. All three instinctively recoil and dive out of the way of the door as they are peppered with plaster fragments. Miraculously no one feels like they have been hit.

Firearm (Rifle/Shotgun) 80% plus penalty die: 1d100+1d10 06 and 9 is 96 Lucky lucky people

Ears ringing and the air filled with dust they notice more and more insects swarm into the room, covering all sources of light with a thick layer of writhing bodies. The bulb of the desk lamp makes a loud pop and goes out.

There's a rush of air and the door slams shut behind them. Within seconds the room is plunged into complete darkness.

Lindsay screams, and keeps on screaming. There is a massive crash from above them, with their ears ringing they feel it more than hear it. Lindsay's scream gets even louder and is joined by that of a frightened child.

[Silver Priest]

Simon feels his side frantically,and is relived to not feel any signs of wetness.

Seeing the room go into pitch blackness he struggles for his phone. "Everyone get your phones out!" He yells. Recalling Lindsay's warning about the dark, he attempts to turn his on and tries to make the screen as bright as possible.

[Mr. Handy]

"Don't shoot, Lindsay, we're here to help!" says Jocelyn, stepping sideways in case Lindsay fires again. She takes out her mobile phone and turns on its flashlight. "This must be the plague of darkness, the ninth of the ten plagues. I think we all know what comes next."

[Philulhu]

Kris pushed his way across the room, his hand over his face to try to keep the insects from getting into his mouth and nose.

”We need light!” he yelled, as he pulled out his phone and tried to activate the flashlight. “Lindsay - can you shoot out the window?!”