Play@YSDC

This thread currently for Maksim, Timour & Thomas only, it will contain spoilers for all other player, so please keep out.

If you're meant to be here scroll down....

Heading down the stairs, trying to be both quick and stealthy, the three quickly find themselves on the third floor landing looking down the hallway towards room 310.

There are several angry and panicked guests in the hallway. The door to room 310 is wide open and a male guest stumbles out of the room, his body hacked open by vicious machete wounds.

Further down the hallway two figures, still wearing their tribal masks are pushing their way through the door to the fire escape.

The milling guests in the hallway prevent a clear shot at the fleeing assassins.

[OOC: No need for initiative yet, unless you want to risk your shot hitting a guest]

Thomas swears some more.

"I've seen and done a lot of things in my life", he says, "some went very well, some went ok, and some went not so well, but this is the messiest piece of **** I've ever been a part of."

"THESE MEN ARE KILLERS, GET OUT OF THE WAY!! GO BACK TO YOUR ROOMS, RIGHT NOW!!!" he shouts. He decides against trying to get the guests to stop the cultists as this can only lead to more victims. He makes an attempt instead to clear the hallway so that the group can have a clear shot. (OOC: roll for the appropriate skill if you think it's needed to gauge the guests' reaction)

While shouting at the guests, Thomas keeps running after the two cultists, still careful not to come close enough that they could attempt to stab him.

If the man who was hacked open still has a chance to survive, Thomas will also point at him and say "And somebody get this man a doctor!".

Timour turns as Thomas hurries passed him, "Maksim, call back up for Dr. Who's-it. This man needs her," then the Russian moves hurriedly down the hall.

"Thomas wait for me!" Timour shouts while shoving through the panicked guests, "get back in your rooms!"

Watching Allen round the corner heedless of his words the oldest Rukov couldn't help but grin, <<"lawyer my ass">>

Miraculously most of the guests move out of the way in time for Thomas to take a shot at the second of the fleeing assassins, the first having already disappeared through the door.

He stops chasing for a second and fires a shot at the assassin as he ducks through the door, but the shot hits the doorframe to the side of the running mans head.

Timour takes the lead in the chase, but by now both assassins are on the fire escape.

The hacked man might be able to make it, but he needs urgent attention, his wife continues to scream hysterically.

Several other guests start screaming after Thomas fires.

"Goddamn, I'm out of practice with this thing." says Thomas as his bullet fails to hit the target.

He runs to the entrance of the fire escape and will attempt to shoot at one of the assassins again. This time he will take the time to aim to increase his chances. (All of this again is only true is there is no risk to shoot a bystander, otherwise he'll do something else.)

This happened all too fast. he thought. This is one bloody mess we're not going to forget.

"There are probably some vital clues upstairs, I hope someone will inspect the room before the cops lock the place." he tells Timour.

By the time Timour and Thomas reach the entrance to the fire escape stairwell the assassins are out of sight below. The two investigators charge down the steep staircase hoping to catch the murderers, but Thomas quickly finds himself getting left behind.

Timour bursts out of the door at the bottom of the fire escape into the backstreet behind the hotel and finds that he is only yards behind the slower of the two assassins, Thomas is still coming down the staircase. The second assassin is further ahead, running towards 22nd street.

Raising his .45 automatic Timour fires at point blank range into the desperately fleeing murderer’s back. The bullet hits the assassin in the heart killing him instantly.

[OOC: I didn’t give the assassin chance to dodge, as he was shot in the back]

Thomas arrives at the bottom of the staircase later than he had wished and slightly out of breath, just in time to see the slower assassin collapse in a patch of snow several yards ahead of him, with Timour just behind the corpse.

Thomas understands there is little hope for him now to catch up with the faster assassin, and he spits disgustedly on the ground while catching his breath.

"Up to you." he just tells Timour, indicating he's not influencing Timour's decision to either go after the murderer or give up. He knows catching the third guy is important, but he's also unwilling to give Timour instructions to get into a dangerous situation by himself, so he won't push either decision.

