IC: On the third floor

[Raiko]

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]

[warhammer]

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 Rukov]

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">>

[Raiko]

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.

[warhammer]

"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.

[Raiko]

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]

[warhammer]

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 Rukov]

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.

[Raiko]

[OOC: They both have blood dipping machettes]

[Raiko]

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)

[thewhatchamacallit]

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

[warhammer]

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.

[Raiko]

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 Rukov]

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.

[Raiko]

[OOC: Thomas is out of sight on the backstreet, it's just you and Timour]

[Timour Rukov]

"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 Rukov]

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.

[coffee demon]

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.

[warhammer]

"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."

[Maksim Rukov]

"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?"