Thomas pockets his gun, quickly puts on his gloves to avoid leaving undesired fingerprints, and starts searching the body. He had no idea how comprehensive the cops would be in regards to what happened, so he wanted to keep a few cards up his sleeve.

Timour, satisfide the assassin didn't escape winces when he realizes it may have been better to take the bastard alive. But then again there was one more left, wasn't there.

Dashing onward he points frantically at the man he shot and yells, "search him for ID!" to Thomas.

Timour was going to capture that last assailant and gets some bloody answers.

[OOC: They both have blood dipping machettes]

Timour chases after the last remaining assassin, but looses ground to him over the snowy ground, this guy is fast.

By the time Timour gets to 22nd street, the killer is being driven away in a 1915 Hudson six-40 tourer, it’s licence plate reads “NYL7.” The assassin is removing his mask, both he and the driver are black skinned. The sporty car is already too far away for Timour to risk a shot (OOC: Unless you insist).


1915 Hudson six-40 Tourer

Meanwhile back behind the hotel, Thomas finds that the dead assassin has no identification on him, but he does find a letter and a second business card in the dead man’s pockets, as well as the man’s personal supply of opium. Interestingly this man is white, not black.


A letter to Roger Carlyle (Click to Enlarge)


Penhew Foundation Business Card (Click to Enlarge)

Timour struggles to take down a license plate or other distinctive markings.

After briefly skimming over them, Thomas quickly pockets the letter and the business card (but leaves the opium).

White guy... A New Yorker? Pity we couldn't catch this one alive.

Thomas then walks after Timour while wondering whether the best option to avoid trouble would be to stick around and meet the cops whose sirens can be heard in the distance, or enjoy the fact they're out of the hotel to just leave the scene. He thought they had probably done the right thing on an ethical level, i.e. to do whatever they could to stop cold-blooded assassins from killing again, and to learn more about a secret that seemed incredibly dangerous and evil. But he also knew they needed to follow the trail while it was still hot, and as much as he hated lying or escaping out of anything, he did not want the police to waste their time right now with interrogations or temporary arrests.

On 22nd Street

Timour curses as the fleeing Hudson turns north onto 8th Avenue, he is about to walk back to Thomas, when he spots Maksim hurtling around the corner from 7th Avenue driving Thomas’ car towards him.

Behind the Hotel Chelsea

Andrei emerges from the back entrance of the Chelsea and spots Thomas kneeling over a body in the snow.

Maksim slows down in front of Timour and looks at him questioningly. "What's going on?"

Edit: To match up with who's actually in sight.

"Thomas quick!" cries Timour cheering when his brother suddenly arrives with the car, "It's Maksim and he brought my..."

Timour looks at the car and then at his brother, <<"What the hell? Where is my Goddamn machingun and my car for that matter?">>

Timour leaps into the vehicle and scowls at his brother, <<"how can we be expected to perform civilized tasks without the proper tools?">>

Once the lawyer joins them he'll tell Maksim which way they were heading and chomp down on a cuban cigar.

Maksim shrugs at the sight of him. <<I didn't think you let them get away. I got in the closest car and hoped to run down whichever villain was nearest. I assumed you wouldn't want blood and hair in the fender.>>

He frowns, shaking his head a little. <<Listen to me, I sound like you. That shot to the head has really done wonders for my blood lust.>>

"I hope that man on the third floor is all right."

He waits for Thomas and instructions, and then drives off.

Andrei rushes over to Thomas.. "Thomas!"

He runs alongside him, getting a look at the person on the ground.

"Are you OK? The police are coming!"

Andrei looks unhurt, not panicked, but his adrenaline is pumping and he's wide-eyed.

"I know." simply says Thomas to Andrei. Thomas is breathing louder than usual, but apart from that he seems collected. "We need to stick around and tell them what happened. It'll be ten times worse if we flee, there was a lot of action around here and we have dozens of witnesses who saw us. We can tell the truth except for the Rukovs' guns."

With that said, he quickly joins the others in the car (along with Andrei if he wants to tag along) and slams the door.

"Maksim Rukov! I have no intention of buying a new car at the moment, so you be careful with this one." he says, while lighting his first cigarette in what seemed like an eternity for him. "Glad to see everyone's ok."

"You should have more faith in me," Maksim says. Then, hearing Timour's instruction to head after the other car, merely shrugs and starts driving off. "Are you sure we'll catch up to them now? Should we wait for the police?"

Thomas gives Maksim a brief nod to indicate his trust.

"Whatever we do, we need to talk to the cops before we leave the area.", he says, opening the window so he can blow his smoke out. "There are too many witnesses, and we have nothing to fear anyway. They'll ask us questions and then let us go. The only thing we'll need to "fix" will be your guns' ownership."

[OOC: Is Maksim going to chase the bad guys, and if so how far away from the hotel is he prepared to go?]

PS: Warhammer I think Thomas' car has had it, deprived of the chance to smash the window, Maksim obviously wants to total the whole car.

Maksim will attempt to chase after the car but believes it is a lost cause. He will not take any undue risks with any pedestrians, though.

Maksim Rukov wrote: Maksim shrugs at the sight of him. <<I didn't think you let them get away. I got in the closest car and hoped to run down whichever villain was nearest. I assumed you wouldn't want blood and hair in the fender.>>

He frowns, shaking his head a little. <<Listen to me, I sound like you. That shot to the head has really done wonders for my blood lust.>>

"I hope that man on the third floor is all right."

"Well, likely if you shot him in the head the man on the 3rd floor wouldn't be," replies Timour wondering why his brother would shoot a man only to hope he lived.

"Drive! Drive!" instructs Timour irately as Thomas and Andrei pile into the car. "Even if were not chasing them they may lead us somewhere important!"

Maksim frowns as he accelerates off. "The injured man who's wife was screaming. I hope he's alive. That might not have been on the third floor but it's who I meant."

Before entering the car, Andrei protests, "Where are the others, are they safe?" Assuming the three men assure him the worst is over, he hops in the car.

...

Andrei is quietly listening to their conversation.

"I took something from the assassin on the 4th floor. People saw me do it. I'm pretty sure that's illegal, and I think we should be very careful about having our names associated with Jackson."

He pulls out the papers that he found on the assassin and quickly scans them.

"Who are we chasing? More assassins? How many were there?"

[OC: does the handwriting on the papers look like Jacksons? I spend the last day reading his manuscripts, so I might recognize it.]

Thomas shakes his head.

"Of course it's illegal." he says while blowing smoke. "You stole items from a crime scene when there were people watching? Are you positive people saw you? You better copy these fast, because chances are you'll have to hand them over."

"Yes, there were people everywhere. Give me a pen, then."

Andrei tries to scrutinize the papers, but looks up when Maks quickly changes lanes, accelerating past another car. "Who are we chasing?" he repeats?

[OOC: Back to the action ]

With Maksim at the wheel Thomas’ car hurtles around the corner onto 8th Avenue, heading north, ahead of them the fleeing Hudson is still in sight, but it’s nearly two blocks ahead already.

Maksim keeps his foot down, but seems to be loosing ground, the Hudson’s driver seems much less worried about the safety of other cars and pedestrians than Maksim is.

By the time the assassin’s getaway car takes another right, this time onto 32nd street, Maksim is three blocks behind, and almost out of sight.

"Maksim," urges Timour looking from the car ahead to his brother's worried, concentrating expression.

Maksim just swears in Russian under his breath, his recent exhileration washed away in a wave of irritation and hopes he'll somehow gain some ground on them. He'd love to blame the car he's driving but he's not that sort of person. Instead, he blames himself.

Andrei has given up trying to copy the documents or learn what's going on. While watching the driving from the backseat, Andrei says to Thomas,

"I don't like the idea of talking to the police. You were all firing guns. Maks and Timour and I aren't even citizens of the country- who knows what trouble we'll be in? We can mail them these documents, anonomously. Lets drive by, you can get out and see what the situation is - but the three of us should stay away. We need to get Timour's car out of there as well."

Maksim sighs. "I don't believe two devillishly handsome Rukov twins won't be recognised by witnesses," he says with a smirk. "Nor will high society types like yourself and Elizabeth."

"Also, the moment we try to take Timour's car out of there will likely be the moment witnesses jot down the plate number. Unlikely too, but possible."

"Right. Lets leave your car there until later, then."

Thomas will shake his head and request the documents from Andrei and copy them himself if Andrei gives up on doing it.

This man is driven and stubborn, I'll give him that. Those are good personality traits to have... just not right now. he thinks.

"We'll have plenty of time to talk about what happened later," he says in a surprisingly collected manner given the fact they are in a car chase, "I understand you're upset but now really isn't the time. And you can trust me about talking to the police: I'm a lawyer and I know we won't get in trouble. The guns were fired either in our own self-defense or in an attempt to protect other people, both of which are good reasons. There are too many witnesses, and escaping will simply get the police on our back for the remainder of the investigation. There will be dozens of people back there who will be all too willing to describe what we look like and to tell their own perception of the story."

"The only problem is that some of you lack a handgun permit. We can be honest about everything else and it'll be just fine."

"I vote that from now on we follow the expert's opinion," says Maksim, uttering an excitable laugh to try and take the sting off the statement. He gives Timour a quick wink before turning his attention once more to the road.

"Sure."

Andrei hands Thomas the papers and falls silent again.

On the road.

Maksim follows the getaway car onto 32nd Street, just in time to see it disappear onto 7th Avenue, still heading north.

As he makes the left hander onto 7th Avenue himself Maksim goes a little too fast, and Thomas’ car skids towards the sidewalk, but Maksim regains control in the nick of time. A few blocks further north and they are right behind the escaping assassins.

[OOC: The getaway driver is having to make the same rolls as Maksim]

Timour leans forward and rest his arm on the stable security of the car's window frame. Aiming his gun he draws a bead on the back tire of the escaping vehicle and squeezes off a shot.

"What do I do now?" Maksim asks, continuing to try and get right behind them as Timour lets off his shot. "Just keep following him?"

However, too impatient to really listen for an answer, he has a good look at the street. If it is a wide and significantly vacant street, and the car bumpers are both of similar height, he will wait until an opportune section of the road and he will pull alongside them until his front wheels are aligned with the other car's back wheels, and then attempt a PIT manouevre (which likely wouldn't have been called that back in the day).

If such an opportunity doesn't present itself, he will merely attempt to tail the enemy.

"Jesus! Be careful!"

Andrei is gripping the edges of his seat, but in the rearview mirror Maks can see he's wide-eyed and grinning from ear to ear.

As soon as Timour fires a shot, Andrei gets serious again.

"What the hell are you doing? If you hit a bystander..."

Andrei is obviously not thinking about the implications of what will happen if they catch the car. A car chase is fine, but gunfire seems out of line.

The getaway driver spots Timour aiming his pistol and swerves wildly to evade the gunshot. The bullet ricochets harmlessly off the road.

[OOC: Sorry about the wait]

Maksim continues to look for a good point to try a PIT manouevre. "Careful," he says to no one in particular as the car swerves.

Andrei leans forward, between the two drivers in the front seat, trying to get an ideaof how many people are in the car they're chasing.

Pulling almost alongside the Hudson, Maksim swerves towards it’s rear wheel attempting to spin the other vehicle around, but once again the other driver is too quick, although sparks fly as the two bumpers scrape together.

Andrei can clearly see that the other vehicle is occupied by two negroes.

[OOC: No need for spot hidden when you’re this close, so the failed roll doesn’t matter]

"When at first you don't succeed, try, try again," says Maksim, looking for another point to make an attempt.

Andrei uncharacteristically swears out loud. He can't believe what Maks is trying to do. It suddenly hits him that this could turn into another dangerous fight.

"Try not to kill them - we need to find out what..." He smashes against the side of the car as Maks swerves again, interrupting his train of thought.

Andrei is going to buckle up or hold on as tightly as he can - if the car crashes, he doesn't want to die. Or break his neck. Or legs.

Maksim whoops as Andrei swears. This is what he lives for. It doesn't even occur to him that he might fail badly enough that they might all die. All he sees is victory. All he feels is the pounding of his heart and the rush of adrenaline.

To him, this is the life. Him, the car, and an audience.

Even though Timour could have easily emptied two clips into the car and both the men inside of it he holds off to allow his brother his entertainment.

"Ok fun's over," he says as Andrei starts to whine again like a child, or was it a little girl?

It didn't matter as he drew a careful bead on the vehicle's front tire, compensated for the fact the man might swerve again and fired.

Possible damage.

Timour’s second shot hits the Hudson’s tyre shredding it instantly. The driver fights bravely to keep his car under control, but the Hudson smashes straight into a lamppost, throwing both driver and passenger clear of the vehicle.

Maksim brings the car to a halt, and the investigators turn to survey the scene.

The driver has slid bloodily along the sidewalk and hit a shop wall, his broken body is grotesquely twisted, and there is no chance that he survived.

His passenger also slid some distance along the ground, but somehow survived. Miraculously he gets to his feet and drawing his machete, begins to stagger towards Thomas’ car.

Timour doesn't say word and merely snaps a shot at the assassin's weapon arm.

A non-lethal hit intended to keep him alive for questioning.

Possible damage.

The bullet strikes the assassin’s right arm, he drops the machete and collapses to his hands and knees in the road, but it doesn’t look like he’s given up yet.

Maksim gets out of the car, gun drawn, and aims over the bonnet at the man. "Freeze! Stop where you are!" He calls out to any witnesses: "Someone get the cops."

Andrei opens his door, but when the man stands up with a machete, he hesitates, taking cover behind the car and watching.

"Careful." says Thomas as he leaps out of his car. "He dropped the machette but he may have other dirty tricks."

Thomas draws his gun and uses it to threaten the wounded man at point blank, as he approaches and kicks the machette away from him. He really doesn't want to shoot at a man who is on all fours on the ground, but if he is attacked he will have no choice but to fire in self-defense, although he'll attempt to shoot a leg and not a vital part.

"Do you speak English? English? Stand still and we won't attack you." he tells the man.

(OOC: How many bystanders are there?)

"We'll need an ambulance, people," Maksim says loudly, then looks around for a nearby phone booth. Holding a gun on a dying man is making him nervous. He much preferred not seeing his victim's face. This was not the same as being in a bi-plane.

"Timour, watch him." He'll holster his gun and go for a phone. If there isn't one on the street, he'll commandeer one inside a building. Once there, he'll get an operator to patch him through to both police and an ambulance.

<<They better not arrest me for this,>> he murmurs as he runs.

<<"Why do we have a doctor on staff if we're planning to rush people to the hospital?">>

"Nyet," says Timour bitterly, "we tie him up, load him into the trunk and take him back to the Downing place. He doesn't see a cop until we're finished with the bastard."

Maksim slows as he hits the footpath a dozen or so feet away from the assassin, Timour's instructions echoing through his mind. He swears, confused, and kicks the asphalt, looking back to see what the assassin does.

<<This isn't Russia!>> he says, but confusion wracks his voice. He really doesn't know what to do.

"No loading people in the trunk," firmly objects Thomas, "we're civilised people, not gangsters. Are you out of your mind?"

Thomas had seen enough cases of street violence in his life, both during his youth and later on while doing his job. He knew concealing bodies, as well as being ethically debatable, was also never a good idea in regards with the law and its consequences.

"Civilized people? You draw that term like a gun, Thomas," hisses Timour without an ounce of compassion in his voice.

"Did this dog act so civilized when he hacked up that innocent bystander on the 3rd floor?" he snaps while looking to Maksim. "Or when he and sick friends did whatever the hell they managed to do to Jackson?" he growls boring his gaze into Andrei, "I'll save my more civilzed thoughts for more civilized people, thank you very much, and for now I say we tie this son-of-a-bitch up and interrogate him until he tells us who he's working for and why he went after Elias!"

<<They're called witnesses, Timour,>> says Maksim. <<Today isn't the day I go to jail and it isn't the day I torture someone into talking. Where exactly would we take him, anyway? Some basement somewhere? We're not getting paid enough for this. Leave it to the cops.>>

Having made his decision, Maksim continues heading for the phone booth, though he does it at a walk, in case Timour had something exceptionally convincing to say.

Timour glares into the back of his brother's head as the younger Rukov stalks off.

"Fine," Timour seethes as he aims his weapon squarely at the man on the ground. "Give him to the cops."

Thomas unflinchingly glares at Timour.

"You can forever count me out of anything like that", he says, trying to remain cool even though one can sense some contained anger in his voice.

"The end doesn't justify the means."

Attempting to seize on this argument for one last piece of bloodshed, the assassin hurls himself towards Thomas his teeth bared. He plans on ripping the lawyer's throat out.

[OOC: Thomas and Timour both have time to shoot, it's point blank range so your skill is doubled, but a called shot (eg to the leg) will halve your skill (back to normal), Timour is also aiming (bonus)]

"Feisty one." scowls Thomas, now understanding the man will never give up and is probably willing to die rather than being arrested.

He attempts shooting in the leg anyway, thinking the threat has been considerably reduced now that the cultist is fighting bare-handed.

(OOC: Do I not get a bonus for aiming, since I had my gun on him all along? And how many bystanders are there?)

<<"Idiot,">> snarls Timour and places a perfect shot. in the man's calf.

((OOC- Do we need damage on this? Minimum 6 already.))

Thomas’ snap shoot goes wide, but Timours’ hits the crazed killer staight in the calf, his leg gives away beneath him and he collapses face down at Thomas’ feet.

He claws wildly at the lawyer with his uninjured hand, but the attack is clumsy and Thomas is already stepping backwards out of reach to avoid the killer’s lunge.

He stares through crazy hating eyes at Thomas, then collapses completely. His body spasms a couple of times, and then finally goes still.

Maksim flinches and stops mid-step. He doesn't turn around but he does raise one hand. "Did you just ... kill him?"

"Stay back," warns Timour coming up to the man, gun ready. He hoofs the man lightly with his loafer looking for any signs of consciousness.

The assassin doesn't move when Timour kicks him.

Maksim returns with a deep sigh, retrieving his handgun and aiming at the body as he approaches.

"Don't worry, he's a lawyer," he says with a sheepish grin at any spectators, nodding in the direction of Thomas.

"Now I'm worried. What thug is so eager to die? What cause is so important it's better to die after torturing a man? I don't know what that lady has gotten us into but it's gotten me worried."

OC: Whoops, posted just after you. I'll leave it off for now. Sorry Coffeedemon. Please forgive me.

Timour Rukov wrote: "Or when he and sick friends did whatever the hell they managed to do to Jackson?"[/color] he growls boring his gaze into Andrei, "I'll save my more civilzed thoughts for more civilized people, thank you very much, and for now I say we tie this son-of-a-bitch up and interrogate him until he tells us who he's working for and why he went after Elias!"

Andrei returns Timour's hard stare. He looks shocked and angry. He's about to say something when Thomas interrupts.

...

When the assassin falls the last time, Andrei finally runs across from the car. "He might still be alive!" He bends down, pushing away Thomas and Timours' pistols and tries to check the assassin's pulse.

Frantically, he puts his fingers under the man's jaw, then the wrist. "I'm not sure.. I think.. I can't feel a heartbeat..."

The assassin is quite dead.

The street is mostly deserted now, as a result of the gunfire, but there are a few brave bystanders, and other people are watching from upper storey windows. The bells of police cars can be heard approaching, mostly from the south where you've come from.

"Dammit," growls Timour glancing to the car they'd been driving and ignoring certain comments from those standing around.

The car, maybe there's something worth looking at in their car? He wondered as he went to investigate, "somebody check those two sleazeballs. Maybe they've got some ID or whatever on them."

Without looking up, Andrei quickly checks the mans's pockets - a wallet, coins, anything...

While searching, he asks Thomas, "You're sure it's alright for us to stick around? Do we need to think up a story?"

Maksim starts having a look through the car. He imagines these suicidal peole might have a bomb strapped beneath the car or some such and figures that he's the only one in the current group who could tell the difference between a bomb and a car engine. "So, this is quite the predicament we've gotten ourselves into. I don't suppose we'll be handing our evidence over to the police and walking away, will we?"

"I don't suppose now would be the time to talk about a raise," he says, only half-joking.

Looking up from where he was already inspecting the car, Timour just glared as his brother as Maksim joked around while men lay dead and dying. <<"What?>> his angry hiss only loud enough for his brother to hear, <<"is my search of the car not satisfactory? Is this just one more area I may not have enough expertise in?>>

Maksim is startled by his brother's anger. He had seen it welling up but was still surprised by the outburst. <<I don't recall anyone calling you a poor soldier or a terrible shot,>> he said softly, stepping away from the car with a sigh. <<But if you want to do all the searching on your own, then don't let your brother keep you from it.>>

Maksim went to sit on the kerb, his gun holstered once more and in its place his pocket watch. He twirled it absent-mindedly. "I hope that woman's husband is okay. I guess it's one way to see how good the good doctor really is." He tried to settle his thoughts but they kept darting this way and that. "I don't suppose Lizzie will be letting sleeping dogs lie on this one?"

coffee demon wrote: While searching, he asks Thomas, "You're sure it's alright for us to stick around? Do we need to think up a story?"

"Self defense, and protecting other people from mouth-foaming madmen." answers Thomas. "Not only is this a good reason that makes us stand on the safe side of the law, most importantly it's the truth as well. Either these guys were batshit insane, or they were drugged beyond recovery. We did the right thing, and offered them many times the chance to surrender."

Thomas frowns while looking at the dead bodies. He knew they had done all they could, but he still couldn't help thinking how messy the whole situation had been. The team was just supposed to go meet somebody and it had turned into a gorefest.

warhammer wrote:

coffee demon wrote: While searching, he asks Thomas, "You're sure it's alright for us to stick around? Do we need to think up a story?"

"Self defense, and protecting other people from mouth-foaming madmen." answers Thomas. "Not only is this a good reason that makes us stand on the safe side of the law, most importantly it's the truth as well. Either these guys were batshit insane, or they were drugged beyond recovery. We did the right thing, and offered them many times the chance to surrender."

"Agreed," replied Timour finishing his search, "the truth is our best tactic. Besides, this scum had it coming."

Neither of the dead men have any identification on them, but Andrei does find a flyer for a lecture about “The Cult of Darkness” in the inside pocket of the dead assassin.

Rummaging through the Hudson, Timour finds enough to establish that the car is registered to a Thomas Witherspoon of Lenox Avenue, but that Witherspoon is aged 49 and white skinned. The white skinned assassin was in his mid 20s.


“Cult of Darkness” Flyer

Timour shares the info about Witherspoon, "I think we should follow up on this lead. See who this Witherspoon is and if he's alright."

Andrei stands. "The Cult of Darkness. NYU, tonight at eight." he reads aloud.

He looks at the three others as they search cars etc. "Fellows, I think we're in big trouble is these people associate us with Jackson."

I hope Elizabeth is OK.

Andrei memorizes the place of the lecture, and puts the card back in the assassin's pocket. Then he stands back, against Thomas' car, and waits for the police to arrive. His mind is whirring with the events of the past half-hour.

So, Jackson wasn't so crazy after all, I guess. We all need to sit down and figure this out.

"I have no idea how much danger we're in, but we need to be careful", he says out loud, to no one in particular.

Maksim hides his face in his hands. "A cult? Huh. This is just getting better and better. Lemme guess, we'll be tagging along to see what's happening? This is great, I mean, really."

He raises a hand. "Don't worry, I won't complain around Elizabeth. I know that she's going to be pretty upset but right now I feel the need to gripe." He smiles at Andrei. <<We will need to speak about wages at some point, of course, now that we know better just what the risks entail.>>

"Good shot, by the way, Timour," says Maksim. "I always envied you your aim. One lucky shot and I feel great, I can only imagine what you feel on a daily basis." <<I think, perhaps, the BAR should be within reach, even if we do need to hide it again. It would be helpful if ever we get into another car battle. Each to our own areas of expertise, and all that, I'm sure you'll agree Andrei.>> "The press and the police both seem like better angles for Andrei and Thomas' skills than mine. I hope we don't get held too long at the police, but then, with Thomas' knowledge and Andrei's circle of friends, it shouldn't take that long, really. I mean, Andrei's a very respected man. Sorry I couldn't be more help with the car, though."

He says it all with a sheepish smile, well aware that he's babbling a little, blushing ever so slightly at his rambling. His eyes are concerned, though, his brow a little furrowed.

"I'm glad to see you all made it through okay."

Andrei listens to Maks up to the point about "talking about wages", then tunes him out and nervously watches the police cars come around the corner, further up the street.

Timour nods off his brother's flattery and then turns to behold the arriving police. Like keystone cops they clamour about the city looking for trouble and obviously always being late to deal with it.

"I'd say these 'johnny laws' are lucky that there are private citizens around to do their job for them. Else they might have to get their pretty uniforms sullied."

<<And without enough time to settle on a story,>> Maksim says in a reasonably quiet voice. He could never be sure who could speak what language. His eyes widen and he walks over to Thomas, leaning in to whisper to him. "I have a shoulder holster for a handgun I'm not licensed to carry. What am I supposed to say about that?"

Timour doesn't say anything to the cops, even if questioned, he merely shakes his head as though he doesn't understand. If pushed he indicates to the others and mumbles only Russian, refusing to speak English to the police, unless they ask about his gun, then he'll have Andrei or Maksim translate for him.

If the issue of his sidearm is raised he shrugs it off. He's a bodyguard after all, if they have issues with it they can speak with his employer's legal counsil.

He will not resist arrest.

"No need to think too hard to figure out this cult is some really big thing." says Thomas. "And they obviously have secrets to protect... Secrets that are worth killing as many people as they see fit. Why the hell do they think they have impunity to do this? I'm going to show them otherwise."

Thomas is slightly annoyed when he learns of the existence of Maksim's shoulder holster. "Why didn't you tell me about it earlier?" he says. "It's a tad late to get rid of it now."

He quickly thinks about the issue, remembering what the normal penalties would be for carrying illegal handguns (whether this could be settled with money or if stronger penalties such as jail time would be involved), and which laws they could use to their advantage to protect Maksim and Timour and avoid any kind of penalty.

"Avoid the handgun issue for now, and just tell the truth." Thomas instructs the rest of the group before the cops arrive. "People have been killed and we don't want the cops to find out one of us is lying, it wouldn't do us any good."

Maksim's sheepishness grows at Thomas' disapproval. He feels stupid, out of his depth and the very reality of their situation has just hit him. Perhaps he wasn't the best type of person for this contract. He decided that if they managed to get out of this, he'd find some way to bow out of the arrangement. It wasn't as though Timour would require any armed back-up. That man could shoot a fly off a fifth floor window if he put his mind to it.

He'll be very placid and easy-going with the police, determined to look less like a trouble maker and more like a concerned citizen. He'll be quietly obedient and softly spoken and will try to say as little as possible without legal counsel present.

[OOC: Don't have time just now for a full post, but I'll say that either Thomas, or one of the Downings' pet lawyers, can argue any charges down to "Misdomeaner Possession" with a successful Law or Credit Rating Roll.

There will be a smallish fine (no problem for the Downings), the pistols will be confiscated, and the Rukovs will not be allowed a Handgun Permit unless Thomas (or whoever can make a second Law roll, and Elizabeth a credit rating roll).]

[OOC: Don't have time just now for a full post, but I'll say that either Thomas, or one of the Downings' pet lawyers, can argue any charges down to "Misdemeanor Possession" with a successful Law or Credit Rating Roll (they used the guns, which probably makes it “Felony Possession,” but only to protect themselves and the public).

There will be a smallish fine (no problem for the Downings), the pistols will be confiscated, and the Rukovs will not be allowed a Handgun Permit unless Thomas (or whoever) can make a second Law roll, and Elizabeth a credit rating roll.

To be honest, I’m not sure of the punishments during the 20s anyway for illegal weapon possession.

I'll be back later with a "real post"